The Elephant In The Room

Since Thanksgiving I’ve had this in my sewing room.

It’s a twin bed!  Just to the left of it is a sofa.  There is just enough room to walk between them to get to the sewing table and about the same amount of room at the end for cutting table access.  Worst of all, it’s a flat surface so stuff tends to accumulate there—patterns, fabrics, papers, etc.

This is an extra bed and is only used when we lots of friends or family stay over and usually that only happens once or twice a year.  For the past eight years we’ve had at least one kid in college.  Neither of them has lived in the same place two years in a row or had the same roommate combination two years in a row.  That means we’re always storing furniture that’s not being used in the current year just in case it’s needed the following year.  In addition to beds, we have sofas, futons, tables, chairs, lamps, and bookcases taking up space here. 

I decided that today was the last day I’m going to walk around that bed in the sewing room.  Now that it’s summer I can walk outside so I folded the treadmill, moved a loveseat and then hauled the bed into the downstairs family room.  It’s tucked away along the wall that leads to the storage room so it won’t be in anyone’s way.  Since no one needs to sleep on that bed and it’s pretty dark down in that corner I think I’ll bring out some quilts that are folded and stored in the closet and stack them up flat on the bed. 

Now I could dance in this room.  It feels so spacious.

The next project?  Put away all this stuff that I moved off the bed and onto the couch.  I gotta have my thinking couch!!  Let’s hope that tidiness leads to productivity.

Design Wall Monday: All In A Row

Today’s DWM project is another UFO that has been sitting far too long.  This is a simple little Churn Dash variation with nine patch centers.  It is a Kim Diehl design from the book All-Time Favorite Scrap Quilts.  My small quilting group is meeting next Thursday and I would REALLY like to have this finished for show and tell.  The blocks are sewn and I have sashing, cornerstone and border fabric all selected so it’s only a matter of sitting down and finishing—always easier said than done with new projects constantly calling my name!!

Check out what other beautiful projects are on design walls today at Patchwork Times.



Old business:  the winner of the Marmalade Charm squares from last Monday’s giveaway is Lea. Lea, I don’t have an email address for you so please contact me with your mailing address and I’ll drop your charms in the mail right away.

Design Wall Monday-Scrappy Rails

“You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.”  Jack London

For quilters this quote needs to be changed from “club” to “rotary cutter.”  I try to come up with a stashbusting quilt each month for my sewing group.  My inspiration kind of hit a road block this month and the original design needs more work so I pieced this simple block.  



If every other block is turned 90 degrees diagonal chains form.  This kind of quilt doesn’t really require borders so I think I’ll just make blocks, set them together and call it a day.  I’ll probably end up making 63 blocks and set them 7 x 9.  They are 10” blocks so it will be end up large twin or regular full-size—a good size for the emergency shelter.  For some reason, I just can’t get the color right on the photos.  Then chain fabric is not nearly as pink as it looks here.  Oh well, you get the idea. 
Be sure to check out all the other great projects at Patchwork Times.

Technorati Tags: piecing,scrap quilt

Here are instructions for the block.  I’m using leftover strips so it’s hard to say exactly how much yardage you’ll need.  It will also depend on how many blocks you are making.  It takes a little more than one strip to make a block.  For a quilt the size I’m making (70 x 90) you would need about 80 strips.  You also need 1-1/2 yards of chain fabric and about 3/4 yard for binding.

For each block cut the following from assorted 2-1/2” strips:
Two 2-1/2” x 8-1/2” rectangles (A)
Two 2-1/2” x 6-1/2” rectangles (B)
Two 2-1/2” x 4-1/2” rectangles (C)
Two 2-1/2” x 2-1/2” squares (D)
You will also need five 2-1/2” squares of the chain fabric for each block. €



Sewing for one block:
1.  Sew a square of chain fabric to 8-1/2” rectangles.  Press toward the chain fabric.  Make 2



2.  Sew a 2-1/2” square of print fabric to a 2-1/2” square of chain fabric.  Sew a 4-1/2 rectangle to the other end of the chain fabric. Press both seams toward chain fabric. Make 2.



3.  Sew 4-1/2” rectangles to a chain square.  Press both seams toward chain fabric. Make 1



4.  Sew the units from step 1 to the units from step 2. Make 2



5.  Rotate one of these units 180 degrees (flip it upside down).



6.  Sew the unit from step 3 in the middle of these units.  Press seams to one side.

Design Wall Monday-Scrap Basket Surprise Quilt

This has been a UFO for a long time.  Our small group worked through the book Scrap Basket Surprises by Kim Brackett a couple of years ago.  I started almost all of the quilts but couldn’t keep up with finishing one a month.  The blocks were made for this quilt so I sewed them together and now it’s ready for a border.  I wanted to use red but it didn’t look quite right so I’ll have to dig through the stash to find something I like better.  Our group meets this Thursday so I’d like to get it quilted for show and tell.  This is one of my all time favorite books.  There are so many great patterns in it that I could probably spend the rest of my life making these quilts.



To see more great works in progress check out the links at Patchwork Times.

Design Wall Monday-Bright 4 into 9 patch

This quilt started with a set of six fat quarters left over from a shop sample I made a few months ago.  I just wanted to make a simple baby quilt using only these fabrics.  Unfortunately, this wasn’t the best project I could have picked.  The prints are a little too busy and with only six fabrics there really isn’t enough variety.  Oh well!  Sometimes it just doesn’t work out like I picture it in my mind, but I’ll go ahead and finish setting the blocks together then add the borders. I have a pieced border planned for the top and bottom so the quilt will be rectangular instead of square and have enough of the green fabric to add an outer border. This is a donation quilt so hopefully some little girl will like the bright colors!



Be sure to check out all the other great projects people are working on.  Links are here at Patchwork Times.

2013 Week 12 Recap and Stash Update

This week I made progress on several projects but only had one finish.  Last Monday I posted the Applique Affair project on Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times.  This project has been hanging untouched in my sewing room for years.  I’m happy to report that I stitched down blocks 6 and 7 (out of 25) this week.  It really helps to get it out in the open so I can work on it in little bits of time. 

I also sewed borders on two quilts:  Bundle of 10 and More Geese on the Ridge.  I finished piecing the Bonus Triangle top.  All three of these are ready for quilting.  Bundle of 10 is loaded on the frame and I’ll start quilting it later today.  I’m using the same pantograph as I did on the Pineapple Blossom quilt (more panto practice!!). 

I cut out two new projects, Bundle of 12 and a Disappearing Nine Patch baby quilt.  Still in progress this week is Bali Breeze, a pattern from Moda that I’m making from scraps.  I’m hoping to make a few more blocks today and post those blocks tomorrow on Design Wall Monday.

The big finish of the week is Pineapple Blossom.  It is such an easy quilt but it seems like I’ve been working on it forever!  I cut it out on February 22 so it was just over a month.  When I look at the list of projects I’m working on it’s no wonder I really like the way this turned out.  It’s a great pattern and I’m hoping to make another one with 2” strips out of scraps.



Here’s the weekly stash report:
Used this week:  8 yards
Used year to date:  90 yards
Purchased this week:  0
Purchased year to date: 18 yards
Net year to date:  72 yards used

Check out other stash reports at Patchwork Times

Design Wall Monday-Applique Affair

A couple of weeks ago I started linking posts to Design Wall Mondays at Patchwork Times.  It was great motivation to work on those projects.  The first one, Pineapple Blossom is now on the frame for quilting and last week’s More Geese on the Ridge is a completed top that’s next in line for quilting!  So this week, I pulled out a project that’s more than overdue for some attention—Applique Affair, a beautiful quilt designed by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts. 

The blocks are raw-edge fusible applique that I started about five years ago.  Most of the center blocks are fused on and about half have been stitched down.  I need to finish those and make the rest of the border blocks.  There’s also a pieced border.  For awhile I had my Bernina set up in the dining room so whenever I had a few minutes I could stop in and stitch a bit on these blocks.  That seemed to work pretty well so I’ll give it a try this week to see if I make any progress.