Stringalong 2019 (February)

Ooops - its time to show our progress on out Stringalong blocks -  
Confession time - I hadn't actually done any since last month - but when I saw the post for the link up, I thought I better pull my finger out and get sewing....In my defense I do still have a very important baby quilt to finish and I've been away for work for almost a week,,,, and came home sick!!!   So, today I am on "Personal Leave"...and really I am not well enough to work a whole day ...but can sew for a bit...so I used the opportunity to play catch up.

I decided 9 was a good target for today...after all they are pretty quick and I have boxes of strips ready to go  . . .

So here is the front of the 9 I have just done.

and the back - I am using up left overs from a quilt I finished in 2013 - called Flower Box - it's here if you are interested . . .- and I I hope to be able to organise these into some sort of a pattern  . . 

Of course you can see my ever present companion curled up and fast asleep.while I "work"!!! LOL


The Month 2 Link up is here: if you'd like to look at what the others are doing...some really interesting patterns happening.

Thanks Lori - for the motivation to keep this project going.

FNSI - February

DH went off to a Country Music gig...so I took advantage of it - stayed in the city a bit longer than usual (got my nails done) ...a quick dinner and into the sewing!

I have done all the piecing for the hexie section of Winnie the Pooh...It now needs a serious ironing session.  I think the little Clover iron will be the trick for this.
I sewed this all by machine - and for those interested - it went quite well - Once I set the machine to do a lock stitch at the beginning and end - and set the auto cut off threads - it was probably only a bit faster - but a lot easier,,,as I didn't need to think as much!! 
I had marked the back of each block, so I pinned (mostly), sewed from the beginning of the seam line  - and  stopped at the end of the seam line.

This is an earlier picture....

On Saturday I had planned to iron it...and maybe start the borders....but...decided to do some cutting for another baby quilt I am making.

Thanks again Wendy - I really enjoyed the cyber party.

A Good Day's Work

Today was a KQ Girls sewing day - we have switched to one Saturday and one Sunday a month.
I needed a machine sewing project and decided to take along the 21/2" scrappy squares that I plan to make into a male charity quilt.  I made one (finished off a long term project) back in September 2016 - here - and sometime after that I decided I should make a male one, as most charities get a lot of girly stuff. 
So I have been sewing leaders and enders with that in mind.   I had about 18 strips already made that were 32 squares long and another pile that were 20 - and more that I had made into sets of 4....so today I got all the smaller bits and joined and added  . .  .I now have 46 strips of 32 squares.  I haven't decide how many rows I will put into each quilt - but I'm sure I have enough for two quilts now.. 

I do this as my leaders and enders because I use different machines and the seam allowance is not always the same and on top of that, it is fast because I don't need to worry about matching all the seams - I don't want them to become another UFO.

In an earlier post I mentioned how this group had done some mini tutorials and we made numerous blocks with the idea of making a few quilts for charity.

One quilt had been put together but we were missing the side borders..and we had almost the right number of blocks to make up another quilt.  I bought some bright pink on a recent shopping expedition and finished the borders on #1 , made two more big hearts and put #2 together.  I to\k them along today to show the gang and they are off to someone else for quilting and gifting.

Tonight I thought I better make a start on joining the Winnie the Pooh hexies - I'm sure this baby won't be waiting for me to finish the quilt...but I don't want the child to be 6 months old when I'm finished....I've been putting these together by machine...it is fiddly - it is not quick...but it seems to be working...and - for me - with a finger still recovering - it is much much quicker...   (tedious...but music is going in he background).

So, not bad for a day's work.
And I still have Sunday to go!

FNWF - February

February already???

I couldn't do any actual sewing on Friday night - I was busy organising and cooking for a visit from my Saturday group (Loose Threads), but I participated in my head!!!

Saturday I made up for it....I still can't do any hand sewing - so I spent some time marking the 1/4" on these hexagon blocks that I hope to sew by machine - they are for a baby quilt for grandbaby due at the end of the month - I better get a move on!!! 
(I hope doing them by machine will be successful.)

I also spent some time cutting and matching 2.5" squares - boring - but much better with company.

For our afternoon tea I made Peach, Raspberry and White Chocolate Muffins - they were pretty yummy...Here is the recipe - in case!!!

I didn't do them as Gluten Free...

I hope everyone was productive - good to see you all again!!
Thanks Cheryll - you do a great job of hosting us!!!

Stringalong 2019 (January)

Hello to the Stringalong quilters that are participating along with Lori.

It is time for me to post my Month 1 blocks - pop over here for the link up to see a wide variety of stringalong blocks.

These are the blocks I have done so far - the plan is to make a reversible table cloth.  I will need 88 blocks in all.   I will be sashing them top and bottom with black.  I have sewn these onto a fabric foundation - no batting in between.   (and no paper to remove!!!! YAY!!!).  Next time I will show the backs as well.

I expect I will lay them out in this pattern - though for now this is just random placement.