Washout!

We've had lots of rain the last week in Maine, and this morning I came across a video on a local news channel's website that shows what happens when a road washes out. It is an amazing piece of video! I couldn't figure out if there was a way to put the video on my blog, so this is the next best thing. Visit this site for a look:

http://www.wmtw.com/video/17144859/index.html

Quiltathon Weekend

This is a Quiltathon weekend, but I have to work tomorrow, so I am only sewing today in between some chores. This morning I sat at the kitchen table with my coffee and finished the binding for Bug Strippy #2, so there's another (small) finish for the year.

The Twisting Star is Block 2 in the Galaxy of Stars quilt, which is a sampler quilt designed by Lynn Dash. There's only one block like this in the quilt. It took me a couple hours to piece it because I was trying to be very precise so all the pieces would fit together nicely.

I foundation pieced the subunits using a method I learned from the Info-EQ list. Because you don't actually sew through the foundation, freezer paper is a requirement for this method in order to anchor the pieces to the paper. Instead of sewing through the paper, the paper is folded on the sewing line, and the seam is sewn next to the paper but not through it. Each piece is then pressed open and adhered to the freezer paper. After the unit is completed, you simply peel off the freezer paper. No little bits of paper to remove later! You can then reuse the same foundation for successive units. I used a single foundation for all eight subunits. It is a method that works exceedingly well.

Star BOM Block 1

I was up late finishing Block 1 for JudyL's Star BOM, but I'm happy with the way it turned out. I had a little trouble trying to figure out which way to press those seams. I had more trouble with the flying geese units. Those little suckers give me trouble every time I make them, and that's me, not the directions. I usually have the best luck oversizing them and then squaring them up, but I was too tired to try to figure out where the center mark was for a unit that was supposed to measure 3-5/16" wide, so I just cut the pieces using the dimensions given. Nothing a little fudging couldn't fix!

It looks like the block narrows towards the bottom in the photo, but it doesn't--that just happens to be the angle at which I took the picture.

Credit where credit is due:
The "Rhode Island" block can be found in the EQ6 Block Library and is copyright-free.

Star BOM

Yes, I know I said I wasn't going to do Judy Laquidara's Star Block of the Month (BOM), but the more I thought about it the more I really wanted to do it. It usually *is* more fun to do it as part of a group. And as my good friend Barbara pointed out, surely I can make time to do one block every two weeks.

So I went shopping today and bought these fabrics. I thought I'd make it easy on myself and use all batiks. I'm also using the same colors Judy is using. Purple, lime green, and cheddar are really a stretch for me, but I think I'll like it in the end. Although it looks like there's enough contrast between the purples in the photo, I'm still not quite sure about the two in the middle. I'd be happy if anyone would offer an opinion. There are plenty of purple batiks out there, and I can always switch them out, if need be.

Tomorrow I'll wash and press these and get started on Block 1.

Sunday Stash Report

This week I used about 8 yards for the backing for Koleen's quilt, plus another 7/8 yard for the binding strips, which are cut and waiting for the quilt to come back from the machine quilters.

The yardage requirements for the Galaxy of Stars quilt require about 1/6 yard for each fabric used in the blocks. Rather than try to calulate how much fabric is in each block, I'm reporting the entire sixth of a yard for each fabric I start cutting into as I construct the blocks. I'll report the background fabric when I finish all of them. So for this week, I finished four blocks, four fabrics per block, for a total of about 2-2/3 yards.

For once my procrastination paid off. I didn't get around to ordering my bolt of muslin right away, until I got an email from Hancock's offering a free shipping promotion, and then it was a done deal. The bolt of muslin arrived last week, along with the additional Kaffe Fassett fabrics I ordered. I also received a Rainbow medley of the month from Keepsake Quilting this past week.

Here's the Stash Manager's Report:

Fabric used this week: 11-1/2 yards
Fabric used year to date: 112-7/8 yards
Fabric added this week: 27-1/2 yards
Fabric added year to date: 210-5/8 yards
Net year to date: - 97-3/4 yards

Stop laughing, Barbara!

Galaxy of Stars Block 1

The Blazing Star block is Block 1 in the Galaxy of Stars quilt, and there are four of them in the quilt. A couple of posts ago, I uploaded a representation from my Electric Quilt program

of the whole quilt. It's a beautiful quilt, and these blocks will go in the corners of the quilt.

Vacation Week

Oh, how I hated to go back to work this morning after being on vacation for a week! I had a fun and relaxing week puttering around the house and working in the garden. I tried to take care of some household chores in the mornings and spent afternoons and evenings in my sewing room. In the sewing room I spent quite a lot of time cleaning up, reorganizing, and taking care of some necessary but not very exciting tasks.

What I accomplished:

• Removed the checkerboard border from Koleen's quilt that didn't fit correctly, resewed a few of the blocks and sewed it back on, and added the last round of borders to finish the top.


• Cut the backing and batting for Koleen's quilt and delivered it to Koleen for machine quilting.


• Worked on the binding for Road to Many Friendships--two sides are now hand stitched to the back, and two more to go.


• Quilted Bug Strippy #2 and machine stitched the binding to the front of the quilt. Still need to hand stitch the binding down.


• Finished the rest of the album blocks for the Orange Crush quilt. Next I'm working on the half album blocks that go around the edges of the center section.


• Finished the first four blocks for the Galaxy of Stars quilt.


• Washed and ironed all the new Kaffe Fassett fabrics for the Butterfly quilt.


• Dug Pinwheel Party back out of the closet and contemplated how much I'm going to hate ripping and replacing the offending navy blue fabric. More on that later. Much later.


• Waffled a little bit more about JudyL's Star Block of the Month and finally decided to do it.

We've had plenty of rain lately, and both the new lawn and the tomatoes are doing very well. In fact they're doing well enough that I might add a couple more potted tomato plants next summer as well. Still no red ones yet though.