Spool labels -

I LOVE the thread that comes from Connecting Threads - HERE -

BUT -

I do NOT love the messy cellophane wrappers that come with them - ;))

I don’t dare throw them away -

They are the only way that I can tell -

What the Color and Number are for the spool -

Unlike other brands that have the Color/Number ON the spool - ;))

I actually mentioned that to a Customer Service Rep once -
When I called to ask why they no longer carry variegated thread -
Apparently there is NO demand for variegated thread -
Are you kidding me?!?!?!? -
NO demand?!?!?!? -
How about me?? -
I want some!! - ;))
And as far as I know - they still don’t label the thread spool - ;))

But I digress -

Why do I care if the Color/Number is ON the spool?

Well - if I knew the Color/Number of the spool WITHOUT the wrapper -

I could THROW AWAY the dang wrapper -

And still be able to pull another spool just like it from my stash - by “Name” -
When the spool was empty -

Or re-order another one just like it -
When my stash ran out - ;))

SO -

I decided to label the spools MYSELF - ;))

I used a sheet of regular address labels -
And typed four lines -
All lined up nice and neat -

Line #1 - Color - Color - Color
Line #2 - Number - Number - Number
Skipped a line -
Line #3 - Color - Color - Color
Line #4 - Number - Number - Number

Ran it through the printer -

Pulled out my tweezers - scissors - and a mechanical pencil -

Cut the label apart -
This one is the Color/Number for the “BLUE” spool -
Trust me - not all of the spools have a name as obvious as this one - ;))

Carefully folded the label in half -
And used the tweezers to stick it inside the spool “core” -

Used the tweezers to smooth it out -
Or the mechanical pencil if the label didn’t want to play nice - ;))

There you go -
Cool, huh? - ;))

And no more messy wrappers - ;))

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Design Wall Monday - 1/28/13

DESIGN WALL MONDAY - 1/28/13
Check out all of us who link up with Judy L. at Patchwork Times on Mondays.
We have some awesome stuff on our walls!
Well, THEY do - ME - not so much sometimes - ;))
===

I’m still working on my version of “Easy Street” -
Bonnie Hunter’s Easy Street Mystery Quilt - HERE -

I call mine "Easy Street Detour" - ;))

============
Note - these instructions are written in LEFTISH.
If you are right-handed - just reverse the directions.
============

In between a bunch of “office” stuff this past week -

I did manage to get some sewing done - ;))

One Block B done -

The other 8 all pinned in sets -

64 Stacked Geese for Block A -
16 sets of 4 -

Another Block B -
With the "chunks" sewn in rows -
Like a regular 9-patch -

The rest of the Block Bs -
With the "chunks" sewn in rows -
And the rows pinned together in sets -

I still need to sew the last two seams -
But they are ready to go -

That’s when it started to get tedious again -

That’s when I decided to take another break -
And work on a little Sudoku Quilt idea I had -

See the little RED squares? -
Can you see how there is only ONE -
In each little 9-patch “Box”? -
And in each “Column”? -
And in each “Row”? -

Cool, huh?

That’s Sudoku - ;))

Let me know if you want me to do a tutorial -
If you do - please leave a comment below - ;))

I know you all hate the “word verification” -
But from what I’m seeing on blogs lately -
I’m not the only one with spam problems -

So don’t be afraid to hit that little circle thingy -
A BUNCH of times if you need to -
That’s what I do -
Because I can’t always read them either - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Break time -

I got an email yesterday from my bloggy buddy - LindaJ -
life, quilts and a cat too - HERE -

Enjoying your blogging break and full of
finished quilt tops on your return??

So spill it, girl---what have you been up to?

===

I’m not real big on discussing my non-quilty personal life on my blog -

And since my opinions are usually not those of the majority -
I let Quilter BOB tell you about them - ;))

So here is an edited version of my reply -

===

Finished tops??? Yeah, right!!

I thought that if I took a blogging break -

That I could get some “Quilting/sewing” stuff DONE -

But noooooooooo -

I have been doing “Office” stuff instead -

I had to deal with the insurance company that changed some co-pays -

I had to deal with the dentist and his billing -

AND I still have to work on our taxes - ;))

Quilting/sewing has taken a back seat, of course - I did get some stuff done but not much - took some photos - haven't had a chance to upload them or write any posts - hope to do that by Monday - gotta have SOMETHING for Design Wall Monday - ;))

I did spend some time checking blogs - too much time - but it gave me some ideas for some posts so I guess it was not totally wasted - ;))

Anyway - I'm still working on Easy Street Detour - haven't had a chance to play in EQ7 so don't know if my border ideal will work or not - it does in my head - but that doesn't mean a thing - haha - ;))

Yesterday I played with an idea I had for a Sudoku quilt - it's turning out really well. Might ask my readers if they want a tutorial - see how many "comments" I get - what with my "word verification" it will probably be just you and Linda and KatieM - haha.

So right now I think I'll get another cup of coffee and cut the sashing for my Sudoku quilt - gotta get some SEWING done - and then I need my nap - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Design Wall Monday - 1/21/13

DESIGN WALL MONDAY - 1/21/13
Check out all of us who link up with Judy L. at Patchwork Times on Mondays.
We have some awesome stuff on our walls!
Well, THEY do - ME - not so much sometimes - ;))
===

I’m still working on my version of “Easy Street” -
Bonnie Hunter’s Easy Street Mystery Quilt - HERE -

I call mine "Easy Street Detour" - ;))

============
Note - these instructions are written in LEFTISH.
If you are right-handed - just reverse the directions.
============

I finished the 64 Turkey Combos - HERE -

Then I played with the 4-Patch Combos -

My version of Block B needs 9 sets of 4 -

Assembly line -
Sewed the 4-patch to the chocolate square -
In sets of 8 -

With the square on the bottom -
And the 4-Patch on top -
With the “constant” leading -

Made the 4-Patch Combos -
In sets of 4 -

Mine are a little matchy-matchy -
I was limited in my “backgrounds” in the beginning -
Not knowing where the mystery would end -
And not knowing that I would run out of “backgrounds” -
More than once - ;))

Anyway -

Got them all sewn together and then I made 3 piles -

Column A - 9 sets of 4 - 4-Patch Combos -
Column B - 9 sets of 4 - Turkey Combos -
Column C - 9 center squares

Then I chose my sets -
Just like from a Chinese restaurant menu -

One from Column A -
One from Column B -
One from Column C -

And I made a Block B -
As nothing more than a giant 9-patch -

And - because I watched the orientation of the 4-Patches -
When I made the 4-Patch Combos earlier -
As long as I keep a Square in the corner -
My Block B will have the 4-Patches going the “correct” way - ;))

Now I just have to make 9 of them -

Then I'll move on to the Block A “combos” -

I’m leaving the setting triangles and corners for last -

I have an idea for the borders that may or may not work -

So I want/need to play a little in EQ7 first - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

A bit of reorganizing -

I am a very visual person -

And I am definitely one of those -

“Out of sight - out of mind” types - ;))

I like to have my various projects in separate bins -

And I like to have them within reach -

But I was getting to the point where I had a pile of bins -

And - of course - I usually wanted the one on the bottom - ;))

So I got to thinking that I might want some “drawers” instead -

Yeah - “drawers” would sure be handy in my sewing room - ;))

I have a short little 5-drawer thingy -
But it's too small for projects -

And a tall 10-drawer thingy -
But the drawers are constantly falling off the tracks -

So when Walmart had a sale on the tall 5-drawer units -

In a set of 2 for $41.94 - HERE -

I thought - Yeah, that would work!! - ;))

So we went to Walmart - and scanned one unit - $19.97 -

OK - but that’s not what the website said!?!?!

But wait - that’s CHEAPER than the website said -

Two for less than $40 -

What a deal!!

So we got two -

Put them up against the design wall -

And even though they’re tall -
I still have room for some blocks on the wall -

Now I have 10 new drawers -

For various projects -

AND -

I even dumped my bins of strips into separate drawers -

I figured they would be easier to grab for my LHQSQ blocks -

And they are sorted by size - ;))

I’ll sort then by color within each drawer -

When I have nothing else to do - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Progress Report - 1/18/13

I took a couple of days off from blogging -

To do a bit of re-organizing -
I'll show you later - ;))

And to work on my version of “Easy Street” -
Bonnie Hunter’s Easy Street Mystery Quilt - HERE -

After my Easy Street took its Detour - HERE -

I decided to work on the "Turkey Combos" -

All 64 of them - ;))

These turkeys (pun intended) took me a LONG time to get together -

And it was really SLOW going -

But I'm in no hurry - ;))

I am a Slow Poke Quilter -

And I like it that way - ;))

I ENJOY the PROCESS of quilting -

And I don't need them done in a day - or two -

But a week would be nice - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

LHQ - Block Busting

I already showed you How I Assemble a Quilt in Chunks - HERE -

Now I thought that I would show you -

In more detail -

How I Do It -

How I Assemble A Block in Chunks -

============
Note - these instructions are written in LEFTISH.
If you are right-handed - just reverse the directions.
============


For my example I’m going to use my Block A and Block B -
In my version of “Easy Street” - HERE -
Bonnie Hunter’s Easy Street Mystery Quilt - HERE -

What do you see?

Do you see a 25-patch block (5 x 5) -
That you have to sew together one row at a time?

Not me -

I see 4 - Shaded 4-Patch Combos - HERE -
And 4 - Stacked Geese Combos - HERE -
And a Center Square -

So that’s how I’m going to make the “chunks” -
For Block A -

Same for Block B -

I see 4 - 4-Patch Combos - HERE -
And 4 - Turkey Combos - HERE -
And a Center Square -

So that’s how I’m going to make the “chunks” -
For Block B -

Then I’m going to assemble the blocks -

Just like a GIANT 9-patch

For me - this is much easier -
Than trying to sew rows together -

Trying to keep the “units” going the “correct” way -
And trying to match a bunch of seams on each and every row -

This way -
I just match one or two seams at a time -

One “chunk” at a time -

Pinning and pressing as I go -

Until I get all of the blocks sewn -

It's really a LOT like sewing "chunks" of a quilt together -

Just smaller "units" - ;))

Next block -

Try putting it together this way -

Just for giggles - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Design Wall Monday - 1/14/13

DESIGN WALL MONDAY - 1/14/13
Check out all of us who link up with Judy L. at Patchwork Times on Mondays.
We have some awesome stuff on our walls!
Well, THEY do - ME - not so much sometimes - ;))
===

I'm still working on my version of “Easy Street” -
Bonnie Hunter’s Easy Street Mystery Quilt - HERE -

And I have mentioned before that -

My version has taken a slight detour - ;))

I substituted “Chocolate” for her “Purple” -

“Teal” for her “Turquoise” -

“Raspberry” for her “Limey/Apple Green” - ))

My “Gray/Constant” is a light “Lilac” -

My backgrounds are “Cream - Tan - Pink - Light Blue” -

Because I used most of my White/Black last year in Orca Bay - ;))

So - with my substitutions -

My “Easy Street” would have looked like this -

All of that“Raspberry” is a bit much for me -

I probably would have switched the “Chocolate” and “Raspberry” if I had known -

But that's part of the fun of a mystery -

It doesn't always come out the way you thought it would - ;))

And because I already had most of the stuff cut and sewn -

The challenge became - how to make it work for me - ;))

So I played around in EQ7 -

And came up with some ways to replace most of the “Raspberry” with “Chocolate” -

After checking to see if I actually had enough “Chocolate” left -

I decided on this one -

I think I’ll call it -

Easy Street Detour - ;))

My Corner blocks look like this -

My Setting Triangles look like this -

My Block A looks like this -

My Block B looks like this -

For those of you who might not know -

I don’t like sewing 25-patch blocks (or quilts) one row at a time -

Unless I HAVE to - ;))

I much prefer my “Chunk Method” - HERE -

So - if my math is correct -

Along with a few “single” units here and there -

I should be able to work these up as giant 9-patches -

If I make -

48 - 4-Patch Combos -

64 - Turkey Combos -

64 - Shaded 4-Patch Combos -

64 - Stacked Geese Combos -

I started with the Turkey Combos -

Because they just sounded delicious - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Progress Report - 1/13/13

Yesterday -

I worked some more on my version of “Easy Street” -

Bonnie Hunter’s Easy Street Mystery Quilt - HERE -

My version is not that scrappy -

I cannibalized a couple of “kits” that I had -

And I have/had a limited number of each main color - ;))

For those of you who don’t know -

I substituted “Chocolate” for her “Purple” -

“Teal” for her “Turquoise” -

“Raspberry” for her “Limey/Apple Green” -

My “Gray/Constant” is a light “Lilac” -

My backgrounds are “Cream - Tan - Pink - Light Blue” -

Because I used most of my White/Black last year in Orca Bay - ;))

Anyway - it was the “Raspberry” that was a bit much for me -

So I did some re-cutting -

And a bit of sorting here and there -

So that I don’t have sections with a lot of the same fabrics -

Next up - the turkeys - ;))

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Progress Report - 1/12/13

Yesterday -

I was able to cut the rest of the stuff -

That I need for my version of “Easy Street” -

Bonnie Hunter’s Easy Street Mystery Quilt - HERE -

My version has taken a slight detour - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

TUSAL - 1/11/13

I have joined over a hundred other stitchers in Daffycat’s TUSAL 2013 - HERE -

It's a Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long -

To play the game -

I have to fill my glass container -

With saved thread clippings -

Or ORTS - Old Ratty Threads -

Fabric trimmings -

Stitching cast-offs -

And then -

On the New Moon -

Take a picture of the ORTS in my jar -

Post it to my blog -

With a link back to her TUSAL post - HERE -

And label the Totally Useless posts with “TUSAL” -

It's EASY -

It's TOTALLY USELESS -

And -

It's FUN!! - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

LHQSQ - Block #75

Another 6” sampler block -

That you can make using -

2-1/2” squares -

And anything else -

That finishes at 2” -

Three across and three down -

Variations of the basic NINE-PATCH -

The sewn block will MEASURE 6-1/2” -

And FINISH at 6” -

===

Block #75 - Old Snowflake -

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

LHQSQ - Block #74

Another 6” sampler block -

That you can make using -

2-1/2” squares -

And anything else -

That finishes at 2” -

Three across and three down -

Variations of the basic NINE-PATCH -

The sewn block will MEASURE 6-1/2” -

And FINISH at 6” -

===

Block #74 - Thrifty -

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

LHQSQ - Block #73

Another 6” sampler block -

That you can make using -

2-1/2” squares -

And anything else -

That finishes at 2” -

Three across and three down -

Variations of the basic NINE-PATCH -

The sewn block will MEASURE 6-1/2” -

And FINISH at 6” -

===

Block #73 - Double X, No. 1

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Design Wall Monday - 1/7/13

DESIGN WALL MONDAY - 1/7/13
Check out all of us who link up with Judy L. at Patchwork Times on Mondays.
We have some awesome stuff on our walls!
Well, THEY do - ME - not so much sometimes - ;))
===

Well - I was going to work on my version of "Easy Street" -
Bonnie Hunter’s Easy Street Mystery Quilt - HERE -

I still need to mark the corner squares for the “Sitting Turkeys” -

But I messed up on the squares -

I have 60 the correct size -

But 4 came up short -
Yeah - I know - so what else is new? - ;))

So - as long as I was going to have to cut some more squares -

I figured I might as well cut up some LHQSQ blocks while I was at it -

Maybe I’ll designate Sunday as my “Cut and Kit” day -

Now everybody calls it “Cutting and Kitting” -

I used to just call it “cutting up a bunch of stuff so that I could sew it” -

But either way -

You can’t sew it if it ain’t cut - right? - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -