Monday, August 31, 2015

Design Wall Monday - 8/31/15


DESIGN WALL MONDAY -
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 - ;))
===



On my wall today -

My Thanksgiving Sudoku -


After finishing the tops for my June Wedding - July Americana - and Halloween Sudoku Quilts -

I was on a roll -

And had one more Sudoku Quilt already "cut and kitted" - ;))

A while back I developed a little system to "chain-piece" these puppies -


So it didn't take me long to make all of the 9-patches -
And put them on the wall - ;))


Today I plan to add the sashing - cornerstones - and borders - ;))

Tomorrow is the first day of September -

New month -

New beginning -

And the perfect time to switch gears - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



Sunday, August 30, 2015

Halloween Sudoku - Border Solution -


I decided to go with the orange with black spiders -

It definitely said "Halloween" -

And went well with the fabrics in the center portion of the quilt - ;))


The size of the fat quarter determined the width of the borders -
And I won't bore you with the MATH -
That dreaded four-letter word -

But I measured and cut from the short end of the fat quarter -
Leaving a strip on the selvage edge to use for the corner squares -
Then cut four strips for the sides and top and bottom -
Leaving an extra bit for the scrap bin -


I added black sashing strips to the ends of the borders -


Laid the side borders out to check the fit -


And cut the corner squares - ;))


After adding the side borders -

I sewed the corner squares to the top and bottom borders -


Sewed them on -
And got this -

Ta Dah! - ;))


Here's a close-up of the top left corner -


It's not exactly like the one Judy Sisneros uses in her book -
"9-Patch Pizzazz" - (c) 2006 - C&T Publishing, Inc. -

Because I had to tweak it to work with a sashing/cornerstone configuration -
As opposed to a simple inner border -

But I think it worked out pretty well - ;))

Not bad for making it up as I went along, huh? - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



Friday, August 28, 2015

Halloween Sudoku - Border Auditions -


I decided that if I use the border/corner technique -
That Judy Sisneros suggests in her book -
"9-Patch Pizzazz" - (c) 2006 - C&T Publishing, Inc. -
That I could maybe get away with using a fat quarter for the border -

So I dug through my stash -
And pulled some possibilities -
And put them up on the design wall - ;))



Decided I didn't like the gray -
Took it off -
And moved the one on the far right to the bottom -
And switched out the one on the left - ;))


Close-up of the new one on the left -
One of the Sudoku nine -
A medium orange -
Obviously goes with the other fabrics - ;))


Close-up of the top one -
Darker orange with cute spiders -
Definitely says "Halloween" - ;))


Close-up of the one on the right -
Nice orange pumpkins with gold highlights -
Though maybe more suitable for Thanksgiving - ;))


Close-up of the one on the bottom -
It really is more "orange" than "yellow" -
A possible maybe - ;))


Close-up of the first one that was on the left -
Before I switched it out -
A pretty and elegant looking spiderweb with a touch of green - ;))


And then there's the stack of other possibilities - ;))


On my last post - Gerda suggested that I try a lighter "beige" border -
So I dug out a couple of those to audition as well - ;))


The one on the left is pretty light -
A "beige" on white -
Which is difficult to photograph - ;))


The one on the right is more "beige" -
And just as difficult to see - :))


So what do you think about the ones on the wall so far? - ;))

I'm kinda leaning toward the "top" one -
The orange with black spiders -
It definitely says "Halloween" -
And besides - what else am I going to use it for? - ;))




Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



Thursday, August 27, 2015

Halloween Sudoku - Border Dilemma -


I got the Halloween Sudoku blocks together - ;))


And since it was already "cut and kitted" -
I had already chosen the side border strip -
I figured that I could trim it up and cut it in half for the left and right sides -


And I had already chosen the top border strip -
I figured that I could trim that up and cut it in half for the top/bottom borders -
But it's too short - so I'll need some cornerstones - ;))


I got the center done and put it all up on the design wall -


And I don't like it -

It's too busy -

And just doesn't look right -

So now it's back to the drawing board - ;))

Since I've already used orange in the cornerstones -

And black in the sashing -

What's left for the border?? -

More black?? - ;))

I only need about 1/3 yard - but that is more than a fat quarter -

So I need to check the yardage in my stash - ;))

I have some black with white dots that might work -

And I have some darker orange tone-one-tone - ;))

Any ideas?? -

I'm open to any and all suggestions - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



Wednesday, August 26, 2015

July Ameicana Sudoku -



Got the borders on the July Americana Sudoku -

Ta Dah!! - ;))


Here's close-up of the border fabric -
Flags, flags, and more flags - ;))


Next up - the Halloween Sudoku -
All "cut and kitted" - ready to go - ;))



Gotta love the ones already "cut and kitted" -

Gonna have to make me some more of those - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -





Monday, August 24, 2015

Design Wall Monday - 8/24/15


DESIGN WALL MONDAY -
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 - ;))
===



On my wall today -

My July Americana Sudoku -


I didn't quite make it for the Fourth of July -

But Labor Day is coming -

So I figured that I might as well play with it -

Especially since it was already "cut and kitted" -
And the tutorial is still fresh in my mind -
From finishing up my June Wedding Sudoku last week - ;))


It's just a giant 9-patch of 9-patches -
(The little white bits in the middle of each block are labels with the block number -
so I don't get them mixed up and mess up the "solution") -

And since I like to add the sashing and cornerstones as I go along -

All I have to do now is add them to the top of blocks #1 - #2 - and #3 -

And to the left side of blocks #1 - #4 - and #7 -

Adding the extra cornerstone in the left top corner -
To either the top or side sashing strip for block #1 -
Whichever one I decide to sew on last -


Then put it together like a giant 9-patch and add the borders - ;))

I had forgotten how fun these little buggers are -

So I may even dig out the "kit" for Halloween -

While I'm in the mood to play with some Sudoku Quilts - ;))

Have you tried one yet? - ;))

They really ARE fun -

And my two-part tutorial can be found on the page/tab -
Sudoku Quilts - at the top of my blog - ;))

Go ahead - I dare you - haha -

I bet you can't make just one - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



Sunday, August 23, 2015

June Wedding Sudoku -


Have you ever had to check your OWN tutorial -

To see how you made something?? - ;))

Well, I had to check mine to finish this -

My June Wedding Sudoku -

Because I had forgotten how to put it together - ;))




Good grief!! -

It's not like I haven't made a few - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



Friday, August 21, 2015

Border Update - 8/21/15


So last time I showed you this -


I cut the strips for the inner border -
From a really pretty white-on-white -
But when I trimmed off the selvages -
And put the strips on the wall -


They came up SHORT - ;))


Don't you love it when your quilt talks to you? - ;))

I think mine was saying -

"Nope - not that one!! - Try something else!!" - ;))

So I put some of the charm squares back up on the wall -


Chose one -

Cut the strips -

Made the borders -

And - instead of running out of bobbin thread an inch BEFORE the end of the seam -

I actually had about four inches of bobbin thread left at the end - ;))


I took that as a good sign -

Until I laid them out -

And scared myself - ;))

The right side lined up nicely -


But one border was off by about 1/2" on the left side - ;))


Then I realized that I had "scooched" it over a little when I laid them out -
And that it wasn't short at all - ;))

WHEW!! - ;))

So - a bit more sewing -

And Voila!! - ;))


I know my photos don't enlarge when you click on them -
So here are a couple of close-ups -
For your viewing pleasure - haha - ;))



I like it -

What do you think? - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



Monday, August 17, 2015

Design Wall Monday - 8/17/15


DESIGN WALL MONDAY -
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 - ;))
===



On my wall today -



I finally got around to auditioning border fabrics -

After a month of personal "stuff" -

Most of which would bore you -

So I won't go into it here -

Except for the water leak -

That was a doozy - ;))

One day I reached under the bathroom sink to get a clean hand towel -

And the whole stack of hand towels and washcloths was WET -

And some of them were GROSS with black mold -

EEEWWW!!!

AND the stack of old/extra bath towels behind them was sopping WET -

EEEWWW!!!

Called the plumber and he replaced some stuff - ;))


I had noticed that the plunger thingy had broken -

But figured it just came "unhooked" -

Didn't realize that it had corroded and broken off -

Until I emptied out the towels and found the pieces - ;))

Seems that the water wasn't going down the drain -

It was coming out of the hole in the back of the one pipe - ;))


Good thing the old towels were there to soak up all of the water -

So the damage to the cabinet is minimal -

But that pretty much tells you how the month of July went for me - ;))

Now it's the middle of August!! -

My how time flies -

Whether you are having fun or not - ;))

Anyway - back to the quilty stuff -

One week I made another "I Spy" baby quilt for a neighbor's daughter -
It's a "cheater" panel -
So all I had to do was quilt in the ditch around the hexagons and the borders -
And add a binding - ;))



Here are some close-ups of the front and back - ;))



Then I pulled a charm pack of some fabrics that I had -
Samples of yardage in my stash -
And pinned them to the wall -


Trying to match colors in the piece -


And decided on the reddish one -
Not an exact match -
But close enough - I thought -


And then the next morning -
I didn't like it -
So I took it off and tossed the strips in my "String" box - ;))

I really wanted a dark purple to be the outer border -
But don't have that particular shade in my stash -
So chose a navy blue -
To echo the darker stripes in the piece -
Cut those -
And added some "focus" fabric squares for the corners -


Then I realized that the navy blue in the piece was outlined in white -
So maybe the inner border should be white -
But the light purple looks good, too - ;))


Question(s) -

How do YOU audition border fabrics? -

And how do YOU decide which one to use??



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



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