Something new to pin -

I was checking my stats today and noticed that one "Traffic Source" was Pinterest -

So I was curious to see what someone had "pinned" -

And found that it was an OLD photo from one of my OLD posts -

On how to use a Right-Handed ruler to cut HST and QST -

Oh, dear!! -

Why use a Right-Handed ruler when you can use a LEFT-HANDED one?!?! - ;))

I thought I had gone back to all of those OLD posts -

And added the blurb telling you about -

The LEFT-EZE™ Rule -

So I went back again to double check the blurb -

And added a photo of my new ruler - ;))

Now you can pin something NEW and EXCITING -

And LEFT-HANDED!! - ;))

===

EDIT UPDATE -

Since posting this post -
I designed a LEFT-HANDED ruler to cut HST and QST -
LEFT-HANDED!! -

No more Flippin' rulers!! -
I call it a LEFT-EZE™ Rule -
Check it out on my other blog - HERE - ;))

===

If you are one of those who pinned something from an OLD post -

Please check out my new LEFT-HANDED ruler and pin the NEW one -

Thanks!! - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Executive decisions -

As you already now -

The past few days I have been working on finishing up my Sudoku quilts - ;))

Today I made the executive decision to do the last three "assembly-line" style -

So I spent some time pulling fabrics for the corner triangles and the bindings on my Easter - Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day Sudoku Quilts - ;))

The labels will be "framed" with various scraps - and the Easter Sudoku Quilt still needs the borders quilted so I may add some "extra" quilting to the borders of the Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day quilts while I'm at it - ;))

On another subject entirely -

I was "talking" to my friend, Gene, about some blocks that we had made a couple of years ago. He found one of my old posts where I had talked about them - but the photos were missing - HERE -

I had noticed that some of my other posts had big gray ovals where the photos used to be - but had never followed up - thinking that the problem probably had something to do with google and the switch from Picasa to google photo.

He said that he noticed the same thing on some of his older posts and had made the executive decision to "let it go". I liked that - and told him -

I like your decision making skills - I think I will do the same. I posted those dang photos once - and I have more FUN things to do than spend my time trying to figure out what google did with them and/or how to fix it. "Let it go" sounds good to me - that would make a good song - LOL - ;))

And that's how I got the title for today's post - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Another finish -

Got everything ready -

For the May Flowers Sudoku Quilt -

The corner triangles - the binding - and the label -

Then - after a leisurely afternoon of sewing -

It's DONE - ;))

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

A finish - YAY!! -

My July Americana Sudoku Quilt -

With the binding -

Corner triangles (for hanging) - AND a "proper" label - ;))

The top left corner triangle -
Doesn't match - but it's on the back - and serves the purpose -

The top right corner triangle -
A closer match -

The bottom left corner triangle -
Again - serves the purpose -

And the bottom right corner triangle -
Blends in real well - maybe a little too well - ;))

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

All nice and labeled -

The way they should have been done in the first place - ;))

I found some white fabric that had some ugly red streaks on it from something that had obviously "run" a while back - and thought it could still be useful as the "facing" for my labels -

So - my usual method is to use some "sew-in" fabric sheets and work up a sheet of labels using my computer and an address label template - then print off the labels - cut them apart - and "frame" each one with some fabric -

Then place them face-down on the facing fabric - and stitch all the way around using a 1/4" seam -

Then slit the facing and turn the whole thing inside out - and give it a good press -
That way there are no edges to "turn under" - everything is all nice and neat -

Then I decide where I want to put it and try to use the same thread that I used to quilt the quilt in the first place - the theory being that the stitching will look like some "more" quilting - ;))

I stitch around the white part of the label using a straight stitch - then around the outside edge (perimeter) using a blanket stitch - and it's virtually invisible from the front of the quilt -

Unless you look really closely - ;))

And bonus -

With the double stitching -

Once around the inside of the "frame" -

And again around the outside of the label itself -

That label isn't going anywhere - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Being lazy -

Is usually not my style -

But there are times when I think I can get away with it -

Like last year when I did a post about a Lazy way to do labels -

Using the alphabet font on my sewing machine to print out my name and the year on the quilt instead of attaching a "proper" label - ;))

And then the day comes when I hear my Dad - from when I was a kid - telling me -

You know that's not the way to do it! - You're being lazy! -
If you're going to do something - do it the RIGHT way! - ;))

SOOOOOOO -

I was getting all set up to make the corner squares (for hanging) and cut the binding for my July Americana Sudoku Quilt -

When I heard the "lazy" speech in my head -

And realized that I had not "properly" labeled this pile -

I had stitched my name and the year - but none of these quilts had "Names" - and I'm the only one who knows which one is which - unless you read my blog - and even then you would have to read several years worth because I am such a S-L-O-W quilter - and I jump back and forth between projects a LOT - ;))

So I made some "sew-in" fabric labels using my computer and an address label template - and then dug out some scraps - starting with the Christmas Sudoku Quilt and the January Sudoku Quilt -

Just in time for Father's Day tomorrow - ;))

And I think it's true -

Father Knows Best - ;))

Happy Father's Day!! - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Another backing done -

I got stuck on trying to decide what to quilt in the border of my Easter Sudoku Quilt - so I made another backing instead - ;))

It doesn't look like much - but it's big enough to fit the back of my Pinwheel Polka Dot -

The bottom print is pretty -

But the top print is a combination of weird greens - and both are some of those fabrics that I have had for years and years and have never used. Now they both have found a home and are OUT of my stash - Yay!! - ;))

So - after I fuse/basted everything and did the "stitch in the ditch" -

I folded it up neatly and added it to -

"The Mountain That Needs To Be Free-Motion Quilted" - ;))

When I find my FMQ mojo - I'll try to tackle that mountain - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Two more borders done -

So - the Free-Motion thing didn't work - ;))

When I turned the first corner on the Valentine's Day Sudoku Quilt - the backing got tucked under and stitched down. I caught it before I had gone too far so I decided to un-stitch the whole thing and start over - ;))

Plan B - a different stencil - and back to the walking foot -

It took me a minute to figure out how many "passes" I would have to make to complete the pattern - and no - two is not the answer - ;))

I tried to get a good shot of the texture for you -

Because - as you can see - it hardly shows up at all - which is probably a good thing - ;))

Next up - the March St. Patrick's Day Sudoku Quilt -
And another stencil for the walking foot -
This time the number of "passes" IS two - ;))

Doesn't show much on this one either -

I think the next one will show a bit better -

But we'll see - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

One border down -

I took Gene's suggestion since I pretty much had decided the same thing - free-motion wavy lines in the border of the July Americana Sudoku Quilt - to give the feeling of a "breeze" causing the flags to wave. I chose a dark blue thread - and you can see that it blends nicely - it's almost invisible -

And it gave the border a great texture - which is what I wanted - ;))

Next I grabbed the February Valentine's Day Sudoku Quilt and a "heart" stencil - a foam paint brush and some pounce powder -

I had to flip the stencil several times and it's not a perfect fit so I'll have to "fudge" some in the middle - but it will give me a general "path" for some funky free-form Free-Motion Quilting - and then I can fill in a bit with some "echo" lines - since it looks kinda skinny all by itself. I'm going to use a red thread - it should hide any "design" elements - should I have to add some - LOL - ;))

And that's the plan for this afternoon and early evening -

Until "life" changes it and something else requires my attention -

Or until it's dinner time -

Whichever comes first - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Not much sewing going on -

But a whole lot of "life" is going on behind the scenes - ;))

My "life" gets in the way of my blogging sometimes -

And I don't like to mix the two -

So blogging usually takes a back seat -

Until "life" settles down and I get back to sewing and quilting -

And have something to actually blog about - ;))

So -

I still haven't quilted the borders on any of the Sudoku Quilts -

But I did pull out some stencils to audition -

Some of the stencils would be better stitched with my walking foot -

And some of them will give me a "path" to follow with my Free-Motion foot -

If I decide to do that -

And some of them will show up nicely on the borders that read like solids -

And none of them will show up on the "busy" flag print of the July Americana Sudoku Quilt -

So choosing which border to quilt -

And how to quilt it -

Is next on the agenda -

Between episodes of "life" - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -