No sewing today -

 

 

Today was a "chore" day - 

 

So I didn't get to sew anything - 

 

But I did stare at my RED Squirrel -

 

Every chance I got - 

 

 

Part of me is afraid I'm going to mess it up - 

 

But another part of me says not to worry - 

 

The RED thread will blend in - 

 

And no one is going to notice the stitching anyway - ;))

 

 

 

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

 

A couple more odds and ends -

 

 

Continuing on with some more odds and ends - 

 

To clear the decks and my mental "to do" list - 

 

I made labels for the Noah's Ark panel and Bee Happy - 

 

And finished the "joins" on the Practice Quilt and Bee Happy - 

 

 

Then sewed the label to the Noah's Ark panel - 

 

And stitched the binding to the front of the Practice Quilt - 

And attached the label - 

 

The Practice Quilt panel is fun for reference - 

To see my progress - 

I still need to stitch the binding to the front of Bee Happy - 

And attach the label - 

But I ran out of gas - 

So it will have to wait its turn - ;))

 

 

 

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

 

More odds and ends -

 

 

Today I took a little side-step - 

 

To finish up some odds and ends - 

 

And stitched the binding to the backs -

 

Of Bee Happy and my Practice Quilt - 

 

 

 

I still have to do the "join" on each of them - 

And stitch the binding to the fronts of the quilts - 

Then make a label for Bee Happy - 

 

And attach both labels to the quilts - 

But it's two more little odds and ends - 

Off my never-ending list of things to do -

 

And finishing some things - 

 

Will clear the deck for quilting my RED Squirrel - 

 

And making my new Upstairs/Downstairs - Marigold - 

 

Along with chasing any other Squirrels that catch my eye - ;))

Talk to you later - gotta go -gotta sew -

 

Mail call -

 

 

Today I got some squishy mail - 

 

And couldn't wait to open it - 

 

Inside were four 20-strip jelly rolls - 

Marigold - HERE - 

 

 

They were on sale and I couldn't resist - 

 

I think that they will make a beautiful Upstairs/Downstairs quilt top -

 

And the rolls are already "shaded" for me -   

I LOVE it when that happens -

 

I need two rolls for the first four "sets" of identical blocks - 

 

And these rolls were SUPER SIMPLE to sort - 

 

 

I peeled them right off the roll and made four piles - 

Starting with the darker ones ones on the bottom - 

 

1234-1234-1234-1234-1234 -

Four piles with 5 strips in each pile -

Each pile will be sewn into one strata - 

Which will make three identical blocks - 

 

Then I split the second roll the same way - 

To give me two matching strata - 

For six identical blocks - 

 

So - the first two rolls will make four "sets" of six identical blocks -

 

The last two rolls were split a little differently -

For variety - to give me another four "sets" of six identical blocks -

 

1234-2341-3412-4123-1234 - 

 

Then I changed up the last 1234 to 2341 -

To mix it up a little more - 

 

Then I folded the eight "sets" and put them on a cookie sheet - 

To be sewn into strata later - 

 

 

These eight "sets" will give me 48 blocks - 

Set 6 x 8 - 

For a top approximately - 60" x 80" - 

 

It's been a while since I did any piecing -

 

So I think this will be nice for a "change" - ;))

 

 

 

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

 

Loaded -

 

 

First the backing for my RED Squirrel - 

If it looks a bit "light" to you - 

It's because I have to load it with the WRONG side up - 

 

 

Then I loaded and basted the batting and the quilt top - 

I changed the thread to RED - 

And changed from the open-toe foot to the ruler foot - 

In case I want/need to use it - 

Tomorrow I'll test the tension - 

 

I want to do something "curvy" in the "flowers" - 

 

And some lines in the "background" strips - 

 

I need to decide if I want to try to use the channel locks - 

To give me nice straight lines - 

That would also show any and all of my "crooked" seams - 

 

Or use a ruler to stitch straight lines - 

The ruler would help me "fudge" the lines if needed -  

 

Or go with some wavy lines instead -

Free-hand - no channel locks or rulers -  

They would be more "organic" - 

What do you think? -

 

Should I try the channel locks? - 

 

Or a ruler? -

 

Or simply stitch some free-hand wavy lines? - ;))

 

 

 

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

Backing -

 

 

For my RED Squirrel is sewn together - 

 

And hanging on the front rail - 

 

I cut the batting -

And folded it in the hammock - to keep it clean and tidy -

 

But that's as far as I got today - 

I need to baste the zippers to the backing - 

And load it on the frame - 

Change the thread color to RED - 

Change out the open-toe foot for the ruler foot this time -

In case I need help sewing a straight line - 

 

Then I can go from there - ;))

 

 

 

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

 

No sewing today -

 

 

But I did get some big "chores" out of the way - 

 

So tomorrow I can play with the stuff on the table inserts -

 

And the RED Squirrel that fell into the hammock - 

 

Having those "chores" out of the way is great - 

Now I can PLAY - ;))

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

Odds and ends -

 

 

Today I was in the mood to "fiddle" - 

 

So I trimmed the Practice quilt - 

 

That I used to test out my Grace Q-Zone Hoop Frame - 

 

The frame I had before I upgraded to the Q-Zone Queen Frame - 

 

 

And I cut some "hanging triangles" for Bee Happy -

 

After I "re-found" the video - HERE -

 

Then I checked the closet hiding with my quilt tops -

And found three that have backing fabrics already chosen - 

So they could/should be next up to be quilted -

 

Sometimes it's the little things that really make a difference - 

And move a project farther along - 

To the "finish" line - ;))

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

Another one -

 

 

Is bound but not labeled - 

 

Today I bound the Noah's Ark panel -

 

Looking at the stitching on the back is fun - 

 

It's messy - but it shows my progress - 

 

And it makes me want to stitch a "wholecloth" quilt - 

 

I'm sure I have a "pre-printed" one in my stash - 

 

Somewhere - ;))

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

Bound and labeled -

 

 

I was in a "binding" mood today - 

 

So I took advantage of it - 

 

And pulled out the Woof & Whiskers quilts - 

 

And finished stitching the binding to the front - 

 

On both of them - 

 

Woof & Whiskers - Confetti -

 

 

Woof & Whiskers - Jiffy Jelly - 

I stitched the labels to the backs, too -

 

I used the same jelly rolls - fabrics/colors - for each quilt -

 

But different patterns - 

 

I used the same backing fabric - 

 

And quilted them both with giant "swirls" - 

 

So - 

 

Now I have two more off the "To Bind and Label" pile - 

 

And added to the "DONE" pile - ;))

 

 

 

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

 

Backing panels -

 

 

Are torn and pressed but not sewn - 

 

For my RED Squirrel - 

 

For some reason - 

 

My brain wasn't doing the math right today - 

So I draped the top over one of the rails - 

Split the RED swirl backing into two pieces - 

Spread those out with "extra" at the sides for loading on the frame - 

Then measured the gap between them - 

And tore a piece of the RED solid to fit - 

 

With a couple of inches of overlap for seam allowances - 

 

Pressed everything - 

 

Then called it a day - 

 

Tomorrow - hopefully - I can get them all sewn together - ;))

 

 

 

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

 

Lazy day -

 

  

Today I made very little progress -

 

On my RED Squirrel - HERE - 

 

 

Other than to find some solid RED fabric - 

To use for an "insert" panel to make the backing wider - 

 

I still have to cut and press the fabric - 

 

So that's on the agenda for tomorrow - ;))

 

 

 

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

 

Next up -

 

 

I removed the zippers from the Opal KaBloom PINK flower - 

 

But I still have to trim and bind it - 

 

So it's "in the pile" for later - 

 

And next up is this oldie - 

 

My RED Squirrel - HERE -

 

 

I have a really pretty backing fabric for it - 

That my camera thinks is ORANGE - 

But it's RED - 

 

So - after I make the back - 

 

I can baste on the zippers - 

 

And load it - 

 

And go from there - ;))

 

 

 

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

 

Quilted -

 

 

The Opal KaBloom PINK flower is quilted - 

 

YAY!! - 

 

 

Nothing fancy - 

 

Just echoing the outline of the petals - 

 

From the outside in - 

 

This should make a pretty wallhanging - 

 

I have a couple of the larger flower panels - 

 

So I might try one with "feathers" - 

 

Or something like that - 

 

But first I think I'll go back to quilting a "regular" quilt - 

 

And I have a really pretty one in mind - 

 

After I un-baste the zippers - 

 

And trim this one for binding strips - ;))

 

 

 

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -