Loving the octagons!

      I truly love making One Block Wonder Quilts. You never know how they will look which is the hard part and the Eureka part. I hate making jigsaw puzzles because the photo is already on the box, so why am I doing it?
      I have had this fabric for a while. Cutting it up properly is a precision thing and a goof up can hardly be fixed, so that is why it sat. I am always looking for large scale florals to make one and I need eight repeats, so it is difficult. I have not found one in a while. Only certain fabrics work. The ratio of background and print has to be just perfect. This fabric could have used a little less black and more flowers. If anyone knows of any candidates out there for sale, drop me a note. I don't see any right now in my searching.
    I cut the fabric up before that last retreat in November and have been slowly piecing the octagons in pairs as leader and enders. Finally, all octagons sewn! I follow the assembly in the One Block Wonder book for the octagon blocks because they end up being sewn together as square blocks, not weird half blocks like the hexagons.
    At first, I had them in a long rectangle shape, but that did not work out. Once I had them sort of settled in a different configuration, I started adding the "Sensational Squares" as the author calls them. Then things get even more interesting. There are scores of photos of ideas but here are some. Still not decided what layout.

I need flowers, now!

      It is that time in February where I have had it with dark, cold winter. Lots of ice with constant snow this year. I love houseplants and outdoor plants. I have to settle for indoor gardens this time of year. In the fall I bought some new African violets and some small orchids besides what I already have. I am very grateful for blooming growing things right now. It helps keep me motivated to keep sewing.

    A friend I had not seen in a long time, dropped off this bouquet to me as she received it from someone and is not a fan of flowers and she knew I was. I certainly am!

Multicolored Squirrel

       So I was in my sewing studio minding my own business putting fabric scraps away when I came across this strip set of Kaffe fabric strips sent to me by Quiltdiva Julie in a plastic box with Kaffe scraps. All else faded. I opened it up and pinned it on the design wall. Squirrel! I pressed it and cut it into 2 1/2" strips and put it back on the wall. I arranged the strips a few times. Ah, the colors washed over me and smiled.
     Once I figure out the layout, I auditioned fabrics for above and below. I got to thinking that the top was like a sky and the bottom like grass for the band to float. I chose a blue with mottled values and a number of greens. Once I drew all the strips on graph paper and and numbered them all with tape, I cut the top and bottom pieces according to the sizes I figured out on the graph paper.

     Now, I have all the strips stacked and ready to sew the long edges. What a squirrel!

Crop of cards

      Valentines Day has passed, but not without card fanfare! This year, I wanted to make humble, cozy cards. I did a variety of styles and I used old jeans and heart fabric. I tried some hand stitching, but I was too slow. I gave up and pulled out a Pfaff machine someone gave me that has a zillion stitches on it, but is a creaky, plastic machine where you hold your breath while sewing on it. It has a blanket stitch that I use sometimes. I tested out a bunch of stitches and sewed the hearts with Glide Red thread. I made a total of 80 and have one left. It was quite a process- cutting, sewing, glueing, etc. And I found some heart buttons on Ebay and glued them on. Then I realized I had to put cardboard pieces in the envelopes so that the cards could go through the cancellation machine. Lastly, I had them weighed at the post office to make sure the stamps were enough postage. The address labels for some reason malfunctioned so that took another day to solve. I was glad I got them done in time to get to everyone on time except Maureen in New Zealand. Some process photos:

Buttons not glued on yet

Not quilts, but fun making

      I don't look to make anything other than quilts, but sometimes little projects just sneak up and grab me. I had been rummaging through a box of Kaffe scraps given to me (super!) and a lot of the strips were under 1 1/2". I had tried some Jack's Chain blocks and was using the strips for the nine patches, but I balked on it. More on that another time.
     So, in my internet searches for scraps usage, I found tutorials for twine and rope bowls. I tried both and they are both fun. The Rope bowl Youtube from the UK where you use both hands to twist is the superior way to go. Whenever I have a spare 15 min  or so, I pull out the box of strips and go twisting away. I never thought I could sew a rope bowl, but my trusty Singer 401 just claws right through it perfectly.

Of course, Rosie also had a use for the scraps in the box.

Isn't the twine full of lovely colors? I just keep making it and will figure how to use it later.

Nice start!

Black box mystery

      A while back, I hinted when I bought the magical bookcase there was a black box on the floor next to it. This was the box.

A lot of you know what this is.
I can recognize it across a football field.

     I did polish it up with black shoe polish and polished the hinges before I took the photo, but still, it is pretty remarkable. You can imagine my excited anticipation when I was opening the lid. What would I find and in what condition?
    Inside was a very lovely Singer 221- the Featherweight. All the attachments. I have fixed and cleaned many of these machines for people (Sew much fun!), so I can figure out the condition pretty quickly. I came back to the store with a cord and footcontroller from one of my machines to put it through the paces before I bought it to make sure it ran well. It even had the keys for the case!!
     The Featherweight is a kind of cult sewing machine. On the positive side, it sews an absolutely perfect straight stitch due to the fine machining and rotary bobbin. It is lightweight and very simple to operate. It is a tough machine- not finicky or tempermental. They are so easily fixable and parts are easy to come by. On the downside, it has a tiny motor and is not fast, although perfect for piecing that requires slow precision like curves or paper piecing. Its light bulb must be replaced by an LED so you don't burn your wrist while sewing. Some people do not realize they can't yank the threads at the end and so bury a broken thread piece in the precision hook mechanism and blame the machine. It is so darn cute and a workhorse, what else would have lasted so many years?

     And there you have over a 70 year old machine that works like the day it was made, creating quilts and piecing memories. When I examined it, I saw it needed new cords as the flat aluminum wiring cords it had are dangerous. I ordered from the magnificent Singer-Featherweight shop, changed the cords, changed the bulb, cleaned and polished the paint and we are ready to roll with precision piecing! Black box mystery solved!

Another finish

      Exciting title, right? The Fading Charms quilt has been done for, er, a long time. I finally quilted it and I just love the eye spy squares and colors. It was fun to quilt. It is ready to be a comfort quilt. It would be perfect for a child. I have plenty more scrap 2 1/2" kid squares, so I could make another one. I hate square quilts as people are not square, so I would modify the shape somehow.

I finished this so long ago, my buddy, Tugger, was alive and inspected the unquilted top.

Detail on longarm

I love Stripe bindings!