in the works

Rather than lay out the 80 double hourglass blocks that have been patiently waiting on my table for a week, I've decided to embark on two new projects.

First, I finished cutting my Kaffe Fassett fat quarters, using the template from this free pdf pattern, and got the pieces all laid out.

it's about to get autobiographical, y'all

So a little while back, my friend Jimmie gave me a blog award. Blog awards are kind of like the new chain e-mails. Maybe this was just being at the right age with the right technological advances, but when I (and I'm wiling to best many others born in the mid-80) was in junior high, my friends and I would circulate chain e-mail "surveys." This was back in the AOL 4.0 years. We would e-mail asking a bunch of questions (ranging from what color you wish you could die your hair to who you had a crush on, etc.) and then demand that the recipient reply with their answers and then forward the questions on to X number of other people.

So, with a blogging award, I'm supposed to:

1. Thank and link back the person that awarded it to you.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pay it forward to 15 recently discovered great bloggers.
4. Contact those bloggers and tell them about their blog award.

And just to break it up some, I'll include some completely unrelated pictures.

Kaffe Fasset fat quarters I got at a local quilt shop.
These will become a wall hanging for my bedroom.

how many hours does it take to make 80 quilt blocks?

So keeping a time log has been an interesting exercise. If you read that last sentence and thought it sounded about as exciting as busting out the seam ripper or basting a quilt, just click away from this post now.

Last we left off, I had cut all my strip sets into 320 quarter-square triangles. I spent half an hour pairing those triangles up to be sewn (and owning Jeopardy — there was a category about Texas today!)

harsh clock

I, just like many of you, I'm sure, repeatedly get asked "How long does something like that take you?" Now, my usual answer is something to the effect of: "I don't really time myself. I do this for fun, and I don't want to turn it into a chore." But over the holidays I got asked that question so many times, I actually started to get curious. So when I started working on my doube hourglass quilt, I decided to pay attention to the clock — or to how many episodes of This American Life I listened to while doing something.

Here are the somewhat depressing results:

thrifty tip

I know I don't have to neatly lay out my paired-up strips in even rows... but I kind of like it.

Today's entry truly lives up to the name of the blog. Sadly, I can't take credit for it. I read it in the February issue of BHG's American Patchwork and Quilting.

I save the extra backing and batting that I trim off a quit before binding. Why? Well honestly, just 'cause I'm a packrat. Also, a woman in my quilt guild collects that type of thing to stuff pet beds that a group she's in makes and donates to area shelters.

So what can you do with those extra 2-4 inch strips of batting? Dust! That's right, y'all. Batting is just as good as those Swiffer cloths. I used a piece to clean my ceiling fan last night:

cathedral windows

after seeing so many beautiful things like these last week...

1. Cathedral Window Quilt (with background light), 2. Gail's Cathedral Window Quilt, 3. img 4052.jpg 4. cathedral windows

I decided to try my own.

insomnia

I work nights. This means I don't really have to wake up before 2 p.m. on any given day. (I try to wake up before noon, though!) I get home from work around midnight, and I'm usually up until around 3 or 4 a.m. Lately, though, I've been unable to fall asleep until 6 a.m. or later.

I made this little birdie using the Sublime Stitching Kurt Halsey transfer and the floss Candi sent me. I think I'm going to add a few little details (maybe some of the stars from the pattern sheet?) and hang the hoop on the wall somewhere. I need to go to Jo-Ann's to get a bunch of cheap wooden hoops, so my walls can look like Heather's.

I'm planning to quilt this sucker today (or at least get the process started)

I keep going back and forth on whether to echo the diamond shapes (which would take longer and mean I have to go back and hide a million thread tails later), or just do organic, straight-line quilting (which I think would look awesome with the vertical print I'm using for the back). Thoughts?

the quilt that kept me away from the blog

This quilt was a lot of "firsts" for me.

First time using only solid fabrics (Kona's Poseidon bundle and Burgundy yardage for the back/binding).

First time sewing curved/wavy seams. (I used Kathy's tutorial and my Curve Master presser foot.)

First time overdoing the basting process. I spent more than three hours basting and less than an hour and a half quilting.

First time I couldn't blog my progress, 'cause this one was top secret.

First quilt for my little brother.

my love/hate relationship with scissors

The dresden I showed you in my last post was a warm-up for my bee block this month. Joanna picked out some beautiful fabrics, and her dear, patient husband cut plastic templates for us each to use (and keep).

This brings me to my love/hate relationship with scissors. I decided instead of tracing the template and cutting it out by hand, I would layer a ruler on top of it and use my rotary cutter. Looks like I may want to pick up one of those Easy Dresden rulers for future dresden adventures. I did, however, have fun using my fancy new pinking shears (Christmas gift from the little brother) to cut out the circle. Apparently pinked edges on curves help the seams lie flat.

For the first time, I got my fabric out of the mailbox and finished the block on the same day. I found it easiest to sew the wedges into quadrants and square those up before moving on. I had to trim a bit, but it lies nice and flat now. I also opted for a zig-zag stitch rather than a straight edge stitch or an appliqué stitch.

Now onto some handiwork...

just playing around...

... with scraps ...

... and my camera app ...

... on Wednesday afternoon.

I used the Elizabeth Hartman tutorial on Sew, Mama, Sew! and shrunk the template.

Next up: cathedral window practice block. After seeing this post from Heather (toward the bottom), I must learn.

favorite finishes of 2010

1. happy campers, 2. whirligigs, 3. potholder pass round 3,
4. potholders, 5. finished wall hanging, 6. new purse,
7. robot pillow, 8. Pure wall hanging, 9. hexagon QAL front,
10. garden windows, 11. mug rug for Julie, 12. front