Harvest Sun block attempt

Years ago I ripped this pattern out of a Quilt magazine - no idea what issue or year now, but it has been in my binder of blocks to try. The name is Harvest Sun and it is a 15" block. Every once in awhile I like to make a block just for the sake of making 1 block - old pattern magazines are excellent for this as the templates are provided (pre rotary cutter!).
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But there is something to remember about the old template patterns... you almost always must use a VERY scant 1/4" seam. That would be a seam even narrower than your 1/4" foot. I think that many of the newer rotary cut directions provide for a 1/4" or scant 1/4" seam, but the old patterns are very scant. It is easy to confuse because if you measure the dotted lines for the seam on these old templates - they are 1/4". Goes to show - always pays to make up a sample before cutting/sewing an entire top and then being disappointed.

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If you are so very lucky enough to have a sewing machine where you can change the foot plate - definately switch over to the straight stitch plate vs. the zig zag foot when doing these narrow seams. I know many of the older machines have this option - my machine is newer and doesn't... so basically - it doesn't like to sew a seam this narrow. I am going to call the company and see if maybe I can buy the straight stitch plate as an additional part. Failing that - if you have a newer machine you can push the buttons to nudge the needle over to the right - that works too - BUT everytime you sit down at your machine and turn it on, you have to remember to push the button again - I usually forget and then end up with 1/2 my seams a different size than the others. Grrr. And you still have the problem with the fabric going into the feed dog. But - it is an option.

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Anyway, I forgot all about using VERY scant 1/4" seams and happily set off making up these little units - aren't they cute? Wouldn't this make a GREAT star? Oh, except my finished triangle points are never ever going to match because they are a good 1/4" off at the end. Each. Multiply by 8 points. I guess I always could make one more segment and have a 9 pointed star - ha!

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The good news is that there is a very easy way to check 8 pointed stars BEFORE you do all the work I did. You only need to make up ONE segment in order to double check - come to think of it, you can start checking after just making 1 small component of your segment. It is called that 45 degree angle line on your ruler. Can you see how the bottom of my point is a perfect 45 degree angle (I would hope so because that piece has no seam!) and immediately is off by 1/4" as soon as I started to add segments. It might be a bit hard to see because the lines are wearing off on my ruler - this is my very favorite ruler because it doesn't have 1000 extra lines to confuse my eyes! Look down at the bottom right yellow block and you might be able to faintly see the line - you can click on the photo to enlarge if that is of any help. OK - I definately have to remember this when I finally get around to making a Broken Star quilt, a pattern I have been admiring since just about forever!

All is not lost though - I think that I can probably use these segments for some kind of wonkyish border in some other project - something like the photo below or maybe alternated with a solid fabric.

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AND - it was a good, quick refresher course in 8 pointed stars. I am going to make this block again and hopefully, if I follow all my own good advice, it will come out the way it is supposed to the next time around!

Left-Over Blocks

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If you look in my archives.... waaaay back to January of 2006, you will see a rather largish collection of these Grandmother's Choice blocks... these are 16 of the 17 blocks that did NOT make the cut for my bigger quilt (which still remains unfinished as I left it in Austria and then last year my stay over there was much shorter than anticipated - still I can hope to get that top finished sometime this winter!). Anyway, these blocks were left-over, or just didn't fit in, from my original project so were tossed in a suitcase and came with me back to the North American continent. They probably would have lived in a UFO bin very happily for a long while, except for the fact that sometime in - maybe May - Judy issued a challenge to use a piece of fabric from our stash.

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Although not super motivated to buy new fabrics right now or even start new projects for that matter, somewhere along the way I pulled together enough energy to be a tiny bit interested in quilting again. Inspired from other blogger's working away on string quilts, I went to work making Chinese Coins strips - I showed these in a June post. The idea was to use a dark blue fabric from my stash as the alternate rows... except once all my strips were pieced together - they decided that they would much more prefer to be set with a bright turquoise fabric instead, thank you very much. Oh, they are perfectly willing to wait until I get around to acquiring the correct fabric... but in the meantime, this dark blue started to act all disappointed because it had been so sure it was finally going to be used. What to do? What to do?

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Grandmother's Choice blocks to the rescue! They are 10.5" unfinished and I cut the sashing strips 3.5" and chain pieced them. It is an odd collection of blocks in that some of them are a tiny bit differently sized than others - and I didn't want to square them up because that would chop the points. Instead, I sashed each block along one side and then the bottom. End blocks get an extra sashing on the side (you can see that the bottom row block still needs to be sashed). Sewed the blocks together into rows- letting any uneven-ness fall along the sashed edge. Now all I have to do is to trim the sashing evenly and then piece the rows together. Sashing each block individually prevents distortion/rippling that would have happened if I had cut 1 long piece of sashing per row since the blocks are a bit uneven. No one is really going to notice if 1 sashing row is about 1/4"+ off than the next row up or down, and this way everything will fit together very nicely. Works for me.

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You may be able to see that I have numbers pinned on the blocks. I use a little code - TR (top right), BL (bottom left) BR2 (bottom row, 2nd block over), R2/2 (row 2, 2nd block over), etc. That just helps keep me organized so I know where I left off.

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And - no - I am not using pink fabric on this quilt. That is actually the back of my heart quilt. I like the size of the heart quilt alot and wanted to make this quilt a similar size. So, I lay out the pink quilt to work off of when setting blocks - then I can guess about how big to make /cut everything. After the borders, this quilt will be a bit bigger than the pink quilt, which is fine - I just wanted to make sure it wouldn't be smaller/shorter!

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I have to trim and then sew the rows together. Inner narrow border will be beige - probably 2.5" cut. 6.5" cut outer border in that blue. I have a few yards of that blue left over, but at least I am putting some of it to excellent use! Backing on this quilt will probably be a rust colored flannel I have in the stash.

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In answer to some questions... all the photos in the last photo collage were of my son - yes, he is getting BIG! Yes, he has a summer haircut - beach sand, salt water, hot weather... all good reasons for a short cut - and the fact that someone spilled duck sauce all in his hair one night and he didn't want me to WASH his hair - sponging it "out" was a temporary measure and the next day it smelled like kuk-ka. So, rather than battling it out with shampoo, I buzzed it off - much simplier!

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So - not my usual production level, but it is something. Thanks for all the kind words about me being so tired. No I am not pregnant and I don't think I have lyme's disease, but both of those guesses certainly would be cause for being tired! I am working long hours and have a lot to juggle, always trying to put my son and his schedule first and then catching up on what I have to get done, which of course, is also very important. But, ssshhhh - I don't like to talk about work on my blog! But that is nothing new for me as I've managed that schedule since my son was a baby. Being tired for no good reason in particular is just plain frustrating. Oh well, like I said before - at least my doctors have ruled out anything serious and I will just have to sit down and put my feet up a bit more often.

Summer Update...

Beach, beach, beach - whether it be a rocky shore, ocean with big dunes, gentle bays and mellow ponds - summer is definately a time to enjoy the water! Cook-outs, watermelon, hulla hoops, minature golf, 4th of July parade - and a tailgate picnic in the car with one of my sister's dogs! Cousins, have I mentioned playing with the cousins? Lots and lots of cousins. Combine all this with my normal day-to-day stuff (my paperwork piles are a bit never-ending, especially in the summer) and everything else that goes on around here - and I am having a very busy summer! If you have trouble seeing the photo collage - double click on it to enlarge!

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On going to the beach... Sunscreen, sunshirt, sunglasses, sunhat, bug spray, dry clothes, snacks, water bottles, coolers, beach chairs, towels, beach toys - the list does seem a bit daunting, but once I get it all lugged down to the beach it is pure bliss - until it is time to manage getting it all back UP the dune! My car is starting to think it is some sort of special hybrid - part beach - there is so much sand in there!

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I am very tired and have various aches and pains, but 2 doctors appointments have ruled out anything very serious (which is, of course, very good news), but I am hoping that I get my energy back soon. In the meantime, I suppose my Little Boy has enough energy for the 2 of us combined!

Still not forgotten

Yesterday France celebrated Bastille Day. On July 1 Canada celebrated Canada Day. On July 4th the USA celebrated Independence Day. Interesting that these 3 countries celebrate very similar holidays so close together (and if I left out another country, sorry!)

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In a nod to all those who have served their country, standing up for what they believe in - here are some interesting photos of John Taylor's gravestone, a US Revolutionary war veteran.

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In the US, all the service men and women ... each and every one of their gravestones should have some sort of marker indicating their service to the USA with a flag. Each war has its own marker.

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How many of you have seen a Revolutionary marker? Can you see the Minute Man in the center of the 2nd marker (scroll down to see the other 2 photos)? Being from New England I often frequent very old cemetaries, this one in particular, and in Feb. and March, while tidying up a nearby gravesite with my sisters and brother-in-law, as our boys sipped hot tea from thermoses, I walked over to John Taylor's final resting place and snapped these photos.

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His flag may be a bit tattered from winter winds, but John Taylor is still not forgotten.