Look What I Made! (Monday?)

So, I been thinkin'... I do most of my sewing and quilting on the weekend. That's just the way it works for me. I have a full time job during the week with a very, very, very long commute. If I get 4 hours of sewing on Saturday or Sunday, yay! So, again, I been thinkin'... WIP Wednesdays or Linky parties on Fridays just really don't work for me :( I share on them, but I have to make the post on Sunday night and wait a few days or more to share... and I have to remember to link up at a later date! I am ready to share after the weekend! There aren't many Monday linky parties, so I was thinking I should do a Monday party! What do you think? I'm thinking it will force me to post at least once a week and I will have fun sharing :)

Well, anyway, this is what I made this weekend:

I'm still working on my Craftsy Block of the Month. This is the first block for August. I'm way behind. The fabrics are Michael Miller (at least some are). They came from leftover scraps from my friend Mel up in Massachusetts. She doesn't quilt, but she is crafty!

I also wanted to give a shout out to Missy, Lily, Sandy, and Mary. I had my very first ever sewing class/event. I drove up to North New Jersey to the store that sold me the long arm quilter. It was show and tell and a small class type of thing. I had a great time! It meets every two months and I can't wait for the next one :)

Let me know what you think about the Monday share party thing. I am thinking it should incorporate some giveaway thing too!

Until next time,

Mike.

BOMs Away!!! & Link a Finish Friday!

Well, it's been a couple a weeks but I finished a few more of the Block of the Months. Maybe eventually I will be making the blocks during the month in which they were intended to be made :)

The theme for the Craftsy Block of the Month in July was Dresdens, so here you go:

 First time I've ever made a Dresden plate. Left is traditional, right is modern version.

 Me appliqueing with a zigzag stitch for the first time. Good thing you can't see the closeup. It's pretty bad.

Let me know if you have any suggestions for zigzag stitch on applique.

Chain piecing the Dresdens and thought it looked cool! I won the EZ Dresden tool from Barbie and the Quilting Mill awhile back. It really saves you time and is EZ to use :) especially with my rotating cutting mat!

And now on to the Quilt Story Block of the Month for which the theme was simply "rounded."

So I said, let's just make another Dresden plate!!! It's round, why not? Then on the right, you can see I got little play happy with the EZ Drezden ruler and just started randomly sewing them together. For the applique on that one, I did a really tight zigzag so it looks shiny (and uses lots of thread). It was a raw edge, so I wanted it covered. No one ever really taught me the best way to applique, so I will take tips or tricks. I have been using my 505 spray to stabilize. I noticed though that the tighter the stitch it seems to kind of "shrink" your block, like it is slightly puckering up the background fabric as you stitch. Is there a way to avoid that? I suppose I would have made the purple background a bit bigger had I known, then squared off the block to 12.5" Now I will have to remember on that block to do less than 1/4 inch on the seam when I sew the blocks together. Oh well.

I also wanted to mention that the purple thread on the applique I won from Craft Nurse Quilt as part of Kelie's giveaway package.

I am linking up at Link a Finish Friday at Richard and Tanya Quilts.

Happy Friday everyone!

Until next time,

Mike.

I dropped a few more BOMs this week & Quilt Show

Well, I've been working on a super secret project this past couple of weeks, but I have also finished a couple of more BOMs of which I can share with you.

Lower left is the Octagon from Craftsy (June 2 of 2). Upper left is the one I posted about last time, the Greek Cross (June 1 of 2). Upper right and lower right are Quilt Story (June 2 versions). They were supposed to be anything with Flying Geese. I made one more traditional and the other a little crazy. I realized once I finished that I could not get them to come out to a 12.5 inch block, so I added borders and then squared off the blocks :)

Next month (July!!!...I know. Don't say anything!) it will be Dresden blocks and Rounded blocks. I think rounded doesn't necessarily mean it will have curves, as long as it appears rounded, sort of like the Octagon block above.

Hope you enjoy! I am linking up at Richard and Tanya's Link a Finish Friday.

I also wanted to mention that I will be in Philadelphia, PA next Saturday to visit the Quilt Show!!! Anyone else going? Would love to meet up and say Hi :)

Until next time,

Mike.

The BOM is back!!!

Okay, I had a few moments the other day so I decided to try to catch up on my BOMs. I've been busy with the Hexy quilt and the Buzz Lightyear quilt but now that they have been given to my loved ones, it's time for some "me" sewing. Technically this is a work in progress and a block "finish" so I will be linking up at WIP Wednesdays at Freshly Pieced and Richard & Tanya's Link a Finish Friday.

Here is the block:

This is one of the June (I know, it's almost September) blocks for the Craftsy Block of the Month. It's called a Greek Cross. The cross was supposed to be all the same fabric, but I have been using only scraps and I thought these scraps would work even if they are not the same color. While doing it, I also learned about the ever popular "scant" 1/4 inch seam. It basically means that you sew the seams just a little bit under the 1/4 inch mark to make up for the area taken up by the stitch itself. It helps to keep highly pieced blocks from shrinking in size the more you sew pieces together. It worked nicely. There is another June block called the Octagon, which looks easy, but I have not got to that one yet. I am also doing the Quilt Story BOM, for which I am still on June as well :(

I also wanted to mention some of my useful tools that I used:

This is the first time I've used a rotating cutting mat. Wow, it's quite handy! I don't have to move the ruler or my body anymore!!! Great for half square triangles and trimming down blocks with a square. Also, my bloc-loc is always dandy! It makes perfect HSTs because it grabs the folded seam and lines up all the edges to trim them down to perfect squares (and gets rid of the dog ears). I love it! Also, I used the draw the line method for making HSTs so you can see my water soluble blue marker in the picture too. This method really saves you time.

I also wanted to mention that I am doing the Shades of Grey charm swap (from my last post) and I finally got all the fabric squares cut out and ready to mail off:

I found myself trying really hard to be exact. These will be used by others, so I could not just settle for close enough like I normally would.

Again, I am linking up at WIP Wednesdays at Freshly Pieced, and Link a Finish Fridays at Richard & Tanya Quilts.


Also, if you got this far and feel like commenting, I am currently looking for quilting ideas for quilting a quilt made entirely of hexagons. :) Right now, I am thinking of going with straight lines corner to corner, or maybe some sort design to make them pop, like just outside the ditch. Thoughts?

Until next time,
Mike.

I work hard for no money, dun-dun, dun-dun...

Well, I know it's been awhile since I've blogged about what I am up to, so here goes. And, as a coincidence it's WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced, and tomorrow is Link it up Thursday at These Peas Taste Funny, so I will link up at both.

First off, I finally finished my May block of the months for Quilt Story and for Craftsy:

I know, it's July. I'm behind. The top 2 are the hourglass blocks for Quilt Story and the bottom two are the Wonky Log Cabins for Craftsy. The hourglasses are so much like HSTs that I don't know if I care to distinguish them. Easy to make though. The Craftsy blocks were fun! No rules just cutting and sewing without any measurments. Loved it! Great Scrapbuster!

My mom, brother and sister-in-law were visiting from Kansas. I talked my Mom and Sis-in-law into making a block. I think I will try to talk other members of my family into doing so when they visit so that I can make a family quilt out of them.

 I'm still in hexie land, although I finished all the hexagon flowers and I have sewn them all on the the background fabric.

 I was spraying them on the back with my trusty 505 spray and then using a free motion stitch to straight stitch them on around the edge. At first I was just placing them on, but I realized it was getting wonky and bubbly, so the spray really made a difference. I was also using Isachord gold colored thread and it was not looking right. It was loose and there were loops on the back in places. I tried everything: new needle, different size needle, different thread/same thread in the boobin, tension, speed, cleaning out the bobbin. Nothing worked. Finally, I tried standing up the thread spool. I usually leave it down using Gutermann on a regular spool because the thread tension gets to be too much when standing up, but this Isachord was a large spool (green plastic) and when I stood it up, it worked perfectly! Note to self next time I am having issues.

 Hexies all sewn on...

I back piece, and this is one of the many backing fabrics I am using. I just loved it so much I had to take a picture. I got it at Joann's. They had a great 4th of July sale where not only were the fabrics etc. on sale, but they had a coupon for an additional 15% off the whole order! I stocked up :)

I also got a little something-something fat quarter bundles for my next giveaway. I will do it when I reach 200 followers (hint, hint follow me on the right through Google Friend Connect if you don't already).  I also started a facebook page ("like" my page by clicking on the Facebook button top right or the hyperlink I just put in). The only "like" I have right now is my own :(

I am linking up at Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesdays and Link it Up Thursdays at These Peas Taste Funny.





Until next time,

Mike.

Red Pepper Quilts: Hour Glass Block Tutorial

I just wanted to share this so I don't forget about it. The Quilt Story Block of the Month for May is to use Hour Glasses. I have never made this type of block and this tutorial is straight to the point.

Red Pepper Quilts: Hour Glass Block Tutorial: I have made good progress with my Hour Glass Quilt top, and have especially enjoyed the piecing.  I absolutely love the Half Square Triangle...

WIP Wednesdays, Block of the Month and Do you think I'm Hexy?

I've been working on the block of the month over at Quilt Story. They are doing a nice simple monthly plan in which this month was HSTs (half square triangles). Last month was 9 patch. I am doing 2 of each BOM so that I have a larger quilt at the end of the series. It started in March. Below is a picture of my March and April blocks.

I really got some good use of my Bloc-Loc. I got this tool at the Quilt Show in New Jersey last month. It was expensive, but I think I already got my monies' worth. It's great the way it grabs the piece making it easy to square off. I also used the draw a line technique that I learned in the Craftsy Block of Month for February 2012. Basically you add 1 inch to the size of the finished block (including the seam allowance) and then draw a diagonal line on the back of one square, put the two squares together and sew 1/4 inch on either side of the line. Then, you cut on the line and voila! You have 2 squares. I then square it off with the Bloc Loc to the finished size (3 1/2 inches in this case). It makes them perfectly every time (not wonky looking) and it gets rid of the tiny dog ears on the corners. It's important also to note, that if you press the seams open before you square them off, the tool will not grab the seam! Learned that the hard way ;)

In the background on my cutting mat you can see strips of fabric. This is for a quilt I am working on for my Aunt L. I will talk more about that on another WIP Wednesday. In the meantime, I've been whipping up some hexagons on the train. There were some German tourists on the train at World Trade Center and they were standing over me when the gentleman said "a stitch in time saves nine." Turns out his English was not very good, but he just wanted to try out some of the English cliches he had learned in Germany. His wife said I was doing "patchverk." :) It's an obsession to some degree. So, "Do you think I'm hexy?"

I'm linking up at Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesdays.



Until next time,

Mike.



BTW, I am still deciding how to celebrate turning 50 (in blog followers!) I'm thinking giveaway, but I need to ponder what to give away :)

Trilogy: Free Motion Stitching, WIP Wednesdays and The Hexamaniac.

If you've been following me, you might know that I have been participating in the Craftsy Block of the Month (BOM). I posted about making Hexagons for April. Well, I finally finished the second block.

The one on the bottom was the second block. I used a starry night for the sky and a dark green leafy pattern (from my curtains) for the grass.

I had never appliqued before, so I decided to just wing it. I took my shapes (some of which were sewn together already in strips) and sprayed the backs with 505 adhesive sewing spray. Then, I positioned them on the background. I decided to do a straight stitch with white thread right up next to the edges:

At first I was doing this with a foot attached and the feed dogs going. But, it was a ton of stop and go, so I remembered Leah Day at the Free Motion Quilting Project having us stitch in lines or follow a pattern using free motion. I decided to try this and let me tell you, it was so much easier and faster! They stitched on rather nicely and in no time! It just sew happens that the Quilt Along Wednesdays last week was a review of stippling and these techniques. I'm happy that I thought of something I learned and applied it to this block!

Now, to the last part of my story. Once I started sewing all those Hexies (by hand) on Craftsy I realized that I could do this anywhere. I don't even have to be home. So, I took my zippy pouch that I won and loaded it with fabric squares and all the necessary accoutrement and took it on the train with me to work. It became addictive. Then, during my lunch break (after eating) I went outside in this lovely weather here in NYC (Battery Park) and paper pieced some hexies :) I just picked out some fabric. I have no idea what these will be for. But, I knew I had just started another work in progress!

I also want to mention that I have linked up at the New Bloggers linky party. Go there and visit some of the newer bloggers and comment on their posts and follow them too! They need them! When they reach milestones, they usually have giveaways!!!

Anyway, until next time,

Mike.

I am linking up at WIP Wednesdays at Freshly Pieced and the Free Motion Quilting Project.

 

        

BOM - a - gons!

OMG!!! I finally started working on the Craftsy Block of the Month for April. It's very time consuming. The topic is English paper piecing. It took me probably a total of 3 hours to make one block! I'm not unhappy that I learned a new technique and I thought that never in a million years would I be making hexagons. I especially never thought that I would be hand sewing anything! But, OMG, it would take me forever to make a quilt made of these blocks! I guess I always thought that a BOM was all about quick and easy projects that you could do "as you go" and in the end you would have an entire quilt that seemed it took you so little time to make. Not the case with this block! I'm happy with the turnout, but in this BOM there are 2 blocks a month. And, the second one is very similar in technique, so I know it will take me awhile. Anyway, here are the pics (first one is the finished block):

I am glad that I have now finally appliqued something. I decided not to do the hand applique. I just did a straight stitch "sew on" and to stabilize I used my trusty basting spray "505." Whew! What a project! It's pretty, but with my limited sewing time, I could never do such projects that take so long. I would have so many less "Friday finishes." :( I think for the second block I will take the "hexies" with me on the train to work so I can do it then. I only need the squares, templates, scissors and a needle/thread. That sounds like fun actually (besides all the weird looks I will get being male and in business casual).

I've decided to work on my HST (half square triangles for those that are new) for the Quilt Story BOM. I think this will not take me as long :)

Anyway, until next time,

Mike.

Work in Progress Wednesdays

In the last week I worked on 2 things. The Quilt Story Block of the Month and my Mom's quilt.

This is the Block of the Month. I blogged about it on Sunday. 

This is my Mom's quilt. I blogged about it here and here.

I do not have a picture yet, but I finally got all 42 blocks sewn together. I am now working on the border. It's a huge quilt for me and a lot to handle. Also, some of the seams are very bulky where the points come together. I decided they needed steaming. (I blogged about this.)

I am linking up at Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesdays.

Anyway, until next time.

Mike.