SAHRR Update and a Diversion

The prompt for Round 3 was half-square triangles (HSTs).  I was fortunate to have a goodly supply on hand in the appropriate colors so completing this round was a quick fix.

I have not attached the side strips because I want to see what Prompt 4 will bring.  I might be able to incorporate it into the cornerstones.

While I had time on my hands -- and loose ends on the table -- I decided to see what I could do with some 9-patches before I put them in the Parts Department. 

 I love the colors and even ordered extra of the pink faux linen fabric from Connecting Threads.  They were piled with a nice coordinating brown fabric so I am putting the 9-Ps on point in the brown. I'm thinking some kind of sashing will result in a fairly nice throw size.

Check this link at Anja Quilts to see other's progress

Correcting an Error and Answering a Question

I incorrectly identified a little project in my Loose Ends post a few days ago.  

This little piece was made of leftover blocks from the second "real" quilt I ever made in 2002!  (First was an Eleanor Burns baby quilt for GS-3 in 2001).  The pattern is Honeycomb Waffle designed by Sara Nephew.  It first appeared in her book Big Book of Building Block Quilts in 2001.  That book was republished in association with Marci Baker in 2014 as Not Your Grandmother's Log Cabin.  Marci Baker is the author of ABC 3D published in 2010.  All of these books have fun and attractive projects using strip piecing with both the 60-degree triangle and other odd angles.

*  *  *  * *  

Nann/With Strings Attaached asked  "How did you become an instructor for a particular ruler/technique?" I thought I would answer here.

Frankly, I don't remember!

Not long after I started quilting in the early 2000s, I took the Honeycomb Waffle class from Sara at the Indiana Heritage Quilt Show (I think) around 2001-2.  I was enchanted by the 3-dimensional effect and thrilled with the strip-piecing technique; I wanted my fellow quilters to learn.  I'm assuming I asked permission to teach from her patterns, using her ruler, and that she invited me to a training session in Bellingham, WA for certification.  I learned a lot about using the ruler, but lots of other things like the value of value, and teaching techniques.  I taught at many local guilds and  retreats and even traveled a couple of times until I "retired" about 8 years ago.  

Needless to say, I highly recommend the Clearview 60-degree ruler (comes in various sizes with lots of options).  No gimmicks or oversizing in either Sara's or Marci's patterns.

SAHRR Jackpot!

I posted earlier that I have been working my way through many VERY old unfinished projects.  Two that I have been wrangling in the last few days have LOTS of  half-square triangles (can't wait to share one of them with you soon).  

As I was falling asleep last night I was thinking about what Round 2 would entail, anticipating some round would probably incorporate HSTs.  So imagine my delight when I saw the week's prompt this morning.  Mine are already made! (pre-2018)

I hit the SAHRR Jackpot!

Tying Up Loose Ends

In between mysteries and round robins and waiting for my Connecting Threads order, I've been trying to finish up some old projects.  By "finish up" I mean get them to the flimsy stage.  I have a nice stack of things waiting for backs and batting until I can manage the basement stairs again.  I have a scheme to invite some friends to "shop my stash" for me in exchange for lunch and choosing a stash treat for themselves. 

This week I added borders to this class sample from ABC 3D by Sara Nephew and Marci Baker.

I was a certified instructor for Clearview Triangle (60 degree) for about 5 years (around 2014).  With the borders it only measures 31 inches.  I'm thinking of backing it with flannel for a wheelchair quilt.

Then I pulled out another golden oldie - Moroccan Tile, a Jewel Box pattern that uses the Gem 5 and Gem 10 rulers.   I know I started it well before we moved here in 2018.  

Not sure what I will do with it.  It is about 45 inches at the widest part.  I do have a round coffee table; otherwise no place to use it.  So I'm thinking maybe I should add extensions to square it up.  What say you?

You may recognize the fabric in this last project.

The pattern is Liberty Stars from Fons and Porter's Love of Quilting magazine.  I had made four stars and diamond points for a fifth star.  I don't remember if I intended to make a five-star runner or to make a three-star like the pattern and one with two stars.  Nevertheless, one star became the center for my SAHRR and I added the extra star points to my potential fabrics on that project, so I decided to make the three-star runner like the pattern.  You can see I still have the inset rectangles to add.  When quilted I think it will make a nice gift to have on hand.

FYI, the CT fabric arrived yesterday so I can get back to the 4-patch project tomorrow.  Wait till you see what's up after that!

Stay At Home Round Robin

 Also known as SAHRR ...

I had a bit of difficulty understanding the prompt for round one until I realized I could choose my own block, based on the first letter of my name.  So I went to Judy Hopkins' 501 Rotary-Cut Quilt Blocks for inspiration.  I settled on London Roads.

I had already decided that my starting block needed a frame, so my interpretation of London Roads fit that bill.  But, instead of a one-way road around the block, I ended up with two two-way streets and two blind alleys!

What should have been a simple fix of turning two corners took me half a day.  Don't ask me why.  I guess the brain fog had returned.  Anyway, this is the result:

I will probably have to add a filler strip to bring it to a divisible size, but I'll wait to see what the next prompt is going to be.

The Fog is Lifting

Slowly.  But now I seem to have ADD.  I put Old Town in time-out for a while and turned my attention to the Asian 4-patches that I've been mindlessly making.  As I worked on them I thought about how I might use them.  I pulled a book of block designs off the shelf, looking for something that used 4-patches and found a block that would be easy to make.  All I needed was an acceptable alternate fabric for two solid squares.  This lovely large-scale print would be perfect!

The block will measure 8" finished so I set about planning a 7 x 9 block layout.  I won't go into detail, but I failed to take into account that my block has two 4-patches and two squares in it so when I counted squares in my sketch I counted only 32 4-patches.  Yep, 32 4-Ps short!  That was about two more days of work.  I had hoped to use the print for the alternate blocks but don't have enough after making 32 more half blocks.  In the meantime, I have put them up on the design wall and will mull over the arrangement while I wait for the new alternate block fabric to arrive.

That's half the blocks.  I plan to relocate those blue blocks to the center of the quilt as they are the only bright color.  Apologies for my awful photos.  The lighting in the bed/sewing room is not the best and my hands aren't the steadiest.

In the meantime, I got to thinking about the annual Stay at Home Round Robin.  I participated in the initial one during Covid and thoroughly enjoyed the process.  I was trying to decide on my initial block when I came across a partially finished orphan in my UFO boxes.  So that was my task yesterday.  

All that was left to do were those blankety-blank inset seams.  It will finish at 14".  I wanted something that wouldn't have HSTs or 4-Ps in it because they are often in the rounds that will be announced in the coming weeks.  I'm excited to see what's next.

Go to Quilting Gail for more information.  It's not too late to join in!

Brain Fog

Do you ever have days when the creative juices are just not in synch with the real world?  I've had a week of those days!

When the final solution for the Old Town Mystery was released last Friday, I matched up pieces for several blocks and managed to get one block finished.  

On Saturday I made a bunch of small units and added three more blocks to the wall.  Sunday I cobbled together a fifth block, all the while looking at the design wall, trying to come up with an alternate plan for the sashing that does not require the tiny flying geese.  

While I like the secondary pattern Bonnie's sashing makes, I'm not enough in love with my blocks to make the effort to make the tiny geese.  I came up with an interesting option but it would require some un-sewing of my finished blocks.  I looked and thought, and thought and looked.

When the creative ju-ju didn't kick in, I finally decided that a clear work table might help.  Which only led to remorse over unfinished projects and plans for new projects with the bits of detritus that I took off the table.  

On Monday I went to the computer and made a spreadsheet to track my progress on 30+ UFOs.  I predict some of them will become placemats or potholders.  One of the piles on my table included cutoffs from several strip sets that I think were made for borders on a quilt many years back.  So I cut them to 6.5" squares which I assembled into a little 24" square.

With schools closed on Tuesday due to threatening weather, there was no Devo and Sew.  So I pretended I was sewing with the group and managed to add borders to a little baby quilt and made the binding. 

Then I decided to tackle a One Block Wonder that I cut and apparently planned several years ago.  After several attempts to get a couple of rows together, I gave up in frustration.  It really needs to go back up on the wall for me to understand what I was intending.

I muddled through Thursday, trying to make a plan, trying to clear off my table, thinking of what I could do with this or that.  The big bin of Asian fabrics was still under the table along with the little box of 2.5" squares.  Hmm.  I started making 4-patches with no plan in mind.  Check back tomorrow to see what I came up with.  Hopefully it will be a whole top by the end of the day and then I can send that bin back to the basement!

BTW, I managed to change a setting in my new phone which allows the computer to recognize the source of my photos.  Don't ask me how I did it!

Update

 All is well here -- at least until the snow flies on Friday -- and I've been busy in the sewing room with minimal success.  I have not posted anything lately because my computer does not recognize the photos from my new i-16 phone.    Hoping to find a solution today.

One and Done?

As I suspected, Bonnie Hunter released the Final Solution for the Old Town Mystery this morning.  I had already set aside most of the day to work on the project.  Everything was neatly organized and ready to go.

I first laid out the various pieces to check my colors before I began assembly and I was pleased with what I saw so I began to sew as I would normally do, row-by-row.  Not the best plan.  After about an hour of this and that, I finally decided to look at Bonnie's instructions to make the corner units.  Ah-ha! All the corner units are identical! Just rotated in the block.  So instead of rows I went to unit construction.  Much better.  

Apparently I didn't follow all of Bonnie's instructions about pressing as I had a devil of a time getting corners to meet and points to be pointy.  LOTS of seams, lots of lumps.  The jury is still out.

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday week.  It's time to get back to the grind -- sewing AND exercising.  On the sewing front, I have thrown in the towel on Clues 7 and 7.5.  I simply cannot make those little 1-1/2" x 2-1/2" flying geese with any kind of accuracy!

So I'm going to see how they will be used in the final solution and then try another method for making them if I see they are essential to the design.  

I got a good start on Clue 8 yesterday, cutting most of what I need to make one-half the blocks.  

I need to look for a little more variety in my fabrics.  I may ask my quilting buddy/neighbor to shop my stash for me!

There is a neighborhood Hair of the Dog celebration this afternoon so I don't expect to get much sewing done today.

Thinking ahead for the new year, DH and I are considering a driving trip to the Northeast this summer (New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts) to catch up with family.  So if any of my readers are on our route and want to hook up, or if you can suggest quilt shops to visit, I'd love to hear from you.