Quilty Weekend

I had such a quilty weekend! I hope you did too. My husband and I stayed home and played hermits for the weekend. I spent most of that time in my sewing room. On Saturday I spent the whole day working on UFO’s and made so much progress. I had to go to my LQS AND Joann's. Lucky me! I’ll share those details on Friday for my UFO update though.

You might remember that I am splitting this month in half. Well, this weekend was the halfway point. So Saturday was the last day to work on UFO’s (and I squeezed every minute out of that day, not stopping until midnight!). Sunday was the first day of Current WIP day.

On Sunday I dragged all my sewing toys to the living room and set myself up on the couch. I spent the day watching TV and cutting blocks for the Civil War Quilt Along. I hate cutting fabric. But I love having all the pieces pre-cut, packaged, and labeled. That way, I can just grab a Ziploc baggie and start sewing right away. Makes life so much easier!

Thank you, awesome followers, for all the wonderful comments! You guys are totally rocking my week! If you haven’t entered my Follower Appreciation giveaway, you can do so here.

Yesterday I spent $54 on quilting books. From my work desk. I wasn’t even on my break. Geez, I am so bad! Martingale was having a $6 sale on certain books and I couldn’t pass up that deal! I barely snuck in before the sale ended, otherwise I would have let you know too! I bought 9 books. It’s going to be like Christmas when those books get here!

FNSI Results

It was a late Friday Night! After going out for drinks and pool with some co-workers, I didn't leave much time for FNSI.

Instead of quilting, like my original plan, I decided to work on my Jewel in the Crown BOM. This little block took me over an hour to complete, but I love how it's turned out!

I also completed three more Civil War blocks.

This block is a re-make. My first attempt finished too small and stretched out and just looked horrible. This second time around still didn't finish perfect, but it's much better! I don't think this block and I make a good team!

I really like how this one turned out.

And this one I finished a few days ago.

Altogether, not bad! I've got my eye on some quilting tomorrow though!

Civil War Update

I’ve been slowly working on my Civil War blocks. I really do love these. I can see myself working with Civil War Repros after this. I am so languid with these blocks.

My set-up is I spend a day cutting a bunch of blocks and stick them in Ziplock baggies on my bulletin board. Whenever I feel like it, I just grab a bag, lay out the blocks, and guess which block I grabbed. Sometimes I use the pieces as leaders and enders while working on another project. Sometimes I feel like just piecing CW blocks that night. No rush, no stress, no worries. Just right.

This block has been cut since it was posted. The other night I was feeling horrible and wanted some mindless sewing. Real mindless. Piecing was just too much for me. The appliqué stars were perfect. Set the Bernina to zig-zag and zone out.

Last night I put all my blocks in order. I can’t wait to see them altogether. I have a list of numbers and I just cross the number off as I do them. I have 15 out of 27 blocks completed. Not too bad.
There were a few I made wrong or short or cut wrong and didn’t notice until I went to put the block together. Those I circle on my list so I know to go back and re-cut the pieces. Or find another set of instructions for that block.

My basket block needs a handle. I’ll have to find a tutorial for that. Bias stem? Is that what the technique is called? I’m sure I’ll figure it out. I save those kinds of projects for nights when I’m really motivated to sew and want to work out a puzzle. Like I said, languid and relaxed.

BTW, a big thank you to everyone who left a comment on my last post. I feel = so much better and really appreciate the support. Quilters in Blogland are the best!

Civil War Blocks

I’ve been banging out my Civil War Blocks. These are so much fun! My new plan is to spend Sunday laying on the couch, watching TV and cutting fabric on my coffee table. It’s such a relaxing way to spend the day. I hate cutting fabric! This way, I get them all cut out. I stick them in Ziplock baggies and stick them on my sewing room corkboard. I don’t even label them. During the week, I grab a bag, lay the pieces out and guess which block it is by scrolling through the Civil War Quilt Blog. Then I sew it together and keep the baggie for next Sunday. They are so easy and fun to put together!

Except this one. I don’t know what happened. Too many bias edges maybe? I trimmed the three rows down so I could sew them together. I thought it looked nice until I checked the size. It’s from a quarter of an inch to a half an inch short all the way around. Geez.

I found a great blogger who really breaks down the construction of the blocks. She even has suggestions for chain piecing and other piecing shortcuts. I know if I really think about it, there are a ton of time-saving tricks to utilize. I’m just lazy! Lillian's Cupboard is a great blog full of quilting, family, and recipes (waffle-grilled cheese sandwich, anyone?)

I'm back!

Oh my, time flies! Last time I checked in, I was just giving up my sewing machine for a little tune-up vacation. I had dreams of appliqué, cutting fabric, organizing my sewing room…anything that didn't involve my sewing machine!



None of that happened! I don't know what I did for a whole month! Maybe I just got sucked into a time warp or something. I did what I usually do: read blogs, go to work, clean the house, cook lots of food, watch a little TV. I went to two weddings (my best friend's wedding and my little brother's wedding). I went on vacation (a few days in Tahoe to play in the snow). That's it. Nothing special!



I guess once you get out of the habit of creating everyday it's hard to get back in the habit. So this weekend I put it on my To-Do list. Saturday night I jumped right in and starting sewing some blocks I had already cut out. I wanted something small and fast to finish, so I concentrated on just one block. Then another. Then another. Wow, I'm on a roll! I forgot how much fun quilting was!



By the end of the night I had finished one of the Layer Cake Quilt Along
blocks and the first five of the Civil War Quilt blocks. And I had a blast!



I spent Sunday cutting more LCQA blocks. For some reason, I just don't like to cut these blocks. I think getting used to a different designer for every block just frustrates me. Some have cutting charts (which are so easy, thank you!), some write 4 steps to get you to cut 4 4X2 strips (I hate that, just tell me what the finished size should be!), and some designer's hide the cutting instructions behind clues (I swear, some I had to read 4 times before I made my first cut!). But now they are all cut and bagged in little Ziplocs and I can't wait to spend a few minutes tonight sewing them together! That's right…I'm back!

Quilting is a Battlefield

I got my Civil War Reproduction Fabrics! I ordered the Moda Fat Quarter Bundle of Civil War Reunion by Barbara Brackman from Green Fairy Quilts. This was my first time ever buying a bundle. I practically stole it. The prices at Green Fairy Quilts are always the lowest, and this was on sale. Guess what I'm going to do with these?!



That's right! The Civil War Quilt Along with Barbara Brackman! *squeals and claps* I was so excited when I came across this blog. I've never worked with a Civil War Repro palette before, but I am drawn to them. This is the perfect way to dive right in.

Have you checked out Barbara's blog? I had so much fun poking around my first time there. She is a quilt historian and shares history of fabric, techniques, patterns, and theory. She has a great sense of humor too. Seriously, I spent about 2 hours just looking through her blog my first time there. If you like to read quilt history this is definelety the place to do it. But that's not where she's hosting the Block of the Week. That's here, another fun blog that Barbara writes. Every week she posts a block tutorial and a short history lesson to go along with it. And she's doing this all year long, so there will be 52 blocks when we finish!

It's just a coincidence that I'm using Barbara's fabric for Barbara's quilt along. I was looking for some fabric to go with quilt, found it, and purchased it. Then later that day I was reading the blog more intently and realized I bought the designer's fabric! Too funny!

What do you think? Should I cut into them right away, or just carry them around with me all weekend and look at them?!