July Jelly Roll Party: A Friday Finish

In the United States, Flag Day is celebrated on June 14. It commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States, which happened that day by resolution of the Second Continental Congress in 1777.^[1] The United States Army also celebrates the Army Birthday on this date; Congress adopted "the American continental army" after reaching a consensus position in the Committee of the Whole on June 14, 1775.^[2][3]In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation that officially established June 14 as Flag Day; in August 1949, National Flag Day was established by an Act of Congress. (Wikipedia: Flag Day United States)

(Image from Wikipedia)

The July Jelly Roll Party quilt at Ruth's Stitchery will be Hexagon Garden by Pam & Nicky Lintott. 

Since it's for July, I used the "Old Glory Gatherings" jelly roll by Primitive Gatherings.

  

Here are some hints for making this quilt. 

1. You will need a design wall. If you don't have one, a flannel-backed plastic tablecloth will serve.
2. Pin early and often -- every seam is not too much.
3. Don't try to chain piece the triangles together. It's too easy to lose your place and sew the wrong pieces together (ask me how I know this!). It would be easier to sew the rows together if you could arrange your design wall to be within reach of your sewing machine! 
4. Be very careful when pressing, as you'll be working with bias edges. Remember: press, don't iron!

I found the directions to be a little vague about how to trim off the edges so they were a straight line before adding the borders. [In fact, the pattern doesn't explain this at all!] I used my 8.5" X 24" Creative Grids ruler and trimmed at just a smidge wider than 1/4" away from the edge of the points on the right-hand side of the quilt. Then reverse and repeat for the opposite side. 

Even with my greatest care, I found the centers of my hexagons "poofed" a bit. Buts, as my long-armer jokes, "that will quilt out."  Well, it did, but washing the quilt and laying it flat on the bed to finish drying is what made it lie nice and flat!

The candle is lit for the Sailors on the USS George Washington, who will soon be heading out to sea for their summer cruise. Fair winds and following seas!

Addendum: had to add this image from Amy Barickman on Facebook.  Happy Flag day to all ships at sea!

From the desk of your

Fire Update

The fires are still burning in Colorado, four now. Mandatory and pre-evacuation boundaries have been expanded, but remain 8 miles to our north. The latest reports say 92 homes are a "total loss." Last summer, 349 burned in the Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs.

Here is a photo I copied from Facebook of the Black Forest burning last night:

(Photo by Steve Kjonaas)

And here is another of the main road into the village of Black Forest:

(Photo by Steven D. "Smitty" Smith)

Thank you, everyone, for your prayers and best wishes. I'm hiding out in the basement sewing room with the A/C on so the smoke doesn't get to me.

If there's a bright side, I'm making progress on my Spring Block-a-Day quilt!



From the desk of your

I Just Can't Do It

I just can't bring myself to write a cheery "oh, look, here's what I'm working on today."

Most of my readers know I live in Colorado Springs. You may not know there are three fires burning around our city, the closest in Black Forest. My "home" yarn shop, Table Rock Llamas, is 10.5 miles north of us and has likely burned.

At the last update, the fire has burned 8000 acres, which is 12.5 square miles.  Here is a map showing my approximately location, and the yarn shop in the center of Black Forest:

And here is a link to video from last night:

http://bcove.me/skxzd2q8

If you're a praying person, this would be a good time to pray.


From the desk of your

Design Wall Monday, Oh! My!

Oh! My! It's already June 10, and look at my "To-Do"  list for June:

Notice that not one thing has been crossed off?  I don't know what I did with the first 10 days of June, but it apparently wasn't "work on The List!"

I was lucky enough to be invited to spend the weekend at a friends "cabin" this weekend. It is such a beautiful, quiet place -- if you don't mind keeping an eye out for bears and mountain lions! Worrying about the wildlife makes it easy to stay inside and make progress on sewing, though.

I got a good start on the August Jelly Roll Party sample. The pattern is "Ring Toss" by Cluck, Cluck Sew. The jelly roll is "Reunion," from my favorite designers, "Sweetwater."

Somehow I mis-counted my jelly roll strips, so I have to cut 10 more blocks. Here's what the finished quilt should look like:

The air conditioner dudes are coming tomorrow to turn on our A/C. The high today was 97, so I will welcome them with open arms!


From the desk of your