WIP Wednesday

The border print for quilt #52 this year is on backorder, so this may become the penultimate quilt of 2011.  Karen Snyder of Anna Lena's Quilts in Long Beach, Washington hosts a "block-a-day" challenge each season.  Every day you make a single block, and at the end of the season you have 90 or 91 blocks.  The design for Fall is the "hourglass" block.  I'm making mine from Denyse Schmidt's prints for JoAnn fabrics.  Here are my blocks so far:

The background is navy blue polka dots.  Doesn't this just make you want to go on a picnic?  Here's the link to Karen's blog.  She won't start the next block-a-day challenge until January 1st, so don't use the holidays as an excuse not to play!  Anna Lena's specializes in 30s reproduction fabrics -- and really wonderful fudge!

Are You a Follower?

I've been asked how to follow my blog -- here is how I follow (dozens of) other blogs:

I like Google/Reader.  Very easy tool, far better than tracking via Favorites.  Simply go to www.google.com/reader   You'll see a button where you can ADD a subscription. You simply need to paste the url to the blog that you want to follow into the add a subscription box.  And, when you visit Google/Reader it will show you a list of blogs that you want to follow that have been updated (have posted since the last time you've read their blog).

These instructions were shamelessly stolen from SewCalGal.  She also has careful instructions on how to win a giveaway -- something I may be doing next year, so take note.  Thanks, SewCalGal!

Mystery Monday -- Two Steps in One Day!

If this mystery is going to be completed before the holiday, I'm going to have to work faster.  So here are two steps completed today:

Step 5. 

And Step 6.  Why, yes, I am doing my mystery "scrappy."  In case you missed it earlier, here is the link to the instructions.  

Sunday is for Scraps

The very first quilt I ever made was a Log Cabin quilt made from blue and mauve cotton polyester -- it was 1976, everyone was using blue and mauve, and 100% cotton was almost nonexistent.  This was long before rotary cutters, so we snipped the selvedge and tore across the width of each fabric to make 2 1/2" wide strips.  As the strips were sewn together, the excess fabric was cut off.  When all the blocks were made, their sizes sometimes varied as much as an inch.  Thirty years later, Marti Michell designed a ruler just for log cabin quilts.  Using her technique, every block comes out square and the same size.  I've been saving 1 1/2" strips to "someday" make a scrappy log cabin quilt.  And today is "someday."

I wanted a larger center, so it is cut 3 1/2" square.

The ruler is designed so the only markings are what you need to cut each "log" for your quilt.  

I began with size "c" and cut enough "logs" to have three lights and three darks on each block.

Here are the first two finished blocks.  This will be my "leaders and enders" project for the foreseeable future.

My blocks are 9 1/2" raw edge-to-raw edge.  That means I will need at least 100 blocks for a bed-sized quilt.  Maybe I should add a couple more logs to each block!

Pillowcases for Christmas

Last year I made pajamas for Christmas gifts.  Lots and lots of pajamas.  Not wanting to start a tradition that would commit me to making a dozen pajamas every year, I decided pillowcases would be a good project for 2011.  I use a free pattern from Rainy Day Quilt School that cleverly encloses all seams.  After making a few using Jeanne's instructions, I branched out and inserted jumbo ric rac in place of the accent trim.

Here are a few that will go to Ohio:

I love this fabric from Crafty Laine in Monument:

These two are both from stash:

I was going to designate each one for a specific person, but I think I will just send them and let the nieces and nephews choose.

Now let's get started on the Sunday Stash project!

Mystery Monday

The Quilters Club of America hosts several mystery quilt-a-longs each year.  This one, "Worms & Jelly Rolls." is by my favorite mystery quilt designer, Debbie Caffrey.  The great thing about Debbie's quilts is this:  all of her patterns are carefully tested, and if you follow her directions, your quilt will work out!  All the steps for this quilt are on the QCA site at Quilters Club of America, so you can see the finished quilt if you prefer.  But for Mystery Mondays, I will share my quilt step-by-step.

As you may have guess from the title, this quilt is made from 2 1/2" strips (Debbie calls them "worms").

All these fabrics are from my "orange" strip drawer.

I love a mystery, don't you?

Sundays are for Scraps: Behind the Scenes

I started "scrapping" when my Mom moved into an assisted living center and I inherited boxes and boxes of her fabric scraps.  That year during winter break, I went through all the boxes and sorted out the quilt fabrics, then cut them into usable sizes and shapes.  Here are some photos of how I organize my scraps:

As I cut fabric during the week, I toss it into bins or piles under the ironing board.  That yellow brush is to clean off the cutting mat.

We brought this stacking plastic bin back from Italy in 1981.  Our gatto (Italian for cat) had kittens in the bottom bin -- now it holds the scraps from my October quilt camp quilt.  I think this will work better than just tossing them under the ironing board, don't you?  On the left is my son's 60" LeClerc floor loom. 

This is what the ironing board looks like after I've pressed the scraps from this week.

And here's the other half of the ironing board.  I sort them out according to size -- solids have their own stack, and I've started a drawer for scrappy bindings.

Strips cut to 2 1/2" and sorted by color go in these drawers purchased from Nancy's Notions. 

The rest go into labelled drawers or Tupperware canisters (you know, so they stay fresh!). I cut my scraps from large to small, starting with 5" squares all the way down to 1 1/2" squares.

Then when I'm ready for a scrap quilt, I can just pull out the right drawer and start sewing!