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!

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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!



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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.


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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!


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First Friday Finish

Of the month!

This is the 21st quilt top I've finished this year. I should make it to 52 if I keep on schedule.

"Paragon Pavers" is the quilt class I took at Quilt Camp in the Pines last month. It was designed and taught  by Carol Anne Wagner of Granny's Attic in McCall.

She thought the six rectangles in each block looked like patio pavers, and wanted a word that began with "p" and meant "perfect." So:  Paragon Pavers! I love the blue batiks Lori (I think) chose for my kit! Especially that she added the medium blue from her personal stash -- it's like having a little bit of Lori in my own sewing room.

The March/April 2009 issue of Fons & Porters Love of Quilting has a perfect "wave" pantograph pattern for the quilting. It will finish at 50" X 69" and would make an excellent baby quilt if made with only nine blocks. As it is, I will send it to one of the Sailors on the USS George Washington media section who was recently promoted.

As soon as the pattern is published, I will offer it as a giveaway!

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WIP Wednesday: Dash in the Box

This project could just as readily be considered a UFO.  I started it in a class at Sew-Ciety in Castle Rock in January (if it's not more than one year old, does it count as a UFO?). They had a sample of the quilt in the shop, and I fell in love with the colors. LouAnn graciously helped me find all the same fabrics as were used in the sample - thanks, LouAnn! Really, the colors are more subtle than they appear in this photo (taken at night, with flash, so they don't read "true!")

It's called "Dash in the Box," because it has both a "box" design and a "Churn Dash" design. Six blocks are made from each set of three fabrics. My blocks are on the design wall with the six blocks of each three-color combination together. They'll be mixed up when I get the last set of six blocks completed!

Here is what the mixed-up blocks look like on the pattern cover:

The quilt was designed by Stephanie Prescott of A Quilter's Dream.

Although the construction is simple, keeping the colors straight make this a morning project -- not a late-night project!

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

I should have it finished in time for "A Friday Finish." Come back and see!



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Tuesday Tool: Half-Rectangle Bloc Loc

I've told you before that I think the Bloc Loc ruler is the greatest invention of the 21st Century. I wrote a tutorial on how to use it here.

Now, the inventor of the Bloc Loc ruler has added a half-rectangle to the Bloc Loc family. It features the same channel engraved across the bottom of the ruler as the Bloc Loc square up ruler.

Notice that there are two rulers in the HRT set - one with the channel leaning left, and one with a right-leaning channel. Which one you use depends on which way you want the HRT to "lean."

The set I bought from Julia at Room to Learn included a book with dozens and dozens of block patterns. It shows the blocks in several sizes, each of which can be made with the same HRT ruler set.

This is how I made the HRTs for the "Liberty Block" I tested today.

Cut a light and a dark rectangle for each two HRTs:

Then slice from corner to corner. It is important that both fabrics be cut right-side-up and from the same corner (upper right in this case) on both fabrics:

Place the light triangle on top of the dark, with the points extending approximately 1/4" on each end:

Trim the HRT as directed in the pattern. An easy way to place the ruler correctly is to place the side that reads "Bloc Loc" on the light side of the HRT (assuming you've pressed the seam toward the dark fabric).

Flip the ruler and trim the opposite side:

Each set of one dark and one light rectangle makes two HRTs. For this block, four HRTs are needed:

I made the corner half square triangles (HSTs) using my favorite Bloc Loc square ruler. Here is the finished block:

I think I would like to try this block with the center star in gold and the HSTs in the dark blue. It will make an excellent QOV, don't you think?

I have another project on the design wall. Come back tomorrow for WIP Wednesday.

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