Quilting my way through life!

More Rainbow Progress

March 31, 2018 suznquilts

Since I last posted,

I’ve spent more hours at my sewing machine

with my Grunge Seeing Stars fabric.

Remember the Tiny Dresden blocks?

They’re each now the center of a star block.

How appropriate that the fabric collection I chose for this design also has stars?

The sewing went quickly since I did all of the cutting at the beginning,

as shown to you earlier this week:

Here are all of the tiny Dresden blocks sewn into star blocks:

Do you like my colorful new rug (& cute booties)?

I couldn’t resist leaving them in the pic!

Next, I quickly added the pre-cut sashing.

Originally I designed a simple white border,

but while I sewed the star blocks,

the colorful stack of leftover corners

trimmed from the flying geese blocks

kept speaking to me!

I couldn’t resist using the leftover rainbow…

So, back to the computer I went

to see what kind of border I could make using the

8 half square triangles of each of the 16 star fabrics………….

This is what I decided on,

and quickly sewed BEFORE I CHANGED MY MIND!!!

The possibilities are practically endless, right?

This was a quick, painless & pretty clever addition to the quilt

(if I must say so myself, Lol)

and I feel good about using most all of those triangles!

I next cut the backing & batting,

then took it to my quilter, Tamara, yesterday so she can do her magic.

On to the next thing!

(which has been cooking for my family’s Easter breakfast & dinner)

I hope you’ve enjoyed my rainbow journey this week.

Hopefully the pattern (which remains nameless at this time) will be ready mid-May.

Just Keep Sewing…

Susan

Dresden Plates, My Life, New Pattern Sample

My Rainbow Progress

March 28, 2018March 28, 2018 suznquilts

It has been fun sewing my Grunge, Seeing Stars rainbow these past two days.

I finished the plates, then made the centers at our guild meeting yesterday.

When I got home I appliqued the centers in place

(after I replaced Mr. Too Dark Blue… he’ll have to wait for a different project)

You can see for yourself that there was no contrast between him & the pretty black center fabric.

So, I replaced him with a grey plate,

then I stitched the centers in place & dampened the centers to remove the paper templates.

During dinner we got to watch them dry.

I put them on our kitchen table & turn on the ceiling fan.

It makes the drying time quick!

(An advantage of the kids growing up & moving on is that

we don’t need the whole kitchen table for dinner anymore.

I also spend less money on food… but at times the quiet is deafening!)

After our dinner was cleaned up I glued the plates to the background squares

then got out my box of Sulky threads & played the matching game.

That was fun!

Typically I use one spool of thread, Sulky Medium Taupe #1180.

It blends with all of my “muddy” colors so well,

but these bright fabrics read as solids & all 12 petals are the same

so I wanted to match them as closely as possible.

Did you know that if your thread color is a little darker than your fabric that it actually matches better?

Try it!

Next, I stitched the plates in place.

Theresa asked about my applique stitch,

so I’ve added a couple of close-up pics here:

It’s a tiny blind hem stitch.

It takes a few straight stitches, then a zag to the left.

I adjust the stitch length really short & the width really narrow.

I had a hard time getting a pic where you could actually see the stitches

because they’re so small & the thread matches so well.

That’s the reason I use this stitch.

In my opinion it resembles a hand stitch.

In fact I’ve had multiple quilters with their noses close to my quilt adamant that I’d done the stitching by hand!

(Obviously they don’t know me at all! They just see my work!)

The stitch shows up better on this aqua plate

where the color of the fabric changes to a lighter shade.

BTW, the Sulky thread is 30 wt. cotton.

Now this morning I’m ready to assemble the rest of the blocks.

I can’t wait to see them all come together.

Must get off computer & go sew lol!!!

I hope you’re doing some stitching today too.

Just Keep Sewing…

Susan

My Life, new fabric collection, New Pattern Sample

Today I’m Cutting A Rainbow

March 26, 2018 suznquilts

Here’s just a bit of the rainbow that I’ve been cutting this morning.

Meet the new Grunge Seeing Stars by BASICGREY for Moda Fabrics.

In case you’ve not noticed,

it’s a another Tiny Dresden Pattern, duh!

I was smart and put a new blade in my rotary cutter BEFORE I started cutting!

I forget how much use these things get and how they dull over time because,

I get busy
It happens so slowly
I don’t pay attention to my blade unless it starts skipping threads & ticks me off!!!

I’m glad I thought ahead this time,

because my cutting went so much faster because of the new blade.

A new sharp blade also keeps the blade from kind of scooting the fabric.

It slices right through it instead.

So, I cut a whole quilt this morning in about an hour!

Now I’m set to chain piece.

Gotta go get a movie picked out to listen to while I work.

I also just remembered that I need to heat up my new Mighty Steam Iron.

Remember me telling you about it here?

I love that cute little thing!

What are you doing on this (rainy) spring day?

Just Keep Sewing…

Susan

My Life, Quilt Show

It’s Today! It’s Today!

March 10, 2018March 9, 2018 suznquilts

It’s Today! It’s Today!

Now I can scream it too!

It’s only 9-noon,

so don’t be late or you’ll miss it!

Just Keep Sewing…

Susan

My Life, Quilt Show

It’s Tomorrow! It’s Tomorrow!

March 9, 2018 suznquilts

Whenever I think about something happening “today”

I’m ALWAYS reminded of Stuart Little!

This movie is so cute!

Anyway, it’s not today until tomorrow,

but I want to remind you today that

T-O-M-O-R-R-O-W

is Villa Rose’s quilt show.

I will be there with my little Dresden plate quilts,

patterns,

templates,

new book

& all of my

favorite notions.

It’s free to the public & it’s just 9-noon, so don’t delay & don’t forget to come see me

& the intimate quilt show that they’ve put together for you & their residents.

Bring your friends too!

Until tomorrow,

Just Keep Sewing…

Susan

My Life, Quilt Show

Mark Your Calendar For The Villa Rose Quilt Show 2018

February 17, 2018 suznquilts

If you’re in the area…

I will have a booth at this intimate quilt show next month.

Come see the quilts, learn about barn quilts and do a little quilt shopping as well!

I will have little Dresden plate demos the entire show.

Come see what’s new including my book, Dresden Quilt Workshop.

I hope to see you there.

Just Keep Sewing…

Susan

Dresden Plates, Finishing up a quilt project, Hot Tips, My Life, New Moda Fabric Collection, Quilt Retreats

Closing In On The New Hope, Tiny Dresden Petal Finish Line

February 4, 2018 suznquilts

Last we were together I was up to my eyeballs in these.

Aren’t the little piles of alligator teeth too cute?

(easily amused, yes I know…)

With a little help from my favorite vices…

I was able to complete all of the half Tiny Dresden plates from the 1,600+ petals!

This is all of them sewn;

the extra petals set aside for another project down the road.

The little rows just make me smile!

(again, easily amused, yes I know…)

I was able to make 6 half Tiny Dresden plates from each of the 40 jelly roll strips

of Jo Morton’s New Hope by Moda Fabrics.

During our annual retreat to local quilt shop, Rosemary’s,

I got to work making blocks from the half Tiny Dresden plates for my next quilt.

This is my work space all set up & ready to sew.

My cute little Dritz Mighty Steam Iron showed up just in time to travel with me.

What a great find!

It’s the perfect little Dresden plate iron!!!

It’s extremely light-weight & just the right size for pressing my little plates.

I wish I’d known about them sooner!

I was so impressed that I’m now carrying them on my website for you to purchase here.

Don’t let the small size fool you.

It gets super hot!

It’s great for pressing small half-square triangles too.

I also like it for pressing block parts.

Choosing the center circle fabrics is a bit like choosing which Barbie shoes should complete her ensemble, lol…

Love, love, love each step!

Can’t wait to show you the finished quilt,

but that will have to wait for another day.

Just Keep Sewing…

Susan

Dresden Plates, My Life

Petal Work Progress

January 10, 2018 suznquilts

As of this morning, this is the progress that I’ve made

since showing you the 1,600+ cut petals

made with the New Hope Fabric by Jo Morton for Moda Fabrics.

There are 6 half Tiny Dresden plates in each stack,

48, half Tiny Dresden plates in all.

To keep the strings of petals tangle-free & wrinkle-free,

I’ve had Betsy holding them.

She’s very good at her job!

Each string started out as 4 jelly roll strips that I cut into the 41 petals each (160+/-).

This is a VERY busy corner of my room, eh???

This morning, I pulled another string from its resting spot.

See how wrinkle-free they still are?

It makes them much nicer to work with when they’re not wrinkled or tangled.

Anything to make the task less annoying is what I’m all about!

A while back I started wondering why I still cut the strings apart with scissors… no more!

It’s much quicker to cut them apart with my rotary cutter (of course!).

I cut off about a dozen at a time

and trim the seam allowance with my rotary cutter, duh!

Why didn’t I do this earlier?

I don’t think I’m lazy,

I just like to do things the quickest

& least annoying way possible!

Once trimmed, the petals are tossed into one of many cutlery trays.

This keeps the petals from escaping to oblivion when I need to move them to the ironing board in the next step.

Next, I cut off another dozen or so petals from the string

and so on, and so on… until the sting of petals is gone.

All ready for the next step!

Now I must go press, turn, press again, then sew.

A great job for a cold, dreary day.

I think I’ll go pick out a movie to keep me company.

It will make this task more enjoyable.

What are you doing on this chilly day?

Just Keep Sewing…

Susan

Dresden Plates, My Life, New ideas, New Moda Fabric Collection, New tiny Dresden plate quilts

Cutting Tiny Dresden Petals from Jelly Roll Strips

January 7, 2018 suznquilts

I did it!

I cut my entire New Hope jelly roll by Jo Morton into Tiny Dresden petals.

But, before I started cutting I was wondering…

since I only need a 2″ strip for the Tiny Dresden petals & a jelly roll strip is 2 1/2″,

could I get more petals from each strip by not first trimming it to 2″???

So, I laid out a bunch of my Tiny Dresden Templates on a strip side by side as if I had trimmed the strip to 2″.

Then I laid out a bunch more of my Tiny Dresden Templates on another strip, staggering them to the edges of the strip.

Guess what?

I can get 5 more petals from each strip if I slide the template to the opposite edge of the strip as I cut!

Multiply that by 40 strips… 36 petals x 40 strips = 1,440 or

compared to 41 petals x 40 strips = 1,640.

That’s 200 more petals from the same amount of jelly roll strips!

That’s 16.6 more Tiny Dresden plates,

or 33.3 more half Tiny Dresden plates!

So, I stacked up 4 different color fabric jelly roll strips and started cutting.

After I cut a few I decided my 60 mm cutter might work even better than my 45 mm & I was right.

Here’s how I did it:

I lined up the template at the edge of the selvage and sliced it off the strip.

Then I cut along the top of the template.

Then I cut along the other side of the template.

I then rotated the template to the opposite edge of the jelly roll strip.

Then sliced it off the strip.

Then I cut along the top of the template.

Then I continued to rotate the template down the strip.

When I got to the end of the strips I opened the folds and stacked what was left of each strip and usually cut one more of each fabric. A few of the fabric strips were not long enough to cut one more petal, but the majority of them were long enough.

Voila!

A jelly roll worth of Tiny Dresden petals.

Now I’ve really got my work cut out for me, lol!!!

A great way to spend a super cold January day.

Just Keep Sewing…

Susan

My Life, new fabric collection

Starting This New Year, 2018, With New Hope!

January 6, 2018 suznquilts

I hope this new year, 2018, will be a year of new hope for you.

Finally just today, I broke into my New Hope fabric collection

by Jo Morton for Moda.

I love every single fabric in this collection.

I’m pretty sure Jo designed if just for me.

It looks so cute with my new-to-me antique children’s sewing machines that I received for Christmas from David!

He did a great job of finding just what I wanted.

Now if I could just twinkle my nose & have my new quilts appear!

Not really, that’s the part that I love!

I can’t decide which design to start on first…

I know I’ll be cutting Tiny Dresden petals from the jelly roll.

I’ve been thinking about just taking the whole jelly roll, 4 strips at a time, (8 layers) & cutting petals…and not stop sewing until I have a bazillion Tiny Dresden petals made and see where that takes me.