This Saturday June 2nd,
in Jacksonville, IL
I’ll be teaching my little Dresden plate pattern, Dresden Flags.
You can choose which quilt you would like to make,
either the the larger, 30″ x 42″
or
the little 10″x 12″ which fits the cute little stand.
Both quilts will be adorable additions to your patriot decor for years to come!
Either way, it’ll be a fun day!
Wanna join us?
Contact Sue at Times Square Sewing Complex.
217-245-5445
timessquare@mchsi.com
Thankful for our freedom not just today, but every day.
Thanks to all who make that possible.
I’ll be teaching my Dresden Flags quilts (below) workshop
this Saturday, June 2, In Jacksonville, IL.
If you’re interested in joining, I think there are a few spots left.
Contact Sue at Times Square Sewing Complex
217-245-5445 timessquare@mchsi.com
Tiny Dresden fun included!!!
Just Keep Sewing,
Susan
Happy Easter!
I hope you’re able to spend this Easter with loved ones as I am.
Visit The Graphics Fairy
for more graphics for DIYers like this one.
Just Keep Sewing…
Susan
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
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
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’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
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
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
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
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
