Well begun is half done

Three things to be happy about:
(1) holidays
(2) Burt's bees lotion
(3) Skinny Pop popcorn

I have a new favorite snack - Skinny Pop popcorn!

I've been hooked on it ever since someone gave me a bag of it on a bus trip, and I liked it.  So now I get it by the carton from Costco, sometimes I can catch it on sale.

100 calories and 9 carbs per bag - pure popped perfection!

Here's part of my progress on the granny square quilt so far.  I didn't even contemplate trying to "balance" the colors, nuh-uh!

Three rows put together with sashing, I think I'm going to like how this turns out!

Five blocks across and six down should make a nice sized throw, especially with the wide borders...

All the blocks are sewn, I just need to add sashing and hook em up!



That's it for now, just wanted to show my progress.  Is it Saturday already??  Enjoy it!

Sew forth and sew on til later...

Sashing with Words

Three things to be happy about:
(1) good memories
(2) inventing a better word
(3) getting on with it

I've had two no-sew days, now I'm back in the saddle!

I thought I'd take some of the granny square blocks and add sashing just to see what I could see...

I already know I'm using white sashing to make the blocks pop!, and I found a piece of white-on-white in my stash that I've had awhile.

Can you read the words?  

Probably not, but they're the words to A Visit from St. Nicholas, by Clement C. Moore.

As I chose this fabric I was wondering if it would "clash" with the other white I've been using for the background fabric...

Well, it sorta does, but after thinking about it for about 10 seconds I figured if I use it only in the sashing it shouldn't matter.  Not to me anyway!

Six blocks are sashed and laid out, I really could see the difference, even from the distance I took the photo from.

But as I said earlier, that not a problem - onward and upward!

On another front, part of my "no-sew" time was spent exploring the Horseshoe casino in Baltimore with my friend Felicia (also known as the Slow Quilter).

We both agreed it was a monumental waste of time!  We only went because they gave me free money to play with, but I can honestly say I've gotten the Horseshoe casino out of my system and won't have to go back.  Too many people lounging around in there, if you know what I mean.

That's it for now, sew forth and sew on til later...

A few more of the same

Three things to be happy about:
(1) watching old movies
(2) recycling
(3) polka dots

Still working on my granny square blocks!

Yesterday I measured and gave a final trim to the ones I did previously.

Mostly they seemed to finish just shy of 9", so I settled on 8-3/4".

Just had to trim off a shnibble, but some of the points will have to suffer though.

I won't tell if you won't!

Only 28 blocks sewn and trimmed so far...

I timed myself this morning -

after laying out the pieces it takes about half an hour to do a block...

My favorite machine is my 40+ year old Singer "Touch & Sew Deluxe Zig Zag Sewing Machine Model 758."

I remember buying this machine before I had my first car, back in 1970!  Had to bring it home to my apartment in a taxi, and it's still sewing strong.



That's it for now, have a great day... sew on and sew forth!

More Grannies

Three things to be happy about:
(1) leftover Halloween candy
(2) caramel apples
(3) knitting a scarf

Actually I used to knit, long before I discovered quiltmaking!

My granny squares are looking great so far, but it's not as many as I thought I'd be able to do.

My PC is having problems, which means time spent with the Geek Squad, so I was more or less unable to sew for a good part of the day.

Fourteen blocks done, lots more to go...

That 2-1/2" Accuquilt die is my friend!

Stacking  and cutting four 8-1/2" squares gives me enough white background pieces to make three blocks.

A timesaver for sure.

I'd like to add sashing to the blocks as I get them trimmed, but they're not all coming out the same size if I trim 1/4" from the corners.  That naughty quarter-inch seam will getcha every time.

I might just wait til they're all sewn then trim down to the smallest block size.  No biggie!

They look great all laid out together, though!

I definitely want to stick with these blocks; maybe I can get most of them done before Thanksgiving!


That's it for now, have a great day, enjoy the sunshine, sew forth and sew on...

Granny Squares

Three things to be happy about:
(1) Turning the calendar
(2) a little more patience
(3) naming the constellations

Working on the granny square blocks...

I think the most boring part is prepping and cutting the fabric, even with the Accuquilt die!

I spent a lot of time on my feet yesterday but I was on a roll and didn't want to stop.

I'm trying to lay out the colors so they're pretty much balanced, at the same time I don't want to spend all day moving them around.

Sewing rows together ... getting there!

Five done so far, just need to trim the last four!

I'm following this tutorial by Jolene at Blue Elephant Stitches.

Perhaps I'll set the blocks 7 x 8, plus borders...

Sew forth and sew on

Moving right along

Three things to be happy about:
(1) a little bit more
(2) happy accidents
(3) the color purple

So here in a nutshell are my fabrics for the En Provence mystery.

I had more purples than I realized, but they were all in the medium and dark range.  I did make a quick trip to JoAnn's for lighter purples, so there goes my resolve to shop from stash!

They're having a 50% sale right now, so that's a win win.

Bagged and tagged.

Ready to go when you are, Bonnie!

I really wish I had more of this pretty piece, though.  Someone gifted it to me in a bag of scraps.

Meanwhile as I wait for the first mystery clue, in addition to the hourglass blocks I'm cutting fabrics to make a granny square quilt, using my Accuquilt 2-1/2" square die.

I want to use up as many of the less-than-half-yard pieces as possible, to move them out of my stash and into a quilt.

Some members of my guild are hand piecing this block and they seem to work up pretty fast!  Cynthia is using African fabrics with black sashing; this combination really makes the block pop.

As for me, I'll be doing mine by machine - nothing like instant gratification!

Well, that's it for now.  I'm going out with a neighbor to vote this morning, go ahead and get that out of the way!  Everybody have a great day, finish something old, start something new, sew forth and sew on...