Bizzy Kid

If you have been reading a long for a while you know that my life has been a little crazy as of late.  One of our friends was going through a rough spot and we opened our home to him and his two year old daughter.  It made it difficult to sew and I have gotten pretty far behind on a lot of my projects.  Is that possible?  Can you be behind on something that is just a hobby?  With the exception of my one commitment to a Round Robin group I have not joined any bees or swaps this year in anticipation that it might get a little crazy.  So can I really be behind?  I mean I doubt I will make my goal of 12 quilts this year since it is May and I have only one finish for the year thus far but that is just a personal goal so there really isn't any consequence to not meeting that goal but it feels strangely like pressure.  This weekend I was finally able to spend a little time in my sewing room just relaxing, listening to Pandora, and sewing away.  So what do you do when you have about 4 projects you are in the middle of, round robin quilts that need to be done, and about a million other things all calling for your attention-start something new of course.  At least that's what I did!  I was originally inspired by this fabric pull that Corey did for a pillow swap and knew I wanted to make something with these bright colors.  So I started pulling fabrics for a granny squares quilt since that is the latest quilt along that the Old Red Barn Quilt Along group is working on.  But then I saw this quilt top and knew that they would be too similar.  And well honestly I wasn't feeling the granny square love.  Sometimes I like to do quilt alongs but sometimes I can't help but think I don't want a quilt like everyone else.

The two different sets 

So I had seen a pattern over at Cluck Cluck Sew the other day that I liked.  I don't buy many patterns because usually I can look at the picture and sort of figure it out but in this case I just wanted someone else to have done all the math for me.  Bizzy Kid wasn't the original pattern I saw but it stuck my fancy when I was ordering.  I needed to spend time sewing and not looking at inspiration only to find the day gone and a project not started.  So on Thursday night I ordered the PDF (another first for me) pattern of Bizzy Kid and read through the instructions.  I looked at my fabrics I had pulled and figured out I had what I needed.  I went to the LQS on Friday during my lunch break to get some Kona Snow and was hoping to find some charcoal sketch.  They appeared to be out of both but lucky for me a willing salesperson and a trip to the back found a bolt of Kona Snow that was not in the inventory in the computer.  So Friday night I cut my solid six inch squares and made the larger hourglass blocks.  Sunday I spent most of the day sewing and was able to complete the blocks and sew the sets together.  The only thing left is to sew the columns together and wait till payday to order some washi tape fabric for the back.  I think it will be the perfect fabric for this quilt.

This is a queen bed with blocks laid out on it.  The row hanging off the side will actually move to the other side of the quilt there just wasn't enough room.  And this should finish at about a twin size according to the pattern.

This is the first pattern I have purchased from Allison but I would recommend her again.  I found the pattern to be very well written and easy to understand.  And while the pattern was simple enough and I probably could have figured it out myself it was nice to have the math already taken care of for me.  Another handy trick I learned while putting this one together, my Tucker Trimmer (HST ruler) was perfect for trimming my hourglass blocks.  The two diagonals on the ruler made it the perfect tool.

I also got my Loulouthi Tiles quilt back from the long arm so I should have my second finish of the year to share with you soon.  Hopefully that will take some of the pressure off.  What have you been sewing?

Farmer's Wife Quilt Along Week???

I haven't abandoned my Farmer's Wife Quilt Along project but I do seem to be having a harder time finding little moments to sew these 6 inch blocks.  At the start it was all fun and games and they were addictive but I am afraid I have done most of the "easier" blocks and left myself with some pretty tough blocks to work on.  I do have a few easier blocks left that I am holding out on for the right moment but since I don't paper piece and I am using the templates and a lot of starch just cutting out these pieces seems to take a long time.  There is all that tracing and then cutting but it is so worth it.  I can't wait to see this beauty finished and I am already thinking about the next one.  I don't really have a plan for this finished quilt although with it being queen sized it would fit my bed nicely if I can convenience the hubs it isn't too girly with all those flowers.  With all that being said I have three blocks to show you this week.  I've lost track of what week we are suppose to be on and I know I am behind again but maybe when things calm down a bit around here and I get back to a normal schedule I will be able to catch back up.

Block # 63 Ozark Maple Leaf

Block # 88 Star of Hope

Block # 104 Wild Geese

The Star of Hope block gave me a little trouble as I used the templates and a quarter inch seam but the HST pieces were still longer then the large square at the bottom.  So after I squared it up the corners look a little funny but I think once it is sewn in it will look right again.  It's just odd sometimes when the templates don't come out quiet right and I have checked and rechecked the sizing so I know I am doing it correctly as most of the blocks are correct.  It's just every once in a while when one goes a little hinky.

Round Robin

Okay seriously I don't know how you guys with kids do it.  We have a 2 year old staying with us temporarily and it is taking a serious toll on my sewing time.  Maybe it's because she isn't mine and I don't feel like I can discipline her the way I would my own child but I find it's easier to just not sew with her in the house.  So I am really behind on my hobby.  It is after all just a hobby and the only real commitment I have to hold to is my round robin group.  Admittedly I have been slow in completing these and getting them on to Dee but lucky for me she is quick and doesn't grumble at me too much for being slow.  Although I am determined to do better when things get back to normal.

For this round Susan had asked for a yellow and gray color scheme but had left the design elements completely up to use.  Nichol added in a few colors with the introduction of her fabrics in the triangles.  So I went back to mostly gray and yellows so that the color scheme would stay strong but I did keep one fabric that tied in the other colors Nichol used.  I wanted something that would offer nice juxtaposition to the sharp angles of the triangles.  A friend recommended I use circles.  And with that I was off.

I used a CD to cut out the circles which worked pretty well overall.  There were a few places where my circles weren't perfect as I was cutting multiple layers at one time.  Overall I thought it worked well though.  One thing I would recommend when doing applique by machine, remember to change to your zig zag stitched.  Okay so I'll admit I sewed down four circles for my smaller sides and then walked away from my machine.  When I came back and was walking back through getting my machine set and I changed my stitch I suddenly realized, duh that's why that wasn't working like I thought it would.  I had forgotten to change it from a straight stitch to a zig zag.

I'm already working on my round for April and should have some progress to show you a little later this week along with a Farmer's Wife Update.

Down On The Farm

There isn't much sewing going on around here lately.  It seems my inability to focus has caused me to spend tons of time in the sewing room moving stuff around and looking at fabric, pretty pictures, and patterns but no actual sewing.  I'm a few blocks behind on my Farmer's Wife Quilt Along Quilt again already but I did manage to sew up a few of them in the last week or so.

Noon & Light Block # 60

Peace & Plenty Block # 64

I'm not a huge fan of Square Dance.  I wanted to use the stripe fabric because I have been having a really hard time working that in to these little squares but I'm not sure it has enough contrast to really make that block pop the way it needs to since it is such a simple block.

Square Dance Block # 85

Tulip Block # 96

How are you coming along on the Farm?  These blocks bring my total count to 63 out of 111 blocks done.  I am finding it is a little harder to find blocks I want to make when I just have a few minutes to sew since I have made a lot of the easier blocks.  But it is still a fun project and I am excited to see what happens when it's done.

WIP Wednesday

First off I want to say I don't know how those of you with young kids do it.  We have been helping out a friend who is having a bit of a hard time and part of that package is a 2 year old every other weekend and a few days a week.  Now I love "monkey" almost as much as I imagine I will love my own child someday but man does she cut into some serious sewing time.  So I am very slowly making progress on some projects on the days that she isn't staying at the house.

I only managed to squeak out one Farmer's Wife Block in the last 2 weeks which means I am behind schedule again but I'm hoping that I will be able to knock out a few this weekend.

Cats and Mice Block #17

I am still working on sewing together my hexagons by hand which is another very time consuming project.  But it is pretty relaxing until you start to get a callus on your finger.  Yeah I'm one of those who refuses to wear a thimble.  I can't explain it they just feel weird.  But I've never been a fab of gloves or anything like that either so I guess my hands are like my feet, they like to be free.

Hand Sewn Hexagons Progress

I've found at this point it's a little easier to sew clumps together and then add the clumps to the main piece which is why it is such a strange shape but hey it seems to be working for me.

The last little project I worked on was this quilt top for Nichol.  A group from the Old Red Barn Quilt Along Group broke off to create traveling quilts this year.  I am in a group that is doing a round style quilt.  So I started with Nic's middle which was the pinwheels inside of the brown boarder.  I changed my plan about a million times but this is where I ended up.

I added the yellow boarder with floating pinwheels.

I wanted to make a ton of pinwheels but I was afraid it would be too busy so I went a little minimalistic and I hope she will really like it.  It did give me the chance to write my first ever tutorial for that patchwork pinwheel in there.  You can find that here.  I also made cornerstone blocks using one of the patterns from the Farmer's Wife Book because Nichol had used cornerstones in her round I thought she might like to keep that going. 

I think the hardest part about this group for me is that there is no real direction.  I think everyone wanted to leave it open ended so the biggest restriction so far has been a request to stay with a color scheme.

I borrowed this photo from Nichol because this is where she ended.

This is the next top that I get to work on and I have to admit I am at a total loss right now as to what to add next.  Any suggestions?

Well that's a look at what I'm working on.  Be sure to head over to Lee's to check out what everyone else is up to on this WIP Wednesday.

Patchwork Pinwheel (A Tutorial)

Well one of the goals on my list for 2012 was to write a few tutorials for my blog.  The problem is most of the things I make are from a pattern, or quilt along, or are very heavily influenced by someone or something I have seen.  Well I had this idea floating around in my head for a while for a patchwork pinwheel but didn't want to take the time to figure out all the little triangles and I mean really who wants to spend all that time cutting anyway.  So I came up with a quick and easy patchwork pinwheel block for a round robin bee I am in and decided I would take pictures and share with you all.  Now this is the very first tutorial I've ever written so please bear with me, but if you have any questions just ask.  Also because blogosphere is so big I'm also sure I'm not the first person to do this.  I've never seen it done but I also didn't search all over the Internet either.  Okay now that all of those bits are out of the way lets get started.

 

Patchwork Pinwheel

I made my block to finish at a 5 inch square.  But you could very easily use this method to make a much larger or smaller block.  To start you want to cut an assortment of squares.  For my block I started with 2 inch squares, if you are making a larger block you may want to increase the size.  For the 5 inch block I started by sewing a simple 4 patch.  You will need two(2) 4 patches for each block.  If you are making a larger block increase your four patch to a six or nine patch for a larger size.  Or increase the size of your squares from 2 inches.

Star by making two(2) 4 patches.

Next you will need to cut 2 squares of you solid (alternate) fabric.  Now draw a line on the back of your solid block from corner to corner and sew 1/4 of an inch seam on each side.  I use this handy tool called a Magic Wand that I picked up a few years ago.  It is a 1/2 inch wide with a laser line down the middle and I use it to make all of my Half Square Triangles.

Mark your sewing lines on the solid

Now you want to cut on the line you drew and press your half square triangle units.  Then trim to size.  For my 5 inch finished block I used a 3 inch HST.  Another handy tool I recommend having in your quilting arsenal is a ruler made for squaring up HST units.  Mine is the Tucker Trimmer and it works for HST units as small as 11/2 inches all the way up to those that are 61/2 inches big.

Cut your blocks down the middle after sewing

Square up your HST units

HST Unit once it is squared up

Then layout your HST units into the pinwheel that you want.  I played with mine a lot until I got the symmetry I wanted since I had repeated fabrics in my two four patches this was a little more tricky then it probably should have been.

Lay out you block how you like it. Sew your blocks into 2 rows and then sew your rows into a finished block.

Sew your two squares into a row and then sew your two rows together into a finished block and woo hoo you have made a easy peasy patchwork pinwheel.  If you make one I'd love to see it.  Leave me a comment with a link so I can check it out.  And remember if you have any questions just ask, I'd be happy to answer them.

Press your finished block and enjoy!

Out of Focus

Things around here have been a little crazy lately.  Bertha went to the spa for her annual visit and while she was gone I worked on my 5 Year Project (hexagons).  But now she is back and I've been wanting to sew.  Trouble is I just can't seem to focus on anything.  My mom and I went to the Midatlantic Quilt Show yesterday and I expected to be showing off my goodies and to be inspired and excited about a lot of things.  Truth is I expected to be out of focus because of overwhelming amounts of inspiration.  But instead I was pretty disappointed with the show this year.  There weren't very many quilts, and some of the ones that were there I wasn't a fan of.  I have to say I think when entering a quilt into a show you should at least make sure your seams haven't popped and that there aren't loose threads covering the quilt.  Just a little pet peeve of mine.  There were a ton of vendors but an overwhelming amount who didn't have fabric.  It was just less than impressive to me.  I came home with a box of pins and a charm pack of Walk in the Woods.  No major goodies like last year's discovery of Swell.  It's okay though now I can do a little online shopping knowing I'm not missing out on a great deal at the quilt show.

Hexagons that are sewn together.  It's getting bigger!

Now that Bertha is back and I can sew on my machine again I took the opportunity to catch my Farmer's Wife Blocks back up.  I made three blocks so far this weekend but I imagine I will make a few more tomorrow.

Block 52 Hovering Hawks

Block 90 Storm Signal

Block 28 Duck and Ducklings

Last I picked back up my blocks from the Summer Sampler.  I had been putting off this project because as you know if you have read my blog before, I don't know how to paper piece and the rest of the blocks require some paper piecing.  Well there was one that didn't so I made that one first and then I actually tried paper piecing and I made a block.  It's not perfect, it's a smidgen small, and I think I have some extra fabric in my blue on two of the pieces but I tried it.  It took me a long time and I'm not very good at it but at least I can say I tried.

Summer Sample Series-Star

Summer Sampler Series- Lucky Pieces

So while I'm looking for my focus and my sewing mojo I'd love to hear what you all are working on.  Maybe you can spark some inspiration for me.