my POTC Lucy for February

Patchwork of the Crosses/Lucy Boston blocks 

for February!

 

Oops!  Guess I forgot to share my finishes last month...

Well, almost finishes...

My goal is to do one of these blocks

EACH WEEK of this year.

My January goal was met - five done.
But this February group picture?

Bottom left block was missing

it's outside border of honeycomb pieces

when the photo was taken!

(: My March goal is looking about the same -

with only a couple of days remaining in this month

I don't have my outside borders put on the March blocks either! :)

 

Back to those February blocks, above, 

I have them laid out on a small piece of blue-grey, linen-looking fabric...

I'm thinking I want my connecting squares from this color family.

The blue-grey is definitely much cooler looking

than the original Lucy 

as it was connected with a warm, rosey-pink.

Although I'm auditioning colors,

I'm not choosing my color for the connecting squares YET,

'cause a want to do quite a few more blocks to get a good representation of

the colors before I decide.

 

Back to stitching for me -

happy Wednesday stitching to you, also!





quilting, snow and soup

Another snow storm has passed through Central Ohio...

another 6 inches or so.  It's beautiful.

It's also nice to be able to work from home - quilting.

And cooking while I'm stitching away...
it's Soup Time!!!

 

That's kind of been my theme this Winter...

Snow and Soup.

What's better than a big pot of soup simmering as the snow falls??

I made up a batch of Beef-Barley-Vegetable soup and

some crusty bread - man does the house smell great!

(If only I had fresh cream...I'd churn up some fresh butter

just like Great-Grandma B always seemed to have on hand
when there was a snow storm blowin' in.)

HA!!
Check out my bread-baking bowls:

Can you tell from the color of my Pyrex 

which decade I received these as a wedding gift???

Makes me smile. 

Anyway,

 

Snow, quilting, cooking...
what a great way to finish up the last week of March!

HOT PAD/POT HOLDER final step

You've appliqued, pieced, layered, quilted, trimmed to finished size AND bound... so now that you have a whole bunch of "mini quilts" finished?

Lay out and whip-stitch together!

These are 7 inch finished Hot Pad blocks
that I've laid out to audition placement
before whip-stitching together

If I need to pack up the project to have it ready for some travel sewing, I get my layout the way I like and then pin "baste" into rows and columns:

I put my finished blocks right sides together and

whip-stitch from the back:  

Use a matching thread and just whip-stitch away!  

Doesn't take much time at all...
but I love to hand-stitch,
so maybe it does take some time and I just don't realize it :)  .

From Hot Pad blocks to entire FINISHED quilt in no time at all!

This entire method of Hot Pad or Pot Holder blocks came from
Civil War times...and from this great book:

 about the quilts of the ladies aid societies.

(More info about this Pot Holder method

here,  here, and here.)

HOT PAD OPPOSING-SIDE BINDING METHOD

Continuation of the Hot Pad Block Tutorial...

this is how I do the bindings for these Hot Pad or Pot Holder blocks. 

In reality, these finished little quilts!

 

After the block has been

pieced,

layered,

quilted,

and trimmed (to common block measurement),

cut the binding strips...

Cut strips for the top and bottom (opposing sides).

Cut these as single fold - 1 1/4 inches wide and the length of the block:

then sew (as above pic shows) 

(as you would any binding- right side of binding to front of block)

onto the quilt block bottom and top.

Press binding outward. 

Press again - folding the raw edge of the binding

to the layered edge of the block back

as on the left side in the above picture.

Now, fold binding in half again,
bring previous fold to the sewn line on the block back. 
Pin and stitch the binding to the quilt block back, finishing binding

(as shown on the right side of the pic above).

For OPPOSING SIDES:  cut your binding for the two sides of the block.
ADD ONE INCH extra on each of these side binding strips:
IE:  if finished block measures 12 inches, cut strip to 13 inches...

Fold over the extra allowance (half inch on each side) as shown above.

Align folds with the finished binding edges, right sides together,

and as before, machine sew the binding onto the block. 

This time, back-stitching at beginning and end. 

Finish as before, but in addition

 I also whip-stitch the folded-under ends

when I'm hand-stitching the bindings.

Finished HOT PAD BLOCK!!

Sally Post February HOT PAD BLOCK METHOD

My Sally Post Garden - February blocks:

The block, top left is finished - appliqued, pieced, layered, hand-quilted, & bound.
The block, top right is appliqued, layered, & hand-quilted, ready to trim & bind.
The little block at the bottom is the center appliqued piece for my third block.

I'm doing the quilt in the Hot Pad or Pot Holder method...
which finishes each block completely as I go.

I was asked about this Hot Pad method,

and if there was a tutorial,

so here are a few pics of the process:

finished block, ready to layer

 I've cut my backing and batting about an inch bigger

than the finished block top, then pin basted.

block layered and pin basted, ready for quilting

I have used basting pins for these blocks,

but you can use the method you prefer for basting

(If you find the pins "un-thread" your quilting needle, you can pin from the back).



Hand-quilting...You can see I've "rolled" the block to the quilting area.
(this needle is a little large, but what I had with me when I was traveling)

These blocks are about 15 inches square, and just as with a large, layered quilt, I start quilting from the center outward.  I don't generally use a quilting hoop, just roll up the layered quilt block in my non-dominant hand to where I am quilting with my dominant hand.  The rolling method keeps the layers of the block slightly taut, just enough to be able to rock the needle.  My left hand also has a thimble so I can "touch down" the needle with every stitch, just as you would if you were using a hoop. 

After quilting is finished and the block is pressed (from the back, so as not to flatten the applique work), I square the block and bind.

I hope this answers questions about this method of finishing...
if not, just leave me a note, and I'll address later.

I'll show pics of my "Opposing Side Binding" next post.

Happy Weekend, & Happy Stitching

Snow Day/Sew Day

When I heard that there was a snow storm a-brewin'

and heading my way, I think I cheered.

OK, I KNOW I cheered... 

cheered like a kid watching the news

for a school cancellation.

Part of my feeling of happiness comes from the
beauty and quietness brought on by a heavy snow...

the fresh, heavy blanket of  'white stuff' 

drapes and covers all sharp angles and muffles sounds.

Here's my little corner of the world early this morning:

And here's what caused the excitement last night:

It was snowing chunks!!!

Also, part of the cheering is for my self-imposed Snow Day/Sew Day...

I get to stay in and Quilt!!!

My Sally Post Garden hand-quilting:

What do you do with a Snow/Sew day?

I was looking for a ruler...

I have issues, I know.

Don't we all?

But I may have to seek help...

Here's the story:

 I recently needed a baby quilt gift.

And I have lots of fabric scraps in baby quilt colors.

So I went through The Scraps, 

and came up with quite a few scraps already cut into

five inch charm squares in cute, baby quilt colors.

Which made me think:

"I could make a cute Lil Twister quilt!"

"Quick, easy, and scrap friendly!" I said."

(Yes, I talk to myself. And answer. Don't know what that means.)

"Yep!", I said to myself!

"Baby Twister it is!!"

Until I couldn't find my Lil Twister ruler.

I have the Lil Twister ruler.

I know I do...

somewhere...

I looked in the usual places...

cutting table, ruler rack, shelf above cutting table.

Not there. 

Then I checked the sewing table near the small cutting mat.

Nope.

OK, on the sewing table,

there's a crock of my

'things I want to make soon, favorite patterns'...

you know - those great patterns

you pick up at shows and festivals

that you HAVE TO MAKE NEXT soon.

I leafed through the stack quickly,

looking for my Lil' Twister ruler/pattern.

No luck...

But I'd already looked everywhere else,

it had to be there.

So emptied the crock

(the crock, btw, may be a magic, bottomless crock:) 

of "HAVE TO MAKE NEXT soon patterns...

and slid them, one by one, into a drawer.

Here's the drawer now:

Now, I didn't count, but there are at least 50 patterns!!!

Yes F-I-F-T-Y. 

Five-Oh. 

FIFTY "HAVE TO MAKE NEXT soon favorites.

Doing some quick math -

          assuming I live to be at least 104,

I need to USE & MAKE one of the aforementioned

"HAVE TO MAKE NEXT SOON"patterns

every year

for the

next

50

years!

See?  Issues!

By the way, February was my birthday month. 

Guess what I bought myself? 

Why, a new quilt pattern, of course! 

What is wrong with me?

Oh, and I never found the Lil' Twister ruler.