Girls Night Out...

(click on photo to enlarge)
This photo is two images cropped together - I tell you
this to explain the half table in the center of the image.

I spent yesterday working on the quilt top and will share it in tomorrow's post. Last night, though, was Girls Night Out at Books A Million. (Missed you Krisann, but glad we could fit in lunch together yesterday!)

These girls have enormous hearts and they make me laugh. I love the time we spend together. They're all busy working on yarny rectangles right now to send in for Warm Up America™.

I remember when I had my shop in Wisconsin (over twenty years ago). Fellow shop owner, Evie Rosen - also located in Wisconsin, conceived of this great idea. Since then, knitters and crocheters have continued to summon their creative talents to make blankets for the homeless. It's a great cause, and the girls in our group never shy away from a great cause. (You can click here to see how you can participate, too.)

I haven't been able to knit or crochet for a while (an little issue with my hands), but I continue to meet with the gals for their inspiration and friendship. I'm looking forward to hearing just how many squares they contribute to Warm Up America™ this year, and to see what their next charity project will be.

I'm anxious to share the quilt top tomorrow. Hope you'll stop by for the big reveal!

Machine Quilting And What's Up Next...

I took this book with me on our trip to Nantucket. Even when I can't sew or knit, I love to take along something that I can read about sewing or knitting! I did complete a book called "Vintage Nantucket" that was in our hostess's library, but I took along "The Guide To Machine Quilting" hoping to learn some tips and pointers.

This book didn't fail to deliver. I can highly recommend Diane Gandynski's book if you would like to learn how to do your own machine quilting. I read it cover to cover and am looking forward to trying some of the new things I learned on some of my upcoming projects.

While I continue to work toward the finish line on the quilt for our hostess, I'm going to share a little about my next quilt. I'm going to be making a queen size quilt for my sister for Christmas. She already knows that she's getting this gift, but doesn't know which fabric or pattern I'll be using.I purchased "Home Comforts" from Brenda Riddle of Acorn Quilt and Gift Company - along with another of her books called "Comfort and Joy". (Her blog is called Little Acorns.) I really enjoyed paging through each book as I tried to decide which design to use. I finally decided on a pattern called "Twinkle". More than that, I can't tell you because I know Miss Snoopy Pants will try to see what I'm doing.

So, I'll be finishing my current project to be ready for Kathy's scheduled slot for me - for machine quilting - the first week of November, and then I'll need to scamper right along to finish my sister's quilt for the second week of November. If I can get this accomplished, the rest of my Christmas sewing will be a cinch! Of course, I might just kill myself trying to get the first two projects done. Whew!

I'll keep you in the loop, and hope you'll come along for this years' Christmas Sleigh Ride. You can see all the projects I finished last year (in case you weren't here to watch), by clicking here. I assure you, the list is not as extensive this year. That entire list was accomplished start to finish from November 30th to December 23rd. I am going to try my best to be finished with everything by December 15th this year.

More sewing today, and then I'll start working on my list so I can plan out my time for this years' gifts. See you tomorrow, hoping you have a creative day planned for yourself, too!

A Little More Detail...

My last photo post about the batik "Thank You Quilt" elicited a question that I thought I'd answer for everyone who might be curious (and then I'm going to share just a little ok, a LOT more detail about the quilt, too). Jillayne wrote a comment asking about the ruler:

Jillayne said...

The colours are fabulous - the perfect choice for the seaside! That ruler is pretty spiffy and the perfect thing for those Jelly Rolls - what's it called?It looks nifty, swifty to me! Have fun placing and re-arranging today!

Here are the labels so that you can see what you'll be shopping for...Creative Grids is the name of the manufacturer. (Don't forget - you can always click on any of my photos to enlarge them.)
The ruler I used for this quilt is called the 45º Double-Strip Half-Square Triangle Ruler, although there are rulers for other block configurations available, too. No math skills required. Just line up per instructions and cut. Easy Peasy!
This is what the entire ruler looks like. It has a 2 1/2" wide ruler running the entire length, so that you can cut your own strips from yardage - if you chose your own assortment instead of purchasing the pre-cut 2 1/2" jelly rolls. With all the stash I have, this part of the ruler will really come in handy in the future!

Then, once you've assembled one light and one dark strip together, you place the triangle part of the ruler on the fabric to cut the triangles. You only have to be sure to place the dotted line (it's located in the mid-point of each triangle) directly on your seam line between the two strips before you make your cuts with a rotary cutter. You can see how I cut the strips here.

Note: If you want the top of your triangle to be on the right - you need to cut your triangles with the BACK side of the fabric facing up (as I did with the triangle marked "light" below).

Likewise, if you want your triangle tops on the left side - cut your fabric RIGHT side up (like the triangle marked "dark" below).
Once you've cut your triangles (each strip will create light and dark triangles), you assemble a dark and a light triangle to make a square. (That's what quilters mean when they say "half-square triangles". When you put two halves together, you get a square!) Still no math required.

You'll notice that the dark triangle in this photo has a top on the left, and the light triangle has a top on the right. You need to do this or your triangles will not create squares when assembled.
When you place your next square, you'll want to be sure that you lay a light triangle next to a dark, and a dark next to the light as show above.
Four squares ready to be assembled into a block.
This is what the block will look like when it's sewn. I just laid the triangles closer together for this photo, and have not actually sewn it together yet.
These four blocks have been assembled and I'm showing you how I preview the layout. You want to be sure that you place lights next to darks when you assemble to quilt top so that the color values alternate.

One thing I wanted to mention is that I decided that all aspects of the block I'm making would be random. You could also take two sewn strips (four different fabrics), cut them into triangles and assemble using just those four different fabrics if you want. I actually think you use less fabric that way!
On Saturday, I headed over to Sandy's Quilt Shop and purchased my backing and sashing fabrics. I'm going to use the lighter color for the sashing on the front of the quilt, and the darker fabric will be my backing and binding.

Sunday really was a day of rest around here. Handsome and I took the dogs for a walk in our neighborhood. When we got back home, we pulled the cover off the pool and all four of us went swimming. It was a perfect way for the dogs to cool down, and we really enjoyed it, too.

I only spent enough time in the studio to cut more assembled strips for the quilt so that they'll be ready for me to make more blocks tomorrow. When I was finished with that, we gathered to watch football until dinner time. Dogs were fed and aired, we put on our riding gear and pushed out the Harleys to ride out for a meal. We even managed to avoid a rain shower that soaked our neighborhood while we were away! We got back home just in time for the kickoff of the Packers vs Vikings game. We've been in Florida for nearly ten years, but we'll always be Packers fans. (They won tonight! Yea!!!)

Thanks so much for your comments on this project. Just ask if you want to know something else, and I'll try not to be so wordy! I hope you each have a healthy and creative week, my friends. More tomorrow...