Sharon's Elizabeth

You saw my finished Swoon flimsy yesterday, so today you will get to see a recent finish from Sharon. She had the chance to sew over the July 4th weekend and finished her Elizabeth! It is gorgeous!

You may recall that we began this project back in January. We really do work well when we have occasional common projects; it's a matter of keeping each other motivated. I managed to get mine done in quick order, but Sharon has taken a little longer. I think it was worth the wait, don't you? It's just gorgeous!

Most of the fabric in Sharon's version is Luna Notta by 3 Sisters with perhaps a neutral added in from some other line. Her Elizabeth has lighter blue and darker pink, whereas mine is light pink and more vivid blue. You can compare the two below.

We had a few good laughs yesterday with Sharon's reveal. She told me with a very straight face that she was calling her quilt "Loser." What?!?! No! It's is definitely not a loser! But her meaning is that she "lost" so many points! Then she said maybe it should be called "Pointless." We then proceeded to quickly take stock of how many points the two of us cut off - this pattern has an abundance of points to mind, and decided that if anyone calls us on our lack of points, it was a problem with them, not us!

What a great day to spend sewing with a dear friend! Besides having a few laughs, we really got a lot done, too.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Sharon Moved Some Mountains

When the two of us sewed together here on Tuesday, I worked on the 4-patch baby quilt which I described my last two posts. Wait till you see what Sharon worked on!

These gorgeous blocks are the 24 Delectable Mountains for her Elizabeth quilt. They are scrumptious! The pinks in my version are cotton-candy pink, while Sharon's is deeper and dustier. I think it's much more dramatic, actually.

This picture from two weeks ago shows her first Delectable Mountain block, so this week she made the remaining 23. Bit by bit Sharon is closing in on all the parts for Elizabeth and the setting-together will begin. So close.

Next Tuesday, we will be sewing at Terry's house, and Sharon plans to make the 4-patch units and the triangle units. Big blocks; they they will go together quickly.

I'm late getting a blog posted today, folks! I opted to spend the day finishing the scrappy baby quilt over blogging. (Sometimes, ya' just gotta' sew.) The baby quilt is now a flimsy. Whoo-hoo!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Sharon's Elizabeth Stars

You may recall that my sewing buddy Sharon P. began making Elizabeth back in January when I was making mine. Her schedule does not allow her as much time with her sewing machine as mine does, but she is still making progress. When she was here Tuesday, she was making stars.

Her fabric is Luna Notte by 3 Sisters/Moda. It is luscious. Feast your eyes on these stars, and imagine how they will look in Elizabeth.

Yes, she did fussy-cut the rose to fall into the center of that star. Most of the stars will be pale blue, but this one looks almost gray. Gorgeous.

To be reminded of what Elizabeth looks like here are a couple of links to the posts on my version, which I made in January - making my stars and my reveal.

You'll see me making Swoon blocks today. Hopefully the pics will be in this space tomorrow!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Fun with Frienzies

Yesterday was a day filled with Frienzies. First, Sharon came over for a day of sewing, something we have become rather lax about. She brought her Elizabeth project, and while she's not yet finished, she is definitely plugging right away at it. I mentioned in a previous post that I would give details of the fabrics she is using for her version.

Above is the process of selecting which neutral grouping to use. The fabrics are mostly Luna Notte by 3Sisters/Moda. We did add in some Aviary pinks, too. Anyway, the winner of the neutral debate is that grouping in the upper right corner - the lightest of the options. It will definitely be fun seeing how it all comes together.

At the end of the day,the entire group of Frienzies wound up over at Susan's for our monthly get-together and to celebrate Hettie's birthday.

Susan set up her kitchen table for a Valentine's craft. Sherrie and Susan are busy here painting canning jars, the first step in the craft.

While the paint dried, we enjoyed the appetizers. Look at the variety! Lyn and Sherrie brought those. Pam brought the makings for Italian sodas. Delish!

The table was festive with bright Fiesta dishes. Our menu consisted of a variety of soups with salad.

Hettie, our birthday girl, shows off her craft jar; Sharon's is there in the foreground. We decorated our jars with ribbons and stickers, and then filled them with Valentine's candy and chocolates.

My contribution was birthday-girl requested - lemon meringue pie. I made a practice one before making the real deal. I can only show you the practice pie; I never even thought to take a pic of last night's pie. The practice pie looks pretty rough, but it tasted good. *wink*

It was a fun day with friends. While Sharon worked on her Elizabeth, I pulled out my February UFO - Lorraine - and did some work on the borders. Come on back tomorrow to see my progress.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Elizabeth Reveal

Exciting stuff today, Peeps! Sunday evening late, I took the final stitches on Elizabeth. She is now a flimsy and has been enjoying several photo ops since her completion.

It's quite a satisfying finish, to be honest. This quilt is very, very fussy. While it only measures 81.5" square, it took 24 star blocks, 24 Delectable Mountains blocks, 24 triangle setting blocks and 12 4-patch filler blocks. It all required thinking, most assuredly. This was not one of those mindless projects that seem to just make themselves. It was work - but of the most rewarding kind. I love my results.

My idea was to have my four prettiest Delectable Mountains in the center of the quilt, so I made the two long diagonal rows first.

One benefit of doing this section first was that the most involved matching and pinning was taken care of from the get-go. Nice. For the rest of the quilt, I just used the random method of block placement, and if I were to criticize anything, it is that I could have taken more time to place blocks more pleasingly. But, I will not think about that. I will just enjoy the wonderful beauty of my newest flimsy.

Did I mention that the quilt required great care in construction? Here is a picture of the massive pinning I did to keep points matched, intersections crisp and everything even and in place. Whew. You can also see that I opted to press open all my seams. That took some time, as well, but I do believe the end result was all the better for it. I used a lot of spray starch along the way, too. *grin*

Above, Elizabeth is enjoying a rare sunny January morning on the front porch. Chilly, but sunny.

And she also looks quite fetching in the best reading corner of the house, above.

Isn't she wonderful?!!

So, Elizabeth is the first finish for 2017. It feels good to get the year off with such a strong, solid quilt in terms of construction. She's definitely sweet and feminine in her looks, isn't she?

If you want details on pattern and fabric, click back through the past week or two of posts. I've mentioned the details a few times.

I've linked up with Connie at Freemotion by the River. It's always fun to share and see what others are doing.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Near-Flimsy Status

I am so near to having Elizabeth in the flimsy stage that I can hardly stop to write this post. Just three more seams will see a completion, and you should look for the big reveal on Tuesday. I already have a post ready for Monday, so waiting until Tuesday will have to do.

These four diagonal rows are ready to attach to the long center diagonal rows. In my mind, I have this identified as the top right, but since it's going to end up as a square quilt that will be irrelevant after it's all sewn together.

Here are five rows that will be the lower left side of the center rows. I am taking the time to be careful about how this comes together - I am pressing seams open and pressing everything before connecting any parts. I am also pinning everything. All this has taken quite a bit of extra time, but I am mostly pleased with how the top is coming together; I suspect I will be convinced in the end that all this extra fussing will have been worth it.

On the design wall (which I did not photograph) has the three middle rows. One seam is needed to complete that section, then these two outer parts will be attached. And VOILA! This reveal will be ready to greet the world!

Because I have pinned everything today, I feel like it has indeed been a Slow Sunday of Stitching, so I am linking up with Kathy's weekly link party.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Progress on Elizabeth

Yes, I have progressed. Surprisingly - to me, anyway - I have stayed right with this quilt and am now to the stage where I begin putting the top together. All the "parts" are constructed - hooray! I will lay these parts out on the bed to arrange them in a pleasing way. Really, it can mostly be random, but those 4 Delectable Mountains in the center should be the prettiest of all, so I will audition my options and go from there.

These 8 FQs of pink and 6 FQs of neutral were the last bits to be constructed. They were also pretty easy. In addition to being the main part of the Delectable Mountains, these become the setting 4-patch blocks and the side and corner triangles. Very pretty in the randomness of it all. It will be fun putting the pieces in place.

All 24 Delectable Mountains blocks are ready to go. The way the blocks are laid out will turn those dark points into a wonderful interior border around the entire quilt.

Sigh...so pretty. I love the softness of the fabrics and I love the way the blue, brown and red "pop." The individual fabrics are identified in this post, in case you wondered.

Elizabeth parts are stacked up and ready for action! It may happen this weekend; or I could save it for taking with me Tuesday when a bunch of us are sewing at Terry's. Yet to be determined.

Go check out the linky party at Crazy Mom Quilts - there's some lovely stuff happening in 2017!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Fast HSTs

We quilters do love all parts of the process of quilt-making, certainly, but some parts are more tedious than others. About a week ago, I shared a fast way of doing flying geese units. Today, I will share my fast way of doing half-square triangles - HSTs, for short.

As you know, I am making the quilt called Elizabeth in Carrie Nelson's book, Spice of Life Quilts. It is actually a goal that Sharon P. and I are working on together as we begin 2017.

Above, are all the parts prepped for making my Delectable Mountain blocks. I spent most of yesterday accomplishing this. And I broke it down into steps. Making 24 Delectable Mountain blocks is not an overly daunting task until you realize that you need 144 HSTs for those 24 blocks, so that was my first step. Ugh. That does become tedious. Let me share my method of making this task as streamlined as possible.

I cut out the light and dark squares according to the pattern instructions. I also marked the diagonal line on the back of the light squares and matched a light and dark together for sewing. The stack above has been stitched on either side of the diagonal line. There's no speedy way of doing this, I admit. I do chain piece them, but I only do 10 or 12 at a time, so that I don't have a long tangled mess to slow me down.

After they are sewn, I space them out on the cutting mat like this picture shows. This will make cutting them apart faster than doing one at a time.

I work my way across the squares, lining up my ruler on the pencil marks, cutting each unit. It becomes an assembly line after the first few are done.

Before you know it all the cutting is done and you have your neat triangles ready to take to the ironing board. Notice how I have stacked them. If they are all going the same way, then I save a few seconds with fiddling and turning individual triangles. I want to lay them on the ironing board in the direction that I will be pressing.

 Pardon my stained ironing board cover, but I think you can distinguish the units. I place the triangles dark side up because I want the seam allowance to be on the dark side. (Press toward the dark, we know, right?) I set each seam with a press and then go back and begin pressing each HST open. I am careful in this process not to stretch the bias. I want a crisp seam across the middle, but I don't iron the dickens out of it. This is another assembly line operation. I work my way across the ironing board and pick up each HST so that they are all facing the same direction.

After prepping all 144 HSTs, I sewed them together like you see above. That was another assembly line. I made the large HSTs that form the body of the block using the exact same method. Now all the parts are ready for at last making those Delectable Mountain blocks - 24 little units on the top left; 24 units on the top right; 24 big units for the body.

After classes today, I think I will come straight to the sewing machine and churn these blocks out.

PS: I've linked up to Let's Bee Social over at Sew Fresh Quilts. Have a look around at what other quilters have been working on.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Haste Makes Waste

That old adage about 'haste makes waste" came into play with my first Delectable Mountain block for the Elizabeth quilt.

I finally found some time late last week to start these blocks. And like I always do, instead of making all the HST units like the pattern instructions tell me to, I chose to make just enough to finish a block. I just have to see one finished block. Are all quilters that way? I rushed right through it, thinking it would be a breeze. No need to think. Just sew!

So yes, haste makes waste. Fortunately, all that I wasted is time, though. I will be able to use the HSTs going the wrong direction on future blocks. I did go ahead and make a second block successfully.

I took my ripper with me to quilting on Friday at Jan's, removed the offending unit, and now am ready to do my remaining blocks according to the directions.

I love how these are gonna' look!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Overkill

Just a quick stop today, folks. It's back to OUC for me (I had MLK day off) and I have several items to knock off my list before classes begin.

I recently ordered sewing machine needles from Amazon. Normally I would just run to the store for something like this, but I was ordering something else and needed to spend about 4 more dollars in order to qualify for free shipping. Knowing I needed needles, I just ordered them. About 2 days later, this giant envelop showed up in the mail with this tiny package of needles.

I ask you: is this overkill or what??

Sadly, I have not sewn any Delectable Mountain HSTs as I'd planned, but they are cut, marked and ready. I have also cut all the remaining parts of Elizabeth and am really looking forward to getting time soon to do some marathon sewing.

Here's a sneak peak at the pinks and neutrals I cut yesterday for Elizabeth - 6 assorted neutrals and 8 assorted pinks. I love that I am finally using Pom Pom de Paris. I knew it was waiting for just the right quilt.

More tomorrow, Peeps!
Happy Quilting, Friends!