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Monday, September 20, 2010

Friday Night Sew In

I completed my first Friday Night Sew In!! What fun! Thank you, Heidi, at http://handmadebyheidi.blogspot.com/ for hosting the evening!

I didn't get as much accomplished as I'd like...turns out the quilt I wanted to work on, "Bali Sea Stars" from Kim Brackett's book Scrap Basket Surprises, I thought I had it cut out, but I didn't, so I spent the first part of the evening getting all my pieces cut and ready to sew! At least that's progress! :-D

I don't do random! (I get too worried I'll have an ugly combination that I didn't plan at the end! LOL -- It's OK if I planned the ugly combination. I just don't want to get surprised!!) So I partnered up my pieces to prepare to sew.



These blocks go together fast! It all quick piecing techniques.  I go ahead and draw my sewing lines -- the seam line I need and another to make "left-over" half-square-triangles!! (Click on the photo below to enlarge it and see my drawn sewing lines! :-) Then I put the patches through the machine twice, and VOILA! I have this whole bunch of half-square triangles -- bonuses! -- that I can use in a scrappy quilt later on.  I have a basket of them! I just throw them in as I go.  They'll all be the same size since they are all made with the leftovers from 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" rectangles.  I've got Edyta Sitar's Friendship Triangles book for ideas on how to use all those!  It's like a two-for-one deal.  I love it!

I managed to get four blocks completed between Emily coming home for the weekend from college, getting Will off to a Boy Scout camping trip, and chauffeuring Sam to his cross country practice.  Not bad!!


After a sweet talk with Emily (it'd been weeks since she was home last!) and tucking her securely in bed (figuratively -- she's nearly 20! LOL), I finished The Temptation of the Night Jasmine (Lauren Willig) on audio book while sewing. By then it was after 2:00 am.  Better to go to bed than try to finish more!

I've read and heard too many stories on sewn fingers! and I've cut myself on a sharp blade too many times to risk it! Words of wisdom from Proverbs 27:12 -- "The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it."  So it was off to bed on Friday night! Start again on Saturday morning.

More stars completed since Friday night!

I'm in the groove now!! I'll be marking this off my "To Do" list very soon!
Blessings,

P.S.   A great big Thank you!! to Shelley at http://www.redquilts.blogspot.com/ for drawing my name in her 100th Post Blogiversary give-away!! She is a most generous quilter (With her permission, I was able to use one of her darling photos from the Augusta, Maine quilt show in a previous blog, here:  Big Girl Panties).  See her other great quilt show photos (Busy Weekend), and her thoughts on "perfection" in quilting is a great read! (Picky about Quilting)  Check her out!!!

8 comments:

LuAnn said...

Those stars are striking...they look dimensional. What kind of border (if any) goes on the quilt. Either way it will be gorgeous!!!

Crispy said...

Oooo lovely stars!! Stars are the best shape in quiltdom IMHO :0) I'm with you, no surprises allowed there is no such thing as grabbing blindly in my house LOL.

Crispy

Staci said...

Your stars are really lovely! It is going to be a striking quilt!

Totally with you on the whole "random" thing. Planned ugly makes perfect sense to me! I've only managed grab and go once, and I thought I was going to lose my mind, although I don't really think I could have planned that particular piece.

Isn't it nice when the kids come home? Seems like we have the best talks the night they come home when the house is all quiet.

Lori said...

What fantastic blocks!!!

Diane said...

your blocks are lovely, I find if my husband is working late or gone to camp for the weekend I'll stay up and sew until my eyes fall out--it's lover-ly.

Stray Stitches (Linda G) said...

I love the quilt you are working on! And thanks for the super tip. I have been trimming corners for the last two days thinking what a waste to throw those away but who like to sew on a raw diagnol. I'm going to start doing the second line of stitching too.

Stray Stitches (Linda G) said...

You have been nominated for The Versatile Blogger Award - check it out at http://straystitches1.blogspot.com/2010/09/it-was-good-mail-day.html

StitchinByTheLake said...

I just "discovered" (thanks to someone else!) that if you sew all the way around all 4 sides of 2 squares that are right side together, then cut diagonally both ways, you end up with 4 half square triangles! I love doing that. But if I need 2 specific ones I like to draw mine on too. blessings, marlene