Please vote: strips or block

Sew happy today.  Big shout out to my baby boy who took an abnormally long nap and is still sleeping as I post.  I was able to finish the last strip, display strips for photography, post this, and also sneak in some facebook time and a chat with my sister.   Days like this are great!

Anyway, the 8 strips are done.  It took me longer than normal due to sick kids and a hectic time of year.  (We have started our 2 months of birthdays.  Four birthdays down, three more to go before a nice break from that.)  But, the strips are done.  Now it is time to sew them together.  I have photos of them laying on my living room carpet.  My question is, should I sew them all together as one big block with blue framing around it or in four strips of two (like the last one I made) with blue between the rows?  I'd love to see comments left on what you think.  Did I meet the goal of it being a car theme and colorful?  As soon as I figure out which route I want to go, I can stat the next phase.  At this rate, I plan to have the quilt complete by the end of February, assuming interruptions are still in my near future.  Don't forget to post your vote!

Strips layed together to form one big block.

Do you see my goof?  Directional prints need attention.  Just one goof and an easy fix for another day.

Strips in rows of two.  Picture my carpet being blue.

Notice the strips are not the same length.  With the process I used, this will happen.  I will take a portion off the longest strip and add it to the shortest.  Then I will shorten all strips to the size of the current shortest strip.  Left overs will be used for another quilt or project.

Coming Soon: Craft Room

I have been blessed with a nice home and the potential to make it nicer.  My wonderful husband has been working off and on remodeling/ finishing our basement.  Trying to craft without having a space of my own is so disfunctional.  I have things all over the house, amongst toys, saw dust, you name it.  I can never find what I need as everything is in large bins and as soon as I locate an item, my wonderful husband moves the bin and never remembers doing so.  I DREAM of the day I can have my own space.  Here is a glimpse of the progress we/he has been making.

So, don't tell my husband, but I am planning/ hoping that this craft room will be ready for paint and moving in sometime this summer.  He is already working on the plumbing and electrical.  (There originally was only 2 outlets in the entire basement.)  I talked him into focusing on only my room once the electrical and plumbing inspections have been passed.  That way I can get all my stuff in one place and be functional.  I will be so excited to really get into all the crafts I have in bins.  I am so worried about my sewing machines getting all that dust on them.  It will be so great to seal them up in their own room.  Maybe by the time this is done, my youngest will actually let me sew, realizing that mom's sewing machine is boring instead of very interesting.  Do you know how hard it is to sew with an 18 month old on your lap?  Impossible. 

My quilting frame in the crazy basement.

My future craft room.  It's impossible to even walk in.

This is in my craft room.  I will have a walk-in closet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I insisted that this window be place on an interior wall so that I can see the boys play while keeping the noise out.

 

 

 

 

Jesus is Alive!

All day, I have had this song replaying in my head.  But it is not like the usual- I have a song stuck in my head.  I can actually feel it coming from my heart.  Jesus is moving me today.  I felt lead to just stop what I was doing and post this.  I would be nothing without Him. 


I am not the type who sings all day everyday.  But today it is just radiating from me.  I started singing and my little one joined in with his own version of praise.  But it feels so good to just confess God's existence and love for me.  Speak it out loud.  Confess it verbally and see how just doing that not only changes your day, it changes your life.

Now everyone... Rise and sing! 

Sewing... finally.

One strip done.

I was finally able to sew today.  First I had to divide my neatly stacked and organized strips into 8 equal piles for 8 massive strips.  Then I developed a system to reorganize these mini strips so that they will attach to each other in randomly.  I had a true method and it seems to work well.  I'd like to tell you it is a secret, but honestly, it just isn't that interesting.  Once everything was in eight piles and the piles were "randomly" organized, I got to sewing.

Close up...

To sew one pile of mini strips into one long strip, I used a chain stitch.  I really like this technique as it saves time and thread (and $).  It keeps things very organized for me.  I sewed two mini strips together, one by one in a chain.  Then I took each pair and used a chain to sew two pairs together to make a strip of four.  This continued until it was all sewn together.  I have one strip of 8 done with one in process.  It really doesn't take long IF you have little interruptions and you don't have an active 18 month old sitting on your lap.  I was pleased with the results and look forward to seeing how the others come together.

 

Sneak Peak

I am involved with MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) and have the honor of planning the craft each month.  My friend, Dena, came over tonight and we tried out our project.  We plan to make broaches or pins out of polymer clay.  I hope you like the results.  It should be fun and interesting.

Cutting out a quilt

Quilt blocks and strip cut and ready for next step.

Today I spent my time cutting.  One reason I like quilting is that there ARE so many steps to complete before you have a complete quilt in hand.  It is nice to be able to focus on a small task and know that once you get it done, you can shift directions and do something entirely different even though it is all for the same project.

I managed to cut all the mini strips out of the 13 different prints I purchased.  Cutting is fairly easy as long as you have the right tools and focus.  I like seeing the pieces take shape and how the print looks different once cut smaller.  There is one aspect of cutting that I hate doing- ironing.  It isn't necessary for every print but some can come very wrinkled when purchased.  Taking the time to iron such pieces makes for cleaner cuts and a better quality quilt.  I never throw anything away... well, very little at least.  If you are going to be a quilter, scraps from past quilts will come in very handy.  This year, I found a way to put even the salvage to use.  My son's teacher asked for fabric squares for the classroom.  So, now nearly nothing goes to waist.

 I am a teacher by trade and heart.  I feel the urge to teach a little.  So, this blog may turn into an outlet in more ways than one.  I would love feedback and questions.  I know I have a few followers out there.

This is the quilt that has inspired the one I am currently making.

   

Fussy Cutting with a fussy tot

Fussy cutting

The favorite

Four cut blocks

Sew... today I started cutting the fabric for my focal/ inspirational blocks.  To do the quilt justice, I decided to fussy cut the blocks so that one car is in the center of each.  I don't fussy cut very often.  It is time consuming and waists fabric.  But some prints just call for it.  I got 7 blocks cut before my fussy tot woke up.  Not sure how many I plan to have in this quilt but may cut enough to have 7 in each row with a plan of 4 rows.  So, 21 more blocks to go tonight.   

Beginning a blog?

Ok. So it seems everyone has started a blog. I actually got this account so I can start reading my friends' blogs. I wonder if anyone would be interested in the things that brighten my day. I could blog a little and see what happens.

Sew-today. I didn't actually sew but did the next best thing... I bought FABRIC. This fabric is for my wonderful hubby's aunt's 1st grandchild. Follow that? It is fun to go through fabric, find your inspiration and see what you end up coming home with. I started the process last week looking for my focal fabric. I was asked to make a quilt for a boy, focusing on cars (one with yellow paint would be the icing on the cake) and very colorful. I went to Erica's last week and found the perfect focal fabric and some fun ones to go along. Today, I was able to go to JoAnn's to pick up cheaper, filler, colorful fabric to round off the quilt. I am always amazed at the bill at the end. I haven't heard anyone claim that quilting is cheap. It would be cheaper to just go to the store and buy a blanket if that is all you want. But, nothing will be as special as what you can create yourself. I always hope the recipient appreciates the amount of energy, hours, and yes cash that went into his/her quilt. When it comes to this quilt in particular, I know the recipients are very excited and will not take my work for granted. That makes creating this quilt all the more fun.

*I must disclose that this is my 1st commissioned quilt.  It is fun to shop and create when you don't have to pay the bill, as well.  :)