How to suppress (or at least distract) a cough...

"Take 12 bobbins and call me in the morning..."  I love filling bobbins on my new machine, and I filled a dozen in anticipation of doing some serious, mindless chain-piecing.  And look what I got done...another 83 scrappy green and neutral log cabin blocks to go with the 37 I finished a few months ago.  Now I have 120, and I can play with them and decide how I want to arrange them.

They will finish 9 inches and each log finishes at 0.75 inches wide.  I'm thinking a barn raising setting, but maybe I will change my mind when I start playing with them.

Even though I have been sick for almost a week, I have managed to get a little sewing done between the coughing and the moaning and groaning.  My husband was out of town, so the moaning and groaning has been mostly for my own benefit (and further research on the topic "do cats and/or teenagers show sympathy toward the pain and suffering of mankind" - hmmm...I'll let you know when I see some...).

I ended up in urgent care over the weekend for a chest x-ray and a breathing treatment.  These things always tend to turn ugly for me and now I am on antibiotics, etc.

It's a good project to work on while sick, especially since I choose to cut all my "logs" to the proper size rather than sew, trim, sew, trim, etc...then I just mindlessly feed pieces through the machine, while moaning and groaning.  Too bad I didn't cut ALL the logs before starting the piecing a few months ago.

I would be finished with this project if I had practiced patience and cut ALL the logs first, BEFORE starting the orgasmic chain-piecing sessions.  But no, I had a weak moment, and jumped in without thinking only to be hit by "piecus interruptus" when I had pieced through the last full set of log cabin logs.  Then the project "slept" until I had time to drag all the scraps out again (a couple of days ago) to cut the remaining strips needed.  Another nice thing about cutting them all out first?  I can use BumbleBeans' concept of "15 minutes of play" to get something done.  I realize that this takes all the spontaneity out of the process, but I have made this log cabin quilt before in another color, so the process becomes just that...a process.  So now I am playing catch-up.  It is amazing just how much chain-piecing you can do in only 15 minutes!  (It reminds me of the question, "how can you possibly eat a huge elephant?  one bite at a time.")

So, I have found that mindless piecing is a great way to suppress a cough because, 1) it keeps me quiet/keeps me from talking (the machine is hard to talk above when your voice is weak), 2) I make a game of it ("ok...you can cough after THIS piece," then of course, I don't give in and say the same thing a micro-second later), and 3) I am concentrating so hard on the perfect, consistent quarter inch seam...it's easy to ignore the urges to cough.

Now I have to make a decision about the setting...then there's a part of me that would love a little border of scrappy, red, crazy-pieced hearts, since it is a quilt for our bed.  It's already going to be 90 x 108 with just the 120 nine inch blocks, but I think the red scrap tub needs a little pruning...

My friend Mary J. recently shared her quilts at a local craft show.  Look how pretty her booth was 5 minutes before the show opened.  (Machine quilting by Rhonda Loy, Marilyn Lange, and Mary Jones).

I wish there had been time to take more close-ups, but the doors were opened and TONS of people appeared out of nowhere, ready to shop for the holidays.  I didn't want to discourage THAT!

While I was mindlessly chain-piecing, moaning, groaning, and trying not to cough, I was thinking about everything I was doing 3 months ago before the concert took over my life.  I am very excited about something I started designing.  I can't wait until I can share some of it with you.  Thanks to everyone who suggested books, software, etc. to help me "launch" a pattern designing adventure.  Then there are all the quilts, started or not, that I want to make.  I have been making a few more of my appliqued baskets...I need to round them up and see where I stand with that project.  Ahhh...it is good to have my mind in the cotton once again.

In stitches,

Teresa  :o)

Well, I've got my undies in a bunch...

...well, more accurately, I have my HUSBAND'S undies in a bunch.  If you read my last post, you know that my husband loves all quilts, but thinks the BEST and MOST AUTHENTIC quilts are made from old clothes and scraps.  So naturally, I decided that the new wall hanging he has been hinting about for his office area at work should be made from his old boxer shorts.  Ha!  We'll see how if he continues to hold this opinion after he is presented with the finished project!  I will call this effort "BOXER REBELLION."

This morning, after he left to report for federal jury duty in Detroit, I raided his underwear drawer (now, if they called him to serve, I'm going to feel really guilty...).  This action on my part should not alarm him or raise suspicion  because this was something I was going to do anyway...new underwear was bought and washed last week, and it is already in the drawer.  There is one red plaid pair in the laundry to add to this fairly boring pile of blue plaids and stripes. 

Some are pretty thin and most are a cotton/poly blend, but a frugal pioneering suburban woman collecting precious bits to make warm covers to get through the long winter can't be picky, can she?

So now I am trying to think of an appropriate block(s) to piece out of mens underwear.  Since I am making a wall hanging, I figure I'll make 6-inch pieced blocks.  I will sprinkle some funny applique blocks in the mix as well...more on those in a later post.

So, are there any blocks out there with funny names that YOU can think of?  Here's the list of possibilities so far...and yes, 1)  these are actual names of actual blocks, and 2)  my mind is in the gutter (I'm going straight to Hell...):

Jack in the Box
Devil's Claw
Gentleman's Fancy
Arrowhead
Odd Fellow's Chain
Darting Bird
Hands All Around (I kid you not...giggle)
Old Maid's Ramble
Hen and Chicks
Bachelor's Puzzle
Ball and Chain
Delectable Mountains
Buzzard's Roost

Barb of Fun With Barb suggested I also make an accompanying seat cushion...HILARIOUS!  GREAT idea!

These are the kinds of twisted things I ponder when I chain-piece.  I have been going around and around with the remaining 81 log cabin blocks I am working on to go with the 39 finished ones.  They are about 2/3's of the way done...woo hoo!  

It is slow work because I didn't cut all 120 pieces of each size log before I started...I was too eager to start chain piecing with my new machine.

I got a couple of emails asking me why I cut all my log pieces to the right length before I piece.  Why don't I just sew on random length strips, then square up after pressing each addition.  Basically because I'm lazy, I guess.  Also, the right length strip keeps me honest.  If my 1/4 inch seam allowance is correct, I don't have to square up...my blocks will be the right size.

Before I sew a strip, I quickly check the width of the block at both ends to see if I need to adjust the position of my strip before sewing.

This may seam slow, but I use the extension table that came with my machine to lay out several blocks at a time, I check them all with the ruler, then drive those puppies through...bingo, bongo...

I still have the positive/negative chains on the design wall...I need to sew those blocks together as well. 

Must - fill - another - dozen - bobbins...

Pretty soon I will have two scrappy tops finished!!!

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)

Meeting the challenge...and without chocolate...

I'm finally caught up on my Bee Balm bee blocks.  Ya hoo!  I'm not sure I followed Beebee's instructions to the letter, but after making the requested pink crazy-pieced hearts for her red background, I hit a creative wall.  (This block is 6 x 12 inches.)

I still had the two light pink backgrounds that she sent for us to fill, and the larger one seemed so inviting for some original applique doodling.  Here's what I came up with (this block is 12 inches square).

I had drafted a linked hearts applique pattern years ago for a round robin quilt exchange.  That particular month I was working on someone's quilt who had asked for heart blocks in reds, oranges and pinks.  I came up with the following (Hey Jean, if you are out there somewhere, did you put your quilt together?  I'd love to see it...).  

Anyway, it was fun taking the original idea beyond linear and coming up with something for a large square block.  It was more satisfying working on a circular, non-linear block with the hearts because overlapping the links was less awkward and the effect more noticeable.  I will be doing this block again!

For the third block, I made another version of my original "flutter by" block using bright red bits.  The whole block is 6 inches square.  I love making these happy little creatures!  They are so satisfying...

This morning when I stepped on the scale, it revealed that I am now over the 60 pounds lost mark.  I've been at this new life dance since May 3, so I guess that is almost 4 months.  I'm NOW on friendly speaking terms with the scale again and not using the 4-letter words I used all LAST week when I was on another dreaded plateau.  I think my body is still trying to determine if I am really serious about the weight loss thing this time, or if it is a passing fancy, soon to be abandoned.  I can't quit weighing myself, entirely (because there is a little food demon inside me that lies to me), but it does point out my pathetic need for validation.  Why can't it be enough that I am putting the right stuff in, and in smaller amounts?

There are all kinds of adjustments that come with weight loss and life changes...I've felt completely empty for the last 2-3 weeks, emotionally.  I think that is why I was feeling the need to work with my exploding scrap bins...just mindless, repetitive work that kept me from reaching for food.  I wasn't feeling very creative.  I wasn't wanting to face the overdue bee blocks.  Now that I finished them, they feel like a little victory, and they seemed to re-spark my creativity.  Thanks, Beebee!

I also managed to work some more on my positive/negative scrap blocks.  They have gone from this...

...to this...

I'm starting to assemble them into quartets, which makes a 9 inch (finished) block.  Then there were these...

This project is on temporary hold until I cut just a few more strips to the right length...then I can zoom toward chain-piecing the last of the 120 log cabin blocks needed for the quilt.  I should have waited to start piecing until after I had everything cut, which is why I am experiencing "Piecus Interruptus."

As my daughter just started school last week, I have managed to knock out a few more hand-appliqued baskets (a la Blackbird Designs) as I wait to pick her and her friends up in the afternoon.  (Notice Weasley's feet...he was actually waiting for me to snap the picture before he prissed across the blocks...)

Riley is going to Washtenaw International High School, the new International Baccalaureate program high school that just opened in our county.  It is very exciting for all of us, but I am learning how spoiled I became having busing through the 8th grade...I am now the afternoon "bus driver."  LOL!

My little magic box is going to get a workout this year...I can't believe that my daughter has started 9th grade!

Our internet has been acting up the last couple of days...I hope it is not a trend!  Just 36 hours without the internet seemed very difficult for all three of us.

In stitches,

Teresa  :o)

Pieceful easy feeling...

I finally got to sit down and continue my chain-piecing binge Sunday afternoon (I was chain-piecing, my new little machine was practically chain-SMOKIN', it was working so hard!).  Remember these from my last post?

I was able to add 14 more completed ones, so now I am up to 39 finished out of my goal of 120 of these 9.5 inch little gems.  Ya-hoo!  This anniversary present for my husband is beginning to materialize.

(I also have another 48 about half-way done...)

I really need to improve the lighting down in the quilt cave...nothing is photographing very well these days.  It's all darker and muddier than reality. 

Usually when I crop strips in anticipation of a log cabin quilt, I get all my strips ready before I start piecing.  This time, I was so excited about driving my new machine, I started prematurely.  I am experiencing "piecus interruptus," which is annoying.  So I am still cropping strips as I go...not as efficient!  I probably would have been finished chain-piecing the 120 blocks by now if I weren't stopping to cut and count all the time.

I'm still adding to the piles in the project box...I am completely out of a few sizes...

Mr. Fabric Therapy was away in Chicago all week for work, so I decided to clean out the basement while he was gone. The quilt cave area of the basement is pretty neat and organized, but I share the cave with the other two people in my house...for now (evil laugh inserted here...).  Every time my husband and daughter are gone for any length of time, they come back and ALMOST think they notice a change...the key to taking over other people's space is to do it very slowly...over time...almost enough to notice, but not quite.  LOL

I can't do anything about some of the stuff down there...the laundry, the furnace, the hot water heater, the sump pump, the kitty litter box, 2 of the 3 household computers, exercise equipment, a recliner, and some general storage.  I'm ALWAYS trying to make more room in the general storage category...part of my OCD, I guess.

What started all this basement attention was a quick trip to U of M property disposition looking for used 2-drawer filing cabinets for pattern storage under my quilt book shelves.  They are only $10 and I usually strike gold when I go (I also look for nice second hand office chairs...).  This time they only had one filing cabinet of the short variety.  I thought, no problem.  I'd take it home and shove it under my current arrangement...I love being organized, but on a very tiny budget.  Some day, it would be fun to have unlimited funds to spend on a space and nice fixtures, but for now I am a cave dweller.

Anyway (from the bottom up), I start with 2-drawer filing cabinets, place sturdy used doors across them as a table, then add my IKEA storage units on top to hold my quilt books.  It sounds like a bit of a house of cards, but it is really quite sturdy.  I do it this way to protect my quilt library from the possibility of a wet basement, and NOTHING is ever on a low shelf.

The filing cabinets contain hanging files that hold patterns and projects from magazines and such.  The sheet pocket protectors can also hold templates, etc.  This system really works for me.

Because I've grown this storage system over time, none of my short filing cabinets are the SAME HEIGHT.  I was certain this new one would just shove under the existing set up.

Wrong.  It was the tallest so far, which meant EVERYTHING had to be taken apart and the "tables" had to be leveled (made the same height) all over again...all the books had to come out of cubicles...EVERYTHING!  Oy!  What a job!  I should have taken a picture of THAT, but I was too annoyed at the time to see how hilarious the situation really was.  But it is almost all back together now, thank GOD!

I took a break from the basement and the log cabins to add to my Positive/Negative project box as well.  I have about 180 of these 4.5 inch blocks finished and squared up now.  I have enough to start piecing them together in quartets to make 9-inch blocks (finished).  These are such a satisfying scrap buster!

My daughter starts school tomorrow, so maybe the crazy summer is finally over.  I want to wrap up the scrap busting and get back into some intense hand applique projects.  Christmas is coming (gulp) and it is time to "get 'er done!"

In stitches,

Teresa  :o)

Strip tease...

(really?  that's the BEST you can do for a title, Teresa??)

The scrappy neutral and green log cabin blocks are progressing.  I have found that quarter inch "sweet spot" on my new Janome 6600.  There's nothing like making 120 log cabin blocks for solidifying that perfect seam allowance.  I have 25 of 120 of the blocks completely made.

They aren't this dark...for some reason all the pictures for this post are too stinkin' dark.  The centers are really nice, vibrant red scraps, not the muddy brown that they seem to be above.  This isn't the final setting...I will probably set them in a barnraising setting when I get them all done.  The "logs" finish 3/4 inch wide and the "cabins" will finish 9 inches.

I have a few more blocks in various stages of "done-ness."  Now if the pressing was as much fun as the chain piecing...

I like LOVE piecing again!  I love the feed dog system on this machine. ..I have not had the block eaten by the throat plate a single time (what a nice change!).

I also managed to get Kate's block finished for our Bee Balm quilting bee.  It looked really challenging, but with Kate's directions it went together pretty well!  Yahoo!  I'm catching up!  Beebee, your heart blocks are next on my list...

This was something from my UFO pile...I started this YEARS ago and put the blocks away in an unlabeled container with no notes.  I thought if I put the blocks together, I might remember where I was going with this, but there are no bells ringing in my head...just that annoying cricket sound.  This is why I now make notes and put the pattern/quilt plans away WITH the project.  I have no memory of even starting this one...I need to come up with some simple borders and call this one "done."

Between a new roof and hot water heater for the house, my new Janome sewing machine, and a new French horn for my daughter, we are doing more than our part to get the economy going...now it is somebody else's turn...

Ahhh...I love sewing in the quilt cave and hearing beautiful melodies coming from upstairs...Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings and Doctor Who melodies, not to mention some Mozart and a few other jewels. It doesn't get any better than this...

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)

Quarter inch therapy...trying to find that zen-like state

I like machine piecing again!  The new JANOME 6600 machine is still exciting, and I pieced all these cute little blocks using the "O" quarter inch foot.  Florida Farm Girl suggested trying the "O2" foot, which I am going to purchase and try, but so far I am getting a good quarter inch with the "O" foot (maybe because I am using "skinny" thread - Aurafil).

(Now, if I could just take pictures without MY big foot in the picture ...)

This is one of my ongoing scrap projects that I "feed" from time to time.  It is called "Positive-Negative Chains," and it is a pattern presented by Bonnie Hunter in her column in Quiltmaker magazine (about 6-8 months ago, I think).  Each little block will finish 4 1/2 inches square.

I was just throwing them down on the carpet to get an idea of how the quilt would work.  Eventually I will sew blocks of four units together to make 9 inch blocks, then determine the final lay-out.  These block units make GREAT leader/ender units! 

In case you like the look of this project, positive blocks are two 2 x 3.5 rectangles and two 2 x 2 squares from light fabric and three 2 x 2 squares of dark.  Negative blocks are two 2 x 3.5 rectangles and two 2 x 2 squares from dark fabric and three 2 x 2 squares of light fabric.

One of my ongoing scrap managing activities is cutting 1-1/4 (1.25) inch strips of varying lengths and putting them in a bin.  I LOVE making log cabin and courthouse steps quilts, and it is more fun to decide to make one and already have some strips cut than to start cutting when you decide you want one (does that make sense to anyone but me?!?).

As you can see, the strips are all different lengths...and colors.  I just stack them (so I don't have to press them!) and keep adding over time.  When the bin gets full, it is time to make blocks!  I take them and sort them into color families, then go crazy!

There are so many ways to make log cabin type blocks...if you ask 6 different quilters, you will get 6 different answers!  Some people just start sewing strips to their block centers, then trim/true up with a ruler and rotary cutter after each strip addition has been pressed. 

I like to trim all my strips to the right length, then pile up the number I need, in sewing order.  If my quarter inch seam is true (and it is!), everything sews up just like it measures on the graph paper. 

Remember I have OCD (Obsessive/Compulsive Disease) and I am definitely wacky.  I'm going to walk you through my strange process.

First, I come up with a list of all the strips I need to cut (with the correct sizes).  The circled number is the ORDER I attach the strips to my center 2 x 2 square, and the final number (after the strip size) is my TALLY of how many I've already cut of each size.  (I tally in pencil so I can keep erasing and changing the totals as I add a batch of strips to the project box.)  I do this because I RARELY have the time to cut an entire scrappy quilt in one sitting...it is an on-going project.  You can see from my "score card" that I still have more strips to cut for this particular quilt (a scrappy green and neutral log cabin bed quilt with red centers)!

Because my strips are all different lengths, I always cut the longest piece I can cut from each strip FIRST. Then with what is left, I, again, I cut the longest strip I can...sometimes I only get one measured strip out of a scrappy strip.  This sounds a little wacky, but I find this the most economical way to process strips for Log Cabin blocks.  (If my scrappy strips are kind of short, I sometimes have trouble getting enough of the longest strips - it really helps to cut them first!)

I'm not afraid to use strips that are pieced (leftover from a previous project) - I think it adds charm and makes me feel 'frugal' and like I am 'making do'.  HA!!  That's a laugh!  Most of you have seen my stash...("yeah right...Teresa looks like she has to 'make do,' doesn't she?").  Oh well...it's my little fantasy...

I lay out strips horizontally on my cutting mat, then start cutting.  I cut six or so at a time (I like using my 6 x 14 rotary ruler...the longest strip I am cutting for this particular project is 1.25 x 9.5).

Then I make piles of like-sized strips, laying them out in order.  I just keep whacking and feeding my little stacks.  Unless I am close to my cutting goal, I don't count how many of one particular size I have until I put them away in the project box.  Then I pencil in my temporary total (tally) on my "score card."  (See, I told you I have OCD...REALLY BAD OCD!!)

I store everything in a project box and look forward to the day when my score card is full (in this case, I need 120 of every size strip) and then I can start chain piecing my blocks.

There are so many sizes of strips that they won't fit on one layer, so I use the block dividers that come with the Art Bin project boxes to make a second layer of pieces.

Don't forget to put your score card in the project box and label the box...it is bad enough counting those little suckers the FIRST time...

Somewhere I have a little piece of graph paper where I drew the block, shaded it for dark/neutral, and numbered the strips in the order I will attach them to the red centers.  I will chuck that in the box as well.  I try to put EVERYTHING in the project box.  I know from experience that I have to include and label EVERYTHING...now that I am 50, I am forgetting stuff...next week, some time, I will discover this box and remember nothing about it until I check out the pattern and the score card.  It's sad...

It helps to listen to a movie, book or some music while doing this...it helps me attain a "Zen-like" state of being.  When I am working in a fairly uncluttered environment and do things in an organized way, I really love the process of managing scraps and cutting the pieces I need for quilt projects.  It's like therapy.  If I was a cat, I would be purring (and my cat would be staring at me...totally FREAKED OUT!).  This is what I was watching/listening to while I worked on this (the ump-teenth time I've watch it, but I LOVE it!!!).  Om...(that is the sound I make when I've achieved a "Zen-like" state...since I can't purr).

Life is good in the quilt cave...doing self therapy (I know life is stressful when I feel the need to do all this fussy cutting and sorting.  The economy is tanking?  It's OK...I have little pieces of fabric to cut up...Om...

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)