Wednesday, July 22, 2015

June and July

I had a good time making both of these blocks, and can hardly wait to see the final results.

Here is the bubbles block for Rene'.

And the Stepping Stones block for Susan.
I'm sure both finishes will be beautiful.


Thursday, July 16, 2015

Stepping Stones Block from Elizabeth


I finished the Stepping Stones block for Susan (July's block) and am happy to be able to contribute to her upcoming Christmas celebrations!

I love red and white, but I don't love that some red fabrics bleed and bleed and bleed, no matter how many times you wash them.
This is third wash.  I added one of those Color Catchers to the next wash and it grabbed up whatever excess color was floating around.  I've heard that these also "set" dye, which I'm hoping for, for Susan's sake.  I'd previously washed the red fabric I was working with, but decided to test it again.  I then whacked off a swath of 5" to work with on her block, washing it and rinsing it several times.  I include this just as a cautionary note to check your reds.

Having been warned by Susan about piecing those center arrows, I did get those correct, but then made the stepping stones corners all the same.  I just didn't pay enough attention to the illustrations on the tutorial, but I fixed it and it here is. 

A grouping of these will make a splendid table runner!

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

June and July

I got behind. 
In fact, my sewing machine has been gathering dust while I've been busy getting our house ready to sell. 
But, over the weekend, I forced myself to sit down and sew what I knew would not be a fast block to make. Perseverance paid off.
It's clever and cute. But, boy howdy....!!
I chose yellow because no one else did...hope that's okay, Rene'!
I'm sorry that it's a bit late.
 On a roll, I'm excited to get Susan's star finished and in the mail early in the month of July. This block took concentration and precise seam allowances, but turned out to be pretty easy to make. I did resort to pins after having to rip out some seams that kept getting folded over on the back. Pins are good!
It was fun to find a good spot for this sewing-pattern-themed-fabric!
Enjoy, ladies.
I'll get them the mail tomorrow!
Lolly

Monday, July 6, 2015

FIREBALL

Your block is done Rene.  I do love the end result : )


Now on to Susan's !

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Stepping Stone block

Yes ladies, it is July already!
This is the block I would like made for me....
*NB There are further details on Flick'r- sorry to confuse you.....


With one minor major difference- 
I want it in reverse colours ie a red star on a white background!

The tutorial can be found here 

I didn't have many difficulties but please note.... some measurements are not included!
You will need to cut 8 X 1.5" x 2.5" white rectangles and 8 X 1.5" white squares.  These are used to make the 'arrow' head points of the centre star.

Be careful how you piece these...
The one on the left is correct, the one on the right is incorrect. Easily fixed by un'stitching' the centre seam and sewing the opposite sides together.

Another tip-
These pieces...

can be trimmed to 4.5" square. The designer does not mention this, but I think it is worth noting.

The final block is quite forgiving in that it does leave some leeway to be trimmed to its required 10.5" square.

Thanks everyone! I am looking forward to making this into possibly a Christmas table runner! Not much use for Christmas quilts in December in the Southern Hemisphere......
Susan