Friday, June 26, 2015

Quilt called Mesmerize.

I bought the pattern called Mesmerize (designed by Natalia Bonner) a few weeks ago. I loved the movement in the design.
And I wanted to do it with all those great fabrics I bought from Marshall Dry Goods as a fabric bundle of 17 colors of one design called Petal Flow.


I went into my cutting room (that I do not use anymore) tore 1 yard cuts from each color and three yards of my favorite Eco Muslin. I brought them all out to the ironing board that I set up in the corner of the room. I pressed them all and then ran them all through the Accuquilt using the 2 1/2" strip die.
In about an hour I had enough strips cut for two quilts! From tearing to pressing to cutting. That normally would have taken me most of the day.


I was able to begin sewing without hurting wrists or feet.
And I have been sewing with 1 1/2" squares for the last couple months. These 2 1/2" strips are gigantic.  And the 12 1/2" blocks are humongous too.
My little cutting room is not big enough to place the Accuquilt in it. I have a table that I could set it on...but there is no room for the dies to go from one end to the other. Sigh.


I love the colored bobbins for the Janome machines. First they came out with the pink ones. Cherry blossom is the name. Then the blue ones came out...do not remember the name of that collection. I prefer these bobbins as they are a teeny tiny bit heavier. They seem to work better in my Janome 6600P. Only issue is that sometimes it is hard to see how much thread is left on the bobbin. I go by ear then. I can hear the bobbin begin to be low.


I bought these Fiskars Hexie punches a while back. I then started to save junk mail and heavier cards that come in a magazine. Just one short evening and I had a container full of these hexie papers. I still need to punch a hole in the center but I am loving the fact that besides the cost of the punch, the papers are free!

XOXOXOXO Subee

Saturday, June 20, 2015

One quilt made from too many blocks


I worked and worked and worked on those Idaho Square Dance blocks. And as I worked I had to succumb to occasional bouts of OCD. So when that hit, I made all pink squares, blue squares and green...well you get the idea.
Last night I made this quilt in my dreams.
I dug out some pink reproduction fabrics I had purchased this past Spring at our retreat. I love the carts at Yoders in Shipshewana.  They are flat beds!!! You can pile bolts on them. I cannot resist buying more than I can afford to make the drive and trip worthwhile in my quilty mind.
Anyway, I knew I had made some pink blocks...but to find them took quite a bit of time.
And now that I see that one really dark block it bothers the #$%% out of me.


I had to find them because I had put all my precious little squares away before I used them all up.
They are no longer in the big container. They are is the same size container as the neutral squares are. So sad...so sad...selection is minimal.
And I had moved all completed blocks made for the last two months far away and buried deep because I did not want to be tempted to make more! There were more blocks than the Idaho Square Dance blocks in that container. And I was not sure which container I had secreted them in!


And as I worked on those ISD blocks I pulled out more pink squares and saved them. I am so glad I did.  Because even though I made 218 blocks I still needed to make 11 more pink blocks to finish this quilt.


I love pink.
And I love this Accuquilt Studio 2!


Lots of 1 1/2" neutral strips that I then cut into a bagillion squares by laying the cut strips sideways on the die!!


And here is the token photo of my sweet Lucky. She poses.

XOXOXOXO Subee

Friday, June 12, 2015

Made too many blocks...again

I never even checked the suggested layout for the Idaho Square blocks that was on the Quiltmaker site below:

http://www.quiltmaker.com/articles/Idaho-Square-Dance?bc=c

The article says I only needed 30 blocks.
Guess how many I made...218!!!
Oh my what to do...sell them?
XOXOXO Overachiever Subee