More progress on the Log Cabin blocks II

I cannot help myself. I keep telling me that I need to save this project for the retreat that is coming up on the 20th of this month. Then I park myself in front of the sewing machine as soon as DH leaves for work (6:15 a.m.) and I sew until he comes home!!!!!
ARGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!
I did compromise with the manic me.  I will save all the 1 1/2" strip Log Cabin blocks for the retreat and continue with these tiny ones. Sounds good to me!

So today I finished up more dark/light blocks and then made 30 all light blocks. I can almost see this quilt in my mind's eye with the center in the smaller blocks then exploding into the larger blocks on the outside.

Dark ones are all counted and bagged up and I just finished pressing the all light blocks. I am still in love with these blocks. And with making these blocks too!

 Early this morning...

Can you see the little pile on the machine bed? Some of my strips were not long enough to add to a block, so I snip them and then I can use them when I start another block.
So I am halfway through making 288 7 1/2" blocks that I have decided I want. And I have 252 centers started for the 4 1/2" blocks with 114 made.
I bet I can take them with me on the retreat too...I love making the small ones!!!
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What is on my bed!

This Virginia Bound has been on my bed since I made it a couple years ago. Honestly it was near to the first experience I had string piecing. Once bitten I was hooked!
Thanks to Our Bonnie Hunter (http://www.quiltville.com) for this great pattern.
I used Quilters' Dream Wool as the batting. I quilted it in three sections and then joined the sections. They fall at the edges of the bed and make it so easy to align when making the bed.
I love this quilt!!!!

More progress on the Log Cabin blocks!

I have been on an amazing journey through my oldest fabrics. I have been in love with neutrals and browns since my first fabric collecting began. I saved every tiny scrap back then. And nothing has changed in that area. I am more organized now but I still have way too much fabric.
I have been inspired by a lecture and some books by Edyta Sitar. She was so great to listen to and her colors seemed to call to me. I have those colors...in great quantities. ( But buried somewhere in my storage areas.)

 I have a great collection of 1 1/2" squares and as I cut those for swaps I do cut extra strips and save them. 1 1/2" seems to be my "go to" size. I use them up as fast as I cut them. Our Bonnie Hunter seems to favor  the 2" size. That drawer in my cutting area never gets open much...
I started making some Log Cabin centers over the weekend. Somewhere I decided that I need to make 288 blocks. Seems doable...in small hunks.
As I depleted my strip supply I kept digging deeper and deeper into my stash. I am so happy that I am doing this Log Cabin project in "hunks". That way there is a great variety of fabrics with no repeats. And I got reacquainted with my golden oldies.

I use lots of containers and baskets are pretty to look at too. So all 288 centers are fed into that basket behind my machine.
I pull a few out and make about ten blocks at a time and then begin all over again with a different set of strips. No repeats...remember?

I switch up the combinations as I sew yet still keep a good control over the blocks to be HAPPY with the fabric combinations. I did add some deep blues and greens in the first group of blocks but I am not totally happy with them in there. So I have decided to not use those blocks in this current project. They will get used in another even more scrappy Log Cabin quilt. I can assure you that I am totally addicted to making these Log Cabin blocks.

  And in between strips I am doing my Cheddar Bow Tie as Leaders & Enders per our famous Bonnie Hunter. (http://www.quiltville.com)

 Yesterday I had 70 7 1/2" dark/light and 40 all light blocks done.

Today was laundry day and as I waited between loads I HARVESTED more strips for the next set of blocks.

 Lots of strips...I am planning on taking this project with me to my guild's sewing retreat on April 20-22 at Bearcreek Farms. I am trying to not sew too many before I leave on that trip.

So....I cut some 1" strips. 1 1/2" strips look and feel ginormous next to these tiny strips. I tied them in bundles this way eons ago. And the fabric is a fresh as the day I cut it 15 years ago.
I added more from the newly harvested fabric. I did not generate any strings doing this. These were my strings. HA! I used the same batik pink as the centers. I have 42 centers started...that is how many I was able to cut across the width of the fabric strip. I am thinking I will want more so I have ripped another hunk from that batik pink. It still needs to be pressed and cut.
Do any of you rip instead of cut off bolts of fabric? I know it does bruise the edges. But those get cut off anyway. And ripping gets the fabric totally on grain when pressing before cutting.

  And here is the result of just a couple hours of sewing. I have 42 teeny tiny Log Cabin blocks made. They still need many more rounds added. But I could not resist comparing the two size blocks!!!!

Aren't they cute?????

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40 light Log Cabins blocks done!

I love making Log Cabin blocks. And I love looking at my light Log Cabin blocks!!!
I have 40 of these done now. So far the blocks are 7 1/2". I am ready to start on the 248 light/dark Log Cabins.
Yes I know, I am a manic sometimes. I am not even sure if this quilt will be for me or a giveaway. Only time will tell.

See the mass of containers below? I really made a good sized dent in all my pre-cut 1 1/2" strips.
But NOT using the really light strips is a bit limiting.
I will have to go harvest a few more medium lights before starting the the light/dark combinations. That is the safest way to make sure there are not too many repeats or like fabrics close to each other.

And I am not sure if 7 1/2" is going to be the final size or not. It will be much easier to add more rounds later than to have to remove rounds! Not gonna happen here!!

Our guild has a three day retreat this month. I am really thinking that if I just start cutting massive amounts of strips and then container them up, that this could be a good retreat project. Not too much thinking needed and not too many supplies needed either. I really need to try and travel much lighter to retreats. Last year I was smarter. I had things I never removed from the truck. But it was still good to know it was there if I wanted to change what I was working on. Last year I made 6 Project Linus quilts. I am going to save making those for marathon home sewing.

 I sew the blocks to the strips and then cut between the blocks. Be careful or you can ruin a block if you are not paying attention. Ask me how I know!!! I allowed three extra all light blocks. I ruined one with miss cutting. So I have a cushion of two extra. I should not need them as I did say I think the blocks have all the rounds I want on them.

Here are ten green fabrics (washed) all sorted into 10 stacks and ready for packaging for the swap I am hostessing over on Yahoo's Quiltvilleswap.

I figured out a cool way to neatly fold them to they are all the same size and fit into the baggie perfectly. I wrap them around my 4 1/2" ruler, slip it out and stuff into the snack side baggie. Slip in an address label and I am done!!!

Below are sets all folded and ready for their baggies....

And here are my two different sets of ten greens for the swap. And check out the basket of green strings for paper piecing!!!! Pre-sorted by magic!!!

I love 1 1/2" squares!

I have several of these cake carriers holding my 1 1/2" square collections. And a special shout out to Our Bonnie (http://www.quiltville.com) for this great idea for carrying and storing quilt related items. There are so many kitchen gadgets that work so nice for quilting too!
And also Our Bonnie won four (4) quilting awards!!!! Way to go Bonnie!!!!!

The other containers full of squares are not sorted by color. But the OCD in me just had to have some of them sorted by colors. And of course as you sort there are colors that are light, medium and dark. I ran out of "stack" spaces. HA!

And since I have been swapping with the postage stamp group on Yahoo for maybe 10 years and hostessing for the last three years, I have lots a bagillion of these squares. We swap 1,250 squares 4 times a year. Well...now we only swap three times a year because of postage and fabric costs. Do the math...lots of squares!!

So after doing my normal de-linting of the bobbin area and a fresh needle I dug out the container and made a few 16 patch blocks. They ended up being a sweet 4 1/2".

This is my normal cleaning after an intense three days of sewing three Project Linus quilts. From cutting to quilting and binding, I finished 3 quilts in three days.
So of course my machine wanted some tender loving care.

And before sewing I had to wind some bobbins up. I feel so good having lots of bobbins wound ahead of time. I never know what I am sewing on next. So I cover the color spectrum.

The top bobbin drawer holds the bobbin boxes and all my size 60 threads that work very well for bobbin filling.

And this drawer is the top on to the left of my machine. And yes, it always looks like this. I cannot help it. My house is in shambles but my sewing stuff isn't!!

I made three of these quilts for our local Project Linus. My good friend, Gladys, donated the fabrics and I donated my time.

They were all alike but I did use three different fabrics for the backings. And I feel these are kinda unisex. Peanut fabric with polka dots and I hope they can use these quilts. I did piece all the battings from leftovers. That almost makes them free!

These fabrics are the three backings I used...
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Maggie Mae's new summer haircut!

Here she is in all her glory. She always turns into a "kitten" after a good haircut. She is no longer matted under her front legs and I am sure she can move much more freely now.
The post lady yesterday laughed out loud at her on her stool at the front door. She said she had never seen a cat like her before! Maggie Mae does not care.
She is able to actually lick her skin. I feel so sorry for her with all that fur. I would never have deliberately bought a cat like her. But she was a gift to me. And it did rescue her from a breeding house that had 50 cats running around. Full of hairballs and poop hanging off their furry rears. She was actually having her bottom shaved when I was there to rescue her. PHEW!!!
She is so sweet. She never holds a grudge. That is what makes a Himalayan such a great pet for households with children.

The t-shirt quilt came back this morning. I have the binding and label all sewn on.

I accordion fold my binding after pressing. And use fabric strings to tie them up under use. Then they just sit on the bed of my machine and feed off beautifully.

I have way too much quilting stuff. It is all good stuff. I just have way too much of it. I buy things ahead of time knowing someday I will need it. I have never tried applique'. But I do have bias bars (found them right off). And I remembered buy a package of 200 sheets of heavy weight pre-cut freezer paper from C.J. Jenkins. Think I could find it?  NOT!!!!!
After two hours of searching and a major paper cut I did find it. GEEZZZ!

By then I no longer felt like trying this "new to me" technique. Maybe tomorrow...but at least I did find it.
And I also threw away many old catalogs no longer needed.
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4000 pages for paper piecing!!!

What do you give to a manic paper piecing queen?
A catalog with very thin paper pages that number 4000!!!
Yes, you read that right. There are 4000 pages in this Granger catalog!

 A solid 3 inches of paper pages. I am in heaven! I cannot thank my fellow guild member, Gladys Mumma, enough for her generosity. She even made a special trip to my home to drop off this book. She has also gifted me with her old phone books in the past. But I have used them all up. I cannot thank her enough!
THANKS GLADYS!!!!!!!!!!!!

And I was able to sew on all types of Girl Scout emblems for Grand daughter Zoey. My daughter, Laura, had let them pile up and they are going on a trip this Friday and Zoey needed the emblems sewn on. A couple hours later I had them all done. I did manage to look up the proper positioning on the internet. I am hoping she and her Girl Scout leader are happy with my sewing. I also asked Laura to bring me the patches as they come. It will only take me a couple minutes to sew on just one patch. I had to change the upper thread colors 10 times! You all know how anal I can be about thread colors....
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