Seeing Gray Stars...some pressing and sewing tips

What you cannot see is the tiny thread between each of these three units. I keep them together during the pressing and piecing process.
This works so well for me.
Before I knew it I had 49 stars made!
WHOOOHOOO!

 I have all my birthday quilts made and they are at the longarmers getting quilted. So I am free to sew on the Orca Bay quilt #2 that I want to make in pinks and grays.

My only issue is that I love each of those colors separate too. My containers are already overflowing with enough units to make two more quilts.
I also have received the last of my washed neutral 2 1/2" strips for the swap at Quiltvilleswap on Yahoo. I cannot wait to begin swapping these out. Light neutrals are my favorite! Next month we are swapping dark neutrals. That should really be a very interesting swap!

Orca Bay is DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh My Goodness!!! I have surpassed myself! Every quilt I make from OUR BONNIE'S imagination makes me a better piecer.
Gives me discipline and freedom at the same time.
I cannot thank you enough Bonnie Hunter (http://www.quiltville.com).
My creative life is so much richer having found you.

Thank you... thank you... thank you!!!!

 And another reason to be incredulous, 54 degrees in January???

I simply had to take the chance and lay this on the driveway. It sure brought out the neighbors.

 Every single border fit PERFECTLY! There are no ripples or puddles in this whole quilt. I want to enter it in a contest. I have never entered a quilt in a contest before. That means it needs a good longarmer to do it justice.

I LOVE IT!



Orca Bay top assembled w/o borders

Whew! Done! A labor of love for sure. It is so beautiful!

 I began the morning with a clean machine, new needle and many bobbins wound. Though I only needed two to finish this assembly.

 Sections are all pressed and ready to be added together. I know they are still in rows but the rows are deeper and seemed to be very manageable. You HAVE to keep the strings on the underside when sewing. Let the feed dogs do their job of easing any fullness in. Pins are your friend with string blocks!

 Florabunda by Bonnie Hunter on my chair. I sit on it everyday!

A couple of sections added together. I moved my big board out to the livingroom. It does take up lots of room but it is perfect for row assembly. No stretching alowed!!!!!

A few more rows. It is getting heavier and I am so pleased to be this far already!

 I have a few leftovers. I will make a small quilt for my precious kitties.

 OR...for the back of the quilt??

 I am ready for the border assembly. But my back is aching and I need to feed the man who lives here. And the QST sitting there for the two sections in the border are too large. I just used 2 1/2" strips to cut the QST's. I can cut the units down easier than cutting 2" strips from blacks and neutrals.

 My KINDLE cover came today. It is exactly what I wanted.

Gray...hand hold strap...lightweight

And when folded shut there is an elastic strap to keep it closed. It is slim and will allow this to fit in my purse.
Now that I am looking at it I am concerned with the bottom edge of the Kindle. The button and cord access are totally exposed....it is such a struggle to be OCD.
Little things...little things...little things...
XOXOXOXOXOXO Subee

My worst enemy is ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I get ahead of myself...then I drag myself down.

I do not remember which clue the 3 1/2" string blocks were. And I love making string blocks.

So today I was up early planning on getting the entire Orca Bay quilt assembled. I was chugging along. Everything is fitting and I have the assembly clear in my brain. But for some reason I was short of the blue string blocks. Hummmmm...what is up???
I open the PENCIL BOX that has the gray string blocks and had originally housed the blue strings. And there I solved my problem. I had a post it note attached to the lid showing I had only made 48 blocks NOT the required 72. ( and only 36 of the gray are made )

OK...now I know why the blocks are short. But then I am wondering why I did not make the required amount. Thinking back to the early days of the Orca Bay Mystery were also the days of my DH's kidney surgery. I must have thought to make a much smaller quilt than the original size. Less pressure on me at the time I guess. I did have the papers already cut though! HA!

 So here they are...all done and trimmed. Just need to remove the papers.
But having to stop and make string blocks stopped my assembly buzzzzzzzzzzzz....

The basket still had all the blue strings and the cut papers. Oh well...my needle was getting dull anyway. I used it up making some more string blocks. I always clean the lint after every two bobbins. And using black thread makes a black "mist" in the machine. If you keep your machine clean it works so much better. I usually take the Janome 6600P in twice a year for some R&R. But it has been over a year since I have taken it to the shop. I am afraid if I go there I will come home with a new sewing machine. HA! They love me there!
XOXOXOOX Subee

Orca Bay-got it now!

I have it now! I have been able to wrap my head around this process now. But I want to break it down to more production type sewing. You know, making lots of the same units at the same time. But of course, there needs to be a final inspection before jumping in with both feet!

 I took everything down. Aren't these stars just so precious?

 I am using a tray to lay out the block unit assemblies. I am carefully watching the photos and the clue#7 instructions. One of the pictures is upside down as Bonnie explained to us.

 Started throwing those units up on the wall. I am 5'6" tall. Design wall is at the top of the wall against the ceiling. I need a two step small ladder to reach the uppermost rows.  I have two ladders. One at each end so all I have to do is walk over and up the second ladder. After a while I can reach the wall easily.

 I am loving the colors of this mystery. Our Bonnie sure knows what she is doing!

 All pressed and ready for assembly.

This is how I started my morning.

 This is the side table of my sewing area. Rolling drawers below.

And here is my set-up. I take up the entire livingroom.
Today is sunny but very cold. 19 and a light wind. BRRRRRRRRRRRR! Another perfect day for sewing.

Actually I prefer a more cloudy day as the sunlight sometimes flashes off cars driving by or the reflection from the neighbor's house. It hits me in the eyes when I don't expect it and I get blinded. So cloudy days are my favorite sewing days. A candle lit and something simmering on the stove. UMMMMMMMM!!!
XOXOXOXO Subee

Orca Bay Mystery SOLVED!

I see my error...I started with a dark star not a light star. DH pointed it out. Geezzz...he is so tall he can adjust my design wall with ease. But he tends to drop blocks behind the desk...not good!

Nothing is sewn together yet.
I just slapped some up onto the design wall to see if I get the same effect as Our Bonnie did.
I am not sure which way my tiny blue strings are supposed to be.

So they are every which way right now.

 It is a perfect day for sewing.
We are under a Winter Storm Watch but are only getting some light snow right now.

 I have 16 bean soup simmering.
This is another one of those "comfort" foods.
It feeds the sense of smell and taste!

 I can see that I am going to be climbing up and down the ladder for a good long while.

But that is OK. The finished quilt will be soooooo worth it!

 My small container of Dogears was so full that all the little ears were bouncing out yesterday.

 So I had to dump it into the larger container...

Starting over....New Year...new Dogears.

Orca Bay Mystery Clue #7 progress

I am loving the look of these Sunset/Sunset colored Flying Geese units. But I am not loving all the bulk of the seams. I have not pressed them yet. I may have to "whack" 'em with a piece of wood to get them flatter. I am honestly not sure if I am going to continue making these units. As you can see, I have not cut all the string blocks in half yet. I may end up doing my own thing with these units.

Update: I missed a step...did not use the Companion Angle ruler to trim the string blocks. Once I did that the units are much more to my liking and I am plugging away now a much happier quilter!

 But then again...I may just plow on ahead...bulky seams be dammed.

 I made many more "Birds in the Air" units than Our Bonnie originally told us to make. I am glad I did since she asked us to make 4 more units this morning. I am so there already.
Are you ready for the next photo?
Hold on to your hat....

I am an OCD gal. I have a large mason jar with nearly every "dogear" I have ever trimmed off a unit in my entire quilting life. This small container is stuffed full of the dogears from this project only.
I know.
I am odd.
My guild members laugh at me and tell me to get a life. But I love the look of that mason jar with the colored bands that are a history of my quilt life. I did meet another quilter in blogland who has "SEVERAL" jars full of her own dogear trimmings. I am not alone in this obsession.

 I spent the rainy morning in the cutting room. I have a drawer of 3 1/2" strips precut. One side of the drawer is colors and the the other is neutrals All I had to do was pull all the neutrals out and give them a nice press with my Reliable Digital Velocity iron.
( I love this iron. It is heavy but does the job so nicely )

 And since I wanted to be efficient, I cut into all the strips in that drawer. I have many more than I need for this mystery. (both quilts of course)
But I figured that I might as well cut extra and I am sure I will use them somewhere.
They do not fit in the pencil case. In fact this picture was taken only halfway through the cutting process. I have twice as many done now. I may skip the first part of clue#7 and work on the other section instead. That will take the pile down a bit. HA!

Just a picture I failed to post while making the Quarter Square units. I saw on the Yahoo group that a quilter had squared up her units by only trimming on two sides. Not centering the ruler and trimming on all four sides. Been there...done that. I feel for her. Even with the EZ rulers there were a few that were oversized here in Subeesew's world. I did trim all four sides by centering the ruler. That must have been caused by the strip width. Some were a thread or two over the cutting line. I figure that bigger is better sometimes. It is so much easier to trim units to size.
Some of my strips that I received in the last red and black/white swap were cut too small. They were not a true 2 1/2" cut strip. That is just the difference between quilter's rulers and cutting methods. I think their rulers must have slipped while they were cutting. I spread my fingers wide and brace the ruler to the table with my little finger. I push it right up against the ruler and I "walk" my hand up the length of the cut. And some quilters use their cutting mats as the cutting guide. I never do that. Yet some of my guild members use the cutting board lines. It works great for them as all their strips match. But to try and add them to another quilter's stack is really a bother. Oh well...not a big deal. I noticed this when we were cutting up kits to sew on Project Linus quilts. Our guild made 100 quilts in the last year alone for this worthy project.

 Here is a peek under my cutting table. In each drawer is a basket that can be removed without distrubing the strips. These get filled as I work. The strips do not stay in these drawers very long. I have larger containers for the strip sizes all sorted by size and color. Of course...OCD Me!

 And while I was sitting on the floor I took a picture of some of my shelving and fabric bolts. I can get down on the floor just fine. It is getting up that I have issues with. It is a bummer to get old. My head is still young!
And yes, there are rulers hanging from the ceiling of the room. They are very handy.

 I love my Digital Velocity iron. It is made by Reliable. It has a removable filter that gets nasty leak causing minerals before they enter the steam chamber. I get a nice steam facial when I use this iron. I only use it for fabric prep not during piecing. It is way too big and heavy for that.

And this is a closet in the cutting room. I cannot get into the closet. Those are empty hangers. And the stuff way in the back of the closet is Cross Stitch supplies and yarns. The big clear container is stuffed with BATIKS! I love BATIKS!

Orca Bay Mystery Clue #6 progress

My Ohio Stars need pressed, but aren't they pretty? I love making these stars.

Did anyone else feel when cutting 2 1/2" squares that they were ginormous? After working with 1 1/2" and 2" pieces these 2 1/2" feel like cutting a napkin instead of a glass coaster!!!!!

I am nearly done with my clue #5. But Our Bonnie did give us permission to move ahead if we wished to. So I did.
Something else I had not shared with you Blogger friends: I was not able to find my gray Clue#1. I did not want to fess-up to misplacing them. My head has been so messed up this year.
But!!!! I found them!
They were with the black clue#1's! Whew!!!!
(http://www.quiltville.com)
Orca Bay Mystery is the name of what we ( a few thousand ) are working on. HA!

Hubby is doing so much better. The pill for restless leg seems to be helping him get a FULL night's sleep. We are on day/night #3 of sleeping. He almost seems his normal self again. Only now he complains of a headache at bedtime. I do not know if that is pill related or just his body's way of telling him it is time for bed.
I cannot thank all of you enough for the great advice and support during this trying time.

Orca Bay Mystery Clue #5 progress

I am very happy with my decision to limit my outer triangles to more of a tone on tone black. It seems to frame the unit nicely.

And of course the OCD Me, is controlling how many of which ones I am using on each set of HST which are all sorted by their own combinations. I am pointing the non-dogear end towards the middle so I can have sets with each fabric playing along on the left and the right side of the units.

I have half of these sewn already.

And panic time. I had made a large purchase last March towards Christmas presents for this year. Fast forward to Hubby's surgery and my mind thinking I had MOST of my shopping already done.

I went through that box today and I NEED to go shopping tomorrow. I am not even 1/4 of the way done. I was sure misremembering what I had bought ahead of time.
I have never been this behind before even when I was working. Since I HATE to shop (except for fabric of course)  I had always broken it up into small segments and usually had my wrapping done before Thanksgiving.
Oh well...tomorrow I will shop 'til I drop!             

Chicken and noodles for the soul.

I posted a good while back about my disappointment with Cuisinart's warranty of my entire pan set.

So, I bought myself a new chicken & noodles pan. What is good about this pan is:

1. Stainless steel good heavy pan
2. no coatings to wear off/out
3. glass lid to see cooking progress
4. 2 inserts to steam veggies or whatever

 It is so simple to make your own chicken stock. A good clean whole chicken, an onion, a few carrots and a lot of celery stalks with leaves attached.  Boil for a few hours then cool and remove all of the contents. I run them through a mesh colander to remove any stray bones or entrails that may break off during the cooking process.

 And then you have gallons of homemade chicken stock. I add the dark meat back to some broth and make the chicken & noodles. The white meat gets shredded and used for whatever. And the house smells sooooooo good while this is cooking. It is comforting to my soul.

 I cut up only 6 different blacks for Orca Bay's clue #5. Some of my blacks (well really most of them) had too much white going on. I think restricting my fabric choices here will give me the desired effect that Our Bonnie Hunter (http://www.quiltville.com) is going for.
There is a great Azeala Trail black and a Fossil Fern black and a batik black.

OK....go ahead and laugh. Here is another pencil box full of my black HST. Love these pencil boxes.

I have been "Kindled"!

Look out world! This old quilter is now a new owner of a Kindle Touch 3G! Of course I was a bit apprehensive before it arrived. I know I pestered Our Bonnie Hunter and other users of this amazing device concerning using the download feature.

I was worried for nothing! We are not wireless here. Yet the Kindle was able to find and use a signal. I have books on it already!

 I should have bought a cover and the AC adapter. But until I do one of those pencil boxes I have fit the Kindle perfectly. Now the kitties cannot walk on it and read something they should not. HA!

It is 4:00 a.m. here in Indiana.
I am waiting for clue #5 for the Orca Bay Mystery quilt from Bonnie Hunter. (http://www.quiltville.com)

In the pink for Orca Bay Mystery

Pink, gray and brown are my favorite colors. But if it would come down to me nailing just ONE favorite color it would have to be pink.
The block below is my favorite block. But then each of the other 63 blocks are equally as beautiful.

 I guess I would have to say that as I trim each block it then becomes my favorite until I pull the next one from the pile.

 Sigh! What memories race through my head looking at these fabrics. I made two Pink Smokey Mountain Stars (pattern from Bonnie Hunter at: www.quiltville.com).

One went to a Grand daughter and the second one stayed here with me. I hand quilted that one.
When you go to her blogsite make sure you click on the Orca Bay Mystery tab for some beautiful examples of the quilts being made from the mystery.

 I love the process of sewing strings.  I know I call it mindless sewing but there is a bit of "art" connected with choosing what strip to lay next to another strip. Some of the beautiful pink string blocks I have seen on the Mr Linky thingie have been very pastel. I tried to copy that but my pinks are more in the medium to hot pink range. I just decided that my blocks will be a reflection of my own stash not a copy of someone else's.
And to keep thing straight, I use a strip in a couple blocks and then it get puts aside and I grab another string. I have yet to dive into the already used pile. I have lots of pinks!

 When I went on a gathering mission for pinks I actually had to go through 4 LARGE plastic containers and three drawers to glean out all the pinks. And I am not using any wider than 1 1/2" strips. And even that size seems a bit clunky. The tiny basket on the left has my leftover 2 1/2" squares from the Smokey Mountain quilts. That makes it so handy to just whack them into triangles and add to the corners of the string blocks.

Here is our Macy Gray. Her eyes are so deep blue they are almost Indigo colored. I know the breeder called me after we had her for a few years and wondered if her eyes had stayed as deep blue as they hoped. They are. Macy is an Oriental Shorthair. She has a wedge shaped head. And she is so unusual looking that either you love her or you think she is deformed. She never stops talking and has many tricks in her portfolio. If you read up on the breed it says they love being clowns for their humans. Guess they are the only cats in the world that do not mind being laughed at!