Use it up and wear it out!

Use it up? fabric strings...way down the food ladder but still very doable.
I sent in 20 right/left sets to swap. WHOHOO! Other quilters' strings!

Wear it out? My Organ titanium 80/12 sewing needle. It sewed/pieced 4 butterfly quilts. Then quilted the same quilts and still is sharp! So paper piecing will dull it up soon. But then who knows? I buy them for this very reason. They seem to last forever!

It sure makes a mess but it is controlled chaos. I keep my strings in baggies by color families. Those baggies go into the plastic containers..big ones!

Happily I have 400 spool blocks made now! nice full container.

Our guild does a Secret Sister during our calendar year. My Super Secret Sister gave me a container full of half square triangles. What a great gift. She worked a long time to fill this for me. I played a bit with them. And I love the container too!

I found a few balls of crochet cotton and made 6 doilies. I gifted them to a sweet quilter who made me a special pin cushion at a quilt retreat. They were starched and then dried in the sun.

Hubby found this toy race track. Being a curious man he set it up on the table to see if it worked. It did. It also became Maggie Mae's favorite toy for 2 days until he sold it...poor Maggie Mae!

XOXOXOO Subee

String "H" blocks

Nita,

Since I have been the hostess for the washed swaps on Yahoo (2+ years) I do wash the fabrics I swap.

I always wash batiks before using them in a quilt.

Most of my scraps are now a mix of washed and unwashed. Most of the strings are from my past WASHED swaps.

Well, I have went and done it again. I am hooked on another version of string blocks. The versatility and fabric/stash busting value of string blocks just cannot be beat!!!

And yes, that is my version of Jamestown Landing being assembled. I have a bad habit of making ALL the units for a quilt and then putting all them away in a box. This has been sitting and waiting for assembly ever since the pattern came out. (designer is Our Bonnie Hunter of course)

In an effort to find any pitfalls of making these blocks I became a guinea pig. I consider myself a competent string block maker. But this 45 degree angle can make you cut your strip off too short if you try to eyeball the edge before folding the strip out.
I eliminated most of that issue by cutting my foundation papers a bit larger than Michele Foster has in her tutorial.
http://quiltinggallery.com/2013/02/20/tutorial-scrappy-herringbone-quilt-block/

Michele was trying to be frugal with her expensive leave-in foundation papers. We are not using those type of foundations. We are using removable papers. And telephone book pages are free!!!! So I cut my foundations 4" X 8.5" instead of 3.5" X 8.5" as Michele recommends. Problem solved.
And by cutting this way I can get a matched set of lefties and righties all ready for sewing.
Note to self...use a waste piece of paper under foundations to avoid pencil marks on the cutting mat.

  They look so rough before trimming!!!!

 And so nice when done!!!

String piecing can be messy. And I have one cat who is bound and determined to kill herself by eating threads. She knows I am watching her watch me for any lapse in my concentration on just where she is at during the sewing process. This is the same cat who ate two quilting needles with quilting thread attached. The thread wound around the base of her tongue and the needles lodged in her stomach. She had to have abdominal surgery to fix this...my fault. It will never happen again if I can help it!!!

Another perfect loaf of wheat bread came out of the bread machine. 

 XOXOOXOXOXO Subee

Easy Street Clue#4 completed

Warning: lots of photos in this post!!!
See Bonnie Hunter's Linky post here: http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2012/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-4.html

I am doing Easy Street in two colorways. But those Flying Geese units were just so cute I made them in five colorways.
I know. I am just a little bit obsessive.

I cannot decide which way is the one I prefer. And I had to stop myself or I would have made more in different colorways.

But then I had a plan....more below.

Here is Sissy. I pieced most of the actual colorway on her. She sews so well. But the chair in this room just kills my back. And my big sewing chair is too big for this room. It barely goes through the doorway.

Love this little sidewinder.  I use her all the time when sewing with Sissy or at retreats. Well...she is packed in the truck if I need her. But I usually have many bobbins already wound ahead of time.

Found...my lost container of thread. When I moved the sewing table in here I found this container underneath!!! Was not doing me any good not being used!!!

Here is my plan: I am going to make lots of Flying Geese, HST, Birds in the Air and/or more and keep them in these drawers. As I cut for a quilt I will feed these drawers. WHOOHOOOT! I am going to get so much more done!!

I tried and really liked the Grace Tru-cut blade sharpener. But there was just a tiny little container of oil. DH found this for me at a Hardware store. I am pretty sure it is what I need...any advice??

I bought and received one of those really big seam rippers from the seller on Etsy. Later in the evening he was sold out! Like that was a surprise with Our Bonnie tooting his horn! Mine is wood...beautifully turned.
I really do not need this items.  And it sure was not inexpensive. The leather sheath smells so good!!!
I am thinking of having a giveaway to celebrate the end of Easy Street.
Would any of you enter a give away for this item???

While waiting on the next clue I was making some pink string blocks(32). Then I made 24 more neutral string blocks. I have no idea what these will be used in. I just love making string blocks. These are 6 1/2" unfinished.

I did throw away the pile of trimmings. The food chain needs to end somewhere.

I really spread out when making string blocks. What you cannot see is the HUGE container of strings on the floor.  I keep them sorted by color now.

And another find. As I was searching for a box to ship out two cat beds I came across these blocks made eons ago. Michael Miller fabric. Each star is made from a different fabric. There are twenty-four 12 1/2" blocks....they just need a bit of sashing to be called a quilt top.

And a token kitty picture. This is my Pearl. Whole name is Pearly Piwacket.
XOXOXOXO Subee

Tulip Fields is all done!

All done. Labeled,quilted and bound.
It took me three days to machine quilt it. It is only 64" square. But there are many seams and I wanted to make sure the string piecing had plenty of quilting to keep it intact. DD#1 washes her quilts a lot! This will be her Christmas present.

I cannot thank Our Bonnie Hunter (www.quiltville.com) enough for this beautiful pattern. It can be found in her newest book entitled String Fling.

Our Macy Gray is a sleeping spot stealer. She intimidates through glances and getting way too close for comfort. If she would just lay down next to her victims she could gather their heat too. But no.....

She wants it all!!!!

Poor MaggieMae.

She no longer has her heavy fur coat.

And my gigantic Log Cabin quilt is back from the long arm quilter and is all bound. I am waiting to put it on my bed. I want to take it to the next guild meeting for Show & Tell.

Basket of blocks...how many is enough?

My basket is nearly full. Guesstimate is 96 blocks. So I think I need to keep on sewing on these.  Good thing they are FUN to make!!!!!!

And yes, I also save the dog ears from clipping the corners. As I add them to the jar, it becomes like a sand painting. Each little layer has it's own color and memory.

Making these Roman Stripe blocks has finished off one of those smaller phonebooks. And the frugal me also had to cut the covers and heavier pages into little hexagons. This is the cutter that Our Bonnie Hunter uses. It is for scrapbookers but works great for this application too.

I have not started anything with this size yet as I have a mission of mercy to do. I was unable to say "no" to a friend of an old friend who has an older Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt that needs finished. Some sewing together and then quilting and binding. Why can I not say no? This feels like such a burden to me that I feel guilty sewing on anything else by hand. So I sew on nothing by hand....promises made are promises fulfilled here in Subeeland. I promise myself that I will work on it soon.

Our MaggieMae is shaved again. YEA!!!!!! She stayed awake all day yesterday playing with string and jumping around.
And the tongue out pose is the way she always seems to be. I guess her tongue is too long for her little lower jaw.

Side view. She feels like velvet. And looks like a Russian gal in gray fur boots.
XOXOXOXO Subee

Using up my strings for Scrappy Roman Stripe blocks

PHEW!!! In only 2 partial days of sewing I have 100 of these blocks made. I am using up my teeny tiny strings from eons ago. I now make sure I am generous to myself when evening up the end of a piece of fabric. That way I get a more usable string. But I do love the effect of inserting the narrower strings in. They rock!!!

The neutral squares at the rear of this photo are actually 6 1/2". No problem, I just add the pieced triangle to the corner and cut between them. It produces a nice sized neutral string in the process!!!
String piecing never seems to reduce the supply!!

I am wondering how many of the Janome users have purchased these pink bobbins. Although they do make it a bit harder to see the amount of thread left while sewing. I feel they are a superior bobbin to the clear plastic ones. They seem a bit heavier in weight and are a lot quieter.

I bought four Quilters' Dream Puff batting to give it a good try. I really prefer all their other products to other batting manufacturers. So, I am sure I will fall in love with this product. If it passes the "Subee" test I may order an entire roll.

Here is the last look of MaggieMae's long fur. She gets a shave this coming Tuesday. I do brush her daily. All the fur goes outside for the squirrels to put in their winter nests. Yet she gets her tongue stuck on her chest hair...too funny and sad at the same time. And she is getting really matted under her legs. She is a much more affectionate kitty after the cut. But she is still the sweetest kitty I have ever owned. Good thing because her fur is a constant battle here.

XOXOXOOXOX Subee

Pfefferneuse progress

Now comes the lazy part...removing the papers from the paper foundation pieced string blocks.
It took me only 2 days of sewing to make the neutral string blocks. I already had 100 8 1/2" neutral string blocks made but they did not have the widest strip down the center of the block as Bonnie instructed.
Since I totally love making the string blocks I did a marathon sewing session that lasted for two days. I made a total of 50 just because I like that number. The pattern calls for only 36.

 All my hourglass units are all made too. Once I get the papers off I can begin final assembly!! WHOOHOOO!!!!

 Look at that pile of trimmings!!! I was ruthless and threw the entire pile away.

And see how many strings I still have left?  Even making 50 blocks did not make a dent in that bag!!! The small white container has the larger triangles I used for the two corners on the blocks. I have been sorting my strings. It was a big job at the beginning but now it is so easy. And I truly love being able to just grab a bag in the color I want to work on!!

I had made the brown string blocks in a larger size because I did not know what size Our Bonnie would be using in the Pfefferneuse pattern. I had these trimmings left over from cutting those blocks down to 7 1/2". They look way too useful. I am going to save them as crumbs. I get to have a crumb class with Our Bonnie in September this year. WHOOHOO!!!

One result of having no power for 3 entire days was some organizing that really needed done. I was gathering up scraps to give to a high school friend who teaches sewing to young kids. Since I was lucky enough to be gifted with some scraps from Alaska, I felt I needed to pass it on. I offered my HS friend the same deal. She paid the postage and I gathered "good" scraps for her. I need to go to the PO to get a box. I quickly outgrew the medium size Priority Mail box. But with downtown being without power too I did not even try...
Another result of losing power is a super clean fridge and freezer. I have to look at the good side of the food loss.
XOXOXOXO Subee

Lots more string blocks made!!!!!

I know I usually have many more photos to show you. I do not know why I did not click more pictures. But I am totally happy with this week's sewing results. That almost dull Organ Titanium needle actually made it through all these string blocks. It is now just starting that dreaded "ticking" sound.
I really need to get the King of Greens quilt sewn together. DD#1's BD is at the end of July. I have all the quilting done. That was the hard part. But I could not stop making these string blocks.
They are such an addictive block. It warms my frugal heart. I made these blocks from fabric that some quilters throw away!!!

 I now have 45 brown string blocks made. That huge bag of strips is totally empty. I did raid my stash for corner squares. And I also used some of the fabric strips gifted to me from my new Alaska friend, Diane.
So total amount of string blocks made this week is 70!!!
45 browns
15 greens
10 yellows
All are 8 1/2". I used this size because of the size of my phone book pages. I can always cut them down to another size. But it would be very hard to make them bigger! HA!
I cannot wait to get Bonnie Hunter's newest book entitled String Fling.
It is due out in July 2012.

This is all that is left of my scrap strings. And these are the thicker ones. I know it is tempting to use thicker cut strips to get the sewing over faster. But believe me you want a good amount of really slender strips to add variety to your blocks. Most of my blocks have 17 or more strips per block.

A gift of scraps from Alaska

My newest best friend, Diane,who lives in Alaska, sent me this box of scraps. She is moving and could not make room for the scraps.
The new Happy Postman brought the box to my door and set it inside for me. "It is heavy" he says to me! I say it is all fabric scraps. He just chuckles and walks out.

 I could not resist opening the box even though I was only midway through my next set of 10 brown string blocks. Then I think, I just grab some browns out and continue sewing.

 Well, that did not happen because I could not stop. I did start sorting while sitting on the floor but my body began protesting. So DH moved the box out to the dining room table and here below is the result of just a couple hours sorting!

Lots of blues
Lots of greens
Lots of blacks
Lots of children prints
Some yellows
Some reds
Some pinks
Some purples
Some neutrals
Some browns
Some golds
Some florals
I hope she doesn't want them back now that they are sorted! HA! And these are not tiny pieces. I guess you can call them scraps but BIG HUNKS would describe them better. I cannot thank Diane enough for this bonus addition for my string blocks. It is going to take me MONTHS to translate these into blocks.

And some sad news. My spool of brown So Fine has been emptied. 3,280 yards all used up. Sigh! That means I get to open the plastic on my new favorite brown So Fine thread called "Cat Tail". WHoooHOOO!

3,280 more yards to sew with!!!!!

XOXOXOXOXOX Subee

String Fling-Day3

After another day of sewing yesterday I have 10 brown string blocks made.

But as you can see I have a very large bag full of brown strings.

 I hardly made a dent in that bag. My strings are so skinny that there are 17-20 strips per block. That is a lot of sewing!!!!

 On Sunday I sorted my personal supply of strings. I found a few more green and yellow strips but they went into the "odd" string baggie for now.

 I got up at 5:00a.m. this morning and got the washed purple strips all swapped out. I just piled them on the chair then....

 I packed up the bags for carrying to the Post Office. It is easier for me to carry things with straps as opposed to crates with handles.

 I set the baskets outside today with a thank you card to my new Happy Postman.

The infamous baskets....I use them for everything sewing related. I think I bought 40 from Big Lots a long time ago. ($1 each then) they cost much more now! Go figure...
XOXOXO Subee