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....
XOXOXO Subee

Pink Mariners' Star

After the Saturday paper piecing class I had such a great desire to sew on the units I was using as the teaching lesson. I had only sewn two seams to demonstrate the technique to my students. I then turned them loose and was like a bee flitting to each quilter answering questions and helping with machine issues.

I now totally understand why Our Bonnie Hunter sews in her hotel room after teaching. Watching others sew while you are teaching is a bit frustrating.
I only spent a few minutes and I had the block units done. After feeding DH I then sewed the units together.
With the following results:

 Below are the units...I love the spotlight that little Ikea lamp produces.

 Today I am mindlessly sewing more hourglass units.
This time I am using browns and neutrals. I had these already cut and just sitting in this little container gathering dust. I am about halfway through the sewing. My goal is 500 units.

And I am clipping my little dog ears as usual!

I love those EZ Angle rulers. This unit is made with the Companion Angle ruler cut from 1 1/2" strips.

Paper Piecing class was a success!

I had more comments on this cute little Ikea light when I was teaching my paper piecing class.
The size and bendability was envied by many.
Thanks to Bonnie Hunter (http://www.quiltville.com) for showing us her lamp on her blog. I am sure that the sales of this cute little lamp went up 300% after her blog post. It happened with the EZ Angle rulers and the tangerine color ( the new neutral )!!! HA!

I had my machine set up to sew. And did sew two lines of the pattern. Then I turned the ladies loose to try their own blocks. First I had them practice sewing on a lined piece of paper. It is not as easy as it sounds. It depends on the foot used and the machine set up. Then we totally lost all track of time with laughter and sewing. Small acheivements and large mistakes were all taken in stride. I think we went over our allotted time slot. But we were so BUSY and had a great time.
So, my first "formal" teaching session was awesome. I do not see how Our Bonnie does this day after day. My back hurts from standing. At least I think it hurts from standing. It might have been from the three trips unloading my truck. It was very cold and windy this early Saturday morning. So perhaps that had something to do with my backache.
XOXOXOXO Subee

Paper Piecing class planning!

OH MY! OH DEAR!
Saturday teaching day is almost here!!!!

My angst is caused by an extreme case of nerves.

I will be teaching a paper-piecing class to my guild members and a few members from an Ohio quilt guild.

I know how to paper-piece. I could do it with only one hand I think. My only issue is I have not too much experience teaching. Most of my working factory life was spent as a Group Leader. That includes the training of new employees. And that can take months. I am a patient person but I have been told that I am a bit bossy. I do not mean to be bossy. I simply want things done a certain way. Perhaps that is my OCD kicking in.
I will try very hard to gentle my fellow guild members. I promise!!!

I am teaching a stained glass paper piecing technique. Then I thought I should also make the block WITHOUT the black leading step. The result is below. I really like it!!!
So if a few are over whelmed with the stained glass look I can offer this method still using the same pattern but just skipping over the areas that call for the narrow black strip.
I was originally going to teach the paper-pieced pineapple block. But I feel that block would simply be too tiny for newbies to paper piecing.

And since I did this in grays I may work it into my gray/pink Orca Bay quilt that is still in process. This block only took a bit over an hour to make. There are 8 sections that make a 12" block. And now I hear my precious pinks saying "We would make a great Mariners' Compass block too"!

 Here it is "exploded" before sewing the sections together.

Can you see my new Ikea lamp there on the left? There was a bit of assembly required but I managed to assemble the lamp and I am VERY pleased with it. I found them on E-Bay for just a bit more than an Ikea store and free shipping. Ikea would not sell to me over the internet. They said the closest store is 130 miles to up Michigan. I cannot see me driving that far when I could get it on E-Bay.

The bulb does not seem to radiate much heat. That big ol' Ott light there can fry my head at times!
I did buy two lamps. Yet I am considering buying a couple more for ease of portability to venture into DH's room for some hand sewing or crocheting.

It has a nice spotlight effect. The neck can be moved around with ease putting the light right where you need it to be. All in all I am very happy and cannot thank Our Bonnie K. Hunter (http://www.quiltville.com)
for recommending this light. But I did want it in pink of course. But white is fine.

Quilt repair!

This quilt was the second large quilt I have ever made. It lives on my daughter's King size bed. Each of those paper-pieced butterflies were tiny works of art. I dug into my precious Jinny Beyer pallet collection to piece these. I also used some fabrics from my deceased sister-in-law. My oldest daughter loved her Auntie Margie very much. Using some of these fabrics made this quilt special for both of us.

 I have learned the value of good quality fabric the hard way. The end result is fabric disintergrating before your eyes! Much to my daughter's dismay the quilt started falling apart.

 If I had quilted it heavier I think it would have been in better shape. But with small children hurling and assorted kittens and puppies, this quilt has seen a lot of washing.

 My goodness my hand looks old! Yikes when did that happen??????? Anyway, the seam is still there but the fabric isn't! DH said I should applique something over these large areas. The backing fabric has large realistic butterflies. And I know I have a piece of it SOMEWHERE in my vast stash. I have never appliqued before. But I guess this is the way to learn...

 I have been keeping this repair project at the end of my list of things to do. I was dreading the close examination that was going to be needed to fix this quilt. This morning I simply replaced to inner borders by sewing some on my GOOD quality Kona Snow over the poor worn out white butterfly fabric that was too thin and fragile from the beginning. It had just turned to dust practically in my hands. The angst I felt was silly. It took all day, but now the large areas are totally fixed. And it was easy!!!! I am also going to add LOTS more quilting before I return the quilt to my daughter.

 See the two fresh new inner borders? Boy do I ever love working with this Kona Snow.

 Here is the report from the neutral string block event. I have 185 all made. I took them to club tonight and worked on tearing off the paper. I think I disturb some of the quilters with the paper rustling. So tonight I sat at a back table so I would not disturb their delicate constitutions.

I just had to buy this. I LOVE titanium sewing machine needles. They last a very long time and I feel they are worth the extra cost. I buy them by the 100's on a Yahoo group called "needlecoop". 

So I figured that a Fiskar titanium rotary cutter blade should last the same way. We will see. I will put her to work as soon as this blade in my old favorite Fiskar cutter wears out. I am a good rotary cutter wielder/driver. I keep the blade clean of fuzz and rarely nick any ruler edges. I make them last a long time.

I do not miss work since retiring but I do miss the good ole' Tool & Die men. They kept my blades (and their wives' blades) sharpened. Sometimes too sharp! Once the resharpened blade that I used for the first time completely cut through a cutting mat. And I just happened to have the mat on my new oak dining room table. Talk about regret!!!!!!!

Paper Piecing planning

 I love to paper piece. The results are so precise. But it does take some planning.

I remember when I first started paper piecing. The instructions were so vague and we were told to use "hunks" of fabric. That way is too wasteful and at times when you would fold the fabric, parts of the pattern would not be covered completely.

I have developed my own way to insure the right results. I lay a ruler over the pattern area and measure generously. The minimum you need around an area is 1/4". Live on the edge and use that measurement if you wish. But that also means there is no room for any misalignment or postioning errors. I use a 1/2" allowance. I still do not use much extra fabric and I am always sure that my pattern area is covered perfectly. And since I use squares to cut my pattern pieces the straight of grain is right where it needs to be. Pre-cutting is a time saver too!
But before I cut any fabric I cut the piece from a piece of paper. I write the measurement on the paper piece and lay that over the pattern area to double check. If I am happy I then begin to cut my fabric.

I stack all my cut pieces, like with like as you can see in the picture. I also check them off the master pattern piece. This little bit of planning gives me the edge and I get perfect blocks everytime! If the pattern is really complicated I glue a piece of the correct fabric to the master pattern. I call this my "road map". This was also the term I used during my 31 years of working in the shipping department in a factory. It kept me from retracing my steps and I was always aware of where I was on my orders no matter how complicated they were. I kept advancing in that area until I was the "lead person". I trained all new people coming into the shipping department. I could tell from the first week what part of the area the new person was suited for or NOT AT ALL!

 Isn't this a beautiful block? I used my new Janome DCQ 3160 to do the sewing. She works really good for paper piecing as she has the thread cutter button. I love that button! The only thing I miss on this machine is the knee lift bar that is on the Janome6600P.

I spent the entire day yesterday back in the cutting room sewing on this machine. Hubby keeps complaining that he misses me when I am back there. He is so sweet to want my company even though he is in the other part of the house when I am sewing in my main sewing area in the living room.

I do feel as if I am in a sardine can back in that little room. But I also have a feeling of comimg back home as I used to sew in this room from the beginning. (that was before my fabric collection, sewing machine collection and supplies took over two spare rooms and the entire living room.) I still have my eye on the family room for a longarm machine but Hubby says "NO WAY"!

I know I had posted I was ready to return this machine. I still have not heard back from the sewing machine store about the recall on this machine. Yet I cannot get the machine to foul up again. I worked her hard yesterday. I am a marathon sewer...hours on end. The machine was an angel. And I feel that after 8 solid hours sewing , the machine would have messed up. The machine is powerful and quiet. I can no longer complain about her. And I want to name her. That means she is staying!

 My new Topstitch needles came yesterday. I ordered them through Needlecoop, a Yahoo group. WHOOOHOOO! 200 new needles. These are titanium coated. That adds major time to their use before they get dull. It does add cost to them too. But I am VERY happy with these needles.

Thank you Organ needle company for making these needles!

 My first sighting of a Robin in our front yard. Hubby and I have been hearing them but as of yesterday had not seen one to be sure. The males arrive first. This one is fat and healthy. I offered him some bread and he was not afraid of me.
Today I put some more bread out and he flew down and started enjoying the bread before I was back in the house. I know that they are wild animals. But I really feel an afinity with creatures. I have squirrels that take peanuts from my hand and I am almost positive this bird remembers that "food" comes from this house and he returned from his migration to find it.

 Isn't he a nice chubby Robin?

And the grass almost looks green!

I love my Janomes!