{Post 1,015} Twister Magic

I really like the mini Twister ruler.  As I was cleaning up/decluttering my sewing room, I found a charm pack of 5" squares from who knows where.  Perfect size for a mini Twister quilt.  Last night I laid out the squares and sewed the center together.  This AM I added a complimentary dark cream/caramel border, cut and resewed the squares.  This will be the first new wall quilt for my sewing room.


After cutting but before resewing:

After resewn (21-1/2" square):

Have to go do a few errands, but will border this and hopefully get it quilted when I get home.  Will be in the car for 9 hours tomorrow and 9 hours on Sunday, and hope to be sewing the binding on this by hand while I sit.


~Joan

{Post #993} I Spy Winners and Losers

The last little bit of sewing I've done has been on several different I Spy quilts...some new designs.  A doozy loser, a so so, and one I think might turn out nicely.


I tried a Twister quilt square with only a few blocks to see if my already-cut-out 4-1/2" I Spy squares could work.  I ended up having to cut them down to 3" squares instead of the 3-1/2" squares the Little Twister ruler would have made.  But that is OK...I just drew lines on my 6-1/2" ruler and flipped it around after cutting 2 sides.  A tiny bit more time consuming, but not a hardship.  


Here is the Twister one first.  The finished sewn piece with a 4 x 4 block setting ended up being 13" square.  I could see making 8 more of these and setting it 3 x 3 blocks for a 39" square quilt.  The small overall prints look much better than the large not-very-much repeat prints.  I don't know if I have enough to make 8 more blocks, but I can certainly look.


Getting started on the cutting:

Cutting complete:

Close-up of border print, ants, and apples:

All sewn up.  Thirteen inches square:

Now for the others, in no particular order.  

This first one is an actual pattern up to the black border.  I thought it was too long and skinny, so I added the extra rows of 4-1/2" squares on each side.  I plan to put a black with something bright on it to border each side.  I like the variety of square sizes...finish at 2", 3", and 4"...no repeats.  I might make another one of these but 50% wider and not use the 2" finished squares (because I sent all I had to Natasha).  

This next one is soooo busy that it hurts my brain to look at it.  You might want to take a second to prepare yourself.  Natasha and I had a fabric trade.  She sent me two pounds of I Spy prints, and I sent her 2 pounds of Thimbleberries back.  I hope we are both happy.  I have not heard from her about her package yet.  In her package to me were these 6-1/2" square pieces.  I had a (what I thought at the time) brilliant idea of using them as alternate squares with 4 patches of 3-1/2" squares of mine.  Should have just cut them down to 4-1/2" squares and used them in 11 different quilts!

Ready, set...confusion!!

After I sewed the alternate blocks and my 4-patches together, I added an entire row of 4-1/2" square to the top and bottom to make it nearly square.  I hate like the dickens to WASTE all those I Spy prints, but what's a girl to do?  I am thinking about putting on a thin solid black then a something with a bright green wider border on it, but honestly, I don't think I could do this to a kid!

~Joan

New Fall Table Runner for Kitchen

I bought the Twister rulers (large and small sizes) a while ago. I rarely buy specialty things that only have one use, but I was hooked. I plan to make lots of runners using these for Christmas gifts.

Last night I started this runner. I like it and I don't like it. Why would I be making a new fall table runner this late in the game (I'm already envisioning my home with Christmas greenery)?? We have taken two leaves out of our table, leaving us with a table for eight. I know that sounds enormous to some, but to us, it is small. To my last year's table runner it is small. I have to fold the runner under one block just so it doesn't extend out under the plates at the end of the table. This. won't. do.

So, I present my new fall table runner (until we put the leaves back in at least)...I like the runner, but I'm not crazy about the quilting I did on it (which I'll show you tomorrow).

And here is the close-up of the top. I was teaching my youngest daughter (12) how to do a layout of prints to make them look good. I also let her sew the 5" squares together. She needs much more practice at making consistent seam allowances and straight seams. Enough said. But since this is for me, I didn't make her rip out any more than was absolutely necessary. Didn't want to kill her enthusiasm for the whole hobby.

Off to hopefully finish my NPOP quilting...only about 3 feet long of an area to do in the borders. There are still two sides of binding to hand sew down, but I'll do that later while I watch a movie in bed (I hope).

~Joan

All-Night Sew Plans Revised

I called the quilt shop where we were supposed to have the all-night sew (6 PM to midnight) tonight to let them know Susanna and I were coming, and we were bringing a friend. Good thing I called, because it was cancelled. So we invited our friend, Rachel, to come to our house.

We had a couple unplanned errands to do earlier today, so I felt rushed, but we sewed for about 3-1/2 hours together. I sewed and pressed this...

I also pieced, trimmed, and pressed these...

Raise your hand if you're surprised I've already started on one of these for my family. I don't see any hands.


And here is Susie Seamstress herself...

She worked on this amazing tote bag for herself. It's a pattern and accessories kit we picked up at the Hickory Quilt Show. She said it's a great pattern--easy sewing, but tedious. A million steps. I think she exaggerates. She got the fabrics later at Mary Jo's. Isn't it bee-you-tee-ful??

~Joan

Baby Twister

This is 42" x 51"... This is 27" x 33"...

The top picture shows all my 5" squares and 3" border sewn together. Then one takes the mini Twister ruler and cuts out the pinwheel-shapes. It really is a cool method. What I don't like is the waste that results from it. I. hate. wasted. fabric.

The smaller squares (in the bottom picture) are 3-1/2" square. If I were piecing this from scraps, I'd be fine with it. I paid over $26 for the fabric for just this part of the quilt and the binding!

Before the outer border, the finished product (from 80 five-inch squares) will only be about 33" x 27". Puny.

It is a fast method as opposed to cutting and piecing all those little windmill blades. One of the reasons I made this was to see just how it all worked. The directions that came with the rulers were minimal and sketchy. I like being able to see how the fabric placement affects the final product. I would like to make this in novelty prints for an I Spy quilt. Too bad I didn't save a 5" square of asparagus fabric!!

One of my other ideas was to use the ruler to make a table runner. Now I can see just how I need to lay that out. So not so much wasted time after all!

Can't get excited about finishing this seeing as it's going to be so small. Christmas-print baby quilt, anyone?

~Joan

Sunday Craziness

Right after church Sunday I drove my oldest son to the airport (after a quick detour through the Hardee's drive through for lunch). He was home for a little over a week, and has now returned to his summer full-time job at the college he attends. It was a great visit.

In getting there, I had to drive through my former home town, and also the home town of Mary Jo's Cloth World. I had some time to kill, so I stopped there. They. were. closed.

Plan B: I went to a Bernina store in the same town that sells fabric. You see, I have a brown and pink scrap quilt in my future for which I need a border. I walked up to the door, and there was a sign that said "Come Back". What?? They were closed, too?? Since fabric stores are few and far between around here, I couldn't leave w/o a peek. I love the sample items they have in the store. So after I had my nose smashed to the windows of the store for several minutes with my hand shading my eyes, ten years came off my life. The door flew open and a woman stuck her head out. "Would you like to come in?" she asked. "We aren't open, but I'm here, and so are you." Well, yea!!

I proceeded to buy a charm pack of a new Moda fabric. There are several strange things about this purchase...I never have bought Moda fabric. I've never bought a charm pack.

Several months ago I bought a set of Twister rulers. To use them, you sew squares (either 5" or 10"--there are two sizes of rulers) into a rectangle, then use the rulers to cut pinwheel shapes out and resew them. Now I need to get some border fabrics. This is a Christmas line, and the yardage won't be in for a couple weeks. I think I'll save this for our next all-night sew. It would be a snap to sew, iron, cut and press them. The line is called "Adoring". Very cute colors. The turquoise is a neat twist. I think I'll get the funky stripe in the center for a border. I plan to replace that square with one that doesn't stand out too much. There were 42 prints in the pack, and I wanted to see what a potential layout would look like.

I also started a new hand-piecing project today. My son and I had appointments at the eye doctor. He is a good doc, but notorious for taking a very l-o-n-g time. We were there 2-1/2 hours. Good thing I went prepared. I wanted an in-the-car handwork project that wasn't queen-sized!! I am going to make the runner using my own colors (Thimbleberries) naturally. Here is a pic of the magazine spread. Not a stellar picture.

A close-up of one block. The little diamonds finish with one-inch-long sides. They are so fast. I sewed up nearly all the tiny pieces I had cut before I went back for my exam. The time-consuming part is cutting all the little diamonds. I taped the template to the back of my ruler. Zip, zip!!

The pattern as a runner. I'll probably add more blocks to accommodate our table for ten.

~Joan