Saturday, February 13, 2010

Four Patches and rulers

Today I taught a quilt class. We made Chinese Coin quilts to celebrate Chinese New Year! I had four students and we had a fine time chatting and sewing. Nobody got their top all the way finished, but everyone got their strip sets done and some of the sashings sewn on. I am confident that my students will finish their quilts and they will be lovely!


We did have one slight issue with a ruler. We needed a ruler that was 6 1/2 inches wide, and I grapped one that was hanging up on the back of the classroom door that looked about 7 inches wide. I didn't supervise this student's cutting, and she came to me after cutting one set and told me that her strips had a problem. They were definitely not 6 1/2 inches wide. I looked at the ruler, and discovered that it had markings that were not 1 inch apart. This was some kind of specialty ruler for cutting on the diagonal and the lines printed on it were much closer together. Luckily she was able to cut an extra strip from each set, so will have a quilt with more columns, but they will be narrower. I felt badly for not catching the problem before she started cutting. I did mark the ruler so it won't happen to anyone else. In the future I will be sure to be more aware of the ruler markings! It did give us a good opportunity to discuss rulers and measurements, though!


I worked on four patches for my Gypsy Rose quilt tonight. I have them all ready to put on the design wall tomorrow. I'm not 100% sure I like the fabric for the setting triangles, but I think once I lay out the squares I will have a little better idea of if I want to change it or not. This is a Jelly Roll quilt, so lots of fun to sew because there is no pre-cutting needed!


Friday, February 12, 2010

What can I do with my blog tonight?

Well, I can add it to my Google Analytics, so I did that. It will be interesting to see some statistics on who visits here! I also claimed my blog on Technorati.com so I need to paste this little confirmation number in: TZMQH93XAC9T.

I've been having fun reading through my past posts. I am quite the busy person it seems! I guess there are things that change and things that stay the same, and my keeping myself busy is one of the things that stays.

Coming up for air!

Wow, the first part of this year has been incredibly busy! I have had so many projects that needed to be worked on, groups that needed leading, one child that needed to be picked up and dropped off at dance practices and now a house that badly needs to be cleaned.

I have finished my latest pattern - BRR SNOW! It is available at my LQS (local quilt shop, for those unfamiliar with the acronym!) and will be listed on my Etsy shop very soon - here's a picture:

This will also be available for a limited time with a kit including the thimble charms and white fabric.

I have been also been working on some UFO's (UnFInished Objects) and some PIGS (Projects In Grocery Sacks). I made 24 strip blocks to lighten the load on my drying rack, and plan to finish 20 more this month.

I've been sorting and organizing in my studio. I have a pile of books ready to list on e-bay, time to clear out the shelves! I have custom orders coming in that will need to be started soon.

All of the work seems overwhelming at times. I wonder how in the world I am going to juggle it all. Then I hop over to Facebook and play bejeweled for way too long. Slowly but surely, though, I am making progress.

I am completing the goals I set for myself.

And I do take time out to have a little fun, quilting style!