Design and Sew

Once the room was all clean I started making those last three blocks of my Design and Sew quilt.  I design this class for the EQ students at my LQS.  (Electric Quilt, quilting design software).  I taught them how to draw the blocks in the software and then we were going to sew the blocks.  I sewed as we went.  Some of my students were winter visitors, and once they started to leave the locals only wanted to design and not sew.  

So I changed the class to fit their needs. 

Here is the first block I made in EQ, Tinted Chains.

Here it is in fabric. 

The next block was Ocean Waves.

My fabric pictures turn out better when I take them in the daylight.  They are't so yellow. 

The last one, American Beauty.

Here is the other visitor I have had in my room.  

I rearranged of the blocks three time.  I think this is what I like but I am going to leave it on the design wall for a little longer just to make sure. 

I am thinking about trying to teach this class in the next year.  

I just might only do the design part. 

A Dear Jane Corner Completed

And all I can say is whew!!!

It was a doozy!

I took five different times, sitting at the sewing machine and sewing to get it done.  But it is done!

Done is better than perfect.

I traced part of the pattern, so I could paper piece parts of it. 

I made the top center square a little bigger, so the number 2000 would show completely.  It was the only part of the Millennium fabric that was really going to show. 

The four triangles I have left are all going to be complicated also.  Plus one more corner, it has two applique stars on it.  

Unfortunately I have to put her away for awhile.  My next project due for the Get RR Done group is My Design and Sew Quilt.  I would like to have the top done by the next meeting.  I really should have the quilt done for the next quarter of the teaching calendar at the shop, which starts in December because I plan to teach that class again, called EQ Design and Sew.  I teach the students how to design the blocks in EQ, and then they make the blocks.  Students like seeing the end results.  

Yesterday I remade my paper piecing Halloween patterns.  I made the little wall hanging ages ago.  I think the patterns were from Nancy Granny Paper Piecing Patterns.  Of course they don't make them any more, and all my paper piecing programs don't have the blocks I have in my Halloween sampler.  So I drafted them again in EQ7, so I have the patterns for class on Monday. 

Halloween Sampler

I haven't taught paper piecing in a good ten years, if not longer.  The teacher who was teaching at the shop, needs a break.  Actually she was one of my students ages ago, way back when I first taught paper piecing.  

Today I found my old handouts, and boy did I have to update them!  Some of the information is still relevant, and some wasn't.

Since I didn't really want to type the whole thing over.  I set up my Dragon Naturally Speaking program on my computer.  It worked like a charm. 

I was going to use it for this post but it won't work in Blogger.  So I went to word and now it is telling me, my operating system is set up to run this program.

  

Seriously!!  I just finished a 3 page hand out and hour ago.  

Mr. B. upgraded me to Windows 10 and now I can't find the screen capture icon that I used a lot with Windows 8. So I can't take a screen shot of that message to show you. 

I just found my Snipping tool.  So here is that error message I received. I still can't get Dragon to work.  Grrrr

Plus I just realized I didn't load Snag-it with all my other software.  And I don't have time to go get the external DVD machine.  

He loaded 10 on three other computers, no problems.  Mine it failed five time if not more.  So he ended up setting my computer back to factory settings and I lost all my software.  Luckily he backed up all my files, so those weren't lost. 

Sometimes as much as I love computers I hate them also.

Well I better go, it is time to get the girls from school. 

Happy Stitching!!

Started My Third Get RR Done Project

Yup I am working on this project and I was on a roll!!

I cut out my squares.  I started with the Non Red Squares first.  I sewed the half square triangles together. 

Then I cut out most of the red squares.  I left about 100 to do after I had some of them laid out. Just in case I wanted more or less of a color.  I used 12 different reds.  

The top half is done!

The bottom half in progress.

All Quilted.

Close up of the quilting.  I tried to do free motion quilting on it but the seams with the interfacing grid behind the top made it too hard to make good shapes.  So I when with my cross hatch.  Yes, I used my favorite iridescent thread again.

So I was merrily thinking I just need to sew the eyes on and sew the seams closed and I can be done soon.  A quilting friend came over today and I was showing her how he would look on the tube.  I thought his face was a little high.  It was at the very top of the tube and part of it was above the tube. 

So I went to the pattern and counted the rows of red, I counted the rows of red on my piece.  Guess what I have two extra rows of red.  No wonder he is so long looking.   

You may be wondering how I made this mistake. I drafted my Stick Santa in EQ7, and I must have added the extra rows in there. I didn't count all the rows, I just counted to the white trim on his hat and face and then just filled in the rest with red and I went by how long it was suppose to be. 

So I have to decide what I am going to do.   

Can I buy a longer mailing tube?  

Could I just turn up his boots? But then he would 

have very short boots.

Can I tape something like a empty veggie can to the top of the tube I have?  It would have to be very secure so it doesn't fall over. 

Should I take it apart and remove the two extra rows, they are at the bottom of the top. 

That sounds like a lot of work. 

I just went and tried the cans, a veggie can is too fat but a soup can is just right.  I am going to duct tape that sucker on and be done with it.  Now to get my little people to eat a can of soup.
I am so relieved I found a simple solution.  No one will know my Stick Santa is taller.  Well you guys do but you won't tell.  

Get RR Done Club

My local quilt shop has a Get RR Done Club that 

meets once a month for 6 months.  It is hosted by the 

fun and lovely Debbie.  Here is the link to her blog where she posts everyone's progress. So I decided to sign up for the 

club and see if I could get some projects done. 

We had to write down six projects we want to get done.  

I listed mine in the order I wanted to finish them.  

Which is not the order they will be finished in.  

Each month Debbie pulls a number from one to six and that is the project you have to finish in the next month.

My projects are as listed:

1. Design and Sew  Quilt
2. Stick Witch 
3. Stick Santa
4. Borders on my Dear Jane quilt
5. Pink Princess
6. Free Motion Sampler Skillbuilder

Guess what number got pulled first.  Number Six.  

That is right, the one I wanted to do last.  

Oh well in the spirit of fun I will do it first.  

Before I can really get started I need to clean my sewing room.  I am having some creative explosion in there. 

While at the meeting I did sew on my Design and Sew quilt, I finished one block.   

Here it is in the EQ7 version and in the real fabric

EQ 7 Version

The real block


Here is my Dear Jane, started in 2001
I have the backing and batting, and even have one border almost constructed and maybe 3 more triangles to do and 2 corners.  I just got overwhelmed with the borders and if they are going to fit.  So I put it down for a bit, which turned out to be a lot of years.  I have put too much work into it not to finish it.

Here is part of the top border of the quilt.  

You can see the last year I worked on this was 2007.  

I am so close!

This is from an online class from Crafty and it is the first in 

a series on how to make a quilt without a pattern.  

I don't even remember when I started this, but it was sometime in 2014.  Something about the random size of the center strips that is really hard for my structured nature.  I wanted to do it so I can learn to be more free in my style.  So far it hasn't worked,  I couldn't even work on it.  Little Bit will love the pink and the theme fabric matches fabric in her pillow case I made for her.  It has princess words all over it.  She is a little princess.  

So I call this Pink Princess. 

It is simple enough to make, I can do this!

The next two are projects I want to make.  The Stick Santa pattern I have had for a couple of years and the Stick Witch I picked up this year.  Halloween quilts are my second favorite quilts after Christmas.  I also want to work these up as classes this fall.  I can't wait to work on these.

Last but not least is my Free Motion sampler Skillbuilder.  I like to retake quilting free motion classes every now and then as I learn something new from different teachers. This last one had us buy a panel to help us do different designs.  I have done three of the details but I want to Get RR Done, so it was added 

to the list.  This is #6 and has to be done first by the June meeting.  

So wish me luck getting these done and I will keep you 

posted on my progress. 

More Blocks for my EQ Design and Sew Class

In February I had my first EQ Design and Sew Class, my second one is tomorrow.  The first one was fun, I enjoyed it anyway and the students seemed to also.  

So here are the blocks for Class two.

EQ version

The real thing

EQ Version

The Real thing

EQ Version

The real thing,

I am not sure how to fix the monitor issue that makes all my pictures look so yellow, it bugs me.  I forget about it until I edit my pictures and post something.  Hopefully I will add it to Mr. B.'s honey do list soon.  

This last block was not hard to sew but figuring out how to cut the fabric to paper piece it was a bit of a challenge.  I just really like how it looks!
Well Happy Stitching I am off to bed!

Working on a New Class

One of my students at the LQS I teach at, A Quilter's Oasis, asked for a class where we design blocks in Electric Quilt and than sew the blocks together and make a quilt.  I asked the owner and she thought it would be a good idea.  

Now, I have to admit with the Christmas holiday and all I kind of forgot about it for awhile.  But I was reminded and off I started to work on the class.  

First I need to speak to one of the other teachers who does a intermediate block class were the blocks are drafted on paper.  I didn't want to do the same block.  We had a lovely discussion. 

It took me a couple of days of deciding which blocks to use.  I kept finding fun blocks to draft.  I have 48 blocks in my project, so you can see I had fun drawing blocks.  I only needed 12.  

Last Friday the 16th I picked out my fabric and on Saturday I started sewing.  

So this is how the quilt looks in EQ (Electric Quilt software).

The fabrics were scanned into the program after I purchased them.  

Here are the six blocks I have done already.  The color is really off on the background fabric, it is a light lavender.  I think my camera does some crazy things. Plus every time I open my Photoshop Elements it tells me my monitor needs to reset but neither my husband who works in IT or I know how to do that.  I guess I need to make him do a Google search to learn how. 

Block above is Block and Bars.

Contrary Wife

Peekaboo

Measure for Measure is the name I found for it,

I like Little Big Star.

I Had a Dream

Grannies Choice.  

I decided to add the scanned fabrics also so you can see the fabric better.  They look much better this way.  The third one down is the background fabric, no yellow in it.  The Peekaboo block when I downloaded it from my camera was a light red color.  I think it is time for a new camera. 

Well I need to call it a day!

Happy quilting, and have a great day!

I Have Been a Busy Little Beaver

So what have I been so busy doing? 

 I added borders to the 30's Baby Steps.  As you can see I went with the purple for the border and it will be the binding also.

 I also when on a search for buttons.  I wrote the company I purchased the original set of buttons from for the other Baby Steps and I have never heard back from them.  This did not make me happy.  I found some I really loved from England pastel shades and lots of shapes but it would have cost me $24 for the buttons and shipping, I said no way Jose.

 

 

So these are the buttons and I am getting the from Shelly's Buttons and More.  Not all the shapes I wanted but the colors I want. So I am OK with that.  Maybe I should have asked my second cousin in England to order them and see if it would have been any cheaper?

 

 

I have made some progress on the original Baby Steps.  See the buttons on the top.

 

 

I have even made progress on Mr. B's quilt!  I only have three rows to go and now I think I can tie from the front and I won't have to lean over the back of the frame.  Getting happier about this!

 

And finally I actually have a finish!  Number two for the year!  My Flag Twister Wreath is done.  Here it is hanging on one of my quilt hangers.   Currently it is at the shop as a class sample.  I am teaching this tomorrow, May 2nd.  Fun class and I have four students.

 

Plus I have been playing in EQ7, doing some class preparation for my monthly club meeting.  We are working in the book Quilt Designs and the group wanted to learn about the Hexagon Quilt.  Here is how mine turned out.

 

I don't use a lot of colors when I am designing for class or learning new stuff, that takes away from what I am focusing on.  Playing with colors can take hours. So 90% of my EQ stuff is in blue and yellow. 

 

Well time to fly, I am going out today for lunch with a friend. 

 

Happy Stitching, Scrapping, and Living!