I May Have A Scrap Problem... But These Will Help!

 

Hi, all!

It's been a while since I've had the time (or the energy!) to post on a Wednesday, but don't think that means I have given up on my scraps!  Now that Hands2Help is in the books for this year, I should have more time to work on them.

And this week I'm very pleased to share something really special!  A while back I was contacted by the wonderful people at Felicia's World about their paper piecing templates. They asked if I would be willing to give them a try and post about it on my blog.  Now, if you've followed me for long you'll know that I have never really been able to wrap my head around the concept of paper piecing - but I decided that since I could make log cabin blocks by traditional piecing, I should be able to manage paper piecing.  So I said yes, and they sent me some samples to try!

After cutting out my vacation project, I took the leftover fabrics and cut them into 1.5" strips, then added some white strips and solid teal 2" squares.  

The instructions are clearly printed on the cover of the pad of templates, which was helpful!  I took my handy glue stick and put a dab on the center square, then placed a teal square right on top.  With that stuck on, it went pretty quickly!  For the first few blocks I made, I marked which ones were to have white strips (don't ask me how I know that might be a problem...) but after I had made three or four, they went together pretty easily!  

Stitching on the lines is easier than you might think!  But it's important to remember to use a shorter stitch - that makes it easier to take the papers off after the blocks are finished.

And as with all quilt blocks, squaring up is important!  It's easy to align your ruler with the dotted lines on the template that indicate the outer edges.

Et voila!  Look how pretty and perfect all those seams are!  I will say that paper piecing these blocks makes it easier to get a beautiful square block, even with narrow pieces.

And once the blocks are finished, it's time to play with how to lay them out!  This is just one of the designs I considered using for my blocks.

Once the design was decided on and the piecing done, it was time for quilting!  I decided to use a simple cross-hatch design that I marked on the piece with my hera marker.

And look! I may not have a summer quilt for my bed yet, but I've got a summer pillow!  (And hopefully after vacation I'll have a summer quilt top ready for quilting, too!)  I do love the colors in this piece - so light and cheerful.  The fabrics are a mix of Kate Spain fabrics from several different collections, and are the same that I will be using in my quilt top.

Be sure to pop over to Felicia's World and check out her line of paper piecing templates!  She's also got some great videos that will actually show you how to do it (if you're paper piecing challenged, like I was) and some really good tips, too.  And I can guarantee you that while the first few may be challenging, they DO get easier!  And they're a great way to use up some of those skinny scraps (and a little addictive, too).

Hugs!

Sarah

Make-A-List Monday - Getting Ready For Vacay!

Hi, all!

I love Mondays - and especially the Monday of the week before vacation!  It will be a super busy week as I get everything ready, but the anticipation makes it all worth it.  

But first, let's see what happened with last week's list....

1.  Finish assembling the t-shirt quilt top.

2.  Quilt and bind the t-shirt quilt.

Done!  I'll be delivering the quilt tomorrow, just in time for the little girl's treatments which begin Friday morning.  I'll share more pictures on Friday with a bit of the story...

3.  Divvy up the thank you gifts for Hands2Help, and then contact the sponsors who will be shipping directly with contact information for the recipients.

4.  Package up all the rest and get them in the mail!

I am overjoyed to say that Hands2Help 2021 is all. wrapped. up!  All the packages have been mailed, all the sponsors who were mailing directly have been connected with their recipients, and an email with a special gift has gone out to all those who finished the Challenge.  If you participated and haven't received the email, check your spam folder - the email was sent to a large number of blind copies and that sometimes causes them to be bounced.  

If you still can't find it, email me directly at 

salliesue57 (at) gmail (dot) com.

And I did get a few other things done, too!  I've been working on a special project for Scrappy Wednesday, and I made some headway on it this week.  I'll be sharing more on Wednesday....

And today I did something I've been considering for quite a while - I moved around some of the furniture in my studio!  It's just a start, there's much more to be done and the rest of the room looks like a bomb went off, but I think I'm going to like it.  Maybe I'll get Lilli to help me with the rest of it!  

And now, here's what I'll be doing this week...

1.  Pack up my sewing machine for vacation - she deserves a little fun in the sun, too!

2.  Organize everything we need to take with us.

3.  Spend a fun morning with the munchkins.

4.  Write two blogposts and schedule them in advance.

It's a short list, but it's also a short week with a lot to do!  And unfortunately, my brain is already at the beach - if I didn't have my lists, I'd be in trouble!  

So now, the only thing I need to know is - - - what are YOU working on this week?

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Summer Sunshine!

 

Hi, all!

Hooray, it's Friday!  And we all know what that means - it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on!  Are you ready?  Let's go!

*&*&*&*&*&*&*

A couple of weeks ago, I finished a quilt!  But because other things were going on (H2H, maybe?) I didn't have a chance to really share it with you.  But tonight as I sit under this lovely summer weight quilt I decided it was time to show it off!

I made this as part of an Instagram quilt-along held by These Clever Hands (@thesecleverhands) using her pattern Me Sew Happy.

This beautiful quilt used so many of my favorite bright scraps!  And truly scraps - I dug through the pieces I had already cut that were the right size, then hit the scrap bins for the other pieces I needed.  

I found pieces in my scrap bin that I didn't remember I had - like a square from the backing of the very first ministry quilt we made, pieces from clothing and quilts I've made for my grandkids, bits and bobs from other quilts that I remembered as I put this one together.  It was quite a walk down memory lane!

When I got ready to quilt it - on the spur of the moment - I wondered if I had anything appropriate to back it in my stash.  I went to look and found the perfect fabric - but is there enough?  YES!  There was just the right amount for the back of the quilt.  Hooray!

Then after quilting I looked at it and thought, "Wow, a striped rainbow binding would be perfect for this quilt!"  Went to check in the stash, and amazingly I found just the right binding fabric - and just the right amount of it for this quilt!  I must have been living right!

And one last shot, just because it's an awfully pretty quilt!  Oh, one more thing - I tried a silk blend batt for this quilt and I really like it!  It felt like a cotton batt while I was quilting it, but after washing, it has a beautiful soft drape and it's very light.  I definitely would use it again in summer weight quilts.

And in other news....

...this represents two good days of work by my granddaughter Lilli and me!  Five bags full of H2H thank you gifts are ready to go to the post office!  I guess I know where I'll be spending some quality time now...

So - - - can I get a whoop whoop?

*&*&*&*&*&*&*

And now it's your turn!

What's got you whooping it up this week?

What's making you do a little happy dance?

Share!  We want to dance right along with you,

And it's always more fun to dance with friends!

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight.

Hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah