Guild Day

To many of you who read my blog regularly, you know how much I love Half Square Triangles (HST). Terry S. from my guild used them to make an eye spy baby quilt! Isn't this a happy quilt?

Some of the prints were fussy cut to show off a special character, see Minnie Mouse second row on the right.

Some were just cut with no thought given. This makes me want to dive into my novelty fabrics! It is backed in flannel, how snuggly!

These were given to each member at the meeting today. Great, handy idea!

Studio 8 for Quilting Treasures

I also shopped a little today too. How could I pass this up? Especially when I now want  to make an eye spy?

Happy by Me & My Sister

This one and the one above are from the Quilt Block in Exton, for all the locals who might be interested.

Sewing Box by Gina Martin

Yes snaps!!! We had a vendor at guild today, The Quilt Ledger in Christiana PA.

This one jumped into my hands too, also from the Quilt Ledger. There was no name on the selvedge so I can't give you a name for this one.


Kelly

A Post About Almost Nothing

This weekend I saw my 2 grandsons, Griffin and Elliot and realized I needed to get my Halloween stuff out. I have had this pumpkin bucket for quite a while and filled it with fake bittersweet {the real stuff is a mess} and I picked the dead black eyed susans to add a little spookiness.

I only decorate with a few things. When my children were little we went all out. Now I would rather be sewing!

This is my favorite decoration that the grandchildren and I made last year. They did such a good job!

I did get 2 more Farmer's Wife blocks sewn together. As you can see I made a mistake and used the wrong pink polka dot print. I am not changing it, we will call it "charming"......

I like the color combination of this blue and red together.

I am almost finished getting the HST top together. Don't you love the little lobsters? This was one of the fabrics in a fabric swap.

These are some of my favorite blocks. This blue dot is from a vintage apron. I love how it fades in and out.

You just got to love those glasses.

Another vintage fabric with some very pale aqua dots. All my blocks are sewn in rows so I am almost there.

Saturday night we went to an Oktoberfest in Reading with our neighbors. They even dressed the part!

Crowns are always welcome at Oktoberfest!

Squeeze Box or Accordion?

Kelly

Friday, Friday, Friday!

I have been on a roll with the Farmer's Wife blocks. They are challenging but that is why I am doing it, to get better at piecing.

This one took forever, 37 pieces in a 6" block! It is in no way perfect but hey that's what sashing is for, right? The point is to get better as I go along......we will see.

If you look closely at this one there are way too many weird triangles to try and piece this in any way that it is going to come out flat. So I went back and looked at Carla's blog to see how she handled it.

Paper pieced! that Carla is one smart cookie! It took a little bit of time to draft the blocks but no more than it would have been to try and make it.

I finished these blocks on my get away at the Poconos.

I have 2 rows sewed together so far. It is taking forever because I waited to iron them so the seams would work together after I decided the layout.

I love vintage cook books especially from the 1960's. This one is great! Lynne L you need this one in your collection.

My husband loves anything with apples in it. So I gave this a try. Great idea, one basic recipe with many variations.

Before I baked it.

It also has some recipes I have never heard of before......the stuffed beef heart almost made me gag.

This cracked me up! Especially because I am always worried about my family's morale! Oh my we have come a long, long way!

Kelly

Now Why Didn't I think Of That?

I found this amazing idea for half square triangles by the Missouri Star Quilt Company on Youtube. I thought I would do it to make sure it really works and see how accurate this is......

First take two charm squares.

Stack them up, right sides together.

Sew a 1/4" all around the outside edge. I started on a side but now realize I should have started in a corner, but it doesn't make that much difference.

It will look like this....you can see my little wobble on the left hand corner...

Use your rotary cutter and ruler and cut from corner to corner.

Flip them open and voila! you have perfect half square triangles.....One note of caution, the edges are on the bias. It is most important to PRESS not IRON your finished square. This is a cool idea and I will use it in the future.

If you measure a charm square they are a little bit over 5", as you can see in this picture. If you cut your own charm squares exactly 5" you will get an exact 2 1/2 " finished square. My friend Terry just emailed me and said, if you cut your own  on the bias they would turn out with the edges on the straight of grain.....another good reason for friends!
I am just a little slow on the uptake or have you heard of this technique before? Isn't it always the simple things that amaze us?
Or maybe it is just me!!

Kelly