Oops!: Now with Finishes.

I had considered calling it Oops!: The Musical, but I couldn't get song rights. :-P

Seems like I forgot to check the internet for a month.  Oops.  Maybe it's a failure to really dig into the new routine or just a need to spend less time with my computer but I've definitely tried to prioritize other things this summer than blogging and blog-reading.  You do NOT want to know how many unread posts are in my Feedly....

I have been busy with the following:  meeting blog peeps in person!, sewing, knitting, teaching Nephew a bunch of stuff his mother doesn't approve of, hiding in dark basements away from sunlight, teaching English as an Additional Language, offering my shoulder, cooking while listening to loud music and kitchen-dancing, watching just about every CFL game (something has to fill the void between hockey seasons....), and reading actual, physical books.  Books, people! Remember those? I love real books, but man, I have a hard time sitting still long enough to get "gripped".

Anyhoo.  I'll ease back into the (ir)regular blogging routine with some finishes I meant to post ages ago.  A couple of months ago, I was giving a little presentation on QAYG at the Saskatoon MQG as part of our meeting.  I had done up a few slapdash sample pieces using scraps and 12" batting squares just to illustrate some things that I'd learned for the prez.  And then, of course, I'm left with these little thingies and no plan.  Blergh.  So I just started throwing them together.

I ended up with two mug rugs from my piles of scrap,

a mini table topper,

and a coffee table runner.

The white on white chunks are leftovers from my brother's Punisher quilt.  The muslin that backed most of these was from yardage, but that too was leftover from another project so I call it a win.  Even the binding was from the leftover basket.  The batting was scrap that had been cut into 12" squares just for practicing free-motion.

Is this my best quilting/sewing? Heck, no, but I used up some scraps , I learned some techniques, and if I spill something on them, I won't cry for days. So there you go.  Not every piece has to be show-worthy.  I think these are like the quilt version of sweat pants. I wouldn't show them off to fancy company, but to protect a table from Hot Wheels or the carpet from living room picnics, they're just fine. :-)

And now I have a month's worth of blogs to catch up on. Again.

Details.

Sometimes, things go swimmingly.  Your points all match, your sewing machine makes you feel like a rock star, all your tools are enhancements to your work, and your skills grow by leaps and bounds.

Other times, not so much.

In the interest of always keeping things real, I'm sharing some of my recent Not-So-Great Moments in Quilting.

These blocks, for instance.

I signed up for the Lucky Stars BOM at Don't Call Me Betsy and had not yet sewn a stitch. I love the precision and results of foundation paper-piecing. I've done a lot of it and usually get pretty good outcomes... I finally cut out all my fabrics, making sure I had a good mix (it's mostly hoarded Lizzie House, some Rounnieres, and a little bit of Architextures) of values and colour.  I wanted to do the smaller size of blocks because I didn't have a specific project for them and therefore, didn't want to commit scads of fabric to it.  I trim religiously and didn't rush the piecing but seam bulk affected my results.  After a couple of goes with the seam ripper (and its paper-tearing consequences), I called them "close enough" and washed my hands.  These are not perfect but Seester is always telling me to quit picking on my own stuff.  I'm letting these ones go.  I'll try harder with the rest. (It's not the patterns - they're great - this is totally a problem existing between sewing machine and chair...)

Then I was prepping some quilt-as-you-go stuff for  a guild meeting at the end of June.  It was going well, I thought, until I went to put my free-motion/darning foot on the machine.  And that little pin that keeps the foot steady, makes it go up/down, and rests on the needle?  Gone.  Nowhere to be found. And of course, I lent out my spare foot to a guild-mate who'd never tried free-motion. Blast.

I went rummaging.  Paper-clip?  Nope.  Too bendy.

I found a picture-hanging nail!  Much sturdier, with a little stopper, too.  Nope.  Too short to reach the needle bar.

Longer finishing nail.  Perfect length - reaches the needle bar. Sturdy.  Sew, sew, sew, happy as a clam, Ka-chunk.  Why? The nail keeps sliding back through the hole and off the needle bar.

Final solution?

I found a refill eraser for a mechanical pencil. Nail through eraser, through hole, through picture hanger. Worked like a hot damn.  So there's your emergency darning foot fix.  Does in a pinch.

I've since picked up a new spare.  I don't trust that eraser.  Something about its very nature tells me it'll try to undo what I've done... ;-)

Ciao for now!


PS:  I am having a really difficult time with getting my photos to look right ever since Flickr did their update...  Anyone else get it figured out yet?  They just don't seem to show up the right way on the blog, as if the resolution is off.  I tried it using bigger pics, too, but I'm stymied!

The QAYG Guild Bag: Tutorial

Our guild participated in the Madrona Road Challenge.

The rules were we could add more of the same line or solids.  And we preferred that whatever it was be quilted.

I needed a bag to take all my guild stuff to and from meetings in so the idea of using Madrona Road for it made sense to me. To make sure I kept it within the "rules", I made it quilt-as-you-go-style, which actually lent a lot of support to the sides and bottom.  Works for me!  The pocket design was inspired by that fabulous herringbone print.

It's got two exterior pockets, an inside zippered pocket, a large notebook or tablet pocket, and a divided pocket for little things and pens. There's plenty of room for my binder, clipboard and various supplies.  It's been working really well so far and keeps my all my guild stuff in one place. Handy!

I didn't follow a pattern - just a sketch I did quickly before I started. I've posted a tutorial  for the bag on the Saskatoon Modern Quilt Guild page, if you'd like to check it out!

TUTORIAL LINK: Click Here