Friday, February 28, 2014

I anticipated getting into my studio early today so I could get back at my stars. But I didn’t hesitate a minute when Pat suggested breakfast at the Magpie. We were early, didn’t have to wait for a table, and we were back home by nine. I got a bit of sewing done before Carola showed up at the door for our trip back to Galena Bay (the fabric shop).

I went with a list of three things I needed – backing for Alex’s quilt, thread for quilting, and the seventh block in the Block of the Month series. I stuck pretty much to the list, but while I waited for Carola to finish her shopping I spied a pattern for a placemat and I had to make a second trip to till!

I finished the quilt top this afternoon but I’ll set it aside until next weekend. I will get back to the St. Patrick’s Day projects tomorrow, but for the rest of the day I think I’ll find a new book to start.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

I finished the mitred corner on my Lego quilt yesterday afternoon. We decided not to go to the movie because we were late with dinner and we really didn’t feel like going out. Besides there was another chance at it tonight.

I spent the morning making sure Plan B for my Wonky Stars would work out. I knew I had enough fabric for the sashing I wanted, but I wanted Pat to give me his opinion on a couple of layout choices. After we decided on one option I got busy cutting and sewing. I’m pleased that I will have enough fabric left for the binding too. I’ll go up to the fabric store tomorrow and purchase the backing fabric. They have a 30% off sale this week and the orange backing I thought might work for this quilt just isn’t going to match the front.

I hope to have both the Lego quilt and the Wonky Star quilt ready to take to the Tuesday bee. I like to cut the backing and batting with the larger tables at the Centre, but I will bring them home for sandwiching. It seems to work better when I sandwich on the kitchen floor rather than over two tables at the Guild.

About that movie. After a long Red Cross shift we decided (again) that we preferred to stay at home tonight.

February 26, 2014

It’s been that kind of a day. I went down the hill to have coffee with Carola this morning; actually the coffee part was incidental as what we were really planning was a trip to Galena Bay fabrics. Carola is very good at colour combinations. My star blocks needed a border added to them and I didn’t have a clue what would work. Before leaving for coffee though I got my St. Patrick’s Day projects sandwiched and figured out a quilting method for them.

When we got to the store one of the Tuesday quilters greeted me with, “Didn’t you buy enough yesterday?”. We laughed but before very long another of the Tuesday quilters walked in the door. I guess no matter how big your stash is you never have exactly what you need. I wandered around the store auditioning fabrics and finally found one that Carola, Kathleen and Marlene all agreed worked well. But how much to buy?

Because this border idea isn’t in the pattern, although it was mentioned as an option in the class, the amount was a bit iffy. I thought two yards would probably be enough. Kathleen liked the fabric I chose so much that she bought the remainder of the bolt once I had my piece taken off. I was anxious to get the borders cut out and, when I did the math, I had just enough fabric with about 3″ remaining. Sadly, the math was wrong and I’ve had to change my plans for the quilt. Not a big deal, but it won’t be as wonky as I wanted.

Once the cutting was done I dug out my Lego quilt and I’m ready to tackle that mitred corner one last time. At least I hope it will be the last time.

Although I haven’t stitched a stitch today I feel like I’ve made some progress. We’re off to the movies tonight!