A February Mini

Happy Leap Day!

The end of February 

means it's time  

 to share my

monthly mini.

It seemed the common theme this month

for many of us was redo, reuse or recycle.

My, not too mini log cabin quilt,

"Log House-1973"

42" x 42"

was a year long 

Leaders and Enders project

using 1.25" strips 

cut from various projects.

I arranged the precut light and dark 

pieces on a

labeled flannel board

so it was easy to pick up and sew.

As I worked on other things

throughout the year,

the log cabin blocks were continually being made.

I quilted in the ditch

just to add texture,

which isn't as easy as it sounds.

If you've done it before, you know

what I mean. 

 Blink, and you've jumped out.

****

The reason I called this 

"Log House-1973"

is because the first house 

Running  Man and I lived in

as a married couple was a 

log cabin owned by the state of Colorado

way way out in "no where" on 

the Western slope in an area 

known as the Piceance Basin. 

It was quite the beginning,

log house and all.

***

We just got back from a little

mini trip up to the

 YMCA of the Rockies

in Estes Park, Colorado.

It 's a great place to stay

and enjoy the mountain scenery.

Check in with Wendy, The Constant Quilter,

 to get the 

links for more February Mini's.

Until Next Time-

Kyle

Off On a Tangent

What does a lime,

broccoli,

grass,

and Kermit the Frog 

have in common?

They love being GREEN.

Last week at my monthly quilt meeting

it was decided at the next meeting on March 17th,

for St. Patrick Day,

everyone should bring a GREEN quilt to share.

The decision was followed by lots of questions.

Does it have to be all green?

Could it be a Christmas quilt?

What size?

Could it be something other than a quilt?

Don't you love quilt meetings!

***

Later at home I took a quick visual inventory

and I came to the

complete realization that I

didn't have a predominately green quilt!

In fact, except in rare occasions

green is probably my least used color

except for appliqued leaves.

Who knew!!

So before Kermit could say,

"Hi, Ho, Kermit the Frog here,"

I was digging into

my "overflowth" basket of strips

pulling GREENS and lights. 

I needed some inspiration and

found it in Laundry Baskets book,

and this quilt.

I wasn't out to reinvent the wheel,

but to have fun sewing a GREEN quilt.

Sewing strips together 

and subcutting into

square units is the fast way to make a bunch

of simple 4 patches.

Swirling the seam allowances

make the centers lay nice and flat.

It didn't take long to

get the first block sewn.

Who knew a block

made up with lots of different shades

of green

could look so good.

So I'm off on my green tangent

keeping Kermit's thoughts in mind.

Until Next Time-

Kyle

I Haven't the Foggiest

I woke up the other day

to a very foggy morning. 

It seemed unusual with it being so

cold and frosty.

As the sun rose a little more

the fog slowly began to disappear
and the world became a little clearer. 

But then I came to the realization
I didn't have the foggiest idea of
what to work on today!

It wasn't the fact that there wasn't
anything to do.
It was, I just couldn't focus on
any one particular thing.

Has that happened to you?

I realized it was
 just going to be a slow kind of day.

And if that were the case,
then, slow needed to be
 simple and easy.
Nothing wrong with that.

A few days before I had finished machine quilting
my last year's leaders and enders project.
(which I'll share next time)

Why not...hmmm.

Sew a couple strips together = SIMPLE.

That seemed easy enough.

Okay. I might as well, sew the binding on,
although, that required, pressing the binding,
 putting on the walking foot
and clearing enough work space = NOT SO SIMPLE



Maybe tonight with some TV watching 

and a binding to sew down
that might be enough
 to dissipate the fog.
We'll see.

Until Next Time-

Kyle

Some Simple Sewing

Let's keep things simple

when it comes to making

a donation baby quilt. 

I had some leftover

pioneer dress fabric.

from a previous project. 

It was just enough for some 

easy nine patches and 

a skinny border.

I try not to mark

quilt designs with anything

too permanent or a challenge to remove.

My favorite 

tool for light fabrics

is Sewline's

Air Erasing marker.

Have you tried it?

The marks disappear

in about 24 hours

depending on how heavily 

the fabric is marked.

Now the question always

looming in my mind is 

does that "magic ingredient"

really disappear?

Does it dissipate into the air
not leaving any residue behind?

I don't know.

 I don't wash my quilts very often,
especially if they are not used on the bed.

So I guess we'll see if 

the fabric holds up where I've marked
over time.

Each year one of my quilt groups
makes baby quilts to donate.

Simple is the way to go.

Then, hopefully, the quilt will be
used and loved
like they should be.

Until Next Time-

Kyle