Saturday, February 29, 2020

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.


 to get the 
links for more February Mini's.

Until Next Time-
Kyle

Monday, February 24, 2020

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

Saturday, February 15, 2020

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



Thursday, February 6, 2020

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