Prep Time

Doesn't it seems like there are times

when getting anything prepped in order

to sew takes forever.

 This woman has such a cheerful attitude prepping a meal.

Oh, to be just like her this year!

School is back in session so I 'm back

on duty watching these two sweetie.

I spent all last week (happily) prepping

three different projects so when I

do have some free time, I can get to the fun part quickly.

****

For years I've been tossing 1.5" and 1.25"

strips into this wire basket.

The basket overflowth!

My new leader and ender project for 2019

is going to be log cabin blocks.

In order to feel like I'm using my sewing time efficiently,

I precut a bunch of 

logs and laid them out

on two flannel boards.

One for the lights.

And one for the darks.

These precut logs will make it easy when I'm

 starting and stopping on other things.

Slowly the pile of blocks will grow.

****

String piecing is the 2019 thing.

I found a piece of fabric that had been intended 

for something else, that is never going to happen,

so it became the palette for my string along.

Lots of colors means lots of fabrics

and lots of string.

I really haven't kept many strips,

other than that basket for log cabin block,

so it required looking through my bins to

find tons of fabrics for tons of strings

and start cutting.

Oh, what fun it is.

****

If you caught up with my last blog,

you know I plan to try and do another

year of monthly mini quilts.

This is a  no pressure challenge,

but I did some prepping

 to get a head start on my January quilt.

I received a Quilters Select 6" square ruler from 

The Quilt Show for renewing my membership.

Had to give it a try.

It's a great ruler with a wonderful nonslip coating 

on the back.  I was impressed.

Pulled some fabrics that

seemed appropriate for January here in Colorado.

"The winter time blues."

The first week of January has come and gone,

but I hope we're all off and running.

Ready, Set, Go!

Until Next Time-

Kyle

Log Cabin Loonies

Did you see the full moon this month?

It's lunar charm was shining brightly. 

Here in the US it's sometimes called the 

buck moon, as it's the time of the year 

when male deer begin to grow their antlers

 

or the Thunder Moon due to the increased

number of thunderstorms.

Here, it's referred to as the

time to check in with Julie and 

the rest of her Log Cabin Loonies.   

I have been working on my 
Strawberry and Chocolate quilt.

 I played with several different arrangements

using the 16 blocks and finally settled on this one.

  

It seemed kind of magical to have pulled 

all the strips out of this bin.

 

Who would have realized 

that this quilt was in there, so to speak.

It was just waiting for me to pull out the right

strips and sew them together! 

Is that due to some 

 mystical lunar influence?

We'll see what happens by August 18th,

the next full moon. 

  Until Next Time-
Kyle

Log Cabin Loonie

 The full moon this month

has been quite delicious.
It's believed that 

June's full moon is called a strawberry moon

because it's the month when

berries begin ripening.

This month was a double treat

with the Summer Solstice and the

bella luna coinciding on the same day, June 20th.

Julie over at JulieKQuilts

has been encouraging anyone

interested in making a log cabin quilt

to join in with her and other Log Cabin Loonies

and share their progress during each full moon.

I'm not sure if you become a loonie

because you're starting a new project

or if the pull of the moon

affects your behavior changing you into a loonie

who then must start a new project.

Either way,

I have joined in.

I've been cutting 1 1/4" strips for years

 and tossing them into a basket for 

a someday log cabin quilt. 

Julie's invitation was the exact motivation

I needed to dive in and get sewing.

I found as I was pulling out strips

that I was gravitating only

to brown and pink fabrics.

Could the strawberry moon be affecting me

with some subliminal  message?

I haven't actually sewn much,

just sub-cut strips and made

one practice block.

Well, we'll see where this all leads.

You'll have to check back

during the thunder moon in July

and see how I've done.

Until Next Time-
Kyle