Monday, October 13, 2014

Frozen!

Lots going on in my sewing corner.  Some I can talk about; some I can't.  There, how's that for an attention-grabber?

A few more exciting events have occurred in my life.
First off, I sold my first quilt!  If you've checked out my Quilts for Sale page, you will see it's Floral Dreams, the June pattern of Cynthia's Scrap-a-Palooza series.  It, and a makeup pouch I made, both sold at the boutique at our guild show.  Woot! Woot!

Gone to good homes I hope!


Second, I have been asked (well, I told her, if she ever needed anyone...) to pattern test another blogger's new pattern which will soon be available in her Craftsy shop.  This is another first for me, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.  I spent all day Sunday and a little of Saturday cutting scraps to test the pattern.



Too much fun...also too much fabric I have; OMG I'm sooo bad, make that good...wink.  Good for this type of work!  Good for Cynthia's Scrap-a-Palooza, which I have not been doing (round robin was occupying front and centre for quite some time....and still should be, cough.  Where is she, you ask?)  Ahem, here:

At the trellis stage still... 24 of 100+ blocks done... what have I done??!!

While I worked yesterday, I finally watched "Frozen".  Yeah, I know, slightly behind the times here.  I really enjoyed the movie!  I didn't get much sewing done during the film though; I can't just listen to a movie; I end up stopping and watching, and thus not a lot of sewing gets done.  In keeping with the movie's theme, I started another snowflake!  I had a few hiccups and interruptions along the way, so I'm late to the linky parties, story of my life.  Mostly good interruptions on this Thanksgiving Day: phonecalls to and from family, FaceTime with my grandson, dinner at some friends'...all of whom I am so grateful for.


Here is another picture of the set-up for my oh-so-fancy business card and Add-a-quarter ruler.  I remembered how invaluable it really is!  My mind works well, albeit a tad slowly these days!  You can eliminate the pre-folding along all the sewing lines this way. 

1.  Place the paper side up, with the just-sewn and pressed new patch underneath on your cutting mat.
2.  Place the business card with one edge along the next-to-be-sewn line.  Fold back the paper, butting up the fold against the business card.
3.  Leaving the business card in place, place the ruler over all 4 layers (fabric, paper--shiny side down, business card, paper---folded so shiny side is up) until the lip catches against the layers.
4.  Trim!  Now your 1/4" is added perfectly in line with the sewing line so you can easily line up your next fabric patch.

I got so excited to finish this snowflake before we went over to our friends' house, and had hopes of finishing this post (I'd started it last night) also before we left, that I sewed my two halves together and got this:
Oooops...

Nooo!!!  As soon as I opened it up for the ooh and ahh surprise, I saw I'd forgotten to piece in the white strip between the two halves!!  Are you kidding me?  Reverse sew.  Cut the strip.  Finish up the block:

Snowflake #2 Version 1
At least I got it done so I could take an outside shot!  I really like these.  I think this particular version is easier than #1, so if you are a little intimidated, try this one before Snowflake #1.  Joanne's instructions and organization make it really straightforward.  I wish you could see the silver sparkles in the white fabric.  It looks so pretty.

I'm not sure where these blocks will end up.  I've had a few ideas, mostly in the throw pillow category (check out Joanne's tutorial here) but I can so see a pretty quilt, or maybe placemats, or a runner!

Here's Snowflake #1 from last week once again:

Linking up with Canuck Quilter's Snowalong, and with Stitch by Stitch's Anything Goes Mondays.

9 comments:

  1. uhh. . . I'm sorry, I'm laughing!! Not the surprise you were looking for huh? That is SO something I would do!! LOL I kind of like the wonkiness of that block tho! :)

    OK, deep breaths, stop giggling. . . OMG, that trellis! SO beautiful!! Seriously gasped! You may have a ways to go but it is going to be all kinds of awesome!!

    CONGRATS on selling your first quilt!!! Woohoo!!! :)

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  2. Sandra those snowflakes are Gorgeous! I have to go see that snow along of Joanne's!
    Congrats on the sale of your first quilt! Was it difficult to part with it?
    Wow on the trellis - Ooftah! That looks like a lot of work, but it is going to be a stunning addition!
    Is Thanksgiving today in Canada?

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  3. Those snowflakes are just beautiful.

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  4. Congratulations on the quilt sale! Both the quilt and bag are so pretty!

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  5. That trellis border is stunning! Since I'm not the one piecing all 100 blocks, I'll can easily say it will definitely be worth it!
    Congrats on the quilt and bag sales. I haven't managed to try parting with a quilt, except as gifts to special people, and even then a few of them almost didn't get their quilts!
    Have fun with the pattern testing. I'm looking forward to seeing the quilt made up in different scraps than mine!
    Finally, Frozen and snowflakes. I have a 13 year-old daughter. Frozen has been viewed a few times in this house! DD had been kind enough to share the soundtrack with me. Sounds great in the background while I piece snowflakes :). I'm going to go find a business card now to cut down on prep - thanks for the tip!

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  6. Congratulations on the quilt sale! Time to start the next scrap quilt now.

    Love your snowflakes. I need to get mine started or I am going to still be sewing them next summer!

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  7. Good job on selling the quilt and bag! It's such a beautiful quilt, I'm sure it'll be well loved.

    That trellis is incredible! it is so 3D, can you see that? You maybe have looked at it too long, but I can see 3D cubes, then it changes to the trellis....my brain can't figure it out. So cool!!

    Aw I love the snowflakes, so very pretty, and each of them will be truly unique!

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  8. Well, congratulations on your sale! Although I realize it was 2 years ago... I remember my first sale; it was shocking, exciting, and humbling. I still find that I'm honored and humbled whenever someone likes something I've painted so much that they want it for their own.
    And second, I am like you in that I cannot paint and watch a movie. Music (country) is best if I'm by myself. If my husband is watching a ballgame, I can always look around the canvas when he says, "Did you see that?" because if it was that good, there's going to be a replay. I'm good with reruns too. I can listen and not worry that I'm missing something.
    H

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