QAYG: Nine Blocks for Charity and Encinitas

The blocks I quilted for the charity have been calling out to me that they want to be joined together!  As with so many things, I thought about it for way longer than it actually took to do it!

The front is rather boring, made from scraps of material the Saturday group gave me to use.  They also gave me some backing material, but there wasn't enough so I decided to use other pieces of fabric that I had received...

The blue material would have been tossed out if it weren't on the back of the quilt!  I did different free motion quilting on each block, trying to take advantage of the thick batting the Saturday group provides.

My favorite are in the lighter green in the center row - the orange peel and the Baptist fans!

To join the blocks I used these two presser feet.  To begin I used the 1/4 inch foot and sewed a strip of 1 inch to the back and a piece of 1.5 inch folded in half to the front of six of the blocks.  Then I used the same foot to sew the 1 inch strip to the next block.  I checked to be sure the seams were covering what needed to be covered.  Then I swapped feet and used the G foot to sew down the 1.5 inch strip on the front.  I flipped the block and sewed again on the other side so the strip would be symmetrical.

   

The result is pretty even on the front, but not so much on the back...

After doing the three rows each with three blocks, I repeated to join the rows together.  

I thought for a time that the blocks were not the same in the middle position.  I decided to use scraps on the back joining pieces so perhaps the eye would notice the colors and not how things did not line up.

But in the end things did line up in the center, but in two of the rows the outer blocks were a little longer. 

 

 

So now I have another quilt ready to bind!

 Notes to remind myself:

• Be sure to measure the blocks and to sew about 1/8 inch around each one before adding the hinges.  This makes it easier to line things up. Perhaps I need to invest in a larger square ruler to help with measuring these larger blocks.
• Consider using thread that matches the back side so the uneven stitching is not as prominent!
• Maybe cut the folded strip a little more than 1.5 inches, but I think the 1/8 sewing around the blocks may make this not needed.
• The sewing of the hinges was done over two evenings, I didn't keep track of the actual sewing time but was less than 5 hours I think.

I'll really be able to tell after the binding is applied, but I think this will be a good way to finish up some of my projects!

My husband told me three times today that he really likes blue and purple together - but that green was okay too.  It will be nice when I feel comfortable enough to work on and finish a quilt for him! Sewing a little every day will help with that goal!

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We went on a little one night holiday last weekend.  To a beach town about 30 minutes away from us, Encinitas.  It had been a long time since I used to drive thru that place...

Pretty design on electrical box.

Ampersand design.

The side walks had these tile art pieces on the corners or in front of particular trees.

Yes, we caught some pokemon while we were there!

We passed these decorated mailboxes on our way to the farmer's market.

Next time we need to bring a cooler to bring veggies, fruit and cheese home!

View from the park across the street from the library.

Good idea to assign days & times that dogs can be unleashed.  (Which means to me times when I can walk with out having to think about loose dogs!)

What are so many people waiting for?

In four minutes the library with view of the ocean (like the park) will open!
A beautiful place, arranged with a lovely selection of books and places to read.

We walked down the hill to the town again for a terrific lunch.
We used Yelp to help us wade thru all the choices to decide where to eat, and really lucked out. 

We picked a perfect selection of dishes to share:

• Crispy Squash Blossoms: Herbed Ricotta, Pickled Fennel, Arugula, Chimichurri, Corn Relish
• Shrimp & Grits: Blackened Mexican White Shrimps, Cheesy Grits, BBQ Butter, Crispy Pork Belly
• Summer Salad: Bibb Lettuce, Corn, Radishes, Oranges, Asparagus, Almonds, Feta, Green Goddess Dressing

Designs in the restaurant caught my eye.

In the restroom!

Surfers crossing sign!

We drove back on the 101.

We stopped at the La Jolla Gliderport on our way home - there is a wonderful lunch/breakfast place there and nice tables and chairs to sit at and watch the activity.  I used to bring our son there for BLT sandwiches.

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The previous week we had been watching our son's little dog.

A lot of fun but meant we stayed close to home...

After walks she just wanted to sleep!

One day though she wanted to play so I put some dried food in the bottle and had fun watching her knock it about to get at the treats!

The prize was getting to have dinner with our son, picked a place in Yelp that permitted little dogs to come and sleep under the table while we ate!  

I'll have to make her a little quilt in hopes of other evenings out with her!
I was glad I had sweat shirt in the trunk of the car for this evening....

 

All Day Saturday Sewing: Sept 2016

During the September we all work on charity projects.  They are distributed when done to a variety of groups.  The Optimists are the ones that I remember this time since they are the newest ones to benefit.

Previously we had cut fabric and put in zip lock bags with pattern directions...

I picked an easy pattern this time, with just two fabrics.

I twisted the fabric around so things were not lined up, and even for the borders twisted the pieces there too.  I hope who ever gets the quilt won't get dizzy!  The fabric came from a company that makes scrubs so the pieces are never width of the fabric long.

I have two other charity tops ready to baste and quilt, so will do the prep for them all the same day.

There was a drawing for fabric and my name was drawn - so I picked the bag of blue fabrics:

One of the ladies was finishing up a jelly roll race quilt that she made with a small jelly roll:

Added 9-24-16:  Here are the directions the lady followed and her note to me:
I actually used one jelly roll, cut each strip in half, mixed them up randomly and then inserted a 2-1/2 square of contrasting fabric between each half strip. Don't forget to cut off some of the first strip.  I looked at a YouTube video which made it very simple...there are several out there.  I hope you have fun with this.

The colors and fabrics were lovely together.  It was nice to see the finished project.  She had taken photos of the fabrics when they were just two strips wide and it went from the front to back of her house.

From what she told me, she first cut the strips in half, then sewed the orange square at the end of each strip.  Then sewed the strips together.  Then cut about a third of the first strip off and found the center of the long strip.  Cut that in half and joined them together.  Repeated a few times until done.  The trick to getting the orange squares to be spread out is the initial removal of about a third of the strip.  If you skip that step then the orange squares sort of line up in all the strips.  (She showed me a photo of one where that had happened.)  I like the random placement the best.  And her colors were so lovely together!

We again made salads for a potluck lunch:

Another quilt top was donated and will be finished by a more experienced quilter - it is much larger than the lap quilts I'm practicing on:

My First Guild Meeting: Village Quilters Presentation by Lyn Brown

I have been considering joining a guild, but have kept coming up with reasons to not join one. But found out last week that a local one (Village Quilters) was having a presentation by a person I used to follow on the internet, Lyn Brown.  So I decided to attend!  And I'm so glad I did.  Not only did two others that I meet in the adult ed class I'm starting to attend (so I got to know them more), but I got to see someone I had met online (We were chatting about quilting and it turned out my son was working at the desk behind her!)

Lyn showed many of her quilts, pointing out errors or telling us things she had done to fix an error. I took photos as we had permission to do that but it's better for you to go to her site to see her quilts there.  She has a wonderful way of guiding people to create fun projects, and her site has always had a combination of free projects, and ways to just buy the patterns with value added of different sizes and additions.  Her patterns are available thru Craftsy.  A very nice way to create a community of admirers and supporters. I often wished I lived nearer to Orange County so I could attend her classes when she was teaching. 

Anyway, Lyn Brown gave a great presentation.  If you have the chance I recommend anyone to see her!

The guild had donated fabric for sale on a table, books to check out, kits for charity projects, BOMs and for Christmas bazaar items to pick up, Lyn Brown's patterns and books for sale, and a delicious spread of snacks too!

The welcome quilt

Snacks. New to me was cream cheese with coconut, walnuts and raisins stuffed in celery sticks - Yum!

The ceiling of the room.

They had several drawings and my name was pulled so I won these fat quarters!  (Actually my name was pulled two times but the second time I said to give the gift bag to another person.)

Almost everyone I chatted with knew someone that I knew in other parts of my life - so that was fun.  One of the ladies asked me if I was new to the area, and seemed to understand when I said no, I had live there for a long time but now after home schooling and taking care of my mom, it was time to make friends...  : )

I looked at several local guild webpages but this one had a very nice number of outside speakers. They were certainly very welcoming to me.  Next Village Quilter event is October 8th.

$5 guest admission, $1 donation toward snacks.  

San Diego Quilt Show

Spent a lovely day at the San Diego Quilt Show.  We were there for more than five hours, and had to rush at the end to see everything!  I went with my non-quilting, walking friend (the same one who went to the Museum of Art Quilt and Color Exhibit).

It was really interesting to attend with someone who did not really know how quilts were made!

This show is run by volunteers but is really nicely done.  I saw some people from my various classes, and one lady even stopped to chat a little!  My friend was able to see how a quilt was made as guild ladies who were making charity quilts stopped to show how binding was applied, etc.

I'm glad I was able to attend...

The link to my photos is here:
https://goo.gl/photos/QfHVCFgkWrtm7Woc6

Admission was $20 for two people.  My only other expense: I bought 6 fat quarters for $2!