Combination Pattens

I was watching Fons and Porter a couple weeks ago and they showed this quilt.

 

 

I found it quite striking especially when they revealed it was a combination of two patterns, Shoofly and 54-40 or Fight.  The blocks are all straight lines, no curves at all.

 

 

The only thing that kept me from starting it immediately was that triangular block in the middle of the 54-40 or fight block.

Traditional piecing methods make it quite time consuming and subject to error.  I kept wracking my brain trying to come up with an easier way to piece that section.  I did it.  I figured out how to strip piece this section.

 

Cut out the triangles.  Cut strip of white 3-1/2" wide.  Lay the edge of the triangle along he edge of the strip and sew in place.  Repeat with other triangles until you run out of strip.

 

 

 

Press seam toward colored triangle.  Sew another strip to other side of triangles.  Cut apart and square up the block to measure 4" plus seam allowance.  It really works and none of that pesky trying to match the points properly.  Try it out.

 

 

 



 

 

     The original quilt had scraps in the small squares running throughout the blocks.  I thought it would be more orderly to make the small 2" squares all the same color.  What do you think?

 

 

The blocks are 12" and I figured it to measure 84" x 118" for a total of 63 blocks.  Of course, you can adjust it to any size you want.

 

                                               54-40 or Fight                  Shoofly



 

Santa Tree Skirt and TableTopper

 

My Christmas decorations lean heavily toward Santa Claus.  During an experimental sessions I came up with this design and just loved it.  Most kids who visit during the holidays love it too.

 



 

The design is pretty easy to sew and can be completed in a few hours.  I thought some of you might like it too, so I have made up a pattern for the design that you can order through paypal.  Hope you like it as much as I do.

 

 

 

Diamond blocks are among the most popular patterns in the quilting world.  What makes them so challenging are the set-in corners and center triangle.

 

 

 

I admit to having difficulty with set-in pieces.  For me they are time consuming and I usually have to do them a couple of times before they fit properly.  Of course, I had to come up with a more efficient way to accomplish the goal.

 

My solution was to divide the corners into half square triangles and to split the center triangle in half.   For the corner squares, trace around your pattern and cut it in half on the diagonal.  Trace around this piece and add seam allowances all around.  Cut the center triangle in half from the center point to the outer edge.  Trace around this and add seam allowances.  Yes, this technique requires more fabric, but you have converted these set in pieces into straight line sewing.

 

 

Sew the half square triangles to the sides of the diamonds as shown.  Sew the center half square triangles to the opposite side the  diamond.  Now join the eight diamonds in straight seams.

 

 



Ooops

Well, I thought it was Saturday.  Not until I went to the grocery store did I realize it's Friday.  This is how my month has gone.  But whatever day it is, I still think my complaint about the lack of craft shows on TV is valid.

My vacation

     My daughter surprised me with a plane ticket to sunny California.  I arrived on her birthday and met my youngest grandson for the fist time.  Three days later my sinuses were clogged and I couldn't hear.  I waited five days and went to the doctor.  Bronchitis and ear and sinus infections.  I ran through a regimen of antibiotics and when I got home I called my own doctor.  Another course of antibiotics.  I just did not want to do anything but sleep.  Finally, I seem to be getting over it.  My ears still clog up some days, but I am definitely feeling better.

     A few times I tried to write this blog, but I was having trouble with my computer.  It kept locking up on me an wouldn't let me into my e-mail , my bank account, my blog or just about anything else.

     Did I mention that I have an amazing son-in-law?  He was so nice to me during my visit, even though I was miserable company.  He is also a computer expert and he went into my computer and fixed a lot of the program for me.  It seemed that every program I wanted to access had downloads that I had to download.  But they didn't do anything but add junk to my computer that they wanted me to pay for.  I didn't want it to begin with.   My e-mail is with AOL and they said I had to download their new program.  I did it and got all kinds of junk with it and still couldn't log in. I put in a call to customer service last Wednesday and still haven't heard back from them.  Okay, I'm almost done whining. 

     It is Saturday morning and I woke up early enough to watch the only quilting show available locally.  I live in Akron, Ohio.  Guess what?  It wasn't on.  Neither was Sewing with Nancy or the Spotted Canary.  Once upon a time there were all kinds of craft and\
needlework shows on and now I can't find any. Are people no longer interested in program of this type on TV?  HGTV used to have a nice selection of craft programs, but now all you get is home decorating.  How many times can I redecorate my house or buy a new one? 

      I know just about anything you want is on-line somewhere, but I hate searching for it.  I can waste hours seeking a certain bit of information, being run in all kinds of circles and still not find what I want.  I don't think I'm the only one with this complaint.  How can we get craft and needlework program back on television?

     I'm done complaining.  Have a good Memorial weekend.

Spools

I finished one of the quilts.   Only 10 more to go.  Unfortunately, I keep going back to the scraps and coming up with new quilts to make. 

Here is a picture of one I finished several years ago using the Spool pattern.  It doesn't show up too well in black and white.  I gave it an Amish feel by using black for the background and bright pastels for the cross pieces.

 



Looking at it in black and white I realized that I should have used more care in selecting the colors so that all of the colored sections would stand out.  The drawing below shows it better than the photo.

Below is the block pattern.  An 8" square is a good size, although you can make it any size you want.

The gray is the background color and the white is the color of the cross pieces.  If making an 8" block cut strips of background fabric 4" wide and add seam allowance.  Cut 4" wide plus seam allowance from colored fabrics.  Sew strips together.  Make a triangle template and place on seamed strips.  Mark and cut out the triangles.  Cut background triangles from the same template.  Sew four triangles together to form the block.  Be sure to plan out your colors first, because each cross design is made up of four blocks. 

April Garden To Do

• Finish up any tasks not completed last month
• Divide summer and fall blooming perennials
• Remove mulch from beds and shrubs.  Apply mulch where needed
• Add amendments and fertilizer as needed
• For succession plans, continue sowing seeds indoors or in cold frame
• Harden off and transplant cool season vegetables and flowers
• Plant and transplant trees, shrubs, ground covers and perennials
• Start sweet potatoes for slips
• Pot summer bulbs for transplanting in May
• Dig and divide Sprig bulbs if necessary as foliage dies back
• Sow seeds of those plants needing four weeks to transplant size

Intensive Planting:   Rather than sow seed as directed on the seed packet, seeds are sown according to their ultimate spacing.  If the packet says thin seedlings to stand six inches apart, sow the seeds six inches apart in all directions.  This eliminates thinning and will inhibit weed growth due to the close spacing.

Interplanting:  This is the practice of growing two crops in the space of one.  Select a main crop, such as tomatoes.  Plant them the proper distance apart, then plant a quick growing crop, such as leaf lettuce or radishes in the surrounding space.  The lettuce or radishes will be harvested before the tomatoes need the space.

Companion planting:  this is the practice of growing two or more mutually beneficial plants in close proximity.  For example, grow corn and pole beans in the same area.  The corn benefits from the nitrogen fixing aspects of the beans and the corn provides a pole for the beans to climb on.  Another reason for companion plants is to protect crops from insects.  Many insects find the scent of marigolds offensive, so planting marigolds here and there throughout the garden will offer some protection from insect attacks.