Row 2-10 News – love the little envelopes in this one.
Break time!
Showing posts with label Civil War Diary Quilt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Civil War Diary Quilt. Show all posts
Monday, June 4, 2012
TWO MORE CIVIL WAR DIARY BLOCKS MADE
Row 2-9 Victuals
Row 2-10 News – love the little envelopes in this one.
Break time!
Row 2-10 News – love the little envelopes in this one.
Break time!
Thursday, May 24, 2012
NEED TO TAKE A BREAK FROM FOUNDATION PAPER PIECING
This block just finished on Tuesday is Row 2-8 of the Civil War Diary Quilt is called “Union Soldiers”.
Because of its title, I chose to use colors found in Union soldiers’ uniforms, blue and gold/yellow.
My shoulder is giving me fits now since I’ve done so much foundation paper piecing in the last week.
There’s a lot of trimming with a rotary cutter as you go along so I’ll give it a break for now. I have a couple of hand-piecing blocks ready to make for the Just Takes 2 quilt and a couple of quilt tops – the Civil War Block of the Week quilt and the Friendship Triangle quilt –that need to be sandwiched and readied for quilting on my domestic machine.
Pin basting always gives me a different kind of pain -- in my lower back – but if I do it in short blocks of time with frequent breaks there is usually no lingering problem. It’s a totally different problem with my neck and shoulder. About 12 years ago I had surgery to remove an meningioma (cyst) near my cervical spine so there is significant scar tissue that easily flares up if strained. Just need to take some Aleve and give it a rest for a couple or three days. And change the rotary cutter blade so I don't have to press to hard to get a clean cut. Why do we wait too long to change our blades? That's crazy!
Here’s to taking a break. I think I’ll watch the Texas Rangers play the Seattle Mariners. That’s an excellent break activity.
Because of its title, I chose to use colors found in Union soldiers’ uniforms, blue and gold/yellow.
My shoulder is giving me fits now since I’ve done so much foundation paper piecing in the last week.
There’s a lot of trimming with a rotary cutter as you go along so I’ll give it a break for now. I have a couple of hand-piecing blocks ready to make for the Just Takes 2 quilt and a couple of quilt tops – the Civil War Block of the Week quilt and the Friendship Triangle quilt –that need to be sandwiched and readied for quilting on my domestic machine.
Pin basting always gives me a different kind of pain -- in my lower back – but if I do it in short blocks of time with frequent breaks there is usually no lingering problem. It’s a totally different problem with my neck and shoulder. About 12 years ago I had surgery to remove an meningioma (cyst) near my cervical spine so there is significant scar tissue that easily flares up if strained. Just need to take some Aleve and give it a rest for a couple or three days. And change the rotary cutter blade so I don't have to press to hard to get a clean cut. Why do we wait too long to change our blades? That's crazy!
Here’s to taking a break. I think I’ll watch the Texas Rangers play the Seattle Mariners. That’s an excellent break activity.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
PAPER PIECING ON ANOTHER PROJECT
It has been a little over one year since I made my last Civil War Diary Quilt block. I did not realize it had been so long ago.
When The Civil War Anniversary Quilt book by Rosemary Youngs arrived it spurred me to check back on the CWD quilt blocks. Much to my amazement I only had 27 of the 121 blocks completed. There are many more paper-piecing templates for CWD blocks printed up from the separate CD and in a notebook ready to choose fabric and sew.
So here is CWD Quilt block #28 – Harassment [Row 2-6]
I LOVE this one. Just 5” finished square. Little blocks are so darn cute. Something I did on this block seems to help me out with the construction. The Just Takes 2 blocks give pre-cutting measurements for the paper pieces. This seems to keep me from coming up short and is much more organized. I decided to measure the various components of this block, then added lots extra to the measurements to pre-cut the pieces. It worked like a charm by keeping me on the right track much better than just random placement and cutting.
Now I’m formulating a plan – maybe combine some of the CWD Quilt blocks with the new CW Anniversary Quilt blocks. They would play well together if I continue to use my 19th Century reproduction fabrics. Yep. That sounds like a good idea!
If the Dear Jane blocks I’ve made thus far (approximately 35 or 40) were the same size, I’d throw them in the mix too.
Just thinking . . .
Don't forget to visit The Quilting Gallery to vote on my Wind Earth Fire Water quilt entry entitled "Monterrey Memories." The winner will be announced on Monday morning. Those hand-dyed fabrics need to come to my house to play!
When The Civil War Anniversary Quilt book by Rosemary Youngs arrived it spurred me to check back on the CWD quilt blocks. Much to my amazement I only had 27 of the 121 blocks completed. There are many more paper-piecing templates for CWD blocks printed up from the separate CD and in a notebook ready to choose fabric and sew.
So here is CWD Quilt block #28 – Harassment [Row 2-6]
I LOVE this one. Just 5” finished square. Little blocks are so darn cute. Something I did on this block seems to help me out with the construction. The Just Takes 2 blocks give pre-cutting measurements for the paper pieces. This seems to keep me from coming up short and is much more organized. I decided to measure the various components of this block, then added lots extra to the measurements to pre-cut the pieces. It worked like a charm by keeping me on the right track much better than just random placement and cutting.
Now I’m formulating a plan – maybe combine some of the CWD Quilt blocks with the new CW Anniversary Quilt blocks. They would play well together if I continue to use my 19th Century reproduction fabrics. Yep. That sounds like a good idea!
If the Dear Jane blocks I’ve made thus far (approximately 35 or 40) were the same size, I’d throw them in the mix too.
Just thinking . . .
Don't forget to visit The Quilting Gallery to vote on my Wind Earth Fire Water quilt entry entitled "Monterrey Memories." The winner will be announced on Monday morning. Those hand-dyed fabrics need to come to my house to play!
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
THE CIVIL WAR ANNIVERARY QUILTS BOOK REVIEW
The latest quilting book to land in my mailbox . . .
Visit amazon.com to get a glimpse of the insides of the book and to read my review. The blocks are amazing and the letters, diary entries, and notes accompanying them really inspire.
As a bonus, author Rosemary Youngs has invited all to a block of the week quilt along so visit her blog for more details.
Sew long for now.
Visit amazon.com to get a glimpse of the insides of the book and to read my review. The blocks are amazing and the letters, diary entries, and notes accompanying them really inspire.
As a bonus, author Rosemary Youngs has invited all to a block of the week quilt along so visit her blog for more details.
Sew long for now.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
LEAP DAY HAPPENINGS
That extra day of the year proved to be a fruitful one for me. I hunkered down and started working steadily through sashing the 2011 Civil War block of the week quilt. I tried several layouts.
Made an adjustment here,
and an adjustment there,
and with a little input from my eagle-eyed Sweetie, settled into a final decision. You have to stop moving blocks around sometime or you will never get finished! More sewing together in store for today. Hope to get it completely sashed with cornerstones and ready for a border by the end of the day at least.
Another thing done to commemorate Leap Year 2012 was for purely hopeful reasons – to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease. I made a monetary donation to the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative in honor of my dear mother-in-law who is suffering through the latter stages of this terrible disease. You can find a link to the AAQI in my right side-bar. Be sure to visit and if you can, purchase a small quilt to further the cause of research for a cure.
I also want to share with you this wonderful video featuring Arizona Historical Society Museum’s 100 Year 100 Quilts exhibit. Click HERE to view the stunning quilts on display. This is an exhibit I would truly love to see in person. History and quilting go completely hand in hand with stunning results.
Goodbye for now -
Made an adjustment here,
and an adjustment there,
and with a little input from my eagle-eyed Sweetie, settled into a final decision. You have to stop moving blocks around sometime or you will never get finished! More sewing together in store for today. Hope to get it completely sashed with cornerstones and ready for a border by the end of the day at least.
Another thing done to commemorate Leap Year 2012 was for purely hopeful reasons – to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease. I made a monetary donation to the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative in honor of my dear mother-in-law who is suffering through the latter stages of this terrible disease. You can find a link to the AAQI in my right side-bar. Be sure to visit and if you can, purchase a small quilt to further the cause of research for a cure.
 |
| Arizona Historical Society Museum Tuscon, AZ |
Goodbye for now -
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
ALARMING CONDITIONS MIX UP
This block called “Alarming Conditions” is from the Civil War Diary Quilt book and CD. I color-coded my foundation pattern according to the photo from the CD. I didn’t notice anything amiss then. After two hours of working on this block, when it came time to be pressed, I noticed that one triangle between the star points didn’t match the others. I looked at the CD block photograph again and that’s the way it looked as well. It bugged me.
When I looked at the other “Alarming Conditions” block photographs on the Yahoo Civil War Diary Group, I noticed everyone else had that small triangle in their dark fabric instead of the light. It really bugged me.
I wasn’t making another block to make it right. No way. So I decided to try something I’ve never done before. I traced the triangle shape onto Steam-A-Seam Lite fusible web, then ironed it onto a scrap of the purple fabric, peeled off the paper from the back and fused the shape over the section I wanted to fix. After using a small zig-zag stitch with invisible thread around the perimeter of the block, the problem was fixed. You can barely tell, although the photograph shows is more prominently than it looks in person.
I am no longer bugged. It’s amazing what you learn when you screw up something. There’s usually a way to fix it if you step back from the project and think about it calmly.
Now it’s one of my favorite blocks of the Civil War Diary Quilt that I’ve made thus far. You can see photographs of all my completed CWD blocks, and some CWD blocks from others, on Civil War Diary flickr group.
I’m in love with the coral design in this purple fabric. I need more colorways. As they say, quilters aren't greedy, they're just materialistic.
Until next time,
When I looked at the other “Alarming Conditions” block photographs on the Yahoo Civil War Diary Group, I noticed everyone else had that small triangle in their dark fabric instead of the light. It really bugged me.
I wasn’t making another block to make it right. No way. So I decided to try something I’ve never done before. I traced the triangle shape onto Steam-A-Seam Lite fusible web, then ironed it onto a scrap of the purple fabric, peeled off the paper from the back and fused the shape over the section I wanted to fix. After using a small zig-zag stitch with invisible thread around the perimeter of the block, the problem was fixed. You can barely tell, although the photograph shows is more prominently than it looks in person.
I am no longer bugged. It’s amazing what you learn when you screw up something. There’s usually a way to fix it if you step back from the project and think about it calmly.
Now it’s one of my favorite blocks of the Civil War Diary Quilt that I’ve made thus far. You can see photographs of all my completed CWD blocks, and some CWD blocks from others, on Civil War Diary flickr group.
I’m in love with the coral design in this purple fabric. I need more colorways. As they say, quilters aren't greedy, they're just materialistic.
Until next time,
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