Saturday, November 27, 2010

Hello

Hello everyone, welcome back. I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving.  We did. We met with the entire family at my sister's house, and had a great feast, and great conversation.

Just some random thoughts today.  I am still spending a few minutes to sew the Simply Squares together.  At one time, I had decided that I would no longer buy any pins or safety pins.  The ones I have are enough to make maybe two quilts, and if the supplies are in use, I have to finish the project, so the supplies are free to use.  This is a way to limit myself from starting too many new things.

4-5-6

One of the tips I read or heard, and use, is to identify rows by designating the row # by using that number of pins.  I was afraid I was going to run out of pins using this method, since I had fourteen rows. I needed pins for the seams.  One thing I did, was turn them over in pairs, since they had to be sewn up anyway, so I only had to label seven pairs.  I put the labeling pins on the left side of the row, so it was clear which way the pair went.  I also got smart, and I used a safety pin to designate the number 5, kinda like tallies. No, I don't do it neatly, I am going to take them out anyway, although I recommend not pinning the rows together with the tally pins, and not so close to the edge, so you can leave them in until the entire quilt top is done.

It turns out I have a whole box of pins upstairs - safety pins stay on a quilt until the basted quilt is quilted, but straight pins don't stay on very long.  I am not in a habit of straight pinning fabric or blocks and leaving a project in the pinned state.

Also if you are the kind of person who remembers things, you should know that when I brought the rows downstairs after pressing them, it didn't seem like I had enough rows, so I took the leftover squares, cut a couple more (from a new to this quilt fabric), and made another row.  Now I have fully used all the fabric, and except for the part that was too small.  Then I found that I had dropped two rows upstairs on my way down.  So, when you see the quilt, don't expect fourteen rows.  I don't know how many I have, I'm not the kind who remembers these things. Logic says 15, but I'm not making any promises.

so cute
I received my mushrooms I requested from Meyer Imports, who by the way is having a different giveaway this month. I talked about it here on this post.  When I saw them on Allie's blog, I was hoping that the little bottles were part of the gift, and not something she had bought. And they are!  It's glass glitter.  So adorable.  My first thought was "What do I do with these?"  I think it would be smart for the business owner to show what can be done with this stuff, in order to increase sales.

so tiny
But not to worry, John.  I have signed up for Another Little Quilt Swap with Kate, and ideas are brewing in my mind that uses these.

2 comments:

Allie said...

So glad you had a good holiday! Good idea about using the safety pins, and too funny about dropping the rows. Are we sisters???

You got your mushrooms and glitter! Sorry I wasn't clear about the glitter. Isn't it just so beautiful?? I'm probably going to order some of the flatback gnomes and make a little scene for my mum - just need to figure out what to put it in. I'm thinking something like a very small terrarium. Enjoy!

Barb said...

Hi
one time i couldn't find my safety pins and I wanted to pin baste quilt, and they were all on a quilt that I had pin basted and left folded - doh!

love the mushrooms and the glass glitter!