January Block

 I'm off to a good start with my block of the month project.  "January" is finished..  Each block will be different but they are all from the same book.  This one has 81 pieces!  That's a lot, which is why I love only making one block each month.  Other blocks might have less pieces but each is what I would term as complex.

Block of the month

A week into 2016, I have decided to start a year long project in my sewing room.

 Such a  project is known to quilters as a "Block of the Month".  I already have the fabric and a pattern so I won't be slowed down by all the pre-project decision making.  I do plan to give this quilt a name but it will have to be BOM#1 for a while yet.  

Photo organization, stage one

My husband says it's good to have company because then we straighten up our house.  Too true.  Four year old Jayden is spending the night in a couple days.  That means that I have a couple days to finish the photograph sorting project that is spread all over his room.  This will be finished by wednesday.  If he wasn't coming it would take at least 2 more weeks because that's how I work.  I need a motivation to get to the project to the necessary conclusion.  This picture I am titling, "BEFORE".

 Although this is still a big mess I have already accomplished a lot.   Can you see that there are 6 photo boxes lined up on 3 bigger boxes in front of the futon?   These are the pictures that have been organized already.  The rest of the stuff isn't as bad as it looks.  I swear.  Next week I will post an "AFTER" picture.

the chair

Ok.  It's been a few days since I said I was going to finish the chair TOmorrow....well it is sort of finished.  I ran out of material, so I still have to do the back side of the backrest.  The whole thing, I would say, is less than perfect but a whole lot better than it was.  It looks nice at first glance and since it is being used as an occasional chair in my sewing room, it is Good E-Nuff.  when I work on a project like this tho, it definitely gets me thinking about possibilities for future projects.  That is just the way I am.  Can't help it.  I attempted with no success to include a PICTURE HERE...well I don't know why I  can't upload this picture.  It is a mystery...and I would rather watch a mystery on TV than solve one...at least for now.

bags and and kids and all

Couple new things to show you.  I'm trying to reduce my fabric stash by making bags to sell.  I thought I would put them in a bazaar this year but I'm not ready.  I would rather build up an inventory and get  try some more complex patterns to feature along with the simple bags.  The bags I have made so far can be used as gift bags, for small projects like knitting or small shopping bags etc.

Amid my bag projects I have of course made a big mess in my sewing room.  I have an old chair that we found at a garage sale down the street..  It is something that hadn't seen the inside of a house for many years.  Thinking of the neighbor who probably sat in this chair in his later years when he wanted to get out of the house.....Now it will be a relaxing chair in my sewing room once it get's finished.  My husband did the gluing, clamping, and staining. Now I am covering it.  It will look good enough.  Shabby chic.  I like it. Got a good start, I'll finish up tomorrow.

and for fun...

washing the pumpkin

 Captain America and the Italian Stallion 

scraps #2

Project progressing.  I now have 72 5" nine patch squares.  This number will give me the look I want for my quilt.

I have enough blocks for a quilt that is about 49" x 58", which is okay for a lap or child's quilt.  The next step is to cut white 5" squares to put in between the nine patch blocks, thus making the colored squares "chain"  diagonally across the quilt.  In the end, I might end up making more blocks or adding a border if I decide to make a bigger quilt.

I'm still old school in  math and design. You can see what I mean.  Graph paper is very useful.  The X's on the paper represent the nine patch squares.  White spaces are in between them. There are slick programs to design quilts, but I am working up to them.  I do think that my calculator should start living in my sewing room.  It would be helpful to have it handy.

Here you see some sewing room cuteness.  Note the artfully arranged pin cushions, teddy bear, tin, and the sneaky inclusion of one of my daughter's school pictures. Sewing blogs like to have cuteness.

Actually things are going well in my sewing room.  It is tidier.  I did have to buy the solid white fabric, but otherwise I have plenty to work with.  I am enjoying my sewing room time and I'm getting the hang of putting this blog together.  Now it is time to go out and get some crisp fall air.  Sewing can wait!

scraps #1

If I keep blogging there are sure to be more posts about fabric....hence the #1 in the title.

When it comes to my sewing room, there are many things I am referring to when I say I am cleaning up.  Could mean vacuuming, but probably not.  Could mean rearranging, and that is more likely.  This time I am cleaning by getting rid of scraps. People who sew and  end up with lots of scraps.   Instead of purging my scrap stash, I am turning them into an Irish Chain Quilt.

 There are lots of variations on this pattern.  Because I am using up scraps I am using colors at random as long as they are the right size for my project.  They will be set against a white background.  The quilt I am making has 2 kinds of blocks set in rows in a 1 2 1 2 1 2 pattern....

The first block is a 5" white square.  That's it.  Simple.

The second block is a 9 patch.  This is made of 5 two inch colored squares and 4 two inch white squares set together like a checker board and sewn together with a quarter inch seam.  Sewn together these make a 5 inch square.

Once these are all put together it should look like this quilt I found online:


                                
If you are really interested and can't get a visual from my yak yak you can go to u tube and and look up how to make an irish chain quilt.  that will tell you all.

Of course the squares can be made whatever size works for you and if I had used larger scraps, I would have a larger quilt with the same amount of work.  I have 54 nine patch squares and I should probably do some math and figure out if that will come out right or if I need to make a few more.