A Book Finished and Dear Jane

 I finished reading A Game of Thrones on Friday night. It was okay, but I didn't think it was as great as all the hype is about it. I did buy the second book though.

I finished my Dear Jane homework for July. I've used 974 pieces to date - that seems like so many! I used a different background for the photos - my cutting mat as opposed to my sewing table - I'm going back to the sewing table.

C13

D4 Attempt #1 - it's too small with Y seams so I re-sewed without Y seams

D4

E13

F10

G7  This is the very centre of the quilt

G13

H12

R4

Tomorrow I'm going to re-start sewing a quilt for my cousin - it is for her wedding and she's soon to celebrate her 5th anniversary so I'm a bit behind.

Dear Jane

I got two more blocks done today.

A5

B8

I tried a new technique to get a better scant 1/4" seam - I followed the seam guide on my bobbin cover, rather than the edge of the 1/4" foot. My seams are better, but my machine didn't like that scant line too much - it chewed some of the fabric, even though I have a single hole needle plate in. Anybody got any suggestions for getting consistent scan 1/4" seams (I use a Janome 4100).

Head on over to Patchwork Times to see what everyone else is up to.

Tomorrow will be sewing for practicality - an organizer for my car.

Blue Quilt

I've been on summer vacation for 1 week and have finished a quilt - this is a record for me. This one is for my uncle who is in the hospital. I got the pattern here ; I saw it on this blog. It took an afternoon to piece which is nice. Mine is smaller than the pattern calls for - 12 squares instead of 16. I used 4 fat quarters for the blocks - which is just enough provided your fat quarters are true fat quarter and don't shrink/skew when pre-washed. The binding is the same as the backing. I bought 2 yards of white which was too much - by about 1/2 a yard. The large squares are quilted with a leaf pattern which is sort of hard to see - I used a variegated blue thread.

The white borders are a leaf on a vine done freehand. I'm happy with how they turned out. I drew the spine of the vine on with washable blue pen before quilting so that I had something to follow.



This quilt will be delivered sometime next week.

Cute Baby Quilt Finished

All done.

Cute Baby Quilt

This is what I'm working on this week. It's a panel I bought here and it's pretty cute. I'm doing light quilting on it - it's for a friend at work. I've gone around the large circles and diamondy shapes to secure everything down. Now I think I'll just trace around the animals.

Dear Jane

My homework for my class next weekend is finished. I am not enjoying the paper piecing - I have a few problems in these blocks - a few places the raw edge will/is showing - I've fray-checked it though and am not ripping it out. I'm also sick of the pink checked fabric - too much of it this time - and it went off square when I washed it, so those blocks always look a little wonky.

I tried ironing the paper, with steam, before drawing on the paper piece design. I was hoping I could then press with steam when making them - it helped a bit with reducing shrinking.

At our next class we get double (or more) the homework for over the summer since we won't meet again until the end of Sept.

I've used 808 pieces to date.

A12

G4

H13 - this was supposed to be on point with the white making an 'x' - oops - measuring error before sewing and I didn't rip it out

M12

T2 - top, 2nd from left

Dear Jane, Mug Rug

I have been working extra time at my other job - I'm a high school teacher and it's crunch time for marking. I did squeeze a little sewing time in though.
Dear Jane pieces = 693

H1 - notice the corners are nipped - miscalculation

F4

I also have a friend from work who is off on sick leave and an avid coffee drinker (and a scientist). The first is the chemical molecule for caffeine and the second fits around a take out coffee cup.