A quilting explosion

Well it is called the Exploding Block.  Anna from the hearts2hands group sent us the link for a quilting how to video.  And now I'm hooked.  From reading all the posts in several quilting groups, I'm not the only one.

With 40 blocks made I am finally getting it right.  I keep forgetting to use a scant 1/4" seam.  When I do remember, everything works great.  Here's how to make an Exploding Block:

Using two 4" squares (right sides together) sew a scant 1/4" seam on all 4 edges:

Mark an X on the diagonals as shown.  Then cut only through one fabric on the X up to the 1/4" seam.  Press open:

With right sides together, sew the block just made to a 5" square (using a scant 1/4" seam) around all four edges:

Mark an X on the 5" square, cut only the 5" square on the X and press open:

Here's a very scrappy version.  It's made with no planning at all.  Just grab what ever fabric is next:

Loads of quilting videos can be found at:

Missouri Star Quilt Co.

Off to watch more quilting videos (way more fun than doing house work or cooking).

Sewing Room is cleaned up

I can see floor in my sewing room!  It was a lot of work getting it cleaned up.  And wouldn't you know, more half finished projects were found.  I don't even remember starting them! 

And kits....loads of kits.  Some I purchased, but a lot were gifts from family and friends that I really wanted to do but forgot about.

Am I happy with how the room is organized at the moment.  No.  But it will have to do.  It's a sad tale of taking on way too much and decisions creating more work.

First my cousin is downsizing and donated 5 boxes of fabric for making bags for women shelters.  This is a project that volunteers at my local quilt shop work on one day a month.  The fabric was in all shapes and sizes so I spent a lot of hours sorting and cutting down into usable sizes.  Then I just had to try stitching one up and ended up with over 30 made minus the draw strings.

In the optimism of spring arriving, I brought out my summer clothes.  Well it snowed, but the job was started and had to be finished.  That's when I stupidly made a suggested to my husband.  Each of us had half of our clothes in my son's old room and half in our room.  Maybe put all of mine in one closet and all of his in the other.  DH agreed so the moving of clothes was done.  Unfortunately there are shelves at each end of the closet DH chose.  This prevents us using the full length of the closet rod.  So the shelves were emptied so he can use the entire closet.

On those shelve were about 40 photo albums and boxes of photos that never made it into an album.  See where this is going?  Yep, all the photos and albums had to be reorganized.  Some were from both sets of parents as they downsize, some were from relatives that have passed away.  Many of these photos are of people my son would not know.  Do I throw them away, or label them.  Decisions were difficult.  And it's ongoing.

Then where do I put these pictures?  In the shelves by my computer is the answer.  But that's where my quilting books and magazines are.  But wait...wouldn't it be better if they were in my sewing room?  But the shelves in there hold fabric.  Plus there are those 5 boxes of donated fabric (minus the 30 bags).  So the fabric from the shelves are now in plastic bins, not really visible but the boxes are labelled.  The quilt books and magazines are on the sewing room shelves.  The sorted donated fabric is now at the quilt shop awaiting volunteer sewing day.  And I can see the floor of my sewing room.

As for the photos....it's an on going process.  I am happy to report that I did get all of my Mom's slides scanned and onto a DVD.  (Two DVDs actually.  It was a big job.) They are now on her computer and she really enjoys seeing photos that she hasn't been able to access for a lot of years.  Talk about memories!  (Now to finish scanning ours.....after I finish with current project.)

Who knows...I just may be able to get some quilting done this month.  Oh, and the 3 Welcome to the North Pole blocks for this month are sewn but still need embellishment. 

Making Draw String Bags for Women's Shelters

Yep, it looks like a tornado hit my sewing room.  My cousin is downsizing and called to say she has fabric to get rid of.  She kindly donated five boxes of fabric.  Imagine the fun of diving into all that fabric!

It took a while but it's all sorted and in the process of being cut.  This fabric is destined to be made up into draw string bags.   After cutting is finished the fabric will be passed on to my local quilt shop.  Volunteers there will sew them up to make draw string bags. 

Next another group will fill the bags with toiletries etc. and they will in turn send them on to the women's shelters in the area.  But in the mean time....can you imagine the amount of fabric that can be crammed into 5 boxes!  I can't move in there.

A few of us have been playing around, trying to find more efficient ways of making these bags.  At the quilt shop one volunteer uses a serger to finish the edges.  Several others sew the bags up, then another inserts the draw strings.  But what is the best way to make the bags at home when you don't have a serger.  Well we are trying to figure that out.  So far almost 30 bags have been made.  And that was within the past two days.

Besides the mess this project created I realized that the "neat" - okay - "cheap"  boxes that I was storing my patterns and sorted fabric in are collapsing under the weight of the cheap boxes stacked on top.  I had to bite the bullet and purchase some proper storage boxes that have lids I can remove without difficulty (as in breaking nails, bones, butter knives or what ever is handy for prying lids off....)

I really want to get the room cleared up so I can get back to my own sewing but it's going to be a few days yet.  Wonder what colour the floor in the room is...haven't seen it in a while.

Donating quilts etc

Not much quilt was accomplished this week.  At least not as much as was planned.  Between the on line course from the library and sorting through a lot of slides there hasn't been much time.

The slides belong to my parents and it's been a while since any of us have viewed them.  So I'm going through them one by one.  Mom and Dad had them well organized but a bit more sorting never hurts.  Hopefully I'll be finished this weekend.

A welcome phone call from a friend that I haven't met - yet - came earlier this week.  A few years ago Deb was looking for items to be donated for a women's mission.  A mutual friend suggested she contact me.  I did have something that I was happy to donate.  Deb's husband picked the items up on his way from work so I didn't even have to worry about how to get it to her.

This year Deb is gathering items for a silent auction benefiting Alberta AdaptAbilities Association.  I had a small table topper and a crochet/embroidered bed spread to donate.  My friend Joan quickly finished up four children's quilts complete with applique teddy bears.  She delivered them to me just before Deb's husband came to pick up the donations.  I hope that these items will bring in some much needed funds for the association.  Now both Joan and I can get back to making some more items to donate for the next time there is a need.

Two different scrappy blocks and a mirror or two

I have this bundle of 10" square fabrics that I would like to do something fun with.  After seeing a demo at a quilt shop I decided to give the techniques a try with some scrappy fabric.  I'm not happy with the results but it is a learning experience.

So here they are:

With right sides together, sew two squares together.  1/4" seam on all four sides.

Then slice on the diagonal both directions to make four half square triangles.

 Press open.

Make a pin wheel block.

Next cut the block 1 1/2" from centre on all four sides.  Trim the left over rectangles to the length of the centre pinwheel block and half square triangles to the width of the rectangles.

Play around with the blocks until you like the end result.  This is what I came up with.

Using fabrics with more contrast would have made the block come out so much better, but here's what it looks like in the corner mirror tool.

Next I sewed a scrappy four patch.

Cut 2" from the centre seams in all four directions.

Now it's time to play.

After playing this is what I decided on.

What if I made more blocks like this. 

 While these were fun to play with, I'm not thrilled with them.  So it's back to the the books, net, magazines etc to see what else I can come up with for that layer cake bundle.

In the mean time.....

My husband has been playing with his solar oven.  The cinnamon bun dough came from one of those Pillsbury cans you find at the grocery store.  Since they are not gluten free I won't be having any.  But I really do think it's neat that he baked them outside....in -19 degree weather!  His solar oven warmed up to 350 degrees in about 20 minutes.  With no hot spots in the oven there is no need to worry about burning.  Added plus...he cleans up everything!

In the sewing room...

Sewing:

Made it into the sewing room this weekend.  I managed to start and finish a tote bag using up the last of the Pop Century bed spread fabric.  Hope Mom likes it!

The tote bag has 6 outside pockets, zippered closure and 5 inside pockets.  As I couldn't get to the fabric store I pulled out a dollar store polyester table cloth.  It frays something terrible, so I closed all the seams with an extra zig zag and the inside seams are encased in left over binding from quilting projects. 

Now on to the long arm.  I'm determined to figure out how to quilt feathers.  After many a session with the seam ripper I purchased a stencil.  Then I found that the only pen that shows up on the fabric is a black Crayola washable.  I'm really hoping it does wash out as advertised. 

Even with the stencil lines guiding the stitches the result still isn't great.  Deb from hearts2hands quilt group suggested visualizing half hearts.  Sew the stem of the feather, then stitch half a heart all the way on one side then stitch the other half.  I haven't tried it yet, but really believe this will help.  I can free motion hearts with no problem at all!  Finishing this quilt is my project for today and tomorrow.

Exercising???

Well I can't really call it a work out, but I made a promise to myself on Feb 10 to get at least 10,000 steps on my FitBit every day until at least April 10.  On April 10 I'll decide what's next.

So far I've managed to get the steps in.  To make sure I do it, I joined a FitBit group.  The Be Our Guest group has a challenge to get 17 million steps in the month of February.  We have over 60 members so you wouldn't think it would be difficult.  Especially since some of the members are runners.  They get in 30,000 steps a day.  So what's with the rest of us?  Its going to be a challenge to get those 17 million steps in.

Classes:

I finished the Linux course with 89%  Not great when one considers it was an open book test.  No excuse.  Just misunderstood three of the questions.  My darling husband has declared that the questions were poorly worded.  What a sweetie.

Now I'm on to a cooking class.  No gasps please.  I know I don't cook.  But I'm enjoying the instructor's take.  Think about why different cultures use different flavours and spices.  Loads of history lessons.  And that's what I'm enjoying.  The cooking...not so much.  Not having all the groceries required is a pain.  We don't grocery shop often so I use what I have on hand.

Plus few of the recipes are gluten free.  Today was Greek pizza so I used chickpea flour pizza crust.  Not great.  It's all eaten but I'll be looking for a different gluten free recipe if I make it again.

Sewing-MP3 cases and help on the Kobo Arc

MP3 Cases:

Don't you hate it when you have a favourite device that you cannot find a protective case for!  Well my son has one device that he just cannot find anything to fit.  He does have a draw string bag that is made for MP3 players but it's an inch too short.  So here's the basic draw string bag he bought next to a Star Trek one that I made.

 I wasn't sure if the little bag I made was wide enough so I quickly threw together a second larger one.  All he has to do is insert the leather lacing for the draw strings.

But....I have to go one further.  The next photos are of a wallet style MP3 case that I made with a pocket for ear plugs as well.

 These are the easiest cases to make.  First take a strip of fabric cut to the length of the MP3 plus 1".  For this one I used a 5" strip the width of the fabric (42").

Fold the fabric in half right sides facing.  Stitch a 1/4" seam along both long sides.

Turn right side out.  Make a fold approximately 4" up from the bottom of the tube and bring up until the bottom of the tube rests on top, forming a 4" pocket.  Stitch across the bottom to hold in place.

Next take that pocket and bring it up again along the tube creating a second pocket with enough fabric at the top to fold over for a flap.

Now use a decorative stitch along the sides and across the bottom, leaving the flap open.  Add Velcro to keep the flap closed if you want.

If this sounds confusing think of how you make a paper fan.  Only with more space between the folds.  These fold and sew cases are the easiest to make.  So quick and a great use for novelty fabrics that you have just a few strips left over.
Try making a tube with different front and back for a different look.

Podcasts on the Kobo Arc

Now on to the tech stuff.  I'm always promoting listening to podcasts and managed to convince a number of friends and family to give them a try.  And they are hooked.

Those that bought a Kobo Arc because I wouldn't shut up about the device wanted to know how to get new episodes onto their device.  Here we go.

First make sure your Wi-Fi is turned on!

You MUST have your device connected to your Wi-Fi.  There are several ways to do this with the Kobo Arc.  Here is the easiest way for those that may have problems with touch screens.


1)  Click on the circle with the six dots in it located top right hand of the screen.  This will show all the apps on your Kobo Arc.

Apps show up in alphabetical order.  The one you are looking for is "Settings".  (Note:  this is NOT the Google Settings" - look for "Settings")

2)  When you click on the Settings app it opens up the following screen.  Check to make sure that Wi-Fi is on.  (Try to take a clear shot of a screen...good luck.  It's not easy.)

3)  Click where it says Wi-Fi and make sure the screen shows that you are connected.

4)  If you are not connected then select the Wi-Fi you are looking for.  You may have to type in your password (hope you have it written down.)

5)  Now that you have your Wi-Fi turned on go back to the home screen (pressing the centre bottom icon to get there).

6)   Open the Tapestry that has your podcast catcher located.  I recommend (and have it loaded on a few devices) the free app called "Podder".

7)  Open Podder.

8)  At the top right hand side of the screen you will see the plus sign (which is where you go to subscribe to a new podcast).  Next to that is a symbol with two arrows with the word "Refresh".  Click on "Refresh to get the listing of the new episodes that are available for the podcasts you have subscribed to.  Like the Vinyl Cafe. 

This just takes a few seconds.

9)  Next click on the podcast name and a list of available episodes will show up.  New ones will be noted on the left hand side.  Remember you can listen to them without downloading if the Wi-Fi is on.

10)  If you don't want to keep the Wi-Fi turned on, or you think you may want to listen to the podcasts when you are away from home, you can download them so they are saved to your tablet.

11)  Click on the episodes you want to download.  At the top of the screen the word download will appear.  Click on that and the podcast will be saved onto your Kobo Arc.