Comes with Strings Attached - Good Fortune, Part 6

Are we there yet? Not yet. We have string piecing with neutrals to make this week.  I am close to using up some of my neutrals, and  I am still going to need some to finish up the pieces I must make for weeks 1 through 5. Fortunately, there will be sales at some of the local fabric stores right after the end of the year.

This time, our sets of strips are a lot larger and need either a full phone book page or a full piece of notebook paper.

I thought this would go faster, because it was string piecing. It didn't, but it was still fun. Maybe it was because Susan and Sophia came over to sew with me and too much talking happened. Maybe it was because it was hard to get a lot of variety in my blocks without enough variety in my fabrics. Each set of strips had eight to twelve different fabrics in it. I tried to achieve greater variety by varying the width of the strips, and, of course, by varying the order of the strips.

Is it okay to use the same fabric twice in the same strip set? I don't know, but I avoided this, for the most part. I also tried to limit the number of strips that had a blue or green design on them. I want these pieces to look overwhelmingly neutral. Yeah, I know. I'm putting way too much thought into this.

Let's see what the others did on Bonnie Hunter's Week 6 Mystery Link-up. And here is what I did:

Lessons Learned:

• It's harder to sew strings together in larger blocks and using full phone book pages. Be careful to keep the fabric flat on the paper so your finished size will be accurate. It slips around and bunches up at the ends. If it bunches up, tear off the paper before cutting the final blocks out.
• Don't use phone book pages with light colored fabric. Tiny pieces of the paper get stuck under the stitches and some of those have black ink on them.
• Each page has at least 8 strips, so the more fabrics, the better. Twelve different fabrics isn't enough.
• Sew with friends.

Essential Geometry - Good Fortune, Part 5

I decided I really don't like that blue-and-white-cracked-eggshell fabric. I probably won't use it any more in this quilt. The blue-on-blue-cracked -eggshell doesn't bother me, though.

This week we made squares out of triangles. Two small triangles (neutral and orange) to make a larger triangle, and then the resulting triangle plus a larger blue triangle to make a square - three triangles total. I had to make half of the squares in a mirror image layout, so it did involve a little thinking.

I used my rotary cutter a lot. I think I might need a new blade, even though I put a new blade in when I started this Good Fortune project. I googled this and the consensus seems to be that a blade will last for one quilt/project, so I'm going to keep going with the same blade for now.

Overall, this week's assignment went more slowly than I was expecting. Cutting had to be very precise, as did the sewing. (Did I develop some bad habits during string piecing?) I used the Essential Triangle Tool, though other methods were also included in the instructions.

An extra step, not on Bonnie Hunter's directions: I had to trim each finished square. They were all a tiny bit large. I also had about a 10% do-over rate for square or triangles I just wasn't satisfied with.

I have finished about 1/4 of the required pieces, and I have another 1/4 partially finished. Here is a link to Bonnie's Mystery Link-up, Part 5 to see all the fun colors that others have chosen and all the fun fabrics that those of using Bonnie's colors have found.






























Lessons learned:

• When cutting out triangles, the direction of your cut makes a difference. Start at the "skinny" end. If you start at the other end, the fabric will move when you get to the skinny end.

String Theory - Good Fortune, Part 4

This week we are making orange pieces for the mystery quilt. Bonnie Hunter recommends using the string piecing technique. Should I be worried?

It was EASY and it was FUN. I didn't really know what it was, but it turns out that I had used this method once before, in Rayna Gilman's class, and I blogged about it here: Reinventing the Secret Garden.

The great thing about string piecing is you don't have to measure with exactness, you don't have to cut with exactness, and you don't have to sew with exactness. This adds up to a FAST process.

Bonnie added a very interesting twist to string piecing. She uses pages from an old phone book as a base for sewing the pieces together. Again, no measuring, etc. Do take a look at Bonnie's Mystery Link-up to see what others are doing: Week 4 Link-up

I was amazed that it was so easy to sew on phone book pages and even to iron them. And Bonnie thought this through really well. She suggested using a larger needle and smaller stitches to make it easier to tear off the paper later. 

Here some strips that have been sewn onto phone book paper. They will be trimmed into three blocks each.

I had about 10 or 12 different orange fabrics. I thought that would be enough variety, but it probably isn't. I have used 5 or 6 different fabrics in each piece. I felt like all of my string sets were too similar. It will be hard to tell until the final mystery clue is revealed. It might not be a problem at all.

These orange blocks demanded that I store them in an orange box.

I made some wonky strips. These strips looked a lot less wonky when I cut the block into three pieces and the strips became very short. I had to be careful that they didn't get too narrow or too wide at the ends.

Wonk, wonk

I also made some wonky blocks by trimming them at a slant. I'm not sure if these will look good in the final quilt. I don't think I'm going to make any more of these. Yes, I admit, I didn't finish this easy-clue-week assignment. I had to put all my sewing stuff away last night because we are having people over tonight for a big open house. If you must now, I haven't finished any of the previous weeks either, although this week I came the closest to finishing thanks to the ease of the string piecing method.

Lessons learned:

• Don't be afraid to try new techniques
• Sometimes quick and inexact is good
• If you plan to do string piecing, you may need more fabrics than you think
• Don't throw out your old phone books!

Starting off on the Wrong Foot - Good Fortune, Part 3

This week's pieces are hard. You can link to Bonnie Hunter's Mystery Link-up here to see what the pieces are and how others have interpreted them. 

I sewed a few pieces and measured, as suggested. They seemed to be the correct size, so I began cutting like crazy. When I had cut some strips from each green fabric, I stopped and cut some neutral squares. This phase went quickly.

The next step, using the Bonus Buddy technique, involved marking two lines on the back of each neutral piece. The fabric kept sliding around on the table, so I grabbed a newspaper and put it under the fabric. This turned out to be a mistake because the newspaper ink sometimes came off on the fabric when I applied pressure to draw a line. It probably would have worked better to use my cutting mat, but I didn't want to get marks all over the mat. I'm going to try the mat, though.

I have a variety of marking tools. I tried a grey pencil, a dark blue pencil, and a pink merking pen. They all claim to be "washout" pens or pencils. I won't know until the quilt is all finished and I can throw it in the wash. (Maybe I can do a few test pieces right away. I still have to pre-wash my orange fabric, so I can throw it in with load.)

I wasn't sure how to pin the squares to the green strips. I could pin along the edges, or I could pin along the diagonal lines. For my first batch, I pinned along the edges. This probably wasn't the best choice. I ended up with corners that were not in the correct spot.

Changing my pinning method helped a lot but did not completely eliminate this problem.

I was having a lot of trouble sewing next to the pencil line per Bonnie Hunter's instructions. In my defense, I had a friend over, She brought her two daughters, who are learning to sew. There was a lot of talking going on. I might have been doing some of the talking. It was kind of distracting.

After sewing a number of pieces and thinking that it was very hard to see the line I was sewing next to, it dawned on me that I was using the wrong foot. I was using my quilting foot (1/4" seam foot) instead of a foot for regular sewing. I replaced it with my satin stitch foot and things got much easier. Easier, but not easy. I think I should try the zigzag foot, too.

L to R: zigzag foot, satin stitch foot, and 1/4" seam foot

I hardly got anything done. At the end of 4 hours I only had about a dozen of these half-chevron pieces finished. 

But I did get all the time-consuming stuff out of the way, and today I made excellent progress and got many more pieces done.

And, there is a surprise ending. When I ordered the Essential Triangle Tool, it came with a free Bonus Buddy Ruler. I have never used the Bonus Buddy Ruler, but I used it today. I am pleased to announce that, as a byproduct of using the Bonus Buddy method, I ended up with a bonus pile of little half square triangles (all finished !) which will be used later in this quilt!

Hooray for Bonus Units!

Lessons learned:

• Test your marking pens and pencils to see if they really do wash out.
• Use a cutting mat, not newspapers, for a base when marking small pieces of fabric.
• Pinning matters. Pin on your sewing line, even if it is not along an edge.
• Do not use a 1/4" seam foot on a diagonal seam.
• Don't expect to get much done when you have friends over. 
• Sew with friends from time to time. Use the occasion to show off your work. Problem-solve and brainstorm with another person who is really into sewing. Get the next generation hooked on sewing. Socialize. Don't be a hermit and spend all your time alone with a sewing machine. That's no fun.

Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On - Good Fortune, Part 2

December 3

We had a BIG EARTHQUAKE three days ago. It was a 7.0 on the Richter Scale. Our power was out for three hours. I didn't get much quilting done that day. Some of our stuff fell off shelves and broke, but luckily, fabric doesn't break.

I could say that I had to clean up the mess from all the papers sliding off both of our desks, along with a cup of coffee, so I didn't have time to sew, but that wouldn't be accurate. 

My husband's desk is usually very, very neat, but not after an earthquake.

I absolutely had time to sew - once the power came back on. After all, this was the day Clue #2 came out.

So I did get some of the half square triangles for Clue #2 done. I used the Essential Triangle Tool. The test pieces didn't come out quite the right size, but I trimmed them down and they were fine, and I vowed to be more careful with future pieces. Actually, I thought I was being very careful in the first place. Careful measuring, and careful cutting, and careful sewing.

As I went along, they did seem to become more accurate and they didn't require as much - or any - trimming. That's a good thing, because I really don't know what else I can do to make them the exact size they need to be. (Don't tell me to buy an AccuCut system. Too expensive. It really ought to be possible to do this without an expensive piece of equipment.) 

I did find a good article on half square triangles here: How to Make Half Square Triangles

Here's a link to Bonnie Hunter so you can see what other people did: Bonnie's Link-Up, Part 2

Lessons learned:

• Don't leave piles of paper on your desk or on shelves or on top of filing cabinets
• Probably not a good idea to leave your iron sitting up
• Always unplug your sewing machine when you are done working. Who knows when there will be a power surge?
• Don't cut all of your strips before you make your test pieces. You might decide to use a different HST method.

I've Got This Covered! - Good Fortune, Part 1

Right before our long trip we had people over and I had to put all my sewing stuff away. We have been home for a week now and I am slowly starting to reclaim my sewing space. But not without a fight - from various inanimate objects.

I successfully pre-washed the red and neutral fabrics. The edges did fray, but not too badly.

I set up the ironing board and started to iron and soon realized that the pad that came with the ironing board needed to be replaced. I had ordered one a while ago, so I thought it would be a quick, easy job. But nothing about it was quick or easy. First, where was the pad? A lot of my sewing stuff was in our son's old bedroom. I pulled several large tubs out from under the bed and rummaged through them. No luck. I looked in all the cabinets in the laundry room. Nope. I looked in the basement where more sewing stuff resides. Nada. I finally located the new pad in one of those stackable plastic drawers in our son's bedroom. That must have taken about 45 minutes.😣

I have an extra-wide ironing board. It works better for quilting. It came with a small metal tray on the end that serves as an iron rest.

There is no space between the iron rest and the end of the ironing board. One would have to pull it out in order to replace the pad. I pulled as hard as I could, but it didn't budge. I turned the ironing upside down to look for the little lever that would release it. It was kind of dark, so I picked the board up and moved it over to an area with better light. There was no lever. Absolutely none.

I tried pulling on it some more. I tried it with the ironing board upside down.

If I could remember the brand of the ironing board or where I bought it maybe I could Google it for instructions on changing the pad. I ended up Googling "how to change ironing board pad" and wouldn't you know that several folks have made YouTube videos on this. But none of the videos had an ironing board with a metal tray on the end. They were just plain old ironing boards with plain old ironing board covers. Do you really need a video to show you how to do that?

Eventually I asked my husband to help me. He tried pulling on the iron rest. It wouldn't budge. He got a screwdriver and a hammer and applied some strategic taps and it started to move.😙 Once the stupid iron rest was loose it was very easy to put the lovely new cover on. I really like it. It's much fluffier than the old one and it even has a little pocket for the special measuring cup for filling up the iron or for snippers or for anything else that is usually in the way on top of the ironing board.

Another 45 minutes? At least.

So I ironed all of that pre-washed fabric and snipped off all of those loose threads and started cutting some strips.

I used my new ruler stickers to help me cut my strips. They worked like a dream to remind me what line I should be using.

 
Then I was ready to sew, so I had to get my dear, sweet sewing machine out. I had put it away before our trip because we had people over and then we had a house sitter, so it was better to leave it under its dust cover. I schlepped it across the house and put it on my sewing table. When I checked the thread I realized the spool holder thingy was missing. Oy! 😞 

I wondered if it was left behind when I put my machine away ten weeks ago. Could I have seen it later and stashed it somewhere for safekeeping? I looked through all of my sewing bins and baskets and all possible logical places to put a thing like that. Unsuccessfully. Then I decided to look some more in the sewing room. I looked under the baseboard heater. Then, in a moment of pure inspiration I spotted it on the carpet, behind the table leg. You could only see it if you really looked. I suspect it fell off when I took the cover off my sewing machine today and bounced off the table without making any noise. Is that possible? That was probably a 30-minute delay.

Fortunately, I had no further problems of this sort. I sewed a few sample pieces (four-patches, as it happens) and then measured them in accordance with Bonnie Hunter's instructions. They weren't as perfect as I wanted them to be, but I honestly wasn't sure what to do about it. I had measured carefully and cut carefully and pinned carefully and sewed carefully. I followed Bonnie's Instructions to the letter. Despite my best efforts some of the pieces had one square that stuck out a little. How can this be?

What I ended up doing last time was making about 5% extra pieces. If one turned out badly, I could throw it out and I'd still be ok. I think that's the easiest way to do this. I'm still going to be as careful as I can, but I'm not going to sweat it if a few pieces are less than perfect. I just won't use those. Yes, I've got this covered!

Some of my 4-patches

Link to Bonnie Hunter here: Bonnie's Link-Up, Part 1 and see what this looks like in all sorts of different colors. So much fun!

Lessons Learned:

• When you are nesting two seams together, make sure they nest accurately all the way to the end.
• Make 5% more than you need to allow for imperfections to be replaced.
• Allow extra time to get set up for a big quilting project.
• If a spool holder (or any other part) ever comes off your machine, always put it back where it belongs (on the machine) immediately.

Good Fortune, Introduction - Thanksgiving

We had a lovely Thanksgiving yesterday.
I am thankful for friends and family.
I am thankful that I have the leisure and wherewithal to pursue my interest in quilting.
I am thankful for Bonnie Hunter's inspirational mystery quilt-alongs.

Today is the kickoff of Bonnie Hunter's Good Fortune! mystery quilt. (Link to it here: Good Fortune!) 
I am so excited to be starting this quilt. I have eagerly anticipated it for several months. This is my fourth straight year starting one of Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilts on the day after Thanksgiving. Her generosity in giving such a gift to the quilting community is so uplifting and refreshing.

On Halloween Bonnie revealed the colors for this year's quilt. I was on a long trip and wasn't able to visit any quilt stores until this week. This afternoon I went to the Quilt Zone and was shocked to find an empty storefront with a "For Lease" sign in the window. What happened? When? I will miss this gem of a quilt shop.

I was also shocked to see that I haven't added to this blog in 11 months. I have spent a lot of time traveling this year. I guess that is why I have been feeling such a strong pull towards quilting lately.

A little more about Good Fortune! Bonnie drew on her recent trip to China for the the color palette for the quilt. It works for me! I just got back from a trip to China and other parts of Asia where these colors are prevalent. Here is a photo we took in the Philippines of goldfish in a feeding frenzy. This brings to mind the oranges Bonnie chose.

And here are my fabrics

To the golden oranges Bonnie added red, green, and blue. These colors are everywhere in Asia.
In Taiwan . . .

 In Okinawa (Japan) . . .

 and in Korea . . .

This traditional Korean dress is called a hanbok

 And here are my fabrics

To be honest, these colors are a little outside of my comfort zone. I suppose that's why I didn't have any of them in my admittedly tiny stash. (But it's so much fun to shop for them!) Bonnie always gets me to extend my horizons.

And then we have the neutrals. The one on the far right has a little bit of gold sparkle.

This time I am going to try something new (for me). I am going to PRE-WASH all of the fabric. I got a lot of these fabrics at Jo-Ann's. They had a big sale on fat quarters this week: 79 cents each! Wow! But I am worried that they may shrink or run, so all of it is going in the wash. I hope they don't unravel too much.

Lessons learned:

• I need a larger stash