Multi Tasking

I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble. 

Helen Keller

I know you have been waiting with baited breath to see what else I have been up to or when I would get around to posting about it.  Well, you need wait no longer.

I now have 12 Scrappy Trips Around the World blocks made.  I put them on the design wall to see if they would be big enough to border for a charity quilt.  Nope, not liking it that small.  Apparently I came to this decision a while back also because when I looked in the tray that was holding the strips I had pulled for this project I found that I had already paired 8 more sets.  I guess I'll be making a total of 20 blocks or this one.

I cut some more 2 1/2" strips on my Accu Quilt Studio Cutter.  These will be going into some charity quilt kits.  I may make one top from them.

I have been pulling some fabrics to use with this die.  I outlined the cutting blades with a silver marker.  It really helps when placing your fabrics down to cut.

Here are some of the fabric combos I have come up with so far for the Blazing Star.

I did iron out the wrinkles after I took the photos.  Now I just need to cut some strips from the fat quarters and yardage and I'll be ready to run them through the cutter.  I decided to use batiks so the the right/wrong side of the pieces want be an issue in this very directional pattern.  Of course the danger in doing this is getting the position of the lights and darks reversed in some of the blocks.  I haven't decided how big it will be or if I will be putting sashing between the blocks.

So that's a little of what's going on in the studio.  I've also fired up the longarm and am making progress on a quilt there.  I'll share that when it's done.

Linking with:  Linky Tuesday

Chaining Blocks Together

America is not like a blanket: one piece of unbroken cloth, the same color, the same texture, the same size. America is more like a quilt: many patches, many pieces, many colors, many sizes, all woven and held together by a common thread. 

Jesse Jackson

Want to see more green?  I should have shared these back in August but as I said in my last post I was distracted by other things happening in my life.  So here are some of my green blocks.

I can't say that 30s prints are my favorites but they do make me smile!  I have learned over all the years of quilting that I have under my belt that with blocks that have directional triangles that it is best to chain piece the blocks together after the smaller units are done.  If you do this the chances of getting the triangles turned wrong are much smaller.

Here is what I do:

First make all the smaller units

Next sew the first two units in each row of the block together.

If you look closely you can see the threads connecting the block rows.

(They would have gone through the machine sideways to what is pictured.)

Next add the last row still leaving the threads uncut.  The last thing to do is to sew the last two seams going across the block.  I made 48 blocks for this quilt and only twice did any of the triangles get turned in the wrong direction. I don't think any of the 4 patches did.   I usually work on a group of about 6 blocks at a time chaining through the same step on each of them.  When I work is small groups of blocks I always get a few finished blocks done even when I don't have a lot of time at the machine.  Nothing like a little immediate gratification!

Of course not all blocks are nine patches.  This method can be used no matter how many rows or pieces are needed.  I also use the same method for joining blocks into rows to complete the quilt top.

I hope this simple tip will save you some time and keep you from having to pick out things that get turned the wrong way.  If you have any hints that save you time leave them in the comments below.

Linking with: Anything Goes Mondays