And then there was 28...

Somehow I ended up making 28 of my snowflake blocks...I thought that a 7 by 4 block quilt might look funny.  Electric Quilt confirmed it:

Yes, I have an old, old version of EQ.  Don't judge me.  I didn't like the upgrade way back when, so I went back to EQ4 because it makes sense to me.

So, as I still have an embarrassingly tall pile of snow fabric, I'm making more blocks...

Luckily, as this is a SNOW fabric quilt, and not a CHRISTMAS fabric quilt, I don't feel any pressure to get it done anytime soon.  I think as long as it's finished before Thursday, March 20, 2014, I'll be ok.  (That's the first day of spring, FYI.  In the land where it is really dark and rains a ton, I keep track of things like that...)

Last minute gifts

I know I'm not the only one who does this to myself...but these last minute gifts are killing me...One done...

yup, it's another tree skirt...I'm addicted to my own pattern...

One to go...

and it's 60" x 80".  Sigh.  I have no idea how it got that big...

OK, I'm off to buy more batting.

Get Organized!

Today, I realized that my sewing table looks like this:

What a hot mess.  And, for the record, that's a tin full of Danish Butter Cookies, just in case I need a snack, I won't have to walk the frightfully long way downstairs to the kitchen.

I think I need to get cleaned up.  There's barely any table left!!  How can any one work like this?  It's a little ridiculous.  And I need to write down some "assignments" on a calendar, because OMG it's already 11 days until Christmas!!  ACK!  (That's a word, right??  Yes, it must be -- Cathy the cartoon says it all the time...) 

OK, here I go to put some stuff away!

Busy Week!

Why is the last week of the quarter always so busy?  All those 'pesky' grades to get turned in for students... No, just kidding -- geesh, I hope my boss doesn't see this.  Grades are important, but arduous to be sure.

But now that's done, and today I taught a quilting class!  So much fun!  5 wonderful ladies and I made my Quick & Easy, Comfy Cozy Tree Skirt pattern in a last-minute rush to decorate for Christmas.  We weren't quite done with it after 4 hours, so I didn't get pictures of their completed tops, but they promised to email them.

This is Loris' -- she works at the quilt shop and made it using my pattern -- isn't it gorgeous???

And of course, since I feel like a better teacher demo-ing how to do things instead of trying to find words to describe what I'm doing, I made one, too.

 I cut all the pieces before class so if I wanted to show a step in the process they'd be RIGHT THERE for me to use to demonstrate.  Hmmm, blue, green and white --  I wonder who I should give this to for Christmas?? ;)

Happy last minute sewing!

LOOK! I made it happen!!

I updated my tree skirt pattern!

And it's on my etsy site, in two formats, and in limited availability at Ruby Street Quiltworks.




I say "limited" cuz it keeps selling out!  :)  

I'm also going to teach a class on it!!  OMG, this is so exciting!!

So, needless to say, I'm writing more quilt patterns.  HA!!

Man, these are fun...

I may have created a monster by starting these Lil Twister blocks...I have just a few started...

look how tall that pile is!!  

and that doesn't count the ones I've got finished...

and the ones I need to add borders to and then cut out.

I hope to make a quilt PLUS some Christmas gifts out of them.





I already have my labels for the back ready.

"Sew" much fun!  I'm a cheese-ball, I realize this...

I'm probably behind and out of fashion, but I'm doing it anyway...

After, like, more than 12 years of working in fabric stores in my teens and twenties, I haven't worked in one for a while now.  Hence, I'm out of fashion.  There's no better way to stay on-trend in the quilting world then working at a quilt shop, and being there on days the product reps come to sell their new stuff...So, I was at a quilt shop, and found this little ruler called a Lil Twister.  Have you seen this?  It's freakin' awesome, and the sales lady demo'ed how easy it was in the store.  I've had it for a while, and haven't tried it yet -- so this weekend, I DID it!  I didn't trust that I'd 1) remember how to use it, or 2) that it would be as easy to use as advertised...but holy cow, IT WAS!!!

For years I've been inexplicably collecting fabrics with snow and other snow-related items -- snowmen, snow angels, snow scenes...the pile was getting embarrassing large, especially considering I didn't have a CLUE what I was collecting them for.  I mean, how much snow fabric can one woman have?  I was trying to answer that question apparently...The finished little blocks with this ruler looked a little like snowflakes to me, so when I saw the ruler, this is what I planned to use it on -- hack up some snow fabric, and make it seem like I had a plan all along.  HA-HA!  Triumph!

OK, so, first I made 5" square four patches, with a border around the outside.  I had a bunch of different sized white/light solid scraps, so I'm using those up.  The 2.5" strips were a little narrow for this, but the 3" strips are working out better.

Then, I laid the Lil Twister on the blocks I made, lining up its lines, and started to cut around it.

It's important to keep the blocks in order.  This was sort of the hardest part -- sometimes I'm good at organization, and sometimes I'm not.  Saturday, when I was doing this = not so much.  So I had to be really aware...

After a while, your quilt block starts to look like Swiss cheese...When you line up the squares, they start to make this little twist, see it? Then I just sewed them together into a twisty little 9 patch...

Here is my finished block:  

Seriously, I had three blocks in about 20 minutes.  In fact, I made a whole stack of 4 patches, and I plan to keep going...as I said, I have lots of fabric that I didn't have a plan for...Of course, NOW, I have a huge stack of these quilt blocks that I don't have a plan for...well, I'm deciding that that's a better pickle to be in than just fabric.  HA-HA!  Another TRIUMPH!  

I'm telling you -- super easy...and totally from the "I wish I'd thought that up" file...coolest ruler I've seen in a while.

I'm sensing a theme...

Apparently I'm in a half-square-triangle kind of mood...three different projects, all HST.  How funny!!