Celtic Solstice, Part 1

I've worked on Celtic Solstice this weekend.  All of my part one pieces are cut.  I am using Deb Tucker's V-Block ruler for this step.  I've used the Tri Recs in the past, and I haven't been happy with my accuracy using it.  The V-Block ruler is very forgiving in your cutting and sewing, but you have to trim down at the end. I am willing to do that trimming for the sake of accuracy.

Here's a real life picture of my blocks in progress.  It looks chaotic, but I have a system.

 Some of my blocks are sewn but not trimmed.

 

I should have most of these units complete by the time the next clue comes out, but I do have a little bit of Christmas sewing to do too.

 

Linking up with Bonnie Hunter this week:  http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2013/12/celtic-solstice-mystery-monday-link-up-1.html

Christmas Pillowcases and Stash Report

I made 5 pillowcases this weekend.  Three of them are early Christmas gifts for college kids.  I like to send them something while they are studying for exams.  I also made two for my BIL.  They match the quilt I made him for his birthday, and they use the same 3-D fabric.

 

 Used this week: 6.125 yards
Used Year to Date:  88.625 yards
Added this week: 7.25 yards
Added year to date:  93.875 yards
Net Added:  5.25 yards

 

 

Carolina Christmas Progress

I had hoped to get all the poinsettia blocks done this week, but my sewing time was limited.  By Monday night, I had this much done:

 

To say I'm finished with the poinsettia blocks, means I'd have to have these 48 units sewn into blocks of 4 to make 12 big blocks.  That hasn't happened yet, and now I'm thinking that I may wait to do it because it is easier for me to store 8 inch blocks than 16 inch blocks without getting them  all wrinkled up. 

 

In any event, I would have never even begun this quilt without the push from Jo.  Thanks, Jo!  I've always wanted to do Carolina Christmas, and now I might even have it done for Christmas 2014.

I'm linking up with:

http://www.joscountryjunction.com/bonnie-challenge/

Silk Ribbon Roll-Up

I took a class last Saturday with Susan Gay of Berryhill Heirlooms.  Here is my Silk Ribbon Roll-Up:

Three pieces of double sided satin ribbon were joined with a featherstitch.  It was a challenge for me to get the featherstitches even.  I am used to working on linen, not silk. 

Susie Gay was an excellent teacher. There were about 15 people in the class, at all different stitching levels, and she managed to keep us stitching.  I got about 75% of the piece done in a 6 hour class.

The beaded ends of the ribbon ties were hard for me.  I redid the first one 3 times before I got it done to my satisfaction.

Here is what the piece looks like on the inside.  The inner layer is wool felt.  The pocket at the end closes with an antique button.  It holds a beeswax strawberry.

Here is a close up of my beaded grapes.  I had the same spacing issue with the Antwerp stitch edging that I did with the featherstitch:  no threads to count to keep the spacing even. 

I did ribbon embroidery for the first time on this piece.  It was fun! I'd like to do more ribbon embroidery.  I signed up for a class last spring, but it was cancelled due to lack of interest.  I hope my guild will offer more surface stitching classes as I really need the practice.

This project was published in Creative Needle, August 2008.  I'm linking up with Sarah and Amanda Jean.
 http://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/2013/11/can-i-get-whoop-whoop-restoring-past.html

http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2013/11/scrap-vortex.html

http://www.supermomnocape.com/2016/05/23/vintage-embroidery-monday-stitchery-link-party-59/

November Ornament

I finished my November ornament a week early (or my October ornament 3 weeks late).

 

The gold beads, gold thread and sparkles woven into the fabric don't show up very well.  This is Christmas Box Ornament.  I'm afraid I don't know the designer of this one.

 

To see more ornaments:

http://stitchinglotus.ca/2013/11/ornament-sal-november-check-in/

 

 

 

Carolina Christmas Continues

I've gotten 48 small poinsettia blocks done.  These need to be sewn together in 12 sets of 4.  I hope to get that done tomorrow.  I will soon need to stop sewing and start cleaning because  about 30 people are coming to my house for Thanksgiving.

 

 

To see more design walls:  http://www.patchworktimes.com/2013/11/18/design-wall-november-18-2013/

 

The Backup Machine and Carolina Christmas Whine

I sew on a Bernina 1260 that is about 17 years old.  My machine has been in the shop this week for its annual cleaning, so this week I've been using my son's 830 Record.  The Bernina tech told me that the 830 is considered a perfect sewing  machine.  It is still in  high demand  after 40 years because it is a great machine. 

Perfect or not, I miss my 1260.  I like having a needle up/down button.  I miss the way my 1260 can sew backwards without my holding down a button.  I even miss the razor thread cutter on the side.  My 1260 foot peddle is more sensitive than the one on the 830, which seems to only have a super fast or super slow speed. This sewing machine also likes to grab the corners of triangles and pull them into the bobbin area, even when using the leader/ender technique.  I am grateful to have a backup machine, but I will be glad when mine is out of the shop. 

Another thing I feel like whining about is this unit:

I've made almost 200 of them for this quilt.  Some of them look pretty good, but most of them are mediocre, just a hair too big or small or not quite square on the ends.  Quilting muggles will never notice, but it is driving me crazy.  A few of these units were so skewed that I decided not to use them.  

Is there a better method than sewing a neutral square to the end of the red rectangle on the diagonal? I actually drew  the diagonal lines on the triangles, hoping to improve the accuracy of my units, but it didn't really seem to matter.  I just made a boatload of these units this past summer for Lazy Sunday and had similar accuracy problems. Usually I get more accurate the more repetitions I do, but I can't say I'm really improving at this.  If anyone has a more accurate method, please let me know.  I like making units a sliver bigger than needed and trimming them down to the correct size, but am not quite sure how to do this with this unit.  If I knew the name of it, I would google it.  Someone must know a better way.

This week I got in about 3.5 hours of sewing time and made some progress, but I'm not as far along as I'd like to be.

For more Bonnie Hunter quilt progress:  http://www.joscountryjunction.com/bonnie-challenge-update-2/