Tiny Tuesday - Cornerstones

I chose some bright and happy darks to highlight in the last Tiny Tuesday post.  This is really just a nine patch, but with a larger center block. 
1 center square 2.75 inches square in dark
4 corner squares 1 5/8 inches square in various darks
4 side rectangles in light 1 5/8 by 2.75 inches

Arrange these into a nine patch with the large square in the center.  

 Sew together into rows.  Press the seams toward the dark fabrics.

Sew the rows together to make your finished block.  

Tiny Tuesday - Split 16 Patch

 Start with an assortment of squares in dark and light.  I had a stack of 2 inch squares which then got trimmed down eventually to 1 5/8 inches.  You will need 10 each of dark and light.

 I usually make half square triangles two at a time by drawing a line down the middle and sewing on either side.  In this case I wanted a variety of HST units and so I sewed directly on the drawn line.

 Make 4 of these HST units.  Press the top dark triangle open on each one.  .

 Now lift up the top triangle...

 ...and trim away the waste triangle below.

 Now you can square up your HST units as well as your plain squares to 1 5/8 inches each.

 Arrange in a 4 by 4 grid and sew them all together.

There you go.  Lots of little bits put to good use.  

Just one more Tiny Tuesday block to go!  Looking forward to Tuesday.

Tiny Tuesday - Bullseye

 All strips are 1 inches wide.  After that, the strips are cut to various lengths in one inch increments. 
1 black square 1 inch long
2 white squares 1 inch long
2 black rectangles 2 inches long
2 white rectangles 2 inches long
2 black rectangles 3 inches long
2 white rectangles 3 inches long
2 black rectangles 4 inches long
2 white rectangles 4 inches long
2 black rectangles 5 inches long

 Now arrange the squares and rectangles out from the center with the shorter pieces on the right and left and the longer pieces on the top and bottom.

 Sew white one square onto each side of the black square and press the seams toward the black.

 Sew one white rectangle (2 inches) onto the top and one onto the bottom of the center section.  Press away from the center.

 Now add the next black rectangles (2 inches) onto each edge.  Press away from the center.

 Repeat with the top and bottom pieces (3 inches).  Press away from the center.

 Next add the white rectangles again on right and left (3 inches).

 Now back to top and bottom (4 inches)

 Back to black on edges (4 inches).

 Finally, the last two pieces will be black (5 inches).

 Press everything away from the center.

Here is your final Bulls Eye bock.  5 inches unfinished.  4.5 inches in the finished quilt.

Scroll down for the ScrapHappy Saturday.  I'm getting caught up again on Tiny Tuesday.   The next block will be out soon.  Last block is due on the final Tiny Tuesday in just 3 short days.  

ScrapHappy Saturday

Every once in a while, life just explodes.  Even if it is exploding with good things, it is still easy to get lost.  I have completely dropped the ball on Tiny Tuesday for not one, but for two weeks in a row!  There are only Three blocks left, and I have neglected two of them.  I am so sorry!  Never fear.  I am off right now to finish off the last three blocks and I will post them all.  I know that people are anxious to get started on the finishing.
Then, when that is done, I will go buy a new car.  I wasn't fully decided on what kind yet, but Anna has an internship now and needs to have a car at college ASAP.  See what I mean about explosive goodness?  She will be working in a lab studying traumatic brain injury and couldn't be happier.  Given her own experiences with concussions, it seems super appropriate.
The morning is open though, because Kurt is off at his annual chorus competition.  When he gets back though, we will go and get a car, then clean out the garage so that it will fit inside.  Then Wednesday we will drive the old car over to Anna.
Right now though, I'm going to go and sew.  And sew and breath and enjoy.  I hope that you are able to do the same.

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ScrapHappy Saturday

Its been one of those weeks.  So sorry for not getting a block up on Tuesday.  I was in Jacksonville for a state testing committee meeting.  Kurt was in LA for a conference and Sydney got the flu.  So glad this week is almost done.  Sydney is starting to feel better, but realizing how much work she needs to make up.  Kurt and I are both home again, so hopefully things will settle down.  We had hoped to go car shopping this weekend, it is looking like it might be a bit rainy. 

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ScrapHappy Saturday

What a week!  I was frantically finishing editing a test on Wednesday when an announcement came over the intercom.  Usually it is another lockdown drill.  This time it was my principal announcing that I had been voted as teacher of the year for my school!  A huge group of people from the school and the district came rushing into my room with flowers!  

Then I got to write some essays for the teacher of the year and read some essays about endangered species from my ninth graders.  And assign some essays on a test about cells for my AP kids.  Its been a whirlwind.

Anna is home for the weekend!  She has a week off for fall break.  Monday is a teacher workday for us and Columbus day for the kids.  I have a few things to finish up at school, but I'll do those after Anna goes back to school again.  The quarter ended on Friday, so there are those last minute odds and ends.  I'm going to be out of town for two days next week, so I should  clean up my classroom a bit and make a few copies for the sub.  

I haven't enjoyed many sunrises lately.  There has been a huge driving wind lately with a lot of rain.  This morning was beautiful though.  And on a weekend.  Can't ask for better timing than that.  

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Tiny Tuesday - Geese Circle

 This block is built of 4 flying geese along with a 2 inch square.  There are SEW many ways to make a flying goose block.  I'm going to use easy angle and companion angle rulers tonight because I haven't in a long time, but feel free to use the method that works for you.  I'll come back at the end and link to some other techniques for you to consider.  The key is that each goose should be 3.5 by 2 inches unfinished. (Finished size = 3 by 1.5)
To use the specialty rulers, start with 2 inch strips of two contrasting fabrics.  I chose black and grey.

 With the darker color, use the companion angle ruler to cut 4 goose bodies.  If the strip is folded in half you can cut two at a time.

 Next, use the lighter color to cut 8 goose wings.  Again, if you fold your strip in half you can double your productivity.

 Add a 2 inch square of light fabric and you are all set.

 Sew one wing onto the right side of each goose body.  Finger press before sewing the other wing onto the left side.

 Press your flying geese and trim the dog ears.

 Start placing  your geese around the center square.  This block is just like the friendship block we did a couple of weeks ago, but with flying geese instead of plain rectangles. It uses the same partial seam method.  So if you made that block you will be ready to go.

 Continue to rotate the geese around the center square working in a clockwise direction.

 Sew the top goose to the center square using a partial seam.  This means that instead of sewing end to end, you will start in the center of the square and sew to the right hand end.  If you look carefully at the picture, you can see that the left hand end of the seam is open.

 Move on to the block in the upper right and sew using a regular seam.

 Continue to rotate around, each seam is regular until you get back to where you started.

 The top seam is already half sewn, so you just have to finish off the other half.

Press the seams on the back to help them lie flat and you are good to go.  

Back in a flash with some links to other geese methods.  

No Waste Flying Geese Method with cutting chart.  

5 Ways to Make Flying Geese

Scrap Happy Saturday

I'm looking forward to doing something with my browns and blacks this month.

I think another scrap basket is first on my list. 

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Walking on the Dark Side

As we begin the wrap up, it is time to tackle the "darks"  brown, black, grey.  I'm grouping them together so that you can find the anchor hue that works for you.  I know that people are hesitant to include black and brown in their rainbow quilts, but I encourage you to give it a try.  They lend a certain gravitas and grounding to the brightest of quilts that can really work well.
It is not only the first day of a new month, it is also Tiny Tuesday.  Today's block is called floating stairs. 

 Today's block is on a four by four grid, which means we will be working with 1 5/8 inch strips.  I started with extras from the 2 inch strip b5/8in and trimmed them to size.  I chose 4 different browns with a single background fabric.  You could mix it up differently if you like.

 If you carefully stack up all four brown strips, you can cut them to size at the same time.  Each rectangle is 2 3/4 by 1 5/8

 Here are all the pieces you will need:
4 rectangles of brown 2.75 (2 3/4) by 1.625 (1 5/8)
2 large rectangles of background fabric, also 2.75 by 1.625
2 medium rectangles of background fabric, 2 by 1.625
2 small rectangles of background fabric, 1.25 by 1.625

 Start with the brown rectangles, and stair step them from left to right.  Use the background rectangles to fill in the empty space.  The large rectangles go on the top and bottom on opposite sides.  Then one small and one medium rectangle go on either side of the two brown units in the center.

 Sew the background rectangles to the brown rectangles and press the seams toward the brown.  Sew the rows together in pairs and then sew the pairs together to make your finished block.

There you go!  That one didn't take long at all.