Little Bits

My weekend has been full of little bits of this and little bits of that. Between loads of laundry this morning I got block 17 done. It is an Airplane, so I used some blue and white cloud fabric for the background. The tail is a little crooked, so I might fix that before the paper comes out. It was much simpler and more relaxing than the last block. I did fix the top of the tree this morning, so it looks a little pointier and without resorting to the green sharpie.
Sydney was my photographer this morning and wanted Lizzie to be in the shot. Lizzie wanted to share kisses. We are headed off to an ice skating recital this afternoon and then I have Girl Scout things and school work I need to do. I'm sure I'll slow down on these little blocks soon enough, but I'm working through the initial momentum before I settle down to a more reasonable pace.

OMG!!

Block 16 was so not fun. I started with the bottom corners by making some nice little over sized triangles. Between the mirror image symmetry and the strange angles, I managed to sew two green triangles backwards and had to start over.
I decided to cut a bunch of rectangles 1.5 by 2 inches and use those instead. I'm sure the quilt police are having a hissy right now about the catty wompus grain lines, but look at the size of those little pieces -- it can't matter that much, can it?


So after each of the subunits was done, I started sewing them together left to right, just like the directions said. Somehow that left me with inset seams along the bottom of the tree. I tried to make it work, really I did, but look at those funky angles! Instead I just pulled off those long skinny side pieces, straightened the whole thing up and sewed some strips on at the ends. It wasn't until I was taking the picture at the end that I noticed that the tip of the tree was supposed to be green. Whoops.



I would have skipped this block for sure if I wasn't going in order. I'm glad it is done now though, and I can move on. The next block looks super cute and much easier.
Anna has been asking for a long time to go out to the Melting Pot as a special night out. Kurt isn't so much in favor of spending that kind of money, so instead we got a fondue pot for home and had our own Melting Pot dinner at home. The kids all thought it was great fun and want to do it every week. They already have the menu planned out for the next few sessions and it all sounds delicious.

Wonderful Weekends

I love starting school on a short week. It's only been 3 days and already we have a weekend to recover.
I spent part of the morning making block 15 which was a string block. It was pretty straight forward and simple even though the strings were pretty skinny.

I have started on the next block, a Christmas tree, which is truly frightening. If I were not doing these strictly in order I would skip this one for a very long time.
Anna has her ice skating recital this tomorrow and there was the usual practice this morning, but football hasn't started yet, and there is not a lot on the schedule for the weekend. It should be nice and relaxing I hope with some time to tidy up around the house and putter away on my blocks.

Make it More Bigger

I thought I was cutting the pieces bigger than they needed to be, which seems to help with paper piecing. I guess I needed to make them even bigger than that. My seam allowances were getting pretty skimpy, so I ended up cutting some new triangles midway through this block.
It was when I dug into the scrap basket to find more fabric that I realized the blue was the same that I used in block 13. They came from entirely different sources, and I didn't think about them being the same, but sure enough I had some in my stash and some in the leftover Dear Jane bits. I'm trying to to repeat fabrics and it seemed easier to replace the two squares from block 13 than redo all the paper piecing in this block.

I'm all out of the super nifty dissolvo paper, so I went out and got some tracing paper. It isn't nearly as nice, being slippery against the fabric and getting caught in the printer. I went online to find more of the paper and found some in magic shops of all places. It may be easier to go to the fabric store for some more of the fundation paper.

Lucky 13

I couldn't resist just one more block when I peeked and saw how easy this one looked. It was a simple, quick block. It is called Sheep Field. I have no idea where that name came from.
Now I'm off to bed. Goodnight all.

Block 12 and on a Roll

Block 12 is called Indiana Puzzle. It was paper pieced, which helped with keeping the colors straight. It was a nice simple, straight forward block.
I had to take a picture in the mirror because nobody is home again. I guess I can only sew blocks when everyone leaves at the same time. Kurt was subbing on an outdoor non-beach volleyball team tonight and took the kids with him.

Fat Quarters on SALE

There was a fat quarter sale at Joann's a couple of weeks ago, and the kids helped me pick out small scale prints to use with the Midget Blocks. I think they did a great job. I don't have specific blocks in mind yet, because I'm working strictly in order, one block at a time. The fabric has all been prewashed and nicely ironed. Now I'm ready to use it and make some more blocks.

Thrifty Thursday

Take advantage of free patterns.

With all the free quilt, block and quilting patterns available on web sites and blogs, I amazed that any of us still buy magazines and books on a regular basis. The first site with lots of free patterns I remember finding was Quilters Cache by Marcia Hohn. It has LOTS of blocks and is easy to search by size or name. It can be a bit overwhelming due to the shear volume of patterns, but wow, what a resource. Several years ago I discovered Quiltville where Bonnie Hunter has great patterns and organizational tips for using scraps. She also posts mystery quilts, the next of those is due in November I believe. My most recent discovery was Sentimental Stitches where my new favorite Midget Blocks are posted. Don't forget about block of the months like Amy's Passions and Morning Glory Designs. Not to mention all quilt alongs periodically hosted by fabulous people like Crazy Mom Quilts and Judy at Patchwork Times. In fact, the problems isn't finding a great idea for a quilt, it is always that there are too many great ideas and too few hours in the day. So bookmark them, save them for later, but make sure you take advantage of all of the inspiration, free for the taking.

Crunch all you Want

Remember the old Doritos commercial, "Crunch all you want, we'll make more." I'm starting to feel like that about my little Midget Blocks. I was trying to explain my new addiction to a non quilty friend who reads my blog and she wanted to know if I was making little blocks because they were easier than big blocks.

Well, no, they aren't easier, and it takes a lot more of them to make a quilt. So what is it about these tiny little blocks that makes them so much fun? (Nobody was home to help out, so I had to take my own picture)
Is it all the tiny little pieces that fit together like a tiny little puzzle?
Is it figuring out a new trick to make them turn out well, like finger pressing these tiny squares to find the center to line up the triangles?
I'm not sure why I like them, but I do, so here is block 11, which is called Signal. It is traditionally pieced and is missing the sharp perfection that I am beginning to enjoy in paper pieced blocks. I does measure out to 5 inches though, even though I had to get a little aggressive with the steam to make sure it would fit.
I found a German blogger yesterday who was working on the blocks and posted 50 of them, but she stopped in January of last year. It was fun though, to see her working on the same blocks.

Can't Make Just One

These little blocks are just about as addictive as bejeweled on facebook. I keep thinking I should stop, but then I start just one more. I've got some school work to do this evening, but this afternoon I worked on block 10 which is a Log Cabin. I must say that my paper piecing skills are improving as I work through these little guys. I've learned that trimming threads as you go along makes for a much neater finished product and that it is easier to waste a little fabric by cutting fabric too big than worry about exact sizes. I've been using an add a quarter ruler to trim the patches, but I might try an add an eighth to see if it makes for a lighter block.

The numbering on the this one and the pineapple were different than what I would have done, so I had to be careful to make sure I was following along in the right order. I think they would turn out the same either way, but it helps to keep track with 4 subunits if you are on the same number at the same time on all of them.

Here is the finished block, isn't it a cutie?

I had a good first day of school. I'll sit down tonight and finalize plans for the first couple of chapters in each class and make sure I have everything I need. Today was full of exciting organization things like the syllabus and rules and books. I'm doing a part time schedule this year and it is a lovely feeling to leave in the middle of the day. I went to the grocery store and had a relaxing lunch. Pure bliss.
Last night was the Girl Scout leader meeting and my friend Meisje got suckered into volunteered to plan the leader daughter camping trip this year. That means she is invited to the planning meetings, lucky girl. I was glad she came though, because we went out after for sushi and two-for-one mango martinis. I may look forward to these meetings if we keep going out after.