Teacher Training Today

I was at a workshop today when this message came to my inbox. I am such a geek sometimes.

Finish it on Fake Friday

 Teal Crumbs has been having the binding slowly stitched all week.  It needed to have a moment when I was home during the day to get some photos.  Look at how bright it is in the afternoon sunlight. 

 The quilting consists of some fire like fingers that run horizontally across the quilt. I u sed aqua thread on the front and black on the back.  My thread stash has taken a big hit lately.  I seem to keep using things up.  Maybe I should do some shopping?  I like the professional cones at Connecting Threads.  First I'd better take a color inventory and match it against upcoming quilts.  They do free shipping with a fifty dollar order.  That might be too much thread.  I'd better throw in a few rainbow bits for next years planned Rainbow Scrap Challenge Jane.

Sydney will never forgive me for including boxer fabric in the random black squares that make up the back. She was OK with everything else, but astonished that I put UNDERWEAR on her quilt. 
Tomorrow is a teacher workday and I am signed up for more AP training.  So even though it is only Thursday, to me it feels like a Friday.  I even tried to watch the VP debate last night and couldn't figure out why it wasn't on.  I also went out to dinner with my friend Meisje who just started a new job.  We've been trying to get together for ages, but we have both been busy lately. 
The big news of the week was an invitation in my inbox yesterday to attend a committee meeting for the new biology end of course exam in order to review item specifications.  Attending a meeting didn't seem like too big of a deal until I read down further and realized that the meeting was 4 days long and out of town.  4 school days?!  Yikes, that was a big deal.  So much talking to administrators and negotiating for subs followed along with so much rearranging and planning of lessons.  I'll get everything finished up this weekend and then start packing for my trip.  After talking to a coworker who has been to similar meetings in the past, I will also pack lots of quilting to work on in my hotel room in the evenings. 

Tiny Tuesday - Stepping Stones

 I wasn't going to sew tonight, but when I popped in to see who had posted, I saw that Bonnie was online for quiltcam.  It took just about one hour to get this little guy all cut out and sewn together.  It is traditionally pieced and came together almost as the directions were listed.  If you look at the small pink squares, you will notice that the ones closer to the center of the square are smaller.  They were initially cut at 1 1/8 inches, but were supposed to join with rectangles that were cut to a 1 inch width.  I trimmed the squares down and they fit just fine with the green arrow units. 

I think it is a really cute block.  I like the pink and green together.  This is definitely one that would make a nice quilt.  In fact, it reminds me of a Bonnie Hunter pattern -- maybe it was called Jared Takes a Wife?  The arrows were put together differently, but I think it was the same block. 

Mini Monday - Magnolia Bud

 This is Midget Block #100, it is called Magnolia Bud and was paper pieced.  I think there were 10 sections, but they ended up going together in simple little rows.  I really like the little red bits, and the two greens add a nice touch I think. 

Ryan was kind enough to take a break from his Lego programming for long enough to hold the block up for me.  He thought it was "pretty cool", coming from him that is high praise indeed.  After finishing this one, I realized that I missed some of the blocks in the 90s, so I will have to go back and add those in.  I'll have to print out some more patterns first though, I seem to have worked my way through everything that was ready to go. 
Speaking of using things up, I am out of Tiny Tuesdays this year and starting to work on Mini Mondays instead.  The posts will seem out of order, but it all makes sense to me.  Just 22 more blocks to go!

Design Wall Monday October 8, 2012

I didn't accomplish much on Hawaii Sunset this weekend because I was frantically sewing away at my Midgets.  The 10 blocks along the right hand side are all new this week!  In fact, there were so many that they didn't fit on the design wall anymore, so I went out and got a brand new flannel backed table cloth to add on to the existing wall.  I need to make 22 more blocks to get to the 144 block target that I have in mind.  There are 25 page protectors all lined up with fabric and patterns just waiting to be sewn.  I think my goal of finishing before Christmas is starting to seem very realistic.  Head over to Judy's Blog to see what other people have accomplished this weekend. 

Slowdown Sunday

I've been on a maniacal midget marathon. Posting one block each Tuesday, I've just written the post for Christmas Day! Having run out of printed patterns though, I was forced to take a break. Ryan is using the computer for Lego programming, leaving me at a transition point. Sydney is firing up the DVD player with The Avengers so I will sit and stitch some binding. The Teal Crumb quilt is almost done and Smith Mountain is next in line.

A Thought on Brown and Black

 I wanted to take a minute to share my favorite two quilts from last year.  Notice the gravitas that the black and brown add to the quilt. 

Without something darker for grounding it would be easy for the rainbow colors to float away. 

ScrapHappy Saturday - Falling Down Brown

As the year starts to wind down, the color options for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge are becoming narrower.  Many already guessed that this month would be brown.  Some of you would rather not include the darker colors in your rainbow of blocks.  That is fine of course, it is your quilt after all.  Before you leave it out entirely though, think about what a few darker anchor blocks will do to ground your quilt.  Give it some thought, try it out.  If you still don't like it you can always turn the extra blocks into potholders, fall place-mats or even hide them on the back of the quilt.  Why not sew a few scraps together and see how you like them?  They were already scraps after all, you aren't wasting a thing. 

Little Bits of Fabric Joy

 I was home sick today and didn't have a lot of energy, but I did work on a few midget blocks.  Here is a sneak peak, but the full posts will wait for Tiny Tuesdays.  I have another applique block prepped to work on during the presidential debate tonight.  I might have to watch it in a different room from my husband who gets very emotional about these things. 

The exciting news for today is that I go brand new and fabulous fabric in the mail.  I am planning to start a Rainbow Dear Jane as soon as the Midgets are all done.  (Don't know when that will be -- but maybe by the end of this year?)  When I saw these beautiful bundles at the Twiddletails store, I knew they would be just right.  The only one I didn't put in my cart was a yellow set that seemed to have a lot of white background going on.   Aren't they purdy?  Of course now I have the urge to go and make a few blocks just to try out all this new fabric, but I will resist. 

Tiny Tuesday - Bride's Stairway

 Some blocks just make you stare, scratch your head and wonder.  I'd been looking at this one for quite a while before its number came up wondering just one thing -- WHY?

In the end, I tackled it just like so many other things.  Take a deep breath and start with step one.  So I cut 16 blue rectangles at 7/8 x 1 3/4 inches.  Seriously?  Even better, the next step was 32 triangles from 1 5/8 inch squares cut into fourths.  OK.  Next, line up all the little bits and sew them together.  It wasn't so bad in the end, though I will admit to sewing one corner on the wrong way before figuring it out.  I won't call it perfect, but I will say I am glad to cross it off the list.