Monday, November 18, 2013

Quilting will always pull me through.

The weather around here has been tagging right along with how I feel these days, health wise.  We have had 70's temps all the way down to 50's through the last couple of weeks.  Up and down here we go!  I have had a cold for the last (almost) 2 weeks and before that I was fine for a couple weeks.  BUT there was a cold present before that! 

I visited the doctor the other day finally as I was fed up with it all.  Diagnosis: cold and sore throat.  Well that is good as far as not having strep throat or a sinus infection.  I have never had a sinus infection I can proudly say, but strep once or twice in my life so far.  Not complaining.  Mucinex and Sudafed at night for me and LOTS of water, hot tea and rest,rest,rest!  Not much else for this pregnant mama. 

In between this horrible raspy cough I got going,I try to block it out with some TLC of sewing!!  I finished all of the receiving blankets for now.  Maybe I will do a couple more later.  We'll see.  They are all folded up ready for our little one:):):):)

With the burp cloths, I almost bought some more flannel to back these babies.  Then I got wise and remembered that I had some leftover fleece in a bin packed away. 

Nothing makes for a more fun time sewing then being able to use some of those prints in my stash that have been sitting around 3-4 years waiting for the perfect project.  I got all matchy, matchy here and rolled with it.

The flannel on flannel ones are quite nice too.  I matched thread color too for the heck of it.  Once again because it was fun and that is why I sew!! 

All of the burp cloths are soooo soft and it feels really good to have made them all for pretty much free!

Metro Rings there you are!  These were calling me and I was happy to oblige.  I am hoping wholeheartedly to get this quilt top moving,moving,moving.  The curves are very easy to ease into the white pieces cut out.  Guess what?  No pins required either!  Yeah.  That part is pretty darn cool.  It's like magic!  Then that other stack of Kona white I sew on next with OUT pins.

Part 2:  not so easy does it...

I had to square them up with the Quick Curve Ruler and it wasn't working AT ALL.  So I decided to go ahead and trim off 1/4" on each side to bring them down to the required 9 1/2" squared.  Then  you sew two of the halves together to make a square.



You come out with this in the pic-- minus the dotty triangles.  Add in the dotty triangles and square that up which is supposed to be achieved with a 10" square ruler.  No go....so I improvised with a cut out fabric 10" square with a diagonal line running through it.  I lined that up on the center seam of the "football" looking block, put a pin through to the seam on the block to make sure I was hitting the seam and the diagonal line right on.  Lastly, I  trimmed away to make the whole thing 10" square.  Seemed to have worked.  I got the test block out of the way and now onto the rest!

On a side note:  I emailed Jenny Pedigo which is the designer of the Metro Rings pattern, to see if she could maybe shed some light on squaring these guys up with her ruler she also designed.  There was also another fellow quilter/blogger I found that did this pattern earlier this year.  I emailed her as well and we have been conversing back and forth about it.  She had issues with it too and plans on making another Metro Rings quilt in the beginning of next year.   I'm looking forward to seeing her process.

For the time being I am going to continue to sew the white fabric on each of the pieced curves.  That will keep me busy for awhile I presume;)

I have some Honey Lemon hot tea calling my name! 

Hope everyone is staying healthy and taking care of themselves:)

Hugs!

Sara












16 comments:

Terri said...

Sorry to hear you've been sick! Colds can be like that, hanging around for a couple months. Just when you think it's gone, it comes back again. Hope you're on the mend soon.

How fun to be making all those things for the baby, especially using your stash too. I love hearing about your fun sewing projects.

Impera Magna said...

Oh, you have been a very busy girl, Ms Sara! Love that "apples & pears" fabric... so bright and cheerful. Good idea to stockpile goodies before your daughter arrives... I'm sure you know things will be pretty busy after that.

Take care of yourself... colds & sore throats are a bummer, esp when you're expecting.

Jessica said...

Ugh :( feel better hon! Take the time you need to relax so it doesn't stick around. Love those burp cloths and the ring quilt looks so pretty so far! Great fabrics :)

Adventurous Quilter said...

All of your projects look great, I hope you feel better soon.

Joanie's Trendy Quilts said...

You have been busy getting ready for baby. Lot's of lovelies - soft burp cloths and flannel blankets! Ring quilt is so pretty too! I hope you can get the squaring of the blocks settled. I loved how you used another block that had a diagonal line to square the block. Quite ingenious if you ask me!. Take care of yourself. Hope you will be feeling good soon.

BillieBee (billiemick) said...

Feel better soon! Enjoyed your post and hearing about the curved blocks. I have the ruler, but haven't tried it yet.

The Thompsons said...

Hope you're feeling better. You have a lot of wonderful projects going!

Chris Dodsley @made by ChrissieD said...

Some fab projects on the go, take care of yourself :D

Amy said...

I hope you get to feeling better soon. I love your metro rings in the works. I recently bought the ruler but not had time to sew with it yet. I did see she had a tutorial for squaring up on her blog.

Karen said...

Ok, get better alright? That metro rings quilt looks super challenging...hope you figure out the squaring up. I have never gotten a handle on that :)

Chris Dodsley @made by ChrissieD said...

Take care and get well, you're working on some great projects :D

Christine S said...

Get well soon!

Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation said...

hope you feel better soon! the weather has been changing a lot around here too and it's been taking it's toll. I love your metro blocks, and the blankets and burp cloths are too sweet!

Thanks for linking up to Needle and Thread Thursday!

:) Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation

Paulette said...

I sure hope your cold is better by now, Sara. Sewing is good therapy for whatever ails you. You have been a busy bee! Looking good!

Jennie @ Porch Swing Quilts said...

You are one busy mama! All your finishes are wonderful. Best of luck on your curved piecing project. I've only done one thus far, although a Double Wedding ring is on my bucket list.

Live a Colorful Life said...

I hope you feel better soon! I have Jenny's ruler, haven't tried it but sure want to! Thanks for linking up this week!