Block 12, Housetops

Block 12 is an old favorite of mine, Housetops:

this is the block, but not in the kit colors......

these are the colors in the Jo Morton kit, -- I only had enough of these colors at home to sew half of a block

and these are the colors in the Cotton and steel colorway,

this shows the block before it is cut into four smaller blocks.   I am keeping my options open for this one.  I might keep adding rounds to it and use it in the center of my quilt... who knows,   

Stash Management!

 So for the past week or so, I've been chipping away at that box of scraps by my cutting table.  I take out a handful of scraps, iron them and then cut them into some standardized sizes. 

I got  big chunk done on Sunday, along with a couple of other quilters in the classroom at the shop.  The bonus was that it was fun to visit and get to know each other a bit more,
Here are some ideas that occurred to me as I was doing this...(and continue to do a little bit each day--my shelves are getting pretty full, so I think I'll start to sort out what's stacked there too).

Some ideas
---keep a basket by your cutting table to put odd sized scraps until you have time to organize them,   include left over pieces of binding
 ---keep another basket to put fabrics you just don’t want to have, give it away when it’s getting full,
---cut into the largest precuts, or dimensions that you have a project in mind for
larger cuts can be subcut later
----keep a lint roller handy,
---decide what is the smallest size that you want to keep as one full chunk, folded with the other fabrics, such as a 10" x 20" piece, or a .1m of fabric, whatever you prefer,

   Sizes to cut:, (you might not want to do all of these, but you'll develop some favorite sizes to use)
    6 inch strips
    5 inch strips
    3 inch strips
    2-1/2 inch strips
    1-1/2 inch strips
    10 inch squares
    5 inch squares
    2-1/2" squares

Storage: can be stacked on shelves, or in containers,   or ziplock bags,
As you’re cutting you can roughly group them by length,
store the longest strips on bottom of pile
you might want to group strips into light and dark piles,

Keep in mind some quick projects that take larger pieces of fabric, such as pillowcases, simple tote bags,

Organize your patterns into sections that correlate with the type of cuts you are accumulating

As I was cutting, I noticed some colors that went together nicely, so I pulled them out, 

and then I pulled larger pieces from my cupboard, because I decided I needed to make something with them, 

It took me a few days of browsing around online to decide on a project, but last night I started cutting the shapes for a new quilt, which I will have to blog about later, because this post is about stahsh management, after all,

But, this is the outcome I hadnt really expected, the moral of the story, if you will, 

that once you make a start with organizing your scraps, it leads to noticing new color and fabric combinations, which stimulates the imagination.  Before you know it, you have a new project in mind that has you pulling all sorts of things from your stash to use..... 

Shenandoah quilt,

This morning I spent machine quilting 

I decided to try using this pretty ivory colored Clipdot from Michael Miller on the back, and I love it.   It is a lightweight cotton with some texture on it.  The quilt feels really light and airy...

The quilt itself is called Shenandoah, by Creative Sewlutions, and you can make it in seven sizes!  

this is the second size I've made.

it only uses two fabrics,..... for this throw sized one Im using a beautiful Asian floral by Hoffman and a moda Weave as the background,

the first one i made, in the smallest, crib size version I used a pretty border print,  

It is a pretty cool pattern, all in all, I am already thinking how I can vary it by filling up those columns eith piecing....

Stash Management Day!

One thing I have heard many people say lately is " I need to use what I have", or I need to sew what's in my stash.  

Great idea!  there are amazing treasures just waiting to have their turn in the spotlight.

i've realized, however, that it is way easier to sew from your stash when 

a. you can see what is in it, and 

b.  you can get at what you want when you need to.

So, this entails a bit of Stash Management!

It means turning chaos 

into order

sometimes just by refolding and stacking by color,

and somettimes turning big heaps of odd sized scraps

into a basic system of standardized precuts that are one step closer to being included into a project,

If you want to participate in a group stash management, Why not come on Sunday to the shop from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to get organised with a little guidance and lots of moral support.  $5.00 for the day will cover snacks, ideas, cutting mats and irons. you will need to bring a box or two full of scrap chaos, a ruler, and your rotary cutter.  limit of six people, so call the store to reserve your spot!  306-933-3072, in Saskatoon!   

I hope to take some photos and notes to post later for those who aren't able to come in person.   it will be invigorating to get some of those stacks tamed! 

the EPP continues

I've been working on the first Rosette for the millefiori hexagon quilt along.  Its the largest one in the quilt:  its the orange one in the diagram below.  

This is a little photo journey of my progress

First up is to get organized.... figure out how many of each shape to prepare, gather supplies, 

then cut out the fabric pieces to baste to each template

while sewing the first round, I wasnt sure about the hexagone I made for the center, which was the orange one.  I had sewn several hexies from the book, so I auditioned them,

while laying out the pieces of the first round, 

I tried placing the second round hexies with the pink bits on the outer edge, 

then with them on the inside edge of the round.

in the end I decided to have them on the inside.  I sewed another possible center,

and then I sewed a third one... which is the one I decided to use,

This is how it looked with the second round

Then, to prepare the pieces for the third round..

glue basting is saving my bacon.  I probably wouldnt do this with thread basting the pieces, but glue basting goes way faster, 

There are 18 pieced hexies on the third round, so I had to play with them before I sewed them on to the rosette,

that was fun.  

then, I sewed them on.  And this is what it looks like now!

It is quite big, over thirty inches across,

I did a little bit of fussy cutting in the white ring fabrics, 

Well, now I am all ready for next months blocks!,

Remember, if you want to participate in this project, its easy.  All you need to get is a copy of the book, The New Hexagon, and sign up on Katja's web site and she will email you the instructions each month, 

there is a facebook group for it, and hashtags for instagram too, so its easy to see what fabrics others are using...   (just check my previous post for the links, )