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Nesting, and Yoder Lodge!

Happy Sunday to all.  The weather is hot and so humid, but we have been getting some rain for the last 4 days and then back to the horrible heat!  I have been working on 2 projects, Nesting and Yoder Lodge blocks.   The border for Nesting is not complicated so I am pretty sure I can finish it by the end of the month or before!  Tomorrow is Radio Frequency treatment for my back – they cauterize the nerves from the waist down and it really helps!  So while ‘resting’ I will work on Nesting as soon as the twilight wears off!

Progress is being made on Nesting. The top border has 2 Red Birds, and each border side there is a Blue bird.  On the bottom border there is a nest with eggs!  Each corner has the 4 leaves.  There is some embroidery left to complete, but I usually do this when all the applique is complete.  This is going to be a striking quilt and will be hand quilted!  Hummm maybe this will be one that is going to be loaded on that new Grace Z44 frame that I purchased over a year ago.

The other project I am working on is Yoder Lodge.  I have completed 10 of the 30 blocks that make up this quilt.  I am excited because each time I make one it takes less and less time!  Guess the saying ‘practice makes perfect’ still goes!  I am thinking that Wednesday or Thursday I will begin to cut some HSTs and add them to each corner in order to square each block.  The blocks will square to 10″ finished and 10 1/2″ unfinished so these are not large blocks I am making!  A lot of work, but I do believe this will be a great Show Quilt next year.  I have not seen anyone else making it.  The pattern is neatly tucked away in a Quiltmania book!

I am not sure, but that orange star with that dark background may be the first to square – just in case there is a problem.  It will not hurt my feelings if I have to make another orange as this background really sticks out like a sore thumb.  But that was my mood for the day!  LOL  I am very happy that all my points are turning out perfect, and crossing my fingers that all works out when I square the block or I will be one upset puppy!

I am off to cut out 5 more blocks and then hopefully I will complete one more for today.  the block on the bottom is the one I completed this morning.  My goal is for 2 per day and hopefully 3 a day as I get closer to completion.  Final goal would be end of July to have it completed.  The quilt will be put together with a sashing and there will not be a need for a border as this would take away from the floating star effect.  I am not sure which fabric I will use for the sashings, but thinking about the P&B white or a Batik white.

Have a great week and happy quilting!

Nanette

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A Warning to Bloggers on Rebot Spam

Please take the time to read what has happened to Bella.  I am not sure how Blogger works, but if you use WordPress you might want to take heed.  I change my ‘re-blog’ as Anita stated (copied from Bella’s latest post entities Help Please!!!!)

This information is from Anita and is posted on Bella’s blog post that I have linked to:

FROM ANITA:  “You’ve been hacked by a content robot. This is how it was explained to me. What has happened to your site is done by a robot system that searches for vulnerable blogs then exploits them for “visitor counts”. The blog owner probably doesn’t even look at their own site except for the numbers because they get paid per visit. When you send your readers to make comments that just ups their numbers even more. I believe it works similar to other spam sites that grab content and email addresses to make it look like the emails are coming from you.

In order to stop this from happening you need to re-set the “re-blog” button to NO.
1) go to your wordpress dashboard
2) click on the settings
3) click on the sharing
4) Scroll down to the wordpress re-blog button
5) change it from show re-blog to don’t show re-blog
6) important that you save the change
7) Change your wordpress password

This should stop the re-blog robots from grabbing your content. At least for now until the criminals find a way around the fix. Unfortunately there is nothing you can do about what has already been stolen. I learned from experience when this happened to me a few months ago. It would be a good idea to change your email password too. My email got hacked soon after my blog got hacked. A message was sent to every single one of my blog readers that I was stranded in a foreign country and needed money to get back home. How embarrassing! I was at home and safe.

I don’t believe any of your faithful readers would dream of re-blogging your content. We would rather post a link for readers to see your site for themselves. The re-blog button is for hacker use only and should be destroyed by wordpress!

I forgot to say that those links on your post to other blogs are now vulnerable to being hacked too. Content robots look for any links within your site as another possible connection. Please warn them to reset their re-blog button ASAP”

PASSING ALONG TO ALL INTERESTED!  I RESET MINE!

Have a great week-end.

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York Lodge and RSC 2018 Challenge for June

This has been a great week for productivity for me and my quilting projects.  Even with all the pounding going on with the new roofs.  They should be through by tomorrow (Saturday).  I hope when they start on the Studio I can still work with the noise.

I have completed my RSC 2018 blocks for June – almost did not get them done.

RSC 2018 Block – I chose a turquoise and picked up on the green for the cross pieces.

Three blocks together On-Point

On to York Lodge I feel now that I have mastered this block.  I have completed 4 5 blocks – only 26  25 more to go.  It is taking me less time now to make one.  Here are the steps I go through (minus the strip piecing part)

I have discovered that if I draw a 1/4” line on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th pieces that things go together great.  Now this does not mean that I do not have to rip a few to get them perfect, but this is much easier to pin than other ways this technique can be mastered.

A section before sewn

This is how I draw the 1/4” line which really helps in getting the seams perfect.

As shown, all seams are pressed open. The section on the righj shows how the seams/points are perfect!

Here are the 4  5 blocks that I have completed (without the Corner HST’s which will make the block Squared)

York Lodge Blocks – First 5 – 25 more to go!

 

I am now enjoying making this quilt!  So much fun to work with a different color and background.  At first I did not like the Orange Block, but it is growing on me.

Have a wonderful week-end!  Hot here and by Sunday the roofing project will be complete and it can rain rain rain!

Linking To:  My Quilt Infatuation; Confessions of a Fabric Addict; Finished or Not Friday ; Sew Can She; Em’s Scrap Bag; BOM’s Away; Fiber Tuesday;   Esther’s Wednesday WOW; Sew, Stitch, Snap, SHOW; Sew Fresh Quilts; Crazy Mom Quilts;  Oh Scrap; Scrap Happy Saturday; Show and Tell Monday with Bambi;

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HQAL and York Lodge

Greetings from back to the Desert South Texas.  The roof projects are on track now.  We were concerned about the roof on the house where an issue might arise, but no it was the Studio Roof that needed to be upgraded to the standing seam tin roof.  Thank goodness we did this massive undertaking!  Tomorrow they will start putting the new roof on.

The borders are on Nesting and will be I marking the border where the birds and leaves will be placed.  This is a 2003 pattern and the placement pattern leaves a lot to be desired, so I will mark the borders, then I will decide how I will place the stems.  I have the applique pieces cut out and ready to select the fabric for them.  I always keep a bag of the fabrics that were used for applique on a quilt, so all I will have to do is to decide the color placement of the leaves!  This is a simple applique pattern, it took me a lot longer due to those fun things going on in the last year or so!

Nesting by Darlene Christopherson (2003)

Progress on York Lodge quilt project has been slow.  Thursday was my best day for ‘really’ starting the project.  I vacillated between the P&B fabrics (the pink and white one), Reproduction fabrics, and then back to my original selection – Batiks!  Once that decision was made I made the first block of 30!  It took awhile because of the precision involved in sewing the strip pieced diamond sections together.  There are 2 things to note that have made this a little easier (or should I say more accurate) is to take the first 2 diamond sets (cut on a 45 degree angle) and mark where the 1/4″ seam allowance will be!  Along with the pinning, it is less likely for me to have to rip to get the points accurate!  This block took me about 5  hours to make (this included a few interruptions) after I made the fabric selection.   This quilt will have a lot of movement with the different background fabrics for each block.  The quilt will have blues, turquoise and greens.  I will consider a few reds, yellows, and orange, but not a lot.  I do not desire to make a rainbow quilt.

The iPhone camera would not pick up on the actual blue, it is a lighter blue.  I have not done the corners yet.  I was just elated to have it completed!

I cut out the fabric for a block from the P&B fabric with the white that I really liked  I used the pink fat quarter because I knew if I did not like the effect that it would not matter if this met is fate in the trash can – and it did!  Absolutely no movement to this at all.  The practice block is one I love, but I did not have anymore of the crackle with red dots and they do not make any of the lightest beige crackle! DARN!  I would have made the entire quilt out of this fabric.

I am pleased with my decision to reduce the computer time because I am slowly getting more accomplished!  This week I will need to do my 3 blocks for the RSC 2018 challenge as this will be the one and only RSC quilt that will be in my collection and I do not plan on doing anymore.

Have a great week, I am looking forward to working on Mountmellick border, York Lodge, and Nesting.  This is my favorite time of summer – as of Thursday the days start counting down to end of October when we go back to normal time!  Yea.  DST is NOT my favorite!  Maybe our hot days will be numbered and by September we will have a ‘Fall’?  Enjoy quilting.

Linking To:  My Quilt Infatuation; Confessions of a Fabric Addict; Finished or Not Friday ; Sew Can She; Em’s Scrap Bag; BOM’s Away; Fiber Tuesday;   Esther’s Wednesday WOW; Sew, Stitch, Snap, SHOW; Sew Fresh Quilts; Crazy Mom Quilts;  Oh Scrap; Scrap Happy Saturday; Show and Tell Monday with Bambi;

Kathy, Lori, Kerry, Emma, Tracy, Deb, Connie, Deborah,  Susan, Jessisca, Sherry, Nanette, Sassy, Edith, Sharon and Bella.

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The Long Awaited Nesting

Good Afternoon from “no rain event” LV. SA may be getting rain but not here!

I have finally finished the blocks for Nesting!!! SHOCK!

Next step is to add the border and that means more applique. This will be the first time I will be doing an appliqued Border.  So tomorrow I will read the directions, cut the border strips and then prepare the applique and stems.

Have a great day. This is Day 1 delay on roof project due to RAIN?

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York Lodge – A New Project

Greetings from South Texas where now that we have a scheduled date of tomorrow to have 2 new roofs installed, the weather forecast says that we have high chances of rain all week.  Go figure!

I have not worked on any hand projects for the last 2 weeks – I had a pinched nerve that took a few days out of my life, then stupid Unforeseen Requirements (UFR’s) happened.  But through that I have been working on a new quilt and a technique that I had never done before.  I have been wanting a challenge and this was a big one!

Here is the book where I found the pattern:

The York Lodge Quilt:

I have the perfect fabric for this quilt and will change the fabric placement for all blocks.   The block is made with 1 1/2” strips and then sewing 4 different strip sets together.  Then cut them on a  45 degree at 1 1/2” strips – attention has to be paid to this cut or it is hair pulling time – which is why color placement is critical. This is definitely not for the faint of heart quilter as it takes 100% precision!  As I made my practice block to see if I really wanted to do this quilt, I learned where I would have problems if I did not take my time.  There are 30 blocks in this quilt and I will not be making all 30 at one time.  It is just too taxing to work on it from start to finish each without stressing myself to the maximum!

My friend Gretchen gave me some valuable guidance on this project and that was to make a goal of making a block a week.  Before I finished my practice block (which took about 5 days (not full-time) I almost gave up on making the quilt.  One thing I figured out (Duh) was that each EACH seam has to be pressed open – no exceptions!

Now I feel so much more confident about the block and I know how much time is needed to achieve the desired result, I am going to begin my making either 1 or 2 blocks a week, or one block every other day.  Then I will not suffer burnout.   The other days will be devoted to other ongoing UFO’s.

Most magazines and books like Quiltmania ASSUME that the quilter knows all there is about quilting techniques.  This particular quilt is marked as Intermediate.  I do believe that this is an Advanced quilt, based on the precision that it requires for each strip piece, 45 degree cuts, pressing seams flat on EVERYTHING, and matching points precisely.  No room for errors or points not matching!  Ah my kind of “blowing the mind” time.

This is my practice block.  The beige HST corners should be the same color as the crackle fabric, but I grabbed scraps for this one.  There are a few slips in this one but I let them go.  This block requires working with bias – no fun there – and care has to be taken when sewing the stars strips together.   It is imperative to have that 1/4” when adding the corner HSTs and the other 4 points or the effect of the star will be lost!

These are the fabrics that I will be using.  I had originally thought I would use them in Star Dancing, but have decided to go with batiks on that quilt.

I have some beautiful White P&B fabric called Grace II that I will use as a background.  I do feel that the white will not overwhelm the quilt if it does then I will go to a light beige.  The secret is going to be sure that the fabric is matched closely by thread count or there will be Heck to pay!  Each block will be made with the same color – not like the pattern.  There will be 2 each of the above colors!

I would love to have this one completed before Fall and if it turns out I will enter in the SA show next year. (Crossed fingers)

I am almost through with Nesting – a little embroidery on 2 blocks, and one more Blue Bird to applique.  I am thinking that I can work on piecing one day and my hand work another day, but must be careful to not overwork my hands!

I have an update on one of the quilt tops I gave to my cousin Susan.  This was my RSC 2017 Challenge quilt.  She is a very talented seamstress and here is how she finished the quilt!  So creative!  Beautiful job Susan!  She added the crosses in the middle of each block!  This is a graduation present to Susan’s niece and my cousin Kay’s grand daughter who just graduated from high school!

Happy Father’s Day to all the quilter’s husbands and enjoy quilting!

Nanette

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Awakening Hearts!

Good afternoon from lovely Desert South Texas – Yup reaching 100 out here in the sticks!  I have completed my SAL Hearts for May project that Deb at Happy To Be Scrappy hosted last month!  I am very pleased with the outcome!  I named it Awakening Hearts because it turned on the light bulb in my mind why I was not progressing with UFO’s!  I can already see the difference in not spending so much time on mail!

Enjoy!

This was an easy quilt to make but adding up the time to applique the hearts (including preparation time) 15.5 hours to applique the hearts, cutting out 270 (2 1/8″ squares) for the 9 patches (some fussy cut), sewing them (10 hours) and sewing the quilt together 6 hours (including borders).  Total amount of time to make this quilt top was 31.5 hours.  I usually do not count the hours it takes to make a quilt so you can imagine the hours that it takes to make a very complex quilt!

I enjoyed the journey!   Mountmellick is next – hoping to see you soon when there is a finish!

Have a wonderful week!

Nanette

My Quilt Infatuation; Confessions of a Fabric Addict; Finished or Not Friday ; Sew Can She; Em’s Scrap Bag; BOM’s Away; Fiber Tuesday;   Esther’s Wednesday WOW; Sew, Stitch, Snap, SHOW; Sew Fresh Quilts; Crazy Mom Quilts;  Oh Scrap; Scrap Happy Saturday; Show and Tell Monday with Bambi;