A Fresh Start

Hello, my quilting friends,

What have you done to keep cool during those long, warm, and humid summer days? I filled our broken hot tub with water and soaked myself in; even if the jets weren't working, it was refreshing. Yes, there are a ton of accessible beaches in New Brunswick, but I cannot stay that long under the hot, intense heat during the mid-afternoon. Then I went into my long chair in our gazebo and read a novel while the birds sang. It's peaceful and dreamy, and I thank God for this moment of reprieve. Life is hard, so when I have a beautiful and serene moment, I savor it thoroughly.

We're celebrating our thirty-three anniversary this Saturday, but we have known each other for forty-nine. Those years count, too:) We are not doing anything special. My husband has bought thick steak and tiger prongs; we may get a few lobsters. And I am okay staying home for a great dinner with the man I love.

Completed 

After I completed the Kona Cotton SAL 2024, I sewed all the blocks, I noticed three blocks that blended in value and colour fabric in the same area of the quilt. I followed the pattern's placement and took a picture on my design wall before sewing the blocks, but I only realized this issue that bothered  my quilter's critical appraisal to the core. After much debate with myself,  the main question arose: "Am I going to leave it or rearrange a few blocks."

 

The two left-bottom blocks (brown & blue) were shifted around

The three blueish blocks needed to be separated, and I couldn't ignore them, so I ripped off one blue block and exchanged it for another. I took my courage—wait...wait- not my courage, but my best friend, the seam ripper, fixed it. I was extremely pleased with the final result. 

Another lesson learned with this pattern was to rely on something other than the pattern's placement for your block. Make sure you see all the blocks' placement on your design wall. The cutting table hides part of the design wall, so I didn't see the entire top until I laid it down on the floor.

Cleanup Schedule

Many SAQs were completed before the time allowed for them, and I added the recent SAQs to the list, so I needed to redo the schedule. I was happy about the pace I set myself for piecing blocks of different patterns and designers that challenged my skill with the seam allowance, squaring, using the Slotted Trimmer ruler, and understanding the value of fabric. My constant learning of new ways of quilting created a spree to sew more difficult quilt patterns.

The original schedule from July- November

The rectified schedule for July-December

 

Now, am I going to stay on track? We shall see:)

Fat Quarter

Usually cut the smaller pieces of fabric in squares from: 2 1/2" -6".  Some of those precut squares aren't use much. There are many ways to cut your scraps, smaller pieces, or FQ. When I watched how Lori Holt precut her Fat Quarters into strips, I knew that would work best for my needs.

 

Because she did an excellent job at explaining and also provided a tutorial, I won't go into detail, but urge you to check it out. And New Quilters website has 12 ways to cut your FQ into pieces. The bin are all set for those next precut or strips.

Let's Go Quilt!

Resource 

• Lori Holt:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U18UhACMRL4

• Lori Holt:https://beeinmybonnetco.blogspot.com/2013/08/from-my-quilty-studiohow-i-save-my.htmlj 
  

• New Quilters:https://newquilters.com/cutting-up-fat-quarters/