Wild Women Blocks Assembled

 Hi all -

I hope everyone is doing well! Summer is definitely here! It's been warmer than usual, but we have had some of the thunderstorms that are common this time of year. As usual, I appreciate any rain we can get! I bought a bunch of flowers that I put in pots on the deck. Probably too many, but I love them! And the hummingbirds love them, too! It's nice to have something that I can put out for the hummingbirds without worrying about attracting bears!

After putting the binding on my pink and gray quilt, I decided to assemble the blocks for my Wild Women Don't Get the Blues quilt designed by Karen K. Stone. I'd been wanting to get these block put together so I decided to do it before setting my sewing machine back up for ruler work.

Wild Women Don't Get the Blues

Wild Women Don't Get the Blues - Close-Up

I used regular copy paper for the paper foundations, rather than something easier to remove like newsprint or vellum, because I started this in one of Karen's classes and that's what she gave us. Paper piecing leaves you with lots of bias edges so they usually suggest that you don't remove the papers until everything is sewn together, but I wanted to get those papers out now when it would be easier. So I did a couple of things to be gentle with the bias edges. First, I removed the papers immediately before sewing each block together so I wouldn't take the chance of stretching a bias edge during normal handling of the units. Then, when sewing the units together, I reduced the presser foot pressure from the default 50 to around 25. This still allowed the feed dogs to control the stitch length, but reduced the pulling on the fabric especially when sewing over thick seams. For this pattern, I was sewing over six layers of fabric at the intersections. I also used a stiletto to help guide the fabric under the needle so I wasn't pulling on the fabric with my fingers. After sewing a seam, I was very careful when pressing it over. I first folded over the seam and carefully creased it with my thumbnail. For me, this works well to get a crisp seam without stretching the fabric. Then, I carefully pressed the seam, moving the iron up and down rather than sliding it around, and used a lot of steam. I feel like the steam helps correct any small stretching of the fabric. Finally, once the block was sewn together, I stay stitched around the outside of the block to help prevent stretching until I get the blocks sewn together. I plan to do some hand embroidery in the center of each block before assembling the quilt, so there will be a lot of handling of these blocks. The stay stitching should help keep them from stretching.

I also decided to make a quick bag before going back to my pink and gray quilt. I made the Sew Essential bag designed by Cheryl Von Ruden and Rosemary Wissink. I wanted to make a bag for the host of one of my sewing groups as a thank you. I looked through my patterns and chose the Sew Essential bag.

Sew Essential Bag

Sew Essential Bag - Large Pocket

Sew Essential Bag - Smaller Pockets

For the main fabric, I used a really cool batik that I bought in her little quilt shop. I never would have guessed this was a batik if it wasn't in the batik section of the shop! I know she really likes this fabric because we talked about it and she showed me where she used it in one of her quilts. I picked this bag pattern because I liked the way it would highlight the fabric. This pattern is well-written and easy to follow. I decided to make the inside pockets as suggested in the pattern. They say the large pocket is good for scissors and rotary cutters; the upper small pocket for bobbins and needle packets; and the lower small "pocket" (this pocket is open on the bottom) for spools of thread. If I make this bag again, I'll probably use lightweight stabilizer instead of Shape-Flex. I think the Shape-Flex made the pockets a bit too stiff. I might also try it with regular batting rather than the Soft and Stable suggested in the pattern. The Soft and Stable makes these smaller bags a bit stiff, although the regular batting might leave the bag too floppy. I think it's worth a try.

Finally, I started a new knitting project. I decided to start working on my Kallara shawl designed by Ambah O'Brien. 

Kallara

This is a good project for knitting group because it's mostly just garter stitch, so not much thought is involved. You just have to wrangle two balls of yarn, which is easy for me sitting on the couch at home but is a bit more difficult sitting at a table at knit group. I like the dramatic shape of this shawl along with the subtle striping.

Nancy