A Little More Halloween .....

Here's a pillow I made several years ago, it's old to me but new to you!

I used Sandy Gervais fabric, I think it was called "Boo".

The pattern came from this book by Lynette Jensen.

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A Little Bit of This and That .........

Last Thursday I blogged about my plan for juggling several quilting projects at once, a first for me. (click here for original post) I came up with a plan of breaking down my Faceted Jewels project into several mini projects in an effort to relieve my anticipated stress over working on it, my BOM, and the monthly Schnibbles. Lisa D (aka Stashmaster) left a comment saying she always works on her quilts in this way, with one little difference. She said she cut the entire project, made a test block, made all the pieces, then the blocks, then the rows. MADE A TEST BLOCK, yikes, I was so focussed on breaking everything down into little bits it never occurred to me to make a test block!! What a great idea,(thanks Lisa) especially since I'm resizing all the blocks. So that's what I did today.

This is test block #1, I'm very happy with it. It will be nice to have a block to admire while I make the pieces for the remaining 16. I was a little worried about throwing off the contrast with my resizing but I think I'm good. This block finishes at 9 inches, the pattern finishes at 12. (It's the kind of block that looks better from a distance.)

On another note.....

This is one of my favorite Halloween decorations, my daughter made this for me well over 10 years ago. I'm always sad to pack it up when Halloween is over.

And finally.......

A girlfriend and I have a fun little gift exchange . When one of us travels, we pick up a gift for the one who stays home. The fun part is that the surprise must fit in this little bag! We've exchanged all sorts of funny little things, bracelets, knick knacks, ornaments. I have just as much fun trying to find something to fit in this little bag as getting something from it.

It's just one of those things that got started accidently but has turned into a tradition.

Last week my girlfriend went to Hilton Head, South Carolina and brought me back these.....

Pink Halloween Socks!! How perfect is that!!

I'm a fan of pink. Not overly so, you wouldn't know if you walked around my house that I have a thing for pink, I hide my passion well, except for the pink polka dot luggage. Mostly I just throw it in when I can, but I really like pink. I also like fun socks so it's the perfect combination for me. I'm not sure who thought to make pink halloween socks but thank you girlfriend for finding them and bringing them home to me!

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Weekend Review....

It was a beautiful fall weekend here. Cooper and I spent most of our time outdoors.

I did not get to spend any time in my sewing room but I did get to baste another one of my Sunday Sampler blocks. (click here for original post)

This is before basting.

And this is after basting.

I think the first block had more pizazz, better color choices, but I'm still amazed at what a difference it makes in the block's overall appearance by rounding out the edges.

I'm going to machine stitch the edges down this week on the first two block before I make any more. I'm hoping that step goes as well as all the others to this point.

I also did some decorating this weekend. I leave these door decorations up until Thanksgiving. The day after Thanksgiving the Christmas decorations take their place.

Ladybugs just love these decorations. I don't see a ladybug until these go up. I don't know what attracts them, are they attracted to color, the fake pumpkins, what? Every morning my front step is covered with dead ladybugs. I sweep them away and the next morning it's the same thing.

How much is that doggy in the window?? Priceless.......

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Snuggled Down .............

This is quilt #40, I made it in January and just got it back from the quilter today.

The pattern name is "Under the Stars" by The Rabbit Factory.

It's 49" X 62"

It's a Christmas present for my brother and his family.

See how the quilter added character to the carrots?

The quilting on this star really makes it pop.

It's a surprise, don't tell them!!

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It's all in the details .......

This is my current project. The project that I'm going to work on when I'm not working on a Schnibbles or my BOM. For those of you who have been following my blog, I'm sure you're surprised. I'm a "one project at a time" kind of girl, or was, until The Year of Schnibbles entered my life. So I had a choice, just work on the Schnibbles and be happy a year from now when I had completed 12 projects, or lighten up a little and try to juggle more than one project at a time. The thought of not taking advantage of my Tuesday sewing day this week really motivated me to try and live like most other quilters, and have multiple projects going at once.

This pattern is "Faceted Jewels" by Glad Creations. I saw the finished quilt at the Sew Batik booth in Paducah, Kentucky of April this year. It was a stunner. They had a kit, (and still do) and I thought long and hard about buying it, but in the end the size of this quilt stopped me. This quilt finishes at 80 X 104, and I just don't need another quilt that size, too small for my king size bed, and too large to throw over the back of couch or a bannister. Sometimes it's easy to change a quilt size by adding or subtracting blocks, but in this case, I thought using fewer blocks would take away from the design.

When I got home I got my hands on the pattern. This quilt is made up of two different blocks that finish at 12 inches each. After studying the pattern I decided I could easily make the blocks smaller. So that's what I'm going to do, my blocks will finish at 9 inches, shrinking this quilt down to around 63 X 72.

My usual sewing style is to have one project going, with fabric, pieces, and blocks in various stages. I usually make one block at a time, then one row at a time and so on. I know it's not the most efficient way to sew, but I'm so anxious to see a finished block that I just have to make one , then another one, then I want to see a finished row, well you get the idea. I'm cutting, piecing, and pressing whatever, whenever it suits me.

That's going to change with this quilt. I'm going to break it down into several mini projects.

First I'll cut the fabric, all the fabric.

Then I'll make all the half square triangles, then all the 4 patch blocks, then all the triangle in a squares, then all the flying geese. Once all the parts are done I'll start in on the blocks. Once all the blocks are done I'll sew them together. That's my plan. And I think it will work, because anytime I need to stop to work on my Schnibbles, I'll just finish one of my mini projects and be good to go.

Step one is done. I spent ALL DAY Tuesday cutting. Here are the strips for the 4 patch blocks. I did not mind the day of cutting, it's amazing how much more I get out of a TV show when I can actually hear it, as opposed to kind of hearing it over my sewing machine.

Here are the rest of the pieces. The empty shelf below is for my future Schnibbles pieces and parts.

These are the pieces for the half square triangles. The pattern called for 18 different jewel tone batiks, I'm going with over 40 because I think "a whole lot more is more".

The pattern says you can mix up the background with multiple fabrics or go with one, I'm going with one.

Here are the pieces for the tri-recs. The flying geese are in the back. I'm going to try out my new Fit to be Geese Ruler on these. I'm also an "over cutter". I like choices. I figure I've got enough to make 1 1/2 quilts here.Here's my cutting list, look real close, everything is marked off!

So that's the plan, what do you think? Any tips? I know several quilters who have multiple projects in various stages and they seem to be able to carry on perfectly normal lives. They don't talk to themselves, pull out their hair, all the things I picture myself doing....but hey, as I've said before, "I'll try anything once".

* Picture of finished quilt is by Sew Batik

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