Some cook, I sew and write: creativity brings joy

Today I wrote down 3 goals to accomplish. First, I needed to find a video showing how to sash a quilt.  Done. Then I got my husband's shirts ironed and various other tasks that need to be completed. I finally got down to the business of beginning to sash my quilt (goal #2).  When I began sewing my third block to the sashing, I realized that some of my blocks were definitely smaller than others so that made one decision for me.  I cut down all the blocks to 12 1/2 inches square. At that point, I made dinner for my husband (and family.)  It was totally off THM plan because I used noodles for pork chops and noodles, and they weren't Not Naughty noodles.  They were completely naughty but I totally stayed away from sugar!!!  Sugar doesn't play nice, and I was not going to have a migraine to celebrate our 22nd wedding anniversary. This is what my husband brought home for me to celebrate our day.  (He had planned to take me out to dinner, but I did...

I just found some information on Free Motion Quilting (FMQ) on the Elven Garden Quilts blog.  Here is the link:   http://theelvengarden.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/free-motion-qal-choosing-colours.html .  There are more links at the bottom of the page.  I had wondered if it might be best to either tie or stitch-in-the-ditch quilt my Christmas quilt, and one of the posts reinforced that thought.  I think that might be the best strategy for me as a beginner. Also here is a cool Minecraft tutorial:   http://www.thatlookslikeitneedsstitches.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2016-02-17T12:42:00-08:00&max-results=1 Just wanted to pass those along!

I finally finished piecing my disappearing quilt blocks for my Christmas quilt today.  Yay! Here's a picture of the stack of finished blocks with the Christmas tree block and the green fabric on the bottom that I've chosen for sashing.  So far I've only bought one small piece of fabric to make this quilt.  Unfortunately, I don't have enough fabric to make the quilt back or batting, but 99% of the top will be from my stash! Now I have to make some big decisions like: How big of a quilt do I want to make?  Is it going to be a lap quilt, a blanket, or a bedspread?  Originally I had planned to make a queen size quilt because I have a queen size bed.  I'm not sure now though.  It might be nicer to have it to cuddle up in on the couch or reading a book. How am I going to lay it out?  I also noticed, while it was spread out on the floor, that these blocks will make a very scrappy, very busy quilt if I push all the pieces together.  I ...

So far my silliest (and most annoying) error has been to replace my cutting blade and then have terrible times cutting fabric.  It was on my Fiskars blade that is stiffer when opening and shutting than my Olfa blade. But I could not believe that I had to seesaw back and forth repeatedly to get it to cut! Ridiculous! Terrible cuts! And then one day (about a week later) I noticed that there was a lot of lint from the rough cutting.  Being economical  cheap, I had insisted on using that doggoned blade.  I cleaned off the lint and then realized that some was stuck and would not budge.  Figuring that I had a knick in the blade (and possibly the reason for the rough cutting, I tried to pull it out. I finally woke up to the realization that I had not one, but two, blades on the handle. Yeah, don't do that.  It cuts amazingly well with one blade now.