Saturday, October 27, 2007

Finally! Quilt Blocks

The Christmas blocks are finished and ready to mail.

pinwheel-Christmas-blocks pinwheel-Christmas-blocks


I think I'm going to name my quilt "Blood, Sweat, and Tears" even if it is a Christmas quilt. Certainly is appropriate.

Until next time, may you have blessings and straight seams,
Marti

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Perfect Flying Geese.

I love fall when the air is crisp and still and I can hear the distant sound of geese honking. Concidentally, I am in the midst of making a quilt with the flying geese block. I've tried the block before with less than stellar results. I always followed the directions and yet they ended up with the wings out of square. But this month I finally figured out how to make a perfectly formed flying geese block!

The directions on every flying block pattern I've ever seen say to draw a line diagonally across the square "wings" of the block and sew on the line. However, when folding the fabric, if the stitch is on the line, the fabric can't bend on the line, and thus is a bit short of hitting the square. When I decided to sew on the outside of the line I get a perfect block every time.

Yesterday I gave Roxie a bath and today while I was washing the towels I used to dry her, the water backed up. I hope the drain line isn't clogged with dog hair! We can't flush the toilets in the house, but so far the one in the office works. Of course I had another load of laundry in the washer when I found out, and was searching for a way to drain the washer when I found this Redneck Washing Machine (there was a link here but the website is gone - Homeless Dave connected a rubber belt between a washing machine and bicyle which agitated the washer when he rode the bike. Don't laugh too long, I'm giving some thought to making something similar. Wash the clothes and get a workout at the same time!

I finished the laundry in a tub outside, and hung them outside to dry. Ahhhh, towels dried in fresh fall air.

Until next time, may you have blessings and autumn joy,
Marti