Double Irish Chain

Began 2016, Finished 2018

It's Sunday - Time for the Weekly Reports

We had a week of rainy weather, cold, rainy weather. There were several days that I stayed in my rocker next to the heater doing English Paper Piecing instead of venturing out to my sewing space in the unheated attic. This is my Slow Sunday Stitching for the week. I started with a Ferris Wheel block but I'm not really sure where I'm going with it. It's a great way to use scraps, so I may just let it grow for awhile.

Someone commented that they knew this block as Jack's Chain. I had heard that before and looked it up again. Some Ferris Wheel patterns also list the name as Jack's Chain. But a search for Jack's Chain pattern mostly comes up with a block that uses nine patch blocks instead of the solid square block around the hexagon. I think it could go either way, so I had to decide which one to call mine. I'm not sure what a chain belonging to Jack looks like.  Maybe it belongs on a tow truck. Maybe Jack is on a chain gang. Maybe Jack is a giant swinging a chain around his head.  What is Jack doing with that chain? I don't know. On the other hand, I like ferris wheels. They are at the center of the fair next to the cotton candy. Bright, colorful, and fun and a great view from the top. So Ferris Wheel it is. See what other scrappy quilting are in the works at Quilting is More Fun than Housework.

I used a bit of fabric this week, two-and-a-quarter yards, and I didn't buy any fabric this week. I would have shown more going out than coming in if it weren't for the box of fabric I unpacked. I brought home a box from the storage unit today that probably has fabric in it, so next week's report won't look any better. So sad. I just need to be using more every week. Click over to QuiltPaintCreate to see how other people are using their stash.

On the other hand, I had a good week sewing every day. I have one finish to show for it, and hope to finish another in the next day or two. I'm read to get these UFOs done so I can start working on some new quilts. Check out Life in Pieces for more 15 Minutes of Sewing.

Design Wall Monday, It's a Race to the Deadline Now

Besides the RSC blocks, I have been quilting the Double Irish Chain. It is my February UFO and the quilting is killing my shoulder. I tried to divide the remaining quilting by the number of days left in the month, less a day for binding, and I have to quilt the equivalent of four blocks a day. I have scaled back the amount of quilting I was doing on each block and my shoulder still aches for hours after doing four blocks. I'm not sure it's worth it, but I'd like to make my goal. After this quilt, it's QAYG or send out for quilting. I don't know if it's possible to tear a rotator cuff by quilting, but it feels like it. I prescribe rest in the month of March.

I am using the Double Irish Chain to practice with the ruler foot. I am still having tension problems but it's beginning to look a little better on the back. Now if I can get the stitch length on the front to be uniform, I'll be happy. Painfully happy.

(Ran out of bobbin thread on this block)

Now something I'd like to ask all of you, especially those of you who use Google Blogger for your blog host. Something has happened in the last month or two (maybe longer). Now, people who use Google+ show 'no reply' in their emails. And if they also don't have their blog linked to their profile, it's impossible to respond to their comments, either by email reply or by return comment on their blog. There was someone who commented on my blog for awhile whose ID was only "T" with 'no reply' in the email and no blog on their profile. There are others like that too, but the "T" stuck in my memory. I feel really bad that people go to the trouble to leave a comment and there is no way to return it. Some blogger themes don't have a reply button under each comment, but I just saw on another blog that there are themes that do have a reply button. I'm about to try out one of these themes. How do you deal with 'no reply' emails?

Well. You know how you are supposed to back up your template before making changes? I didn't do that. I don't remember what my width was so if my blog doesn't look right on your computer, like pictures or words overlapping something they shouldn't, please let me know. I also changed the background for a cleaner look. And after all that, the reply button isn't part of a theme at all. It's in the settings!

Also, there are some blogs that only allow comments by Google+ members. I signed up for Google+ when it first became available, but it seriously messed up my email login unless I used gmail, and my blogger sign in isn't gmail. In fact, I didn't really like gmail. I couldn't log out of it easily to check my other email. So I ditched Google+ and gmail. But that means I can't comment on those blogs. For those of you who have Google+, is it an option to only allow Google+ members to comment on your blog, or has Google taken that choice from you?

Now back to Design Wall Monday. I'm linking to:
Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt
Main Crush Monday at Cooking Up Quilts
Moving it Forward Monday at Em's Scrapbag

Sewing Report Sunday

I've been having fun with my scrappy flower blocks for the RSC Challenge. I've determined that I need two and a half blocks for each of the ten months. And since that isn't going to work, I think I'm going to make three one month and two the next. That will work well with similar colors like medium blue and dark blue, but I'm not sure about some of the other colors. I'll have to play it by ear.

Friday night, I dug out my travel kit and worked on a Ferris Wheel block (English Paper Piecing). In an effort to spend more time in the evenings with Hubby, I'm going to start working on these in the evenings instead of spending time by myself at the sewing machine.

This week I was gifted with fabric. A friend was thinning her stash and asked if I wanted some fabric. Well, yeah! Thinking it was odds and ends of less than desirable colors, I told her that my quilt group could always use fabric for our donation quilts. This was way better than odds and ends.

A kit with all the fabric needed plus the pattern. A really cute pattern, I might add.

A magazine with a pattern bookmarked and all the fabric to make it.

Another pattern with all the fabric to make it.

Some fabrics she had marked for various things, like "border" and "backing" but no pattern with it.

And 36 fat quaters.

After looking at the three patterns, I could tell they are not the kind my group likes to make, so I'll keep those and make them sometime.  The other fabrics will make some great wheel chair lap quilts.

Score!!!!

Unfortunately, now I have to record this in my stash report.  My supposed stash reduction report. Thursday, I thought I was doing great because I had used more than I had bought.  Then, this gift.  And to compound my loss of control, I ran across a sale Friday that I couldn't pass up.  A local quilt store had a shelf of 75% off fabrics and a few bolts of fabric for 50 cents a yard.  I didn't buy any of those 50 cent fabrics though.  I didn't think I could cut them into small enough pieces to hide the ugly.  But I got several of the 75% off.  So they too will add to the report.  Now my report is a runaway train headed in the wrong direction.

I also unpacked a box of fabric.  A big box, and it was nearly all fabric. QuiltPaintCreate said she gets a laugh out of these boxes of fabric I keep finding.  When we were packing up to sell our house, everything was going into a unit at a storage facility with pretty poor security.  Anything of value, I marked with code words like "Large canning jars" (or something else not worth stealing) meaning something of value and another code word to describe the item, or "Small canning jars" meaning something with little value.  Sounded like a good idea at the time, but I also had real canning jars or gladware, or whatever the code word was, and over time, I forgot what the other code words meant.  So nearly all our boxes are labeled "Canning Jars", "Gladware", "Books", "Paint clothes," etc.  Most fabric was used as packing for lamps and other odd-shaped breakables, but there are some boxes marked "Sewing fabric".   It's an adventure to open boxes; we never know what to expect.

I'm happy to say that I am still headed in the right direction in my 15 Minutes of Sewing Report. That will change in a month or so, so I'm going to claim this victory while I can.

If you saw yesterday's post, you know I finished the Glory Box Wallhanging. I spent some time one day quilting the Double Irish Chain but it was a battle. I think I can get it done but it's really bigger than I would like to quilt on my machine. After a few hours, my shoulder was killing me. I decided to give my shoulder a rest and then work on it in much smaller time slots until I get it done. I think it will also be a wall hanging because I still haven't mastered the ruler foot. Even when the top looks good, there are places on the back that look like the tension is off. But then the next section looks fine. I'm not sure what the problem is, but I'm pretty sure it is the user, not the machine.

I also spent time this week with the ripper, and finding that some blocks I made several years ago didn't have quarter inch seams. More about that another time unless I decide it's not worth the effort.

I have sewed every day this week and for the month so far. I'm at 100% for those, but at 88% for the year. That shows what one bad week can do. I can just imagine how low it will be in July and August.

Linking to:
Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun than Housework
15 Minutes of Sewing at Life in Pieces
Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate

Glory Box Wallhanging

Began 2013, Finished 2018