Grandma's Kitchen #10 and 11 and finished Design Boards!

This was last weeks block in the Pat Sloan free weekly pattern, Grandma's Kitchen.  This is #10 and there were a lot of different layouts you could do.  It is called Recipe Box so I made it a box.  Genius, huh?  :) 

This is #11 and this one is called Peppermint Swirls.  I used some pastels to go with the watermelon red so it would matchy match the rest of the blocks. Reminds me more of Starburst than peppermint candies but it works.  Oh, and I was able to finally use some of my vintage buttons in a project.  I might take the buttons off if it makes sandwiching the quilt easier.  We'll see when we get there.

I bought this Olfa circle cutter years ago when I used to do swaps.  I used it for a bulls eye swap.  I can't believe how many times I have used it since then.  For crafts, costumes and blocks like this.  Gotta love those gadgets!! 

I started Design Boards a few weeks ago but had to put it aside for a while.  Got distracted with trailer cushions, laundry room curtains, etc.  :)  Anyway, got them finished tonight.  Lori Holt of Bee in My Bonnet came up with the idea.  For a quilter, they are very handy.  You lay your fabric pieces on them in the right order and carry them to the machine.  Lori says in her video if you don't have to sew them together right then, it's even great to set by your machine because you can sew the blocks, ready to go, when you have some time.  Genius!  

Here are a few links to some pics of Lori's adorable design boards.  Who could resist using those adorable fabrics if you were the designer and had bolts of them??

Lori Holt (Bee in My Bonnet) Design Boards

Here is an old tutorial here from her blog.  The second page no longer has photos.  Not sure what the problem is but I found a youtube video tutorial.  I've been using the one that I finished for my Pat Sloan blocks each week.  I think I'm going to get a lot of use out of them.

Grandma's Apron and The Kitchen Window

I'm behind in my posts but not in making my blocks.  Yay!  I have to say, this one is my absolute favorite!  The color combo, the design, everything.  Thank you to Pat Sloan for her great pattern and quilt along.  This is block #8.

And this is block #9.  The kitchen window.  

My sister and I took a field trip to a decorator fabric warehouse, Dorell Fabric Outlet in Fountain Valley.  She wanted some fabric for bedroom drapes and I wanted fabric for cushions.  They had quite a few fabrics but no air conditioning!!!  In this crazy heatwave, 102 degrees on some days, it was brutal.  It did help us shop faster!  lol

The fabrics were $9.99-$16.99 so they were marked down from drapery type stores but not cheap-cheap.  And of course, the fabric I liked was in the $16.99 range!

Block #7 and Designer Boards

This is block #7 of the Pat Sloan Grandma's Kitchen Sew Along.  It's called Oh My Stars.  I can't wait to finish all the blocks.  I've had some of these fabrics for so long and I'm glad to be using them.  If only it put a bigger dent in the pile(s). :D

A long, long, LONG time ago, I saved a tutorial for making Designer Boards. They make it easier to lay out your block pieces and carry them to the sewing machine.  I usually use my 12 1/2" ruler but Pat Sloan has been using them with her blocks and it made me want to finally make them.  The tutorial is by Lori Holt, Bee in My Bonnet and you can find it here.  Although, page two of the tutorial doesn't show the pictures so if you can figure it out, you're good to go.  

I'm going to make small ones for 6" blocks and smaller and 12 1/2" ones for bigger blocks.  Used a scrap piece of batting.  Glued with the glue gun like the directions "and" I already had a couple of pieces of foam board leftover from the grandkid's birthday parties.

It took a little more binding than I thought for the bigger ones.  About 1 1/2 strips of fabric so I think I'll just make a big long piece like making binding and go from there.

My overlap at the end needs a little work.  Hopefully, the next ones will be better.  At least they'll do the job they're intended for.  :)

Still finding time to sew....woohoo!

As of right now, hubby and I are only babysitting our granddaughter two days a week.  This is leaving us lots of free time.  Most of that time lately though has had us gone, gone, gone.  But, those trips have mostly been on the weekends so I'm still getting in my sewing room.  Yay for small miracles.  I never knew retirement could be so (or sew) busy!

I finished block #5 of Pat Sloan's Grandma's Kitchen Sew Along last Thursday but we went out of town for my little grandsons 2nd birthday so posting had to wait.  And holy moly, directions for a new block will be released tomorrow already!  Every Tuesday night it feels a little bit like Christmas.  I can't wait for the next day.

I would've preferred my yellow floral to be in the forefront of my block but I still like it.  Gotta have some polka dots in there somewhere.  :)  

Lord knows I didn't need to, but I did a little retail therapy!!  I blame Pat Sloan for it.  :D  She shared on her facebook page that this little magnet set was only 39 cents at Fat Quarter Shop.  Well, I just "had" to add a few things to my cart to make the shipping worthwhile.  :D  They had this adorable ballerina fabric and little scissor sheaths.  I have a few pair of smaller Gingher scissors that have lost their little covers so having a few extras won't hurt and how cute are they!  I think they're a Fat Quarter Shop exclusive.

I looked on Pinterest for info on DIY big ironing board topper and found a few that were helpful for making my own.  Buying one was quite expensive.  My ironing board was a discard from my sister-in-law and I like to salvage things so I found some rubber end caps for the feet because it didn't have any (fluorescent yellow was all I could find!) and ta-da a functioning ironing board. 

I used a combination of this post and this one to make my big board.  I didn't round the corners.  I didn't think it was necessary.  We'll see if that decision comes back to bite me when I jam my sides time after time.  So far, so good though.  I also didn't put slats underneath to hold the big board in place.   They do that so you can take it off but I decided to keep mine on all the time.  It might make it hard to iron a blouse now and then but I'll figure it out.  My ironing board has holes in the body of it so I screwed the big board to it.  My friend was throwing away this brand new cutting table/ironing board cover so I took it for this project.  I've already used it a dozen times and I love having the big surface to iron on.

And....I finished this quilt top.  

I have been teaching some friends how to quilt. Their first project was a Single Irish Chain and this Rail Fence will be their next quilt so I wanted to make a sample.  I used a jelly roll I've had for years from French General.  I love the way it turned out.  I already pieced the back and cut the batting but quilting will need to wait til the current quilt project gets finished.  It's been sitting a L O N G time so this might be just what I need to get 'er done.  :D

Blocks #4 and 5...

I've been keeping up with my Pat Sloan Grandma's Kitchen blocks.  Got #4 done and though this is my least favorite, I'm going to leave it until the project is further along to see if it will blend in or if I want to change it.  I think the tone on tone fabrics weren't the best for this block design.  I really like the blocks of the people who only used two colors.

And this is block #5.  I pulled a few more fabrics from my stash because I needed a few more reds.  I only had a FQ of the one I used in the first few blocks.

This is what they look like together.  It's going to be hard to wait til November for this to be done.

Block #3, Key Hole Block

I'm still chugging along on Pat Sloan's Grandma's Kitchen Sew Along.  Of course, it's only been three weeks.  lol  I usually do pretty good on starting things and then something in my life happens and it all gets pushed on the back burner.  But this is only one block a week and so far life has been calmer.  It's much easier to keep up then with the Bonnie Hunter mysteries.  For me anyway.

This block is called Key Holder. 

I had a long dry spell without going to a quilt shop so a while back I decided to take two quilts to be longarm quilted.  I had made some money selling some things on craigslist so I figured, what the heck.  I wanted to check some UFOs off my list and this should help.  

I went to the Orange Quilt Bee and saw a class for a mini sampler out of Civil War Repro fabrics and the blocks can be anywhere from 3-6 inches. I haven't taken a class in a long time so I signed up.  It was fun and I had a good time, met some nice ladies and the teacher was great.  The first thing she had me do was make two nine patches to work on accuracy.  I needed to slow down a bit and with the help from the teacher, my blocks measured exactly 3 1/2".

After I set up at the class, I found out it wasn't actually for the entire sampler. *disappointment*  But it's not a total loss.  I picked a block off the sampler and we drew it up.  I used the Eleanor Burns method and ruler to make the flying geese.

I laughed that this little itty bitty block and my two little nine patches took almost three hours.  Learning takes time.  But look at those points!!  And this block measured a perfect 3 1/2" too.  :)

I'm enjoying being back in my sewing room. I got to move into our 400 sq. ft. room addition a few months ago and it's been a long process.  I am a clutter gal by nature and have lived in this house for over 33 years. It means there have been a lot of things that got put in boxes that don't necessarily have a place to go now.  It means sorting and purging.  And because I don't always want to do it (cuz I'd rather be playing with fabric!) there have been a few boxes stacked up waiting for me to sort them out.  I have three left and decided this is the week to get through them!  I did one today and have piles all over the cutting table.  lol  Tomorrow is another day!

Block #2 done!

I got more sewing done!  Woohoo.  Block #2 in the Pat Sloan mystery is called Honey Bun.  I think I would've liked the block a little better if I would've used the floral as the wider pieces and the plaid as the thinner ones but I like the fabric enough that I'm going to leave it.  I think this will be a cheery one.  :)

Here are block 1 & 2 on the design wall.  I think mystery projects are fun.  You have the anticipation of what's to come...like Christmas morning.

That's it for this week.  Maybe I'll try and clean up the sewing room and take some pics of my new space.

Grandma's Kitchen Sew Along by Pat Sloan

Ever since grandbabies and Facebook, I kind of ditched my blog.  But...I realized that my blog was a date book or journal of sorts.  Dates I don't remember, when projects were completed, etc.  So here I am...and I'm going to attempt to keep blogging, if only for me and no visitors.  ;)

Now if anyone has no business starting a project it's me!  But this one called my name.  Pat Sloan is doing a "sew along" called Grandma's Kitchen.  Sharing memories of sitting at Grandma's kitchen table and reminiscing.  I thought about using 30's reproductions fabrics because it just screams for them but I don't have a wall big enough for a quilt so I decided to use something that could be a throw or bed topper.

Most of my fabrics are Holly Holderman.  From the stash, just sitting and waiting for a project.  They are all sitting in a little bin and I will use up what I can each month when there is a new clue.

I bought a new ruler when I saw Bonnie Hunter use it.  I have so many rulers but this one is really awesome.  Not only can you cut off the corners and dog ears, it's got great lines for checking your piecing sizes.  Love it!  It's called Simple Folded Corners by Doug Leko.  I bought it directly from his site.

That's it for my first blog post in over TWO YEARS!!!!  :D

Happy Sewing!