Turkey Tracks: Megan Bruns’ English Paper Piecing Projects

Turkey Tracks: February 6, 2016

Megan Bruns’ English Paper Piecing Projects

Some of us at Coastal Quilters (Maine) have gone quite mad over EPP.

But the projects are so intricate and gorgeous–way more involved than my simple hexie project.

Megan Bruns is an EPP “star” in our quilting group.

And an inspiration!

Just off the top of her head, she started making hexie placemats out of modern fabrics. As she has colorful fiesta ware, I asked her to take some pics for me for the blog.

A placemat:

…in use:

Megan is now trying to decide how to back these little gems. Or whether to “float” them on a rectangle or larger hexie…

Time will tell…

BUT, Megan has also taken on the VERY challenging “Millefiori” quilts as shown in Willyne Hammerstein’s book Millefiori Quilts.

Here’s the start of her first “rosette”:

Some progress:

And the finished first rosette:

WOW!

Note that the hanging “flags” on the outer ring disappear when those blocks are attached to others–they just go underneath the quilt.

These “rosettes” of various sizes attach to each other to make the “millefiore” look.

Note: We are using fiber glue pens with refills to put the fabric onto the EPP templates BUT we keep the glue away from the crease edge–as that makes it hard to get your needle through the fabric and the glue.

Another good source for millefiore projects is Katja Marek’s The New Hexagon Millefiore Quilt Along.

The English Paper Piecing Company carries card stock templates, acrylic templates, and can facilitate delivering monthly block projects–such as this year’s project being designed by Katja Marek.

Marek has a nice web site if you want to take a look at completed projects, etc.

Turkey Tracks: February Farmer’s Wife Blocks

Turkey Tracks: February 6, 2016

February’s Farmer’s Wife Blocks

From earlier posts, you know that a group of us at Coastal Quilters (Maine) are spending this year making the 99 Farmer’s Wife blocks from Laurie Aaron Hird’s book, The Farmer’s Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt.

We set of goal of making two blocks a week, or eight a month.

Since February is a short month… OK, since I am addicted now to making these blocks, here are my February blocks. Each block has a woman’s name, and I have only one more “b” name to go.

I am putting on the setting triangles as I go, and I am loving these bright modern fabrics. (Leftovers are going into a hexie project.) Each block, even the so-called “simple” ones, takes a fair amount of time to make.

Autumn:

Ava:

Bea:

Becky:

Belle:

Betty:

Blossom:

Bonnie:

Turkey Tracks: Quilting Update–February 2016

Turkey Tracks: February 6, 2016

Quilting Update–February 2016

Yesterday was our first real “snow day” of winter.

Finally:

I sewed all day–and the day just flew by.

Here’s what my design wall looks like now:

Yep. That’s SEVEN active projects, if you count “Allietore,” which is waiting on the long arm to be loaded and quilted.

Note how the hexie project has grown. (From Edyta Sitar’s HANDFULS OF SCRAPS.) I’m using my 2 1/2-inch scrap blocks to make this quilt. The top right side shows the top and right borders–with relation to the center blocks. I’m working on the top left part now.

The blue blocks are waiting for me to finish more of the large half-square triangles–they are going through the leader/ender process–I only need about 70 more of them. That’s a Jacob’s Ladder nine-patch block.

On the far right are more Farmer’s Wife blocks–see earlier posts–and I will do a separate entry on those blocks. They are so fun and pretty. And, addictive.

I will need to make more of the sashings (from my crumb bag) for the cheddar quilt. I have a lot, but not enough for 30 or so blocks. But I like how this quilt is going to look. Lively and full of energy.

These blocks are the start of a quilt using a collection of Kaffe Fasset prints that I got at the Norfolk Mancuso show some years back. There was a demo quilt using these fabrics and the pink polka dot fabrics in a snowball block. I fell in love with it. I’ve got some wild fabric out of that collection for the back and borders. AND, there are darker prints in this mix as well. Not all are ironed and cut yet. This quilt will be very feminine, but with some wild twists–and it’s for a granddaughter.

I’ve longed to try Bonnie Hunter’s Wild and Goosey block for some time. So, guess what else is coming out of my crumb bag? I couldn’t resist. I have two of these blocks finished after yesterday’s snow day.

I really like the black and white neutrals in the cross piece. Will likely stick to that idea. Probably this will be a quilt for my newest granddaughter–as it will match the bright nature of her sisters’ recently finished quilts for their new bedroom. (Pics on these quilts after they have been delivered.)

I still have over a thousand 4-patch blocks from last summer’s work, but I have ideas about those blocks…

Will the winter be long enough???

Turkey Tracks: Making Selvage Blocks

Turkey Tracks: January 20, 2016

Making Selvage Blocks

At our last Coastal Quilters’ meeting, member Linda Satkowski showed us how to make blocks using selvages.

Her method is SUPER!

She sews the strips straight down, leaving the edges.

The first thing I do with new fabric coming into the house is to wash it. I then fold it without ironing. When I go to use a piece, I tear off the selvage and iron it. Sometimes I cut it in to strips on the spot–between whatever writing is there. I also always tear off at least an inch of the colored fabric.

So, how to incorporate that fabric into the mix.

With Linda’s method, it’s simple. No more flip and sew and guessing how if I’ve caught the edge of the selvage, which is often on the under side of what I’m sewing.

Here’s my first block–sewn onto muslin for stability. It’s trimmed at 6 1/2 and will finish at 6 inches.

A few years back I made this quilt, “Ain’t This Fun?,” but also used strips of fabric that were too odd to cut into useable squares or strips. I “flipped and sewed.”

BUT, if one surrounds a plain strip of fabric with two selvage pieces, no flip and dew would be needed. Yes!!

Thanks so much Linda!

Books, Documentaries, Reviews: WOOL, Hugh Howey

Books, Documentaries, Reviews: January 20, 2016

Wool, Shift, and Dust

I am so enjoying this trilogy: WOOL, SHIFT, and DUST–thanks to a recommendation by friend June Derr.

June didn’t tell me that there was a prequel, SHIFT, written after WOOL (how did they get into this mess?), and a sequel (DIRT) that ends the story.

So, I was delighted that I could keep on reading about this story.

Hugh Howey started by writing a short story–and it took off. Readers wrote him wanting more, wanting to engage about the characters and the situation. Eventually a publisher picked up what became a book, and it hit the NY Times bestseller list in short order. Ridley Scott has optioned the story for a movie, which I hope he makes. It would be so very visual.

Great characters, great story, good reads!

Turkey Tracks: New Black Winter Boots

Turkey Tracks: January

New Black Winter Boots

For a while there, I was thinking that we had no snow because I treated my self to a new pair of winter boots in the early fall.

You know how that thinking goes…

But, I can now say with the recent snow and cold that the new boots are beyond delightful! Easy to put on, roomy in the foot, warm and warm, and comfortable to wear.

I got them at Renys, which is a Maine store chain.

You never know what you’ll find in Renys, which is part of the adventure of going there. But you can always count on sturdy shoes and boots at a fair price.

Speaking of the recent cold, temps will go back up again next week. Winter events, like ice fishing, are postponing to February as the ice is just not safe yet.

It’s an interesting winter this year…

PS: These boots replaced a pair that were 20+ years old and that are too tight up here in Maine with thick wool socks. It was time…

Unfortunately, worn out boots do not recycle, repurpose, reuse…

Turkey Tracks: First Eight Farmer’s Wife Blocks

Turkey Tracks: January 19, 2016

First Eight Farmer’s Wife Blocks

Along with a group of Coastal Quilters members, I’m making the 99 Farmer’s Wife blocks–as detailed in an earlier post. We’re doing eight blocks a month, or about two a week. The 99 blocks will make a queen size quilt.

I am foundation piecing mine as these are pretty complicated blocks for the most part.

Here are the first eight–which took me some time, though I am getting faster as I do more of them.

I am LOVING the modern/contemporary fabrics I’ve chosen in these blocks.

Here’s how I’ll set them–and you can see that I’m putting on the outer triangles now–mostly as a protection for the very bias edges. I remove the paper backing to stitch parts together as I get more accuracy that way.

This is the setting used in the book: The Farmer’s Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt, Laurie Aaron Hird:

Here’s an alternative setting:

Or, one could do sashing with cornerstones. The cornerstones could add a measure of coherence to a busy quilt.

Here are the individual blocks up close–each is named–and each is accompanied by a letter written to The Farmer’s Wife Magazine back in the 1930s.

“Augusta”

“Alice”

“Anne”

“Aunt”

“April”

“Addie”

“Aimee”

“Ann”

There are two more “A” names, and then it’s on to the “Bs.”

February is a SHORT month…

Interesting Information: Officials Cover Up Dangers of HPV Vaccine – Weston A Price

Interesting Information: January 18, 2016

HPV Vaccine Danger Cover Up

Well here’s another crack in the HPV/Gardasil vaccine corruption/scam.

Enough young women have been hurt now that the truth is coming out.

Baseline truth: public/private partnerships DO NOT WORK when the “public” part is staffed by those from the “private” part and who are benefitting financially.

Here’s some quotes: read the story for more details AND for Lee’s letter.

“Dr. Sin Hang Lee, MD, Director, Milford Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory, has submitted an official, open-letter complaint to the Director-General of the World Health Organization about the cover up of HPV vaccine risks.”

“Dr. Lee has submitted a lengthy letter detailing communications between health officials from the US, Canada, Japan, and the WHO, which demonstrate that these officials knew that HPV vaccines cause an inflammatory reaction greater than other vaccines, yet reassured the public in official hearings and statements that the vaccines were safe.”

Source: Officials Cover Up Dangers of HPV Vaccine – Weston A Price

Turkey Tracks: Some “Allietore” Colorways: Bonnie Hunter’s 2015 Mystery Quilt

Turkey Tracks: January 18, 2016

Some “Allietore” Colorways

Bonnie Hunter’s 2015 Mystery Quilt

One of the really fun things with regard to Bonnie Hunter’s annual mystery quilt is the different colorways people will develop.

This year has been no exception.

You can see how people have developed this quilt with colors different than Bonnie’s on the Facebook page feed “Quiltville’s Open Studio.”

Meanwhile, here are just a few that I pulled off over the last day or so.

To remind, here’s Bonnie’s version:

The one below is made “mostly from men’s shirtings.”

Look at this string border!

There are many, many more examples, of course, including lots of pinks and purples. I just grabbed a few to give you an idea.

If you are a scrappy quilter and do not know about Bonnie’s Facebook page for those of us who like her work, take a look at Quiltville’s Open Studio.

Turkey Tracks: Clean Dog Teeth

Turkey Tracks: January 18, 2016

Clean Dog Teeth

Little dogs need clean teeth.

Their health depends upon clean teeth.

My best “go to” method are raw beef bones–and the bones from ribs are the best for a good teeth work out. Marrow bones are yummy for them, but they eat out the marrow and that’s that. With the rib bones, the little dogs go back again and again to work the bone.

In winter, giving them a chew bone poses some problems. For one thing, it’s too cold for them to stay outside for long. So, it’s a supervised inside endeavor.

Here’s Reynolds with a chew bone on paper on the kitchen floor.

She’s learned to keep the bone on the paper.

No No Penny had to be taught, and the skill is still rocky for her, which is where the “supervised” bit comes into play.

Here’s Rey working her bone–and not where Penny is at the end of the video–as she has finished her bone and is…waiting…

The down side for Reynolds is that she works a bone with her front teeth more than the back teeth. When Penny gets hold of a bone like this one, you can hear her scraping her back teeth over it from two rooms away. And, her teeth are shiny clean.

I watched her dig up one of these bones out of the snow yesterday, check it out, and then rebury it.

Dogs are endlessly funny.

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