Half Square Triangles Using Bias Strips

We used a different method to make our half square triangles for the Scrapaholic blocks. We had two strips of fabric that were cut on the bias and stitched on either side of the long bias sided then cut our half square triangle units. Here is a good tutorial on how the triangle square units were made using this method. Our bias strips were long enough to cut 5 units from each pair of strips and we cut them 2 1/4" wide.

I really liked this method as the units are cut before they are pressed open. With the traditional method you have to square up the units and a lot of times have to turn and cut both sides. Try it - it might work in some of your quilts too.

Happy Quilting,
Lynn

Frost on the Spiderweb

Didn't even know this spiderweb was here next to my glider until we had frost last week. Isn't it pretty? By the size of it and the shape and strength of the web I think it is another of those common garden spiders. Sure didn't see any spiders there this fall before it got cold. After the frost melted it disappeared at least from the vantage point of the house.

Slowly I have been working on the Scrapaholic blocks. With harvest still not completed I just don't have blocks of time to sew. Have had company twice too so the house needed my attention as well. I will eventually get them done - slow but steady wins the race right?

We only have about 80 acres left but had rain again last night and it was foggy and damp all day yesterday so won't be in the field today. Don't think we will get it done before Thanksgiving now :-(

Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Lynn

Sewing with Catalogs

Look closely at the photo below - it is the same one I posted a few days ago. Notice a couple of JC Penny catalogs? I suppose you are wondering why they are there, is that where I store them.....why, why, why does she have those catalogs on the floor under her sewing machine?

There is a pretty good reason I have them there and that is to rest my left foot on when I have my right foot on the sewing pedal. Before I used the catalogs the circulation would get cut off my left leg as the chair pressed against the back of my knee. I am not a short person but not tall enough to sit comfortably with the chair raised as high as I want it to be able to have my elbows the right height when I sew.

I have taken the rolling wheels off of the sewing table, put them on, took them off a second time and put them back on trying to get the height right but it was just too short without the wheels so I gave up for a while when this idea popped into my head. By the way, John had to help me with the wheels each time as the table is too heavy and awkward to do it myself. I didn't change the wheels right away each time but made myself try to get used to the new way and he didn't even grumble when I changed my mind over and over.

I do think I am going to wrap the catalogs with packing tape to keep the pages from folding and getting ripped off and to keep the two of them from slipping apart as I sew. I don't use them for what they were intended, besides they are probably outdated anyway.

When my 9 yr old granddaughter came I put the foot pedal on the catalogs and she said she really liked that as she didn't have to reach so far with her foot to sew. Another good use of the catalogs the way I see it.

Until Later,
Lynn

It's A Small, Small World

You know one of the parts I like best about blogging is to see where everyone that reads my blog is from. I attached two Widgets to the sidebar of my blog when I started blogging and check them about every day.

It is so interesting to see what countries or states people are from. The Feejit Live Traffic Feed is very interesting. Besides the information that is posted on the sidebar you can click on the words at the bottom that say "Watch in Real Time" to get more information.

I get a screen like the one below when I click to watch in real time. I can see where the person is from but no specifics so don't worry I can't track you down and don't know who you are either. I can see if visitors came to my site from another site, I can tell what time they arrived and sometimes when they leave. I also like the little flags - if I hover my mouse over the flag it tells me the country where the visitor is from as sometimes I don't know the particular city/country that is printed . Guess it is like a little history lesson and so exciting.

The other Widget I attached to my blog is NeoCounter. By the way both of these widgets are free and you can get them on your blog by clicking on the links on each and following the instructions. The NeoCounter widget I have set up to count how many visitors I have had and what countries. This keeps a continuous count so I can tell right away if I am checking it everyday if I am getting lots of visitors or not too many. I have been blogging a little over a year and a half and have almost 6000 visitors. Not a large number compared to some bloggers but enough that I am happy at least someone is looking at my blog.

It was kind of strange when I first started blogging I didn't tell anyone I was doing it for several months and still have not let all my family know I blog. Guess I have been kind of reserved and wondering if they think what I blog about is boring, badly written or braggy.

I joined QuilterBlogs and they post all the updates that members post and I get a lot of visitors through them. I check out the site too when I have time and scroll down and click on blog entries that I want to read. Follow several now that I have learned about through that site. This is a free site too and costs nothing to join.

I also joined another free site called Quilting Bloggers a site where you can look up quilters by country or by state. Nice to see who blogs in the same area as you and also fun to check out bloggers from another country.

The last quilt blog listing I check out periodically is Quilt Qua but it is just an alphabetical listing. I was thinking I joined this list but sure don't see Nebraska Views on the list so either I got taken off or it was never a list to join. It is a good list to browse and find interesting blogs to read though.

Was thinking this morning about how much our world has shrunk since the advent of the Internet. I wouldn't be corresponding with quilters from foreign countries let alone quilters from other states here in America without the Internet and blogging in particular.

Have to tell you a little story about my late father in law concerning this very thing since it was a memory about him that triggered my thoughts. The reason I was thinking about him this morning is that Saturday was the opening of rifle season for deer here in Nebraska and a young neighbor stopped in to show us the deer he had got early this morning. It reminded me of the early Sunday morning years ago when my father in law got a nice buck and was so tickled because it was also his 79th birthday. He got the deer early and he even made it to church on time. I came over right after noon to see his deer and to take a digital photo of him with it....he was just like a little kid at Christmas he was so excited. Anyway I took my camera home and sent the photo to his sisters on the west coast, nieces and nephews around the USA and also to his niece and family that live in Germany. This was not too long after we just got Internet and it was really new idea to him and my in-laws didn't even have a computer at that time. Around 4 pm I got a message back from the German relatives and a lot of the others so I printed them off and brought them over for him. He was amazed and kept repeating over and over and would bring it up for several years..."I shot my deer in the morning and relatives saw a photo and sent me messages in the afternoon and some all the way from Germany. "

I kind of feel the same way, a little amazed at what I write here on a farm in Nebraska is read in places far from where I will ever be able to travel or see. Will probably never get a chance to meet many of you face to face but you are as dear to me as my friends that live close by. I love to hear about other places far and near and get to know you so leave a comment and I will write you back.

Happy, happy quilting where ever you are.
Lynn

Have to make a correction - just went back to the Quilt Qua site and found my blog listed on page 6. The alphabetical listing starts over on page 9 so I was on the first listing and didn't see it. You can send her an email if you want to be listed on this list - you can find the address on the home page.

120 Blocks Done

I finished making the 120 6 inch blocks for the Scrapaholic quilt this afternoon. I was determined to get them done. Next step is to start sewing sets of 4 together to make the 12" blocks.

This is how I had my sewing/cutting/pressing space set up to make these blocks. I have an adjustable 19" x 30" table that I set up beside my sewing machine. I cover half the table with my cutting board and the other half with my small pressing board. My chair can swivel so it is easy to move from the machine to the table and back again.

The nice thing about this table is that I can adjust the height and did set it up lower than my machine to make it easier to use the cutting board.

Here is what it looks like by itself without all my junk on it.

I flipped the table over so you could see the underside. There are several different places to put the leg bars to adjust the height. I got the table at Home Depot a year or so ago in case any of you were wondering. It is light weight and easy to handle too.

Happy Quilting,
Lynn

Still Stitching

I have spent the last two days working on stitching up more these scrappy blocks for the Scrapaholic quilt I started in the workshop our guild had about a month ago. I know I am not very fast getting these blocks done but that is just me, I pin my fabrics together and I rip and re-stitch mistakes. I try to leave tiny goofs and just hold the pieces together without pins when I sew but it just isn't in my nature I guess. I will leave a mistake for a while but in the end I go back and rip and re-stitch as it bothers me too much. Besides those things to slow me down I take a lot of breaks to do other things as I have a tendency to hunch over my machine and end up with a back ache if I don't get up and walk around or do another task once in a while.

Here is what I have done so far. Each of the piles has 6 of the 6" blocks using the same 12 fabrics. When I get ready to put them together I will make sure I only have one of each set in a block to really mix up the fabrics. This is a huge project for me as I have mostly just made miniatures and small wall hangings for several years.

When I get the last 4 sets made I will start putting the 12" blocks together. As I was sitting at the computer this morning getting these photos ready to post I got to wondering how many different fabrics will be in the 30 12" blocks when I get done. If my calculations are correct I will have used 240 different fabrics.

OK you math whizzes you can check my calculations. Each set of 6 blocks is made with 12 different fabrics, 6 dark and 6 light. I will have 20 sets of blocks after I finish the last 4 sets today, so if my calculations are correct that makes a total of 240 fabrics right? Wonder if I would have started this if I knew I would be using that many different fabrics!

Bonnie Kucera, our teacher for this quilt, had us cut 9" squares of fabric to start with then cut them in half on the diagonal. We then kept one half of our fabric triangles and traded the other half with other class members so we would have all different fabrics. Of course we only got a good start on making the blocks in class and I am making many more so cut more squares and traded with two friends who were also needing more variety. I did dip into my stash more to get the final number I needed but the last ones I cut were just triangles as I didn't need anymore to trade as my friends are making a little smaller quilt that I am. You know it is scary to think how much fabric I have - it doesn't look like I even touched it with the exception that it is a jumbled mess right now.

To refresh your memory this is what 4 of the smaller 6" blocks look like laid out to make the larger 12" block.

I will want to put borders on the top when I get the blocks together but will have to purchase some fabric I am sure as I don't think I have any large pieces of fabric in my stash. (I am a fat quarter girl!) Will see what the quilt looks like when I get the blocks together to decided on borders.

Another day at home for me - guys are still harvesting but they don't need me. They are not started yet this morning as it is damp and misty out but looks like it might be getting brighter so there is hope it will dry off soon. John is estimating that if we don't get any major delays we should be done with harvest maybe by the end of next week. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Happy Quilting,
Lynn

College Football - Go Huskers!

What fun we had on Saturday night! We got a chance to attend the University of Nebraska football game against rival University of Oklahoma in Lincoln. The weather was just beautiful for a November evening with the temperature at the end of the game still in the low 50s. Nebraska won 10 to 3 so that was an added bonus.

It had been years since we had been to a game so it was a treat to sit in the stadium and soak up the atmosphere. Nebraska fans all dressed in red kept up enthusiasm by cheering throughout the game. Was really fun to see the band perform as my niece plays a clarinet and was out there on the field during half time and before the game started. We did see her as we had a pair of binoculars but with all the hats on the band members it was hard to tell which one was here until I spotted a very tall girl, then I new it was her.

Of course since the game started at 7:00 pm it was late when it got over. We had a long drive home and I am still trying to recover my sleep.

Today was a day at home for me again. John had to haul dry corn to the elevator most of the day and didn't get started harvesting until 6 this evening. It will be a late night for the guys.

No sewing today but catching up on things around the house. Still working on the 6 block sets for the Scrapaholic quilt when I do sew. I know, I know.....I am slow. I just have a hard time sitting and sewing for hours without a break but like the saying goes, slow and steady does win the race, right?

Lynn