Ornament block for Deck-Ade-Halls

This was a nice weekend for many reasons.  I got a fair amount of time to sew the next block of Deck-Ade-Halls (ornaments), got some outside work done on the yard and picked peaches.  Plus, we took a long drive to Marysville and ate at The Wagon Wheel--hamburger steak, mashed potatoes, green beans and a roll.  I also started The Secret Garden with Belle fabrics by Amy Butler.  It is a disappearing nine patch.

Featherweight

I decided to get my Featherweight out today as my working machine for the weekend.  It has been a long while since I have sewn with it, but with a little manual help and my DH it hums like a dream.  It is surprising how you forget the little threading details like threading from right to left and how tricky the bobbin is.  Anyway, I am about sew the ornaments block from Deck-Ade-Hall.  I have a quarter of and inch foot for the Featherweight which is really accurate, I think.

Merry Merry Snowmen

Patience----
I am so excited, because I got the whole BOM of 10 blocks for the Merry Merry Snowmen from UPS last night.  I have been wanting this quilt with the red and tan fabrics ever since it I first saw it on the Bunny Hill site.  Most of their patterns are just gorgeous, and make you feel like a kid again.  I don't think I will start on it until next year, as I just have too many projects in different stages right now and this one will definitely be time consuming.  Still, I can hardly wait to begin--I just have to leave it be for now.  It is stored in it's own bin, so I can look at it longingly whenever I get the urge to look at the pattern and beautiful fabric.

11/9/01 Teaching the basics

I sent this to Carol Elmore, who eventually did a hand piecing project with Lemoyne Star block.

Gay,
How about on Dec. 6 & 7 I do the hand stuff and then on Nov. 16th I'll come as either a consultant or I could talk about something you think of in the meantime. Maybe after you've done a week or so of class you could give me an idea of what they might need to learn or need more work on. I'll just wait to hear from you next week. Carol

11/09/01
Anything you would want to demonstrate would be fine. Here is my basic plan for the class. I will try and demonstrate as many aspects of quilting that they will encounter. My first block is the Martha Washington block. As this is rather simple (squares and triangles), we will discuss the problems of triangles and some of the different methods of doing them. Also I will talk about scant quarter of an inch, and basic sewing of the block. Each step will depend on their understanding of the concepts. If they are having difficulties, I will put more depth into it. If this goes well, I plan to go to applique and talk about 3 methods of accomplishing this. I have given most of them a straw needle for practice. I will probably use a Sunbonnet Sue for this block. Again, advancement will be determined by understanding. Next I plan to go to paperpiecing. For this I will talk about the machine settings, removable tape, 1/4 and 1/8" rulers, silk pins, and show how to do it. After this I don't have any specifics, so if you want to do a day of some process, great! Most of them have picked 12 blocks from the 7 or so Donna Wilder books that I have. They could mix and match different types to get a feel for different things. They will work on these on there own, since everyone has different work speeds. I think what I want to accomplish with these classes is just basics.

11-8-2001 Original list of blocks

Message from Julie:
Here is the list in alpha order so far...this is just for us to see who wants to do the same thing and for Gay to be able to classify patterns by difficulty. Gay has the books at her desk if you would like to select your 12. Just email me with your selections and I will update the list.

Amish Star
Barn
Basket
Birds in Flight
Bowtie
Crazy Quilt
Crowns
Dahlia
Dresden Plate
Drunkard's Path
English Garden Pillow
Grandmother's
Hex Sign
Martha Washington's Star
Milky Way
Nine Patch Flowers
Oak Leaf
Pineapple
Rose of Sharon
Stained Glass
Sue
Traditional Rose
Tulips
Whig Rose
Wreath

All the blocks came from 7 Donna Wilder books I had ordered from PBS.  Donna was a great teacher with easy to follow methods of instruction.  We didn't make all of these blocks, but many of them.

These are some mentioned.

11/14/01 Scholarly Stitchers log

Most of the 6 1/2 centers for Martha are finished or in the works.  The outside ring of Martha is cut with the Companion Angle and the Scrapmaster rulers.  The larger background angle is cut with the Companion at the 3 1/2" mark.  The stars that are formed by sewing the long side of the smaller triangle to the larger triangle are cut from the Scrapmaster at 3 7/8".  You will need four larger triangles and 8 smaller triangles.  Alice has the preliminaries for the Crown.  For those who are also working on the Crown, this is the recap.  I am making mine out of 2 colors, the book has three.  The four corner 4 patches are made from 2 2 1/2" strips sewn together with a quarter of an inch (1 background strip and another fabric--you will need two sets if using 3 colors each using the background fabric).  The triangles are made from 4 4 1/2" squares, sew all the way around one background fabric and the triangle fabric that will form part of the crown (right sides together).  We will finish these tomorrow.  The Crown block is a 9 patch, so each part of the nine sections of 4 patches and 4 triangles has to be 4 1/2" to compete a 12 1/2" block (the 9 comes with the 4 1/2 square in the center).  Try and get as much done as possible, so we can get these two blocks in a pile waiting for the end result.
.

Deck-Ade-Halls 2nd Star units

The colors in these were really nice; the red and blue really stand out from the white.  Plus this was much faster than the gingerbread men even though the pieces were smaller and more intricate.  Instead of drawing the lines and sewing on the drawn lines, I used the card method I came across recently (I can't remember where).  You sew along a piece of card stock or card from a magazine from corner to corner.  This is so much more accurate for me than the line.  Sometimes I still have to unsew if the fabric doesn't cover the corner like I want it to.

Beginning the tale of the Scholarly Stitchers

I didn't plan to start a library quilt group; it just happened.  Much of the beginning for the Scholarly Stitchers started out with no pictures but lots of email messages back and forth between the beginning novice quilters and myself.  This was the first message sent out to the entire library. This email was dated November 07, 2001 from my then supervisor, Julie Rashid.

Special Opportunity for Would-be Quilter!

To anyone interested, Gay has offered to share her vast quilting experience with me.  We have decided to do a series of lunch "tutorials" starting next week.  (Why the rush?? I am leaving for Pakistan on December 16th and wanted to have some skills in place to work on a full-size quilting project with my husband's relatives while I am there...thus the urgency.)  If anyone would like to participate, please let us know asap.  Come up to my desk if you would like a visual of what we are planning.
Julie :-)

This is the November 13, 2001 email I sent to 7 people who had decided they would like to learn different quilting techniques.

We didn't get quite as far along as I had planned, but we have started.  That, of course, is the biggest hurdle.  We talked about getting fusible paper, fusible interfacing, a 12" ruler (all our blocks will measure out to this size), a micron 01 or 05 permanent marker, and removable scotch tape for soon-to-come classes.  It was decided to move the classes to the Preservation Lab, since we can store things out of Marty's way and not have to take everything home each evening.  Someone offered to bring a small ironing board for pressing.  We used my Magic triangle ruler and cut out 4 4" squares (2 of one fabric/2 of a second fabric), All the Magic triangle does is mark a diagonal line from one corner to another.  Then a 1/4" line is marked on each side of this line.  Two different squares were put right sides together using this marking technique (it is easier to mark on the wrong side of the lighter fabric), sewed on the two outer lines and cut down the center line.  This makes one square with two fabrics (our triangles).  The finished size for the square is 3 1/2" squared up.  Remember to square up this 1/2 and 1/2 square with a diagonal line on your ruler (the diagonal ruler will be right on the center triangle).  You will have 4 of these 1/2 and 1/2 squares to form a pinwheel of 6 1/2".  This will complete the center of the Martha Washington Star block.  Since we cannot eat in the Preservation lab, let's meet at 12:00 and stop at 12:45.  Tomorrow we will complete the Martha Washington Star block, and I will bring a completed Crown block, Alice.  If you are doing this block, you will need to cut 2 different 2 1/2" strips and sew these together.  We will make the corner four patch with this.  Also, if you cut 4 4 1/2" squares (2 of one color/2 of another), these will form the triangles of the block.  When you are sewing remember to always sew a scant quarter of an inch.  For beginners, it is probably good to draw that sewing line with a pencil and ruler on the wrong side of the fabric.  The best thing to do, if you plan to make quilting a lifetime habit, is to buy a quarter of an inch foot for your machine.  I couldn't live without mine.

Gay