Sewing Thursday

Wednesday is the day I spend almost the whole day playing cards. I love it! Anyway, not much sewing got done yesterday. Today, though, I got to sew in the morning and had lunch with some former co-workers. Such fun to see old friends.

I sewed for a couple of hours this afternoon piecing more of the arcs for the Double Wedding Ring quilt. It took me 2 hours to finish and iron 40 arcs. I now have 13 circles finished and need 5 more to have two rows complete. This is really slow progress.

Look what the mailman brought me this afternoon! My 40 Disappearing 9-Patches from Aunt Pitty Pat's swap. (I tried and tried but couldn't get them all in the picture. This makes me really want a design wall.) They're going to make a very colorful quilt. I'm not sure how I'm going to join them, but I do plan to make more of my own so that it will work up into at least a twin size. I'll post it when I have it joined.

My packages for the Scrappy Christmas block swap are ready to go to the Post Office tomorrow. So if I'm on your list, you'll be getting your blocks by next Tuesday or Wednesday. I'm really looking forward to receiving those as well. I've never made a Christmas quilt.

We leave for the beach on Saturday morning, so I won't be posting very often during the next week. I'll try to keep up with the blogs I follow, though; it's a great way to start the day.

Busy Sewing Day

Wednesday is the day that I spend playing cards, so I didn't get anything done in my sewing room. But today, I was able to spend most of the day sewing, and made a lot of progress on two projects. I got a lot of the cutting done for the Signature Quilt block exchange. I cut all the background fabric squares, and realized I don't have nearly enough. Oh well, one more trip to the quilt shop. What a horrible prospect! (I don't know how I'd get through the week without at least one trip to look at fabric.)

I made a couple of blocks and realized how much waste there would be from all those little triangles being cut off 2 corners of each block. I decided to sew them up into squares, but after doing those first four, I knew it was going to be a real chore. So, since I have to draw a line down through the center of each square anyway, I could just draw a parallel line 1/2 inch away. Then just sew them on both lines and cut them apart.
Worked like a charm, and with just a little extra effort, I have 72 of these cute little blocks. I'm not sure what I'll use them for, but possibly a pieced border for this quilt? I'll see later.

I made about 36, and wanted to do something else. The Scrappy Christmas blocks are due (Sept 1) long before the CW Sig blocks and I hadn't even started them. The sample block I made didn't come close to the required measurement, so after I found where I made my mistake, I got busy and got them all done through the first round. I think I'm going to like them, and I hope those who receive them in the swap like them as well. I'll post a picture when they're done.

On Monday I promised myself that I would make at least one of the squares (circles?) for my Double Wedding Ring quilt each day. Otherwise, with all the other projects I have underway, it will never get done. I started it in April and so far, don't have even one row done. So anyway, I made one on Monday and Tuesday, but none yesterday and today. Now after only 4 days, I'm two blocks behind. 3 blocks tomorrow?