Spring Paper Piecing

I have been hopping along with
Whims and Fancies and the Spring Fling Blog Hop.
The bloggers have posted some wonderful paper piecing patterns they are sharing with the blogging community. I will be in paper piecing heaven in the coming months making many of these. If you are interested in paper piecing, do check out the posts for the past week. 

Today was clean up of my sewing area, again!  I taught a intro to EQ class this morning.  I must admit I am learning some new things as I teach this class--gosh, there are so many amazing things EQ can do for us. I admire those who can design, sew, take care of children, a house and hold a job (or more) during the 24 hours of a day. The power to focus is a skill. 

That is my post for today. I have some photos to tidy up, put on a CD and send off to one of the guild members, so off I go. 

Square in a Square

Attended a trunk show and talk by Jodi Barrows this evening. Oh, what a great experience! Her techniques were so inspiring. I have her ruler from a class I took about 14 years ago. I had not used it since then and got it out two months to make a class sample of Constellation.

It did make the blocks so much more exact. I took the copies of her books that I own and had her sign them. I plan to make a few more quilts from using patterns from those books. I scheduled a Square in a Square Storm at Sea class on June 4. I will start making that quilt sample this week. 

BUT, Jodi talked about the book series that she is writing. The description of the first book has me interested.  Threads of Change will be shipping July 1, 2013. She talked about her family history, going back 5 generations and the amazing women her ancestors were. I wish I knew details about my ancestors from that far back. 

I plan on watching her on-line videos showing the many ways to use her ruler (or rulers since she has more available that I do not own).

What are you working on?

What is it Worth?

One post from Quilt Maker Magazine on Facebook today asked how much a person should charge for a quilt.  There were a number of responses. One person posted this link with a very good explanation: 

How Much to Charge?

The posts spoke to many aspects of quilting and selling and pricing, including insuring quilts we  ourselves own. That is one thing I don't think many of us think of.  And from some of the comments, it seems insurance companies don't look at quilts in the same way they may view a computer, appliance, or car.  Yet many of us would be surprised by theappraiser's value of our quilts.

That is what I have to say today. 
Good night. 

Spring Flower Project

I finished the small project for the Spring Mini Quilt Swap. This was a paper piecing pattern I designed years ago and decided to make it a bit bigger and add some grass and a border.  I had enough backing to be able to fold it up and over to make the binding.  It took a bit of time to do this and I think I maybe would have been done sooner if I had made binding and attached it as I normally do.  But I told myself I could do it and with a few minor setbacks, I accomplished it.  I did not take photos to show the steps of any part of this.  But I do have the finished project: 

Spring Flower
19" x 14"

I had a look this evening at C&T Publishing's Spring sale which ended tonight.  They had some books for $3 and $5.  Ordered just a few.  One is Drafting for the Creative Quilter and it was $5. I will see if it has some good tips or suggestions, because there are times when I do not use EQ to work on a pattern. 

Sew creatively! 

A Video of HST Construction

In my emails today I received one from Nancy's Notions.  The first line read: "Discover 3 fast and easy ways to make perfect half square triangles."  Well, coincidence that it was (since I have been working with HST blocks of late) I clicked it and found a good video showing three techniques, each using a product, to make the blocks.  None the less, it reminded me of Thangles for making HST blocks. I used them long ago when a local quilt store was having a Thangles Block of the Month--long before the Triangle Papers from Edyta Sitar were available. The nice thing about them was that one can use smaller strips of leftover fabric, so the blocks are scrappier. 

Here is the link if you would like to see what Nancy Zieman has to say.

I am working on cleaning up my sewing area and desk after having sent in the book proposal. Then I can get working on the next project, which is a mini quilt swap project which was organized my Michelle at Quilting Gallery.  It is called Dreaming of Spring Mini Quilt Swap.  This is the first time I have participated in a swap or exchange outside of the quilt guild.  I think it should be fun.  The toughest part for me was choosing my fabrics.  I have them and I am ready to start. 

A statement came across Facebook today (that I hate to admit applies to me), and maybe many of you have seen it, but: 
"Quilting is my passion. . .chocolate comes in a close second."
And with that I wish you happy quilting.