One Block Wonder Row Marking Pins finished

Small sections of foam to organize

All ready to use!

Figuring out how to store the marking pins

All in one covered box!

Stuck in hard styro to dry.

works with metal & plastic. Has a LARGE opening tho!

Letter and numbers

One Block Wonder pins

I mentioned early in the week that I was working on a set of pins to mark my rows/pieces for a future One Block Wonder quilt. I’ve gotten them all made. (Look back for the tutorial at https://stitchinggrandma.wordpress.com/2015/03/17/one-block-wonder-pins-tutorial/)

UPDATE ( 1 Dec 2015) – UPDATE – It seams that someone else has written a great tutorial for this project -Nancy West has nice graphics and instructions on her blog –  My Fancy Nancy Life  .  I’m not sure if I saw this when I was looking for a method, but her project is similar to mine.  Differences is she likes  fancy pins, my pins are “very utilitarian” .  The pins she used are way more expensive than the yellow headed quilt pins I used.  (I was making lots!!!).    Of note; I bought my glue, the pins, the beads, numbers and letters, all at Hobby Lobby.

I was asked on a Facebook One Block Wonder forum “WHY make pins?”.  I thought the best way to answer was with a photo of how I marked my first (and only completed) One Block Wonder. I was also asked if I plan to use them for other quilts. The answer is YES…any time you need to mark your columns/rows these pins will be effective.

There is a lot of “design” that goes into a OBW once your triangles are all cut out, and sewn into 1/2 hexigons.  You don’t want to “mix up your carefully planned arrangement”. Numbering helped to keep it straight!

This picture shows the hexi’s once the triangles have been cut and finding a pleasing arrangement of the 6 triangles.  The ones that look like “bows” in the upper right corner have been selected and the center point pinned (3 pieces on each stack). That pin helps to remind which point of that triangle is going to be in the center.

unsewn hexi’s

A little sewing (1/2 hexi only); then it was time to start arranging on the design wall.

This photo shows them “on the design wall”

Once a final layout has been chosen; it is time to “make the quilt”.  We quilters like columns and rows.

Each half – hexi had a column/row marker.  I did this with paper and straight pins.  My “teacher”  (also known as the One Block WonderWoman) had me mark in the same method that she used.  The goal here is not to “confuse yourself” as you take them from the design wall to the sewing machine.

Paper worked for marking the blocks, …it was effective; but it was suggested to me (again by the One Block WonderWoman) that marking pins would be very cool. It has taken me nearly 3 years to “get around to it”. (I tried once before, but lacked the proper execution of the plan). (Yes, it was a little fussy and messy and I had more fun playing with the beads, sorting and arranging. The gluing part was a pain, and messy. Good thing it dried clear! ) I’m sure I read on someone’s blog a year or more ago about “glue” for the marking beads; and if I ever find that blog, I will come back here and give credit. It was NOT an original idea on my part at all! (All I can say is THANK YOU to all those people who blog and show great photo’s and tutorials!)

Would you like to know what the original fabric looked like and the final quilt looked like? Take a look back to 2012 !

Do those fish look familiar? They are the turquoise 3″ squares on my Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt I showed – https://stitchinggrandma.wordpress.com/2015/03/17/2nd-mystery-quilt-top-done/
This quilt was for my third grandchild; made before she was born. We fondly referred to her as Baby Bulldozer (named thus by her older siblings). She will also get the 2nd Grand Illusion Mystery quilt; and I had fun “tying them together” using the fish fabric again.

If you like One Block Wonders; check out the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/1435295876732150/
And don’t forget to check out the OneBlockWonderWoman on WordPress…she is always making something pretty! https://oneblockwonderwoman.wordpress.com/
I am a “visual learner” and was very happy when I found great video tutorials here – http://ifthesethreadscouldtalk.com/new-york-kaleidocally-hexed/
If you want to make one, do get Maxine Rosenthal’s book –

One-Block Wonders: One Fabric, One Shape, One-of-a-Kind Quilts

I was 2 of her books, the one mentioned here, and also the ENCORE book. They are still available and you can pick one up at your local quilt shop/show/book store or Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/One-Block-Wonders-Fabric-One-Kind/dp/1571203222

My OBW marking are finished, stored in their handly little container and waiting for me to start another OBW. I actually have one started (and put away in my UFO stack from last year) and the fabric for another bright and cheery one. But first, I have a Quilts of Valor to make; on a deadline…..more about that in a future post.

Have a great day, and ENJOY the first day of Spring! We had snow showers this morning, but now it is raining; and I can live with that! Time to sew!

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Sewing like crazy!

Wow; today has been a full on sewing day!  I went up to church at 9 am, and worked until noon; and then this afternoon from about 3:30 until nearly 7.  Todays project – the beginning of a “Senior Quilt”.  This is a project I chaired for 5 years, and now someone else is “in charge”. Yippeeeeee !!!!

I showed up with my machine in the tote, collected a ziplock filled with colorful 8 1/2″ squares (ALREADY CUT…how cool is that); and I sat down and started putting them together, a neutral block and a colorful block.  Got all 80 together in pairs, and put the machine away; got out the iron and set the seams and pressed them open. By noon, I had them packed up and after one “quick stop” at the local sewing center, I was headed home. 

(Somehow I had lost my “O” foot for my new Janome. That foot is the 1/4 ” foot with the guide along the side.  Secured a replacement.)  

When I got back home, I took care of some household business (grilled cheese sandwiches for the hubby and self) and got on to organizing the blocks into some sort of order.  Before I could lay them out, I had to “remove” my one-block wonder blocks (29), and my “summer in the park” blocks (60) from the design wall.  (Did I mention that I built about 35 summer in the park blocks in the last 3 days??)

Senior Quilt 2014 – final layout

Here is the final layout for my Senior Quilt 2014; and you may note that I have them sewn (and pressed) now into 4 patches.  I figure tomorrow afternoon I can get the rest of it together in a few hours.  My layout is our “classic” pattern. A bit boring, but I just didn’t want to expend too many brain cells doing something different.

I did play around a bit with the fabrics; made a few extra blocks to get a nice “color” balance. Hopefully the colors will show when you click on the photo.  I am not fond of the light green or the browns; but LOVE the stripes!!.

The bible verse in the upper left corner I stitched out on my Brother embroidery machine earlier in the month.  Many thanks to  www.designsbyjuju.com !! She has many wonderful designs on her website for sale; and has felt called to share Bible verses for FREE!!!

The photo on the bottom right of the quilt is one I took when I began coordinating the project ; and I printed it on the fabric, using freezer paper, bubble jet wash & bubble jet set process.

All in all; a good day sewing today! (And yesterday and the day before too!!)  If you are counting, this makes unfinished project # 4 for February…..yes, the t-shirt project is still on the layout table waiting on the ruler, the Summer in the Park is waiting on the desk, for me to cut more strips to make more blocks; and the One Block Wonder is on the layout table waiting for more hexies to be cut too.  AND …. I have the fabric out to do a Happy Birthday Banner project for my daughter. Still thinking about how I am going to make it; but it doesn’t count as unfinished; it is in the UnSTARTED column!!!

So; how many projects do you work on at any given time?

Keep on stitching…..

Fun at Ocean Waves Quilt retreat

I feel so lucky to have been able to spend a few days with 25 other women from Ocean Waves Quilt Guild at a retreat in Ocean City Maryland.  We stayed at the Dunes Manor Hotel, and were treated with such  courtesy by the staff.  Wonderful food; great desserts; all included in our fee for the retreat.  The hotel had afternoon tea each day; happy hour; and a lovely lady who played the grand piano in the middle of the lobby; and engaged everyone in a sing-a-long!  She passed out song books and everyone nearby found a place to sit and sing old favorites.

We did a lot of sewing between Wednesday noon and Friday noon.   We worked on two patterns – Summer in the Park and One Block Wonders.

Missouri Star Quilt Company has a video on the Summer in the Park – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5WgTyqB8Pc

The pattern can be found at http://englandstreet.blogspot.com/2012/10/summer-in-park-free-jelly-roll-pattern.html

The One Block Wonders pattern can be found in Maxine Rosenthals book – available here – http://www.amazon.com/One-Block-Wonders-Fabric-One-kind/dp/1571203222

I haven’t taken any photos yet of my Summer in the Park block.  I want to get a few more done before I do, so there is more to see.  Will post them when I get some more finished.

I did get only one photo of my OBW blocks when the instructor had them up on her design wall for demo purposes.    I made one of these quilts in the past, for my granddaughter and was looking forward to doing it again, and doing a much better job.  I was second guessing my fabric choice for a couple of days prior to the retreat, thinking the pattern was not big enough; bold enough etc.  I had an 8 1/2″ repeat, and that was the MINIMUM required.  Well, after I saw them on the design wall, I knew it was going to be ok!!  I have 29 of the blocks made, and will be cutting more fabric.

Enjoy the pictures of our retreat!

This is my OBW; with a small Asian fabric in green; grey and blue with a touch of gold and tan.

Judy used an Asian fabric that had a coral base. She cut her’s larger than mine.

Barbara use a fabric that was feathers in 3 colors.

This is Linda’s project. She is thinking about adding the CUBES that she found in the book.

Cindy cut her OBW blocks from a panel. The photo shows the original fabric with her blocks.

This is bold and bright. (Forgot who it belonged to tho….ooops)

My table mates – Rita and Judy. They were both on the retreat committee and did a great job. Fun getting to know them both. The view out the window is the deck, dunes and beach!! Fun to sit and look up at the waves!

The sunrise from our hotel room !!! While the rest of the Northeast was battling snow, we woke up to this!! Love the mid-Atlantic!

My family knows how much I like to cruise, but the trip Dunes Manor Hotel,(http://dunesmanor.com/) an ocean front hotel for a quilt retreat was the next best thing. (The really cool thing is I had only a 35 minute drive to get there!!!)

I had a great time sharing and learning with 25 other ladies from our guild. I love being in the guild, and think the committee from Ocean Waves Quilt Guild ( http://oceanwavesquiltguild.org/ ) picked the perfect setting for our retreat!  I can’t wait to go again!

Happy stitching!