It's just got to be.....fuzzy photos!

I have cut the pairs for the blue four patches and sewn them up..........

there are 140 spare four patches!

Still thinking about the leader/ender project that has to be sourced from pre-cuts or scraps:  I have hundreds of 2" squares cut, sorted into colours and I also have a 'throw them in' box for squares from trimmings.  

Then there are the ends from 1 1/2" strip from 'moth in the window'.......

Cut to 1 1/2" or 1 1/4" squares.

Along with all the pre-cut cream squares, it has to be

Bow Ties!

I like that the 1 1/2" or 1 1/4" squares both look OK as the knot.

Another re-think

I tried some variations for cotton reel blocks and didn't like any of them!

They are already in the scrap bin, I couldn't get the proportions right with the size blocks that I had to hand in the log cabin format.  Looks like that's not a good idea for a leaders and enders project.  Rethink time.

I had cutting to do today for the green and blue four-patches for Moth in the Window, I just wasn't in the mood for cutting.

I finished the purple blocks, ironed the four colours I have done, then sorted out the hand stitched greens for the next project-I have to name it for the blog-ermm-'The Big Green One'  will do for now!

There are hundreds of hand pieced greens.  I need 4 x 244 for the four-patch element-so I just sewed up a few more of the colours I didn't have from the cut blocks. 

I think I will have enough. 

Then I got out the green triangles and picked a bunch of every colour, I need 488.....

And the creams......all cut and ready.....

I am LOVING having all the cutting done!  After today  it *will* go away until Moth in the Window is done!

Muffins for muffin tops.

Sometimes a girl has to do it for herself.  

I am a well known baker for others in return for favors done.  Most of the cake I make I give away, like this 7000 calorie chocchocchoc orange yummyness.  (The last one I made was a leaving present for someone at work, she DID choose to share it out and not take it home.  There was a possibility she would have been lynched in the car park if she hadn't!)

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I have had a hankering for a lemon and poppy seed muffin for a week, but as I'm gluten free, I can't just buy one!

So Sunday breakfast, I made a gluten free batch, just for me!  

Don't know what happened to those missing two, must have been the oven fairies.....

I need to freeze them as soon as they are cool to stop the cat eating the rest........

Back to a more destructive note, I bought three more shirts yesterday for the stash and de-seamed them at mums....

.........and a white cotton sheet for only £1, all soft from use, but not worn out: that will make a lovely back for a quilt for my son, who has sore skin and eczema-he loves soft sheets and well worn tee shirts for comfort.

Spooling around the internet

I found a free pattern-by McCalls, called called spinning spools

I am looking for a format for a leaders and enders project from my stash, that will STAY as that and not get overtaken as the primary!

There are quite a few free patterns on this site.

I found this one with a good tutorial at BeeInMyBonnet blogspot.

It's standard,but a bit fiddly with triangle cutting needed for my liking as I want to grab the stash and move. 

I like the selvage idea from aroundtheblockdesigns
but I don't have the selvages separated, they are  in the general string bins.

I'm going to go with a log cabin type design, as I have buckets of 3 1/2 inch squares cut that will work.  I may have to cut the 1 1/2 inch dark spool tops but there could be enough darks in the bin.  I will only have to cut cream/light background with any luck!

I'll try one or two out later..........

Purple progress and the next project....

Only a little progress, been too tired after work this week. About half the purple blocks are done. 

This evening I cut the 1 1/2" finished sashings, 10 1/2" long, from more ugly greys, they're going down fast!  I have worked out I will only need 8 x 8 blocks for this quilt as I want to put a 1 1/2" grey edging border, a 4" finished row of coloured moths, then another 1 1/2" border in grey. With the sashings being 1 1/2" finished  it will be too big to use all the blocks I intended. Plenty left for the second quilt.  I will probably make that one over Christmas.

Sashings and borders mostly cut......

I also had to try the sashings out- I really didn't like this one and had a 'moment' as I have cut yards.....

..........but I thought it my be that the creams were quite dark in this block, so I tried another.........

........much better!  All put together it will be fine.  This is intended as a more 'manly' quilt, hence all the greys.It would probably be better with ONE grey but I am NOT buying more fabric! Except grey for the binding, I want that all one colour........

I have a feeling I won't be able to wedge it under the space in the Bernina to quilt as it's so big-if I can't, I will tie the moth blocks with beads and just quilt the border. This will be my first full size quilt on the machine, I hope I can shove it under there.

Whilst having a fabric sort out I realised I am never going to have time to complete this handpiecing project..........

....... so I raked out he hundreds of paired hand-pieced green/cream blocks, along with all  the green and cream triangles (1 1/2" finished squares and 3" finished trianges for the next machine project. 

That's a deep box of cut up greens there...........

I will be doing one of Bonnie Hunters patterns..........

here........

 I have more than enough cut shapes for this.   Loving the fact I'm using mostly pre-cut lately!

Tricksy yellows

Yellow is my least favorite colour.  I just find it tricksy. The yellow borders will look fine  in the whole, I know. 

Sixteen all done....

Also the oranges, its moving fast!

The purple blocks are ready to go too.....

Seeing red

I have made up the 16 red blocks.

I am going to use grey sashings to join them into the overall quilt. May put  little moths in the joining squares of the sashings.

I really never thought I would find a use for these ugly grey triangles. 

All but 20 of the moths are squashed (ironed!) now.  I have become a committed presser with this project, I didn't bother  much before. This has been a blessing to sew, I needed something to stop my recent bout of over-thinking, it moved so fast it has really caught my attention.   Now THIS is all I think about!

Sewing the yellows next. 

 

Over compensator.

That's me, same as ever, I have made too many moths!!  The up side? I sewed 175, there is enough for a second bed topper or lap quilt. Handing these 6 inch blocks after working with 1 1/2" strips seemed really unwieldy

 I have made enough of the yellow and red four patches, looking at what I have to cut, there will be plenty of every colour of these.  The only thing I need to cut for the second quilt are the window strips. I will see how the colours work on the bigger quilt first before I decide on the second set of window sashings.

I have a lot of pressing to do (moth squashing!)

  I only found 7 sets that I had sewn on the wrong way, not bad going for me!

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Little Weed

This is Little Weed, with Bill and Ben the flowerpot men.  Those in the UK 'of a certain age' will remember them!  I'm weedy today, so not quite so productive as I thought I'd be- I woke at 8.30 (late) made tea, went back to bed and woke at 1.30pm!!  Must have needed the sleep though.  Zzzzz. Feeling flu-ish.

I finished off stitching the last of the orange 'window' lengths first, this afternoon, pressed all of the paired lengths of each colour for the 'windows'........

Then.....

I cut the reds-I made 137 blocks and only needed 68!  The rest are bagged up for another project. I suspect it will be the same for every colour!

I sewed these onto the red 'windows' to check for accuracy before I cut any more, seems fine. Apart from having the camera on the wrong light source setting!

Now stitching the yellows.  I will do these, then start assembling the 'moths' fully before I do any other four patch blocks.

Tried to  tune in to Bonnie Hunter on quilt-cam but the feed was misbehaving. Grump!  She doesn't often do it when I am awake in the UK!

One of those days!

Manic

I made it sewing through until 10.45 last night, after staying up 'till 1am the night before, amazing!  Most of the cutting is done-I did it in batches between bouts of sewing-all I need are some 1 1/2 " purple strips to make the cornerstones.   

Today, progress.............I have done about 8 hours!

I wasn't sure I had cut enough of these.............turned out fine..........

Love that basil fabric

Matched sets of reds

Matching the oranges. Peachy.

Blue, purple, red, orange, yellow, green sets for the 'window' sashings all stitched up now.  I won't have to iron these, finger pressing will be fine. Also sewed up the scraps for the cornerstones today.  If I do another one of these I think I will vary the 'moth' colour, not the cornerstones, it will be much quicker!

I lost my glasses for 10 minutes, even the picture is fuzzy without them, couldn't see them for looking!  Doh. There they are.  I need one of those chains that go round your neck.  And a leash.  And behavior classes!!!  Forget the agility though.

The 'oil' reminder came up on the Bernina today, so I took the plate off, brushed it all out, then spent 10 minutes looking for the sole plate.  I had put it away it the box with the brush and the oil. I had just found my glasses then, I think I had a caffine dip, or some such!

Yesterday night I chain pieced stitching the squares to a set of triangles.  I think I have done WAY more than 100 sets!  Tomorrows task is stitching these into pairs to complete the moth blocks.  (Happy to say that my hand piecing has proved to be accurate, that I had done on the triangles, you can see it in this pic. Smirk). Breaks will be ironing and cutting the stitched scraps that I did yesterday into 1 1/2" chunks for the cornerstone.  Love the salad fabric too!

I have done a few dozen of these already to try it out.  This will be the        l   o   n   g   e   s   t        job, I think! I will be able to finger press them, no ironing, the centre seams flatten out OK

Another hour at the machine, then off to bed with The Great Gatsby 

 (;@}

Night night!