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About Those Plate Blocks
Several people asked me about the pattern for the plate blocks. I had started this project quite a few years ago, using an old Gai Perry book, "Quilted Gems". That is where the idea came from anyway. I did not at all use the method Gai did in her book. She used an octagon template…
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It’s a Save! And Where I Went Wrong.
All my Kaleidoscope blocks have been trimmed down to 5 1/2 inches, everything lines up perfectly, I can see the secondary circular pattern emerging, and I think it is safe to say this endangered quilt has been saved! Trimming things makes the quilt smaller, obviously, so I plan to add at least two, maybe four…
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Small Star Block Options
You know I love to show you all how human I am when it comes to my sewing. I make mistakes every now and then just like anyone else, and sometimes I do have to laugh at myself at how dingy I can be. When I took the Victory Star class, the instructor, Paula Barnes,…
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Learn What Your Machine Can Do
I learn stuff all the time from other bloggers. The most recent awesome and truly useful tip came from a post by Camille Roskelley of Simplify. This tip has to do with a stitch many of you may have on your sewing machines that can be very effectively used in machine quilting. This is the…
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I’m A Curvy Girl After All
I didn't give up! You Dear Readers were so encouraging about having me continue to try to make this block, and gave me all kinds of good advice! I went out and bought a book on making the Winding Ways block, and got some great tips and tricks that had me making nice blocks…
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Curved Piecing Ahead
(Winding Ways picture off the Internet) One of the things I love about blogging is the people I connect with every day. And Connections=Ideas and Inspiration. (Winding Ways picture off the Internet)I got a comment from Sharon of Grass Roots Quilting yesterday. That isn't too unusual, Sharon is a very cool woman who frequently stops by…
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Tools of the Trade
Thanks to all of you who gave me such great suggestions for making the paper piecing of Half Square Triangle units easier. I have tried shortening my stitch length and that made a big difference. Now I need some larger needles! I will try out some of the other ideas for ripping the paper off…
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Martinique For Real
I picked this pattern up recently, both because I liked the look of it, and because it is jelly roll friendly. Then I realized that the designer had featured the new fabric collection Martinique by 3 Sisters for Moda! Every season 3 Sisters reliably comes out with a great new collection. Martinique is their Spring…
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Another Way To Do It
Hi there everyone. Have a good weekend? Me too. While I was puttering around in my sewing room, fondling all the lovely cream colored strips my swap partners have been sending me for the Red and White Snowball challenge, I had an idea. The swap strips are five inches wide, correct? The pattern calls for…
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Color Catchers
When we were discussing pre-washing our fabrics earlier this week, I forgot to mention something important. There is a product I use when I wash my quilts for the first time, that helps protect the quilt against color bleeding. It is called Color Catcher. I have said many times that I do not pre-wash my…