This clucker's got stars in her eyes

Or, more accurately, she's got stars in her butt, but eyes sounds better...

This little biddy went together a lot more smoothly than her predecessor.  Hardly any swearing at all, and that's counting the fact that the background is all stripy and not completely whacked.
I think I'm making progress!
I really didn't get a lot of blue done this week for the RSC, but since this Burgoyne block has some blue in it, I guess I can claim it for this last Saturday in July.

This is now Burgoyne #13, which means I'm apparently not stopping at twelve.  I thought I was stopping at twelve.  The plan was to stop at twelve.  But for some reason, I'm still choosing colors and cutting bits for more Burgoynes.  I think Cathy's gorgeous finished Burgoyne flimsy might have a certain amount of blame inspiration to it.  Can't quit now!

Speaking of not quitting, the Mad Monday Minis were quite a trial this week.   Seriously?  Itty bitty 36-patches?  Itty bitty 36-patches composed of 1.25" squares?  Itty bitty 36-patches composed of 1.25" squares that measure 4"?  FIVE of them?!?

(Edit:  Diann's comment reminded me that the squares were actually 1 1/8" rather than 1 1/4", which  made it even more ridiculous.  So, the following paragraphs should refer to 1.25" strips cut into 3.5" sections to make the strip sets, and 1 1/8" slices for the actual assembly.  (Note to self - don't just rely on memory for blog posts, especially when hungry...))

I immediately tossed out that 1.25" squares idea.  Nope.  Not going there.
I cut 3.75" lengths off a double fistful of 1.5" strips and sewed together a bunch of pairs, then trimmed them to 1.25" wide before pressing the pairs open.  Then I sewed on another 1.5" strip, pressed, and sliced them into 1.25" units of three squares.

I sewed these units together in sets of six, trimmed them to size, then sewed pairs of the 3x6 units together to make the 36-patches.

The directions said that if they didn't come out to exactly 4" square to adjust the seams.
Nope.   Not going there, either.

Most of my blocks were a bit too big, but no way was I going to mess with seams.  I centered my ruler on the center seams and slivered off a smidgen from each edge.  At this size, there's no way that such a tiny discrepancy is going to show.  (If anybody comes at this quilt with a magnifying glass and a ruler, I'll just gently show them the door.)  (Well, pretty gently...)

Amidst all that work, I did manage to get a few more blocks built for Long Time Gone.  (Maybe I'll call it "Are We There Yet?")

I'm going to have to make that sashing decision soon.  In the meantime, I'm still liking the golden yellow.
Though that stack of oranges over there on the shelf are starting to make hooting and whistling noises...


Linking with SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday and with Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!  Come see all the scrappy fun!

Cussing a blue streak

Since I didn't get many cluckers made over the last couple of months, I've gotten a little out of practice with my foundation paper-piecing skills.  Not that I had much in the way of skills in the first place, but the hiatus sure didn't do me any favors.
Not to mention the fact that it was about 9000 degrees in my studio yesterday, which made it entirely too hot to think.  My valiant little box fan tried to help, but failed to make any difference whatsoever.
After a certain point, my brain just refused to participate any further.
This made paper-piecing ridiculously a bit more difficult than it is even on a good day.
I swear, for every seam I sewed, I ripped out two.  Sometimes three.  I put pieces in backwards, upside-down, sideways, and/or the wrong color.

So, I believe this clucker's name is "%&$#*&!%" -  a blue streak for a blue chicken.

In other news, the auditions for sashing color for Long Time Gone continue.

I only had some small pieces of gold handy, but I like the warmth of this color.  I'll try a buttery yellow next, I think.
And orange is on the horizon.  Gotta give all the other colors a fair chance first, though...



Linking with SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday.  Come see what's up with blue this week!

Monday's Mini Madness

This week's Marvelous Monday Mini was fun, though I departed from the instructions to make the block.
I took one look at the 'draw a line corner to corner on 1.5" squares and sew on either side of the line' direction and said a big 'Nope!'  Instead, I grabbed a couple of handy 3" squares and  did the 8-in-1 trick.

A bit of squaring up to get those teensy weensy 1" HSTs

and I was (almost) done.  The only problem with the 8-in-1 trick is that you only get eight HSTs, and I needed nine.

So, I made and trimmed one more HST, this time using a couple of scraps, and filled in that center.

Some 1" strips were added as the borders, and another week is done!

I've made better triangle points in my time, but these pieces are so tiny that I'm not going to unpick and re-sew.  It's certainly good enough for a galloping horse - even a lumbering turtle would have a hard time spotting such itty bitty booboos!

Little Baa Blue

come blow your horn...

Can't go wrong with a plaid sheep, right?
Of course, I'm not actually making a sheep quilt, so I'm a little puzzled by the fact that these little fuzzlumps are starting to turn up in my sewing room.
I'm sure it'll be fine, right?

And auditions continue for Long Time Gone.  Or maybe it'll be named Gone Even Longer...

Purple batik.

A nice green.

And blue.  Well, there are actually three different blues here, since I didn't have a big enough piece of a solidish blue to try out.

The jury is still out.  These are okay - not exciting, but okay.  I like the blue more than I thought I would.  And I haven't started rummaging in the oranges yet. 
But I don't even have half the blocks done yet, either, so it's a decision I can dither over for a good long time.  And we all know how much I love a good dither!

Linking with SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday (better late than never, right?) and with Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!  Come join the fun!

Long Time Gone Auditions and a Marvelous Monday Mini

I'm still caught up with the Temecula Monday Minis!

Between these little cuties and the Long Time Gone blocks, I'm getting so used to working with 1" strips that a charm square now seems humongous.  Even the 1.5" strips are starting to look a little chunky...

Speaking of Long Time Gone, I've started auditioning fabrics for the background sashing.  (Even though I'm far far far from finishing.  I'm a bit of an optimist.) 
First up was this fabric that I've had hanging around for almost forever.

I originally ordered it for a background for a quilt, but for some reason my brain thought 'light tomato' meant red.  Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be pink instead.  Now I audition it for everything, and I've yet to find a use for it.  I may have to just sit down and design a quilt especially for it.
It's definitely not what I want for this quilt, so next I tried a cream print.

Nope.  It's slightly darker than this photo makes it look, but still is just a bit too quiet, and not warm enough.

Moving on.

This dark red is a little more promising.   It's definitely going to stay in the running.

And I had a nearly-black batik that's okay.

I think I'd like it better if it was a true black, which would make the colors pop more than this almost-gray does. 

I'm going to keep digging through the stash, seeing what I can come up with.  I'd really like to make this just with what I've already got on hand, but a bit of shopping wouldn't be the end of the world.
Maybe a nice indigo? 
Or maybe orange...

Just Clucking the Blues

I'm trying to do better with blue for RSC than I did with last month's yellow.

Blue clucker -

check!

Some Centennial Stars (sadly neglected for months!) have also been made.

I keep forgetting how much I love these stars until I start making a bunch of them again.   Luckily they finish at six inches square, so I have an excuse to make lots and lots of them!  (That's a good thing, right?)

I may or may not go back and try to catch up some yellow blocks.  In the meantime, I've got a big stack of blues to play with, so let the good times cluck!  Er... roll!

Linking with SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday.  Come see what others are doing with their blues!

Well, I'm caught up with ONE thing, anyway!

The blocks for this week's Monday Minis are done, and I even finished the last two from last week.

Since last week's first two blocks -

featured critters in the center, I continued with that theme.
Chicks, pigs, cats, sheep.  
Now I just need cows.  Or maybe giraffes...


Linking with Linda at Kokaquilts for sew stitch snap SHARE.  Come see all the pretty projects!

Around and around and around (and around)

Once again, I seem to be involved in a project that I'm not actually starting.  Truly not starting this quilt.  I've just been reading Marti Michell's blog, since I love her rulers and she does fun tutorials, and generally just minding my own business.

She's been doing a QAL of Jen Kingwell's pattern "Long Time Gone."  Being a big fan of Jen Kingwell's work (you should see how many bookmarks I've got in my copy of "Quilt Lovely"), I've been watching avidly as cute little block after cute little block has been built over there.

Because there's no harm in looking, right?

Next thing I knew, I had cut a whole bunch of 1" strips and these little pineapples were starting to appear.

It's amazing how many times you can go around and around, and still not have a bunch of finished blocks.
Though I've finally gotten a couple done.  (Thirty-seven itty bitty pieces in each block.  Thirty-seven.)

And making rafts of flying geese is no problem, since I've been making them anyway.  (I had a bunch of triangles left over from En Provence that are perfect for geese.)

And how could I possibly resist these little 3" churn dashes?

I only need two more, but I think I might have a hard time stopping.  They're quick to make and absolutely adorable - in other words, completely addictive!

So far, I'm just playing with some of the blocks for this QAL, not really making the full-tilt "Long Time Gone".  More like a "Be Back Soon", actually.  Just making a few blocks.  Seriously.

Since I've had 1" strips on hand lately, it was too easy to fall into the Temecula   Marvelous Monday Minis.  Here are last week's block and two of this week's.

I still need two more to get completely caught up, but since I made two extra blocks for the first week, I could technically call it even...

Linking with Oh, Scrap - because Scrappy could be my middle name!  Come see all the fun!