S-u-c-c-e-s-s

After losing a fight with scant 1/4 in seams, I was quite victorious in the battle. Once I figured out that my presets on my machine were gone, I played around to find the sweet spot. (Now, they are saved. Whoo hoo!) I was able to get a lot of blocks put together successfully on Saturday and part of Sunday. That kind of success makes me want to kiss my own biceps.

I had a great time at the Orlando MQG Sew Day on Saturday. The company is always great and the food is always delicious. I finished the two blocks that I failed to piece correctly last week and started designing my next quilt project.

Here are the highlights:

Stash Bee January BOM

Orlando MQG February BOM

On Sunday, I also finished up by last two blocks from the Skill Builder BOM from 2013. Finally! The paper piecing was insane but the results are worth it.

Strip Triangle

Starlight Block

My goal is to have them put together sometime this century. I decided to do the quilt-as-you-go technique after all. This way, I can quilt with each thread color needed and only change out the colors once. I can also manipulate them on my home machine and practice my modern quilting. I'll work on the piano key border once I have all of the squares joined and I can measure the finished sides accurately.

The birthday fairy did bring me both Angela Walters books on modern quilting so I'll be able to practice her techniques along the way. I'll be sure to post the blocks as I finish them.

I'm so grateful for the day off on Monday. No work=more time to quilt.

Hope you had a great weekend.

So I failed...twice!

Today was the first day of the new year that I had a chance to sit down and sew. Catching up with work from the holidays was intense. I even missed our first guild meeting of the year which was depressing. I did get to spend some time with a dear friend visiting from Korea in between the chaos that was my week back to work.

Round 1

Sew...I decided to work on small tasks to see if I can make a dent in my "To Do" list for the year. I started with my Block of the Month for the guild's February meeting. It's such a cute pattern!
I started cutting and sewing along thinking, I've made a Bargello-style block before. I've got this.

I needed six strips so you know what I was thinking:
rainbow time!

I sewed my strips and made the tube needed to subcut each row. And voila:

My super cute block came together in less than an hour. I placed it on my board to square it up to 12.5" and low and behold, I was very short! I'm talking barely made it to 12" short. I thought I had it lined up for a true 1/4 in seam but something must be off. (I can't be that rusty, right?) I pressed and stretched as best as I could but it's really 12 1/4 which makes me want to cry a little inside.

I decided, I'll remake it later. Perhaps I'll use Sew Day this month to try again.

Round 2

I joined the Stash Bee in Dec and was placed in Hive 6.  I really liked the idea of joining this group to start using up my stash. I have so many scraps that should make something adorable  but are not big enough for some other projects I'll be doing this year. Plus, it's an International Group so I am curious about fabrics that others will use for their blocks. I'm pretty excited!

Sew...I sat down to work on my BOM there. It's really cute and exactly what I wanted to make next. I was eager to use my Accuquilt cutter for some 2" blocks since I needed 45 of them. I took out my buckets and grabbed a ton of fun fabrics to chop up. I cut out a bit more than 45 so I could play with the color placement since I have to make 5 nine-patch blocks with scraps.

Once I found the order for each block, I started sewing away. (I even moved the needle over more to ensure that I would be ok for these blocks.)

It's a great trip down memory lane to
pull from the bottom of the baskets.
I remember each project I originally
used all of these fabrics.

I love the heart that made its way to the center of this block.

After making all 5 blocks, I took out the cutting board to square them up to 5" so I can put them together and again I was off for each one. They measured about 4 3/4 each. (At least I was consistent in my failure.) Logic states, I should have checked them after the first block to avoid making 5 duds but I didn't think that far ahead.

They are too adorable not to use for something else.
Any suggestions?

I think that's the universe telling me to stop sewing tonight.

I clearly need to work on my 1/4" seams since my machine came back from getting serviced last month. I will have to play with the needle placement when I am not so frustrated.

Please feel free to leave comments on how you achieve the perfect seam when piecing. I'm open to suggestions.

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On a brighter note, I was able to spend a fun night with some guildmates to celebrate our birthdays.  After missing Wed's guild meeting, Judy sent me a message to meet up this weekend. (Judy's 1/10 and I'm 1/12.) I was so happy to get out of the house for the first time in a week.

It was great company, delicious food, and a live band that turned it out! Check out this super sweet gift:

I made 2 projects from it during our guild retreat back in November so I can't wait to play with more of the designs now that I have my own copy. Thanks, Michelle!

Wishing you a great rest of your weekend. May all of your 1/4 in seams be accurate!