Mariner's Compass

I recently bought a great book with different patterns for foundation piecing.  One of them is a Mariner's Compass pattern.  I've always loved to look of this block, but never tried it.  I couldn't fall asleep tonight so it seemed like a good time to try it out.  So, I grabbed my scrap bin and pulled out batiks from a project long ago and made this.  I'm not quite sure what I plan to do with it.  It might make a good pillow or wall hanging or table topper if I can find some coordinating background fabric for it.  As you can see, I didn't even have enough of one purple to do all the background the same, but oh well!   It may end up being put aside indefinitely since I used up most of the scraps I had in the block, but it was a fun experience and I like the way it looks.  I definitely will be making a full sized Mariner's Compass sometime soon.

Friday Night Sew In Results...Bubble Gum and Chocolate

I spent last night working on the progress of what I have nicknamed my bubble gum and chocolate quilt.  I made lots of progress on it and here's what it looks like!

I plan on adding outer borders, but ran out of steam before I got that completed last night.  Eventually the brown area will have appliqued flowers and swirlies down the middle.  I'm still auditioning design ideas for that, but here's the direction I'm currently headed.  What do you think? 

My plan is to try my success at hand applique again.  I tried it once, many years ago, but have since done lots using fusible webbing and machine.  If you don't see this project again for a long while then you will know why.

And if you noticed from my picture above, the sun has come out.  Four full days of sun this week!  I am a happy camper!

Friday Night Sew In

Tonight is another Friday Night Sew in sponsored by Heidi over at Handmade By Heidi.  If you haven't checked out her blog, I recommend it!  Yesterday she posted a really handy tutorial on how much fabric you need to create your own "Precut" charm packs, layer cakes and jelly rolls.

I'll be working hard tonight during the Friday night sew in.  I'm not showing yet what I will be working on, but hopefully by tomorrow I will have a big revealing.  I will hint that it has something to do with this. 

Happy Friday everyone!

Why didn't I think of doing it that way???

Have you ever been flipping through a magazine and stumbled upon a pattern and thought to yourself, "That is way easier than the way I have always done that!"

I had one of those realizations today at work. I keep a quilting desk calendar on my desk for inspiration and motivation while I work. Today's block was No Tricky Card Trick Block. (I love that name!)

I have made several card trick quilts and really like the way they look. I have spent hours putting together and trying to match up triangle point without stretching them along the bias. Rectangles and squares would have been so much easier. Here's the photo of my most recent card trick table topper.

So here's pictures of a traditional card trick block the way I have always done them and then the No Tricky version I discovered today.  Why didn't I think of this?  (So they are a little hard to see, but hopefully you can tell the difference.)

Traditional (Look at all those triangles!)

 No Tricky (All those nice squares and rectangles!)

So, I've been out of town for two of the last three weeks, hence my lack of recent activity.  Time to catch upon everyone else's blogs.  I have been working on some things and will post progress soon! 

Are you sure it's summer???

I have been thinking for weeks now that it must be time to start feeling like summer, right?  You guys on the East Coast are having huge heat waves, my friends in the south talk about the misery of their air conditioners breaking.  I on the other hand have been sitting in wonder as to when I will get to turn off my central heat.

This is the view of the river bank next to my office.  On a normal day this photo would have a mountain range as a backdrop.

It has been so foggy and cold in the San Fransisco Bay area the last few months.  It is 3:30 today and the fog still hasn't burned off.  Blah!!

I loved this article from the San Fransisco Gate last week.

"This has been the summer of our discontent. Not only has the economy been lousy, but the summer fog has also hung around day and night, like a houseguest that won't leave.

Everybody's noticed it.

"This has to be the coldest July ever," noted Latitude 38, the sailing magazine.

Restaurateurs in the upper Napa Valley set up space heaters for outdoor diners this week, unheard of in July.

The temperature in Sacramento at 7 a.m. Thursday was only 53 degrees, colder than the temperature at the same time in Anchorage, Alaska.  San Jose, which normally bakes while San Francisco shivers, is having one of the coolest summers in years."

Yikes!  Colder than Alaska!  I'm ready for summer to start!

Since the weather has been so blah, I have been in a bit of a quilting funk and haven't gotten much done.  I decided today that since it doesn't feel like summer outside I would make my sewing room feel like summer.  For a while now I have slowly been working on blocks for a Flower Garden quilt.  Today the flowers I have done went up on my design wall.  I now have a fabric flower garden in my sewing room.   Yeah!  Maybe now I will feel a little more uplifted.

So here's to summer in the rest of the US!  Hope you all are enjoying!