No Sewing

   

I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving. I had my small family here for dinner. I tried something new, I flattened my turkey (I need new knifes) by removing the backbone and did a semi-dry brine.

Looks weird huh? Sorry, forgot to take the after picture. It was really good and cooked REALLY fast. 14 lb turkey in about 1.5 hours at 350. I was scrambling to finish the rest of the meal. I will definitely do this again.

Isn't this pretty? Turkey enchilada casserole. Great way to use up leftovers. It was really good.

Saturday I supported my (not very local) small businesses.

One of the not so local quilt shops sells fabric and sewing supplies on consignment and from quilter's estate sales, most of the goodies came from there at a crazy low price. 

I haven't touched my sewing machine this past week. I did clean up my sewing area a bit and did a lot of cutting. A few months ago I splurged and bought a Creative Grids Stripology XL ruler. I love this thing.

It is a little awkward to use at first but once you get the hang of it cutting is a breeze.

My mom and a friend of hers gave me a bunch of their fabric. All had been cut into. I cut them up into 10 and 5 inch squares, 2.5 x 5 inch strips, 2.5 inch strips and squares. I've also cut up all the dog coat fabric I got at a garage sale last summer.

I've almost emptied one bin of scraps! The scraps above are not good quality (yes I am a fabric snob) and will be donated somewhere. Below are some of the scraps I'm keeping.

What would you do with over 4 inches of 5 inch squares?

Logey Bear - The Finale

   

Finishing this quilt on my little Bernina was like a WWE main event. There were times I didn't think I could win. But it is done.

I know...looks like last week's picture doesn't it. But it is quilted and the binding is attached. Now to finish Lucy.

I'm actually thinking of getting a new sewing machine. I love my little Bernina but it is little and it is starting to have tension issue that even servicing doesn't resolve. I've had her for over twenty years. Maybe something with a bigger throat, needle threader, thread cutter, and pressure foot lift...sigh. Problem is I'm really indecisive and really cheap. 

Logey Bear Part II

  

 I got the borders added...

                                             

The back made...

Loaded on the frame...

Then I stared at it for a really long time. I really didn't want to do an all over quilt design but I'm really limited with the Juki on the frame so I decided to just meander in the back ground fabric and baste down the border.

Now I'll use my little Bernina to do some straight lines through the X blocks, some detailing in the bear paws, trees, houses and Logey Bears and probably some leaves in the outside border. I'll do that over the next few days.

The last clue and final layout of Lucy's Love Notes has been revealed (very cute) but I haven't worked on since I've been trying to finish up Logey Bear. I also managed to miss that the quilt required a border fabric. I didn't have anything in my stash that would work. I went to my local fabric store today and found a fabric that I think will work. Hopefully I can get back to it next week.

I did make the mini. It is just kinda okay. It also kinda hurts my eyes to look at it. It ended up pretty wonky even after some serious ironing with steam, and while most of the seams line up pretty good, there are few that don't (I tried fixing them but with no luck) and they really show.

It is currently 7 x 9 inches. I haven't decided if I'm going to border it or not. This is the only thing in my stash I half way like and I don't plan on buying border fabric for something I'm not sure I even like. I'll finish it but it may get hidden in a drawer afterwards.

Logey Bear

I spent most of last week working on Logey Bear. The final clue were these X blocks.

Here are all of the blocks laid out on my design bed.

I have the top sewn together and the first border added. I should have a finished quilt to show you next week.

I made way too many of the 4 patch blocks so I decided to play.

   Disappearing 4 patch. What do you think should I make a mini quilt?

 

 

I have put on the infamous Covid 15 - 15 pounds since the lockdown/pandemic began. I am trying to get out and walk a bit more. Above is a picture I took from one of the walking bridges that cross the Rogue River.

I Voted!

  

Here is the finished Forest Friends quilt...

I love the little foxes on the back.

As I've mentioned before most of the blocks were already made. I finished piecing the blocks, put the top together with a fussy cut border and quilted it with loops and hearts. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. It will be donated back to the Kiwanis's Quilts for Kids.

I finished last week's Lucy's Love Notes clue...paper pieced music notes.

The method Mary demo's for paper piecing takes a few more steps but makes it really easy to add each piece without a lot of fussing and very little fabric waste. Melissa Corry at Happy Quilting demo'd the same method on her blog today.

I also got Logey Bear's cabins made...also paper pieced. I feel like I should applique or embroider something in the doors or windows - they look so plain. I'll probably leave them as is.

A few months ago I ordered new furniture - twice. I didn't like the first couch so returned it; love the new couch. I also ordered a chair and extra matching fabric. I re-upholstered my hope(less) chest with the extra fabric. Not the best job but its done. 

(Yes, I know there is a knob missing. I've been carrying it around in my purse hoping to go to Home Depot or someplace to find new knobs. The old ones just look odd with the new top.)