LTRTCWSA - Leisurely Turtle Race To Christmas With Squirrels Allowed - 2013 Race Results

For the past couple of years -

LindaL and I have played a little game -

We call it our -

Leisurely Race To Christmas With Squirrels Allowed -

LRTCWSA for short - ;))

Instead of waiting until the last minute to begin our Christmas gift making -

We start the day after Christmas -

Work on Christmas stuff all year long -

At a L-E-I-S-U-R-E-L-Y pace -

And then declare the Race a "tie" on November 30 of the next year - ;))

Whatever gets done by then -

Gets done by then - ;))

We work on Christmas gifts throughout the year -

No stress - no pressure -

Just a head start on everybody else -

Especially those who don’t start until AFTER Thanksgiving -

And we get to enjoy Christmas all year long - ;))

We started the 2013 Race on the day AFTER Christmas last year -

And since today is November 30 -

I hereby declare the -

Leisurely Race To Christmas With Squirrels Allowed - 2013

A TIE!! - ;))

Whatever we didn’t finish -

Will automatically carry over to next year’s Race - ;))

We will begin our -

Leisurely Race To Christmas With Squirrels Allowed - 2014 -

On the day AFTER Christmas -

And end on November 30, 2014 - ;))

Be sure to join us!! - ;))

It’s FUN!! - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Design Wall Monday - 10/21/13

DESIGN WALL MONDAY - 10/21/13
Check out all of us who link up with Judy L. at Patchwork Times on Mondays.
We have some awesome stuff on our walls!
Well, THEY do - ME - not so much sometimes - ;))
===

So after I realized that I would have a problem -
With the placement of the letters - HERE -

And came up with a solution - HERE -

I was moving right along -

And on -

And on -

It’s hard to see in the photos -

But each line of letters is a DIFFERENT GREEN fabric -

And the swirls and dots are another - ;))

Now that all of the letters are “placed” -

They need to be “fused” to the background - ;))

And I found THIS in my stash -

PERFECT for the backing -

Don’t you think? - ;))

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

O Happy Christmas - Part 3

So I had an idea -

And I gathered up a bunch of my GREENS -
To make my Christmas Tree GREEN - ;))
Sorry for the crappy photo -
The colors are much darker/richer/prettier -
Than they appear here - ;))

And my idea was to iron a long piece of freezer paper -
To the pattern -
Then trace all of the letters with a Sharpie -
Onto the freezer paper - ;))

After the letters were traced -
I removed the freezer paper from the pattern -
And then ironed it -
To the BACK of the background fabric -

Turned it over to check for wrinkles -
And pressed it again from the FRONT side -

Then I pinned the whole thing to my design wall -
So that the letters on the freezer paper showed through -
The CORRECT way - ;))

You may not be able to see the lettering -
From that photo -
But they’re there -

And it sure beats trying to “eyeball” the placement -
From a dinky little picture -

All I have to do is place the letters -
As I cut them out -

And when I’m happy with the whole thing -
Fuse it all down to make the letters permanent -
And remove the freezer paper backing - ;))

Now if I can only remember to fuse the fusible -

To the BACK of the GREEN fabrics -

Instead of the FRONT like I usually do -

I should be good to go - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

O Happy Christmas - Part 2

OK -

I traced all of the letters onto some fusible - ;))
O Happy Christmas Kit - #5723 - 30” x 48” -

The pattern already had the letters printed in REVERSE -

So that part was easy - ;))

BUT -

After I fuse the letters -

And then cut them out -

I think that I’m going to have a problem -

With placement - ;((

I’m used to a pattern being printed on one side -
Turning it over to trace the letters/parts in reverse -
And then turning it back over to the right side -

Then placing the background on TOP of the pattern -
And arranging the letters/parts on TOP of the background -
Using the placement guide lines that show through from the bottom -

Like I did on the Folk Art Christmas Tree - HERE - ;))

This pattern has the letters printed full-size in reverse -
And I just realized that if I turn the pattern over -
The letters don’t show through -

So there is no way that I can put the background on TOP of the pattern -
And then arrange the letters on TOP of that - ;((

And I TOTALLY misread it!! - ;((

The placement guide that is provided -
Is the smaller one in the corner -

To be used along with crease lines in the fabric as a grid -
To lay out the letters to form the design - ;))

And since you don’t use the pattern for placement -

And you don’t need a light/white background to see through -

It doesn’t really matter what color the background is - ;))

So I have to decide if I want to make the words GREEN -

To look like an actual Christmas Tree -

Or use the fabric that came with the kit -

Either way -

The “Arranging of the letters” part of this one -

Should be tons of fun - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Design Wall Monday - 10/14/13

DESIGN WALL MONDAY - 10/14/13
Check out all of us who link up with Judy L. at Patchwork Times on Mondays.
We have some awesome stuff on our walls!
Well, THEY do - ME - not so much sometimes - ;))
===

This kit from Keepsake Quilting -

Should be a good one for the little “Race” -

Leisurely Turtle Race to Christmas with Squirrels Allowed - HERE -

That LindaL and I are doing again this year - ;))

O Happy Christmas Kit -
#5723 -
30” x 48” -
(Sorry - it’s no longer available - )

It included the “pattern plus all the fabrics needed for the top and binding” -

The tree is made of a series of Christmas related words -
And the pattern includes six pages of template sheets -
That need to be taped together -
2 across and 3 down -

But - as you can see -

Some of the lettering is SPLIT between the pages -

So I taped them in sets of two -

I plan to trace off the “whole” letters from each section -

Then tape them together and trace off the completed “half” letters -

The taped sheet is supposed to be used as a placement guide -

For the layout of the letters to form the design -

Which should be fun -

Considering that the letters are supposed to be beige -

And the background is supposed to be red - ;))

But hey - that’s what a lightbox is for -

Right? - ;))

OR -

I may decide to make the letters GREEN -

And put them on a WHITE background -

To make it look more like a Christmas Tree - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

LHQ - Christmas Sudoku Quilt - Tutorial - Part 2 -

============
Note - these instructions are written in LEFTISH.
If you are right-handed - just reverse the directions.
============

OK - this is next time - ;))

This tutorial is a continuation of Part 1 where I showed/told you -

How To Make A Sudoku Quilt - HERE -

This is How I Make Sashings and Cornerstones and Borders -

STEP 7 - Add sashings and cornerstones -
My blocks measure 5” x 5” when sewn together -
And I want my sashing/cornerstones to be 1/2” wide - finished -

For this you will need -
From Part 1 -

• Sashing strip - 5” x 10” -
• Sashing strip - 5” x 16” -
• Cornerstone strip - 1” x 16” -
• Cornerstone square - 1” x 1” -
• Border fabric - to be determined later - ;))

I used White for my sashings -
Red for my cornerstones -
And Blue for my borders -

So I cut -

White sashing strip - 5” x 10” -
White sashing strip - 5” x 16” -
Red cornerstone strip - 1” x 16” -
Red cornerstone square - 1” x 1” -

I always start with the sashing -

White sashing strip - 5” x 10” -
Cut into nine (9) strips - 1” x 5” -

9 White sashing strips plus one Red cornerstone square - 1” x 1” -

Then I add the cornerstones to the mix -
White sashing strip - 5” x 16” -
Red cornerstone strip - 1” x 16” -
Sew strips together -

Press AWAY from the Red cornerstone fabric -
And cut the sashing/cornerstone combo strip into 15 - 1” strips -
My strips weren't long enough so I cut 9 from one and 6 from another set -

Lay out the blocks - in order -

Sew a plain sashing strip to the RIGHT side of each block -
Press AWAY from the block -
9 blocks - 9 plain sashing strips -

Add a sashing/cornerstone combo strip -
To the BOTTOM of each block -
Press AWAY from the block -
9 blocks - 9 sashing/cornerstone strip combos -

When I sew them together -
I put the sashing/cornerstone combo strip on top -
And feed it through with the cornerstone leading -

And this is a great time to make sure your blocks are the right size -
That bottom edge is RIGHT ON!! - ;))

So far - so good - ;))

All we have to do now is finish the outside edge -

Add a sashing/cornerstone combo strip to the TOP of Block #2 and #3 -
And a sashing/cornerstone combo strip to the LEFT side of Block #4 and #7 -
4 more sashing/cornerstones used -

I left Block #1 for last -
It will use the last 2 sashing/cornerstone combo strips -
And the Red cornerstone square -

I sewed the TOP sashing/cornerstone combo strip on first -
And sewed the red square to the TOP of the LEFT sashing/cornerstone combo strip -
Before adding it to the LEFT side of the block -

Now - do you see what I see? -

I see ANOTHER 9-Patch - ;))

Gee - wonder how I should put that together?? -

Just kidding - ;))

But before I sew these blocks together -
I need to do some re-pressing -
Because I pressed all of the seams AWAY from the blocks -
Some of these blocks will not NEST properly -

BUT -

If I re-press the TOP seam on Block #2 -
And the BOTTOM seams -
On the MIDDLE blocks -
Block #2 and #5 and #8 -

TOWARD the block -
They should nest nicely - ;))

So - the rest is just standard assembly stuff -

Chain piece Block #2 to #1 -
Block #5 to #4 -
Block #8 to #7 -
With the cornerstone leading -
I don’t press yet - ;))

Then chain piece Block #3 to #1/2 -
Block #6 to #4/5 -
Block #9 to #7/8 -

Now I press - ;))

I press to the path of least resistance -
The side sashings on the top and bottom row -
Get pressed AWAY from the block -

The side sashings on the middle row -
Get pressed to the RIGHT -

When I sew the rows -
I flip Row #1 down on top of Row #2 -
So that Row #2 is on the BOTTOM -
With all of the seams going DOWN -
WITH the feed dogs -
And Row #1 is on TOP -
Where the seams can be nested easily -

I don’t “pin” my short rows -
I just put pins in roughly where the sashings meet -
I will “nest” them with my fingers -
When I get to them -

When the rows are together -
Give it a good press -

Mine stretched a bit -
And came out to 16-1/2” square -
Mathematically - it should be 16” square -
So before you cut the borders -
Be sure to measure it - ;))

STEP 8 - Add the borders -
My borders are cut at 3-1/2” wide -
And will finish at 3” -
Making my little Christmas Sudoku Quilt -
Finish at or around 22" square - ;))

I don’t actually “measure” my border lengths -

I do the side borders first -
And lay two border strips out on top of the quilt top -
Matching the top of the strips to the top of the quilt top -
(So - how many times can YOU use the word “top” in three lines? - haha - ;))

Smooth them out -

And cut them even with the bottom of the quilt top -

Sew one to each side -
I DO "pin" my borders when I sew them -
And I pin the corners in BOTH directions -
To help keep them square -

And press them to the border strips -

And then do same thing with the top and bottom borders -

Lay two strips out across the top from side to side -
Match the RIGHT side of the strips to the RIGHT side of the quilt top -

Because I am LEFT-HANDED -
I will cut them even with the LEFT side of the quilt top - ;))

Sew them to the top and the bottom -
Again - pinning to keep those corners square -

With pins at the sashings -

And pins in the middle of the blocks -

Press them to the border -

And -

TA DAH!!

My Christmas Sukoku Quilt center square -

One of each of these fabrics appears in -
Each “Box -
Each “Column” -
And each “Row” -

That's Sudoku - ;))

All I have to do now is -

Layer - baste - and "quilt as desired" -

And who knows when THAT will be - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -