Perfecto!

Last night the stars were aligned perfectly! I was zipping along chain stitching the perfect quarter inch seam. My machine tension had never been better. The feed dogs were humming. My seam was absolutely accurate.

Yes, oh yes, my stitching was  

PERFECTO!

Let the crowds cheer! My blogging friends will be so impressed. My sewing group friends are going to be green with envy. 

I'll stop and get these seams pressed. Wouldn't want to push my luck. Besides it is getting close to bed time.

WHAT??!!??!!??!!

I RAN OUT OF BOBBIN THREAD WHEN?

PERFECTION IS OVER-RATED!

 

Is that an evil smirk I detect on the face of Ms Cha Cha Cat?

And, so I to bed I went! Perfection, believe me, is over-rated. I will settle for doing my best .... and 

periodically checking the thread in my bobbin. lol

 

 

  

Offended Beyond Words

This picture is the face of a cat who is Offended Beyond Words! Ms Cha Cha Cat was banned from the cutting table most of the day yesterday. It took several "removals" for her to understand banned! And, when she understood her was offended - insulted, no less - and very, very angry. Such is the life of this poor little kitty. Her human is bad!

I was cutting fabric I had just enough of and did not require the assistance of the lovely Ms Cha Cha Cat.

See from the picture what I mean - those are the scraps!

When I finally finished cutting and visited the restroom, I returned to find Ms Cat stretched out on the cutting board claiming her space Victory!

I decided a tune sandwich would be perfect for supper.and found myself allowed a rare experience. I made and ate my tuna without the assistance of the cat, who refused to leave "her table" even for the alluring smell of tuna. Crazy Cat! She remained on the table hours later when I got ready for bed. Feeling sorry for her I strategically placed my housecoat beside her on the table. I woke this morning t find ......

And, that would be the look of 

" Do NOT even think of telling me to get down!"

She did come in the kitchen to quickly eat the tuna I had saved her. She is now back on the cutting board - her favorite place to sleep - Not! Until banned Ms Cat had no real interest in this spot except as a route to the window. 

 

Thank You, Lynn Wilder

Saturday morning I stitched the 4 1/2" center star of block 1 of  Barbara Brackman's Threads of Memory BOM.

Such a cute little star needed the rest of the pieces for the 12" block. Finishing this block was top of my list BUT for some reason I did not want to deal with the 4 quarter square triangles surrounding my cute little star. I simply was not in the mood for cutting squares into triangles and putting them back together.

So I fiddled with this and that around the house. I wanted block two completed. I did not want to stitch triangles. And I fiddled some more. Until a light bulb went off in my head!

I remembered I have a book showing a method for stitching  the Quarter Square Triangles 2 at a time without using triangles. Out came Lynn Wilder's Patchwork Math book. On page 6 I found what I was looking for. I added one number to Lynn's formula gave me the size to cut my fabric and in nothing flat had this ....

Four perfectly square, made to order Quarter Square Triangles. Thank you, Lynn!

Lynn has a wonderful blog - Sewn' Wild Oaks. Go  make friends, if you aren't already.

My copy of Patchwork Math  was purchased from In Between Stitches.

The remaining four pieces of this block were simple 4 1/2" squares. My block was completed in record time. Could have done it sooner had I not wasted all that time fiddling.

Two blocks down. I am current with this BOM until the March block is released.

The postman was very generous today. The bright yellow backing arrived from BackSide Fabrics. I can get my great niece's eye blinding quilt to my quilter.

I do believe that YELLOW is perfect for this quilt.

And the postman also had my pretty Henley Flowers - Purple by Makower UK from Shabby Fabrics. Adding these with a pretty blue fabric from my stash gives me most (I have a tone on tone pink coming!) makings of great niece #2's quilt.

 

I had a very, nice Saturday. Hope you did, too. Happy Quilting!

Threads of Memory - Block 1

Finally! Finally, is the best thing I can think of to say about this block this morning. It is finally finished!

The four corner sections challenged my ability, patience, and mental health. Do not get me wrong. The construction is actually rather simple and well explained in the pattern instructions. My problem I think was me.

First, when cutting READ INSTRUCTIONS. A 45 degree angle is not difficult to rotary cut, especially with the nice rulers I have available. I failed to read the part of the instructions that said cut four going one way. AND, the other four going the other way. Okay, I can use the wrongly cut fabric in other sections of this quilt. No loss, other than time.

Second, check the layout on the design wall prior to getting all excited about stitching the block. Looks can be deceiving! Just saying. At least my brain kicked in before I had anything that would require the use of a seam ripper. Something in my brain kept screaming - wrong!

Third, once I got first and second in line with the pattern instructions, the construction of my block fell in place. There are a few not so sharp points; however, I am pleased with the result. Ms Cha Cha Cat says her is pleased. Her was getting tired of the naughty language coming out of me.

SILVER THIMBLE QUILTS:  Pat over at Silver Thimble Quilts is having a fun giveaway. Pat has also added neutral bundles to her website to help me learn about tone! Go here for the giveaway. Now there is a catch ... when you go say Donna and Cha Cha sent you.

Okay ... so I get a couple of extra changes to win if you do. Just go do it! Thanks in advance to all who do.