The Disappearing 4 Patch

As promised here is the instructions for the Disappearing 4 Patch....so simple, so easy, so many variations!

Cut 2 light and 2 dark squares any size.  The following were 6 inch squares.

Place good side facing each other and draw line from corner to corner.  Sew 1/4 inch from line, and cut on line.  You now have triangle squares.

 

 

 

 







I press these seams open so there is less bulk later.  Now play!

Or...

Or...

After that decision  is made then sew together.

 

 

Now you get to play again.  You will be cutting along the horizontal and vertical seams.  This can be any width.  I use either 1 or 1 1/4 inch cuts.

 

 

Now you get to play again.... start turning the pieces and moving them.  The final block is almost endless.

Or....

Happy 4 Patching!

Quilt Guild Retreat!

Just got back from a three day quilt retreat at the coast!  Who would thought that I would spend most of three days sitting and quilting with a room full of gabby women....and have a ball!

Chris and I left Sunday to drive to the Gold Beach Resort and found a quilt store in Port Orford open.  So after a late lunch/early dinner we went fabric shopping...what better way to start a quilt retreat than buying more fabric.

Monday was the start of the retreat.  It is a good thing Chris has a canopy on her truck as between her and I we filled it with everything we could think of that we might need and then some.

Every day we were showed demos of new projects/quilt blocks and had the option of doing the projects or just working on our own.  So we did a little of both.

The most amazing demo was learning to do the Disappearing Four Patch:

Both of these are made from 1 light and 1 dark squares of fabric.  I promise to blog directions later this month.

The next picture is the ribbon square and it was the main featured demo.  I only made one and not the two or three that would have been turned into a table runner.

Because of the following!

And the beginnings of the this one also....

My apologies to Chris for not taking pictures of her projects before we left to head home.  She did some pretty awesome projects in the time we were there.

Happy late Valentine's Day to all who drop in.

Addicted

These are so much fun to make!

 
Found the book at Joanne's!

Happy New Discoveries!

Two Little Finshes

How fun to have something finished even if you have no idea what you are going to do with it!  Sometimes you just have to let go with preconceived notions and see what happens.  The hardware washers was one of these.  So this was the end product.

Which then led to a trip to the local library to find books on embroidery....which then led to a trip to the local quilt store to see what they might have in wool.  No wool but did pick up two pieces of heavy flannel...which then led to start of this:

There was a second finished experimental piece....

February just can't go by without something for Valentine's Day.  I've been working with a couple of the neighborhood women on quilt projects but everyone is so busy that it is hard to set days when all of us can be together.  (I know, how can you be retired and not have time!)

Last year they all ordered through Connecting Threads this piece.  The only one to get this far was me and that was after I thought we all had a date to meet.  The date fell through but it gave me time to finish the top!

Happy soon-to-be Valentine's Day!

Off and Running....

...and the ideas just keep pouring out!  Last summer I 'rusted' some fabric then folded it up and filed it away.  This last week a small piece of it found its way onto my work table.  Then there was the trip to the hardware store to see if they had copper or brass washers... and wonder of wonders this is what started coming together.

Okay, so it doesn't look like much, but just wait....

And then this began to happen....

Aren't they cute??

Auditioning further additions and it is just so unbalanced.  So what was added comes off and....

this gets added instead.  I think of the piece as "Winter Thistles" even though the washer flowers don't look like thistles...  In the middle of the night I started thinking of what to use for stems.  First thought was to embroider stems and then I thought why not try using clippings from the bushes.... 

In the meantime there was another trip to the hardware store for more copper washers.  The same man waited on me and must think I have slipped a bit in the head as I then asked if they had large copper staples.... Next piece would be called "Summer Thistles"...

In between working on this I have also finished the top to another piece and have begun top stitching it.

Happy Creating!

Back to Quilting

Oh my, has it been that long since I've blogged about quilting?  It does feel like it has been ages or maybe there just wasn't anything that interesting going on in the loft!  ....until this week.

This week was the Fyber Café meeting.  It is a group of women who have a wide range of skills from art quilts, to dyeing, to weaving, etc.  This week Vera had us do a hands on project (which I wish I had taken pictures of).  It was so 'out of the box' for me but now that I have it sewed, washed, and ready for lots of beading I'm excited to see the final outcome.

A little background:  dissolving stabilizer sheets, lots and lots of scraps (material, yarn, ribbon).

Vera has a connection with someone and she brought in these plastic bags that go into an autoclave.  These plastic bags dissolve in water and she also brought in a huge bag of her scraps for us to use.  Others also brought in scraps. 

 

 

 

You work on the first sheet of dissolvable plastic layering threads, yarn, ribbon, scraps of material and you fill the sheet.  I tried to stay in pink, purple and teal. 

 

Then you lay the second sheet over your random collection, pin it, and then over stitch it heavily.  After all the stitching is done, then comes the final step.  You soak it.

It doesn't take much hot water to have the plastic dissolve.

Then begins the fun part (as if what came before wasn't fun enough).  You get to decide what actually you are going to do with this.  First thought was to finish it then cut hearts out of it and send them as Valentine postcards.  Now the thought is to embellish it and frame it. 

mmm....which color beads to use?????

Here is a little quick project.  If you make enough of them you could hang them all over tree branches.

 

 

The bird just needs an eye added.  Not impressive alone but think what a whole flock of them would look like!

Happy Sunshine (it is out today!)

Away from home for the holidays!

To be with family for the holidays is priceless!

So many fun events were crammed into the two weeks I was visiting with children and grandchildren in SC and TN.

The random act of a stranger to offer to take a family photo will always be remembered!  The Bald River Falls isn't this spectacular very often but then it isn't very often that such a good looking group gets together either.

Someone told a good joke....and Grandma was not in on it!

This is part of the old homestead that is on the family land where Sarah and Joe live.  Joe took me on a walk to the back of the property. 


Everyone has heard of Ginger Bread House decorating but you put the family together and then living in the south and it is the perfect setting for Ginger Bread Barn decorating!  The competition is a normal occurrence in this family.

The talented, creative, funny, zany barn decorators.

Muriel brought her violin with her and I am so glad she did.  She has taken lessons for a few years now and she is quite good.  We couldn't talk Kenzie into bringing out her clarinet....even though on the night I arrived we were back in time to hear her play with the school band. 

Kenzie with the 'grandma is taking pictures again' look!

Kayla and Sarah relaxing together.

Joe by his favorite cooking tool....the gas grill!

And the most important picture of all.....the ruler of the house!

Stormy Cat!

A quote from Randy Susan Meyers, "Maybe when we recognize the trivial for what it is, we can concentrate on what we love the most, what we most treasure."  And that to me is Family!

Happy New Year!