Report From A Fly On The Wall

After I reported on my string quilts to the Stashbusters Group  someone said they wished they could be a fly on the wall and someone asked how many hours in a day I usually spend sewing. 

Well, on average I probably spend about four hours a day in my sewing space sorting, cutting, sewing and ironing. And today there was a fly on the wall that will report on what I actually did in four hours in my sewing room this morning after my coffee, yogurt and toasted homemade sourdough bread. 

I made some HSTs in July for a quilt called Mystica. The top consists of 4 panels of 14 rows and columns of HSTs and squares. I have one panel sewn (1X) and just started working on another panel yesterday and sewed together pieces in rows 1-4.

. Today I worked on sewing together rows 5-9 for panel 2X. 

I was going to sew together webbed rows of  PSP20 (Postage Stamp Pandemic 64 patches) for leader/enders at the end of each column but that seemed too slow and like too much pinning. 

I decided instead to use waste triangles to make wonky HSTs instead. I blogged about these and the quilt I want to make inspired by a vintage quilt back in January. 

Panel 1X. I'm working on making another panel like this one which I've named 2X. 

So anyway, after I webbed together rows 5-9 of panel 2X I sewed together the rows 1-4 I webbed yesterday. Then pressed. And then I was tired of Mystica so moved on to something else. 

Double Irish Chain is one of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) projects. I have 52 out of the desired 63 blocks made and I want to have all 63 blocks finished by year end. So I decided to work on those. I picked out fabric yesterday for a couple of blocks so cut the pieces for two Double Irish Chain blocks from those fabrics. Then I put the fabrics away where they belong. 

Then I started piecing the blocks. A lot of blocks can be chain pieced but not these. I make them one at a time and work from the inside out. 

I started with the green one and got so far along and was missing a green 1.5 inch square. I searched around for it and then noticed I put the center together incorrectly. The little center nine patch should have brown corners and not green corners. Oops! I haven't had that happen before. Well, I set that one aside and will take the seam ripper to it tonight while watching TV with hubby. 

I did continue on and make the second Double Irish Chain with the orange pieces. 

Then I dug through scraps for fabric combinations for some more Double Irish Chain blocks. I may or may not cut and sew some tomorrow. But if I do feel like it I have some fabric combos ready. 

Then at this point I took a break - went upstairs, went to bathroom, got a glass of iced tea, chatted a bit with hubby and went back downstairs. 

Then I sewed together the rows of three PSP20 blocks I webbed together yesterday. 

Then after I finished the three PSP20 blocks I ironed them. I also ironed the Double Irish Chain I just made and the two I made yesterday. I have more blocks in the ironing pile but I only ironed these because I want to blog about these two RSC projects tomorrow.   If you are interested my iron is a cheap Walmart Black and Decker. I don't use steam. If I want steam I spray the fabric with a spray bottle of water.   

Then I took photos of the PSP20 and Double Irish Chain blocks for tomorrow's blog post. I don't have a design wall. I prop an old cutting mat covered with a piece of batting against the wall and put blocks on it for photos. 

After that I cut solids for three more PSP20 64 patch blocks. I was getting low on different solids but recently found a few different purple solids in with some pansy fabric scraps so have been using those. I have a gallon baggie of postage stamps (1.5 inch squares).  

Then I webbed together pieces for 8 rows of 8 for three blocks. 

Then I was tired of postage stamps. 

I've been working on Path and Stiles blocks and have been using 3 inch nine patches for the centers. For several years I used to participate in a quarterly 3 inch 9 patch swap and even though I have made several quilts that used them I still have a bin of them. For the Path and Stiles blocks I am using nine patches made with two colors and then trying to match up scraps to the blocks to make the blocks.

 I picked out a few nine patches in two colors that had reds in them. 

Then I dug through my red scrap chunks for some possible fabrics to match the colors in the little nine patches. 

After I found some red scraps to match (I only need a 3.5 inch width scrap) I dug through scraps of other colors for the second fabric match. So when I feel like working on Path and Stiles blocks my fabrics are ready. 

So that was about four hours today in the sewing room. Doesn't seem like I did a lot but every little bit adds up!

Then hubby called me for lunch- last night's leftover chicken vegetable soup made with garden veggies (onions, green beans, carrots, tomatoes and potatoes) and some homemade crackers.