Multi Tasking

I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble. 

Helen Keller

I know you have been waiting with baited breath to see what else I have been up to or when I would get around to posting about it.  Well, you need wait no longer.

I now have 12 Scrappy Trips Around the World blocks made.  I put them on the design wall to see if they would be big enough to border for a charity quilt.  Nope, not liking it that small.  Apparently I came to this decision a while back also because when I looked in the tray that was holding the strips I had pulled for this project I found that I had already paired 8 more sets.  I guess I'll be making a total of 20 blocks or this one.

I cut some more 2 1/2" strips on my Accu Quilt Studio Cutter.  These will be going into some charity quilt kits.  I may make one top from them.

I have been pulling some fabrics to use with this die.  I outlined the cutting blades with a silver marker.  It really helps when placing your fabrics down to cut.

Here are some of the fabric combos I have come up with so far for the Blazing Star.

I did iron out the wrinkles after I took the photos.  Now I just need to cut some strips from the fat quarters and yardage and I'll be ready to run them through the cutter.  I decided to use batiks so the the right/wrong side of the pieces want be an issue in this very directional pattern.  Of course the danger in doing this is getting the position of the lights and darks reversed in some of the blocks.  I haven't decided how big it will be or if I will be putting sashing between the blocks.

So that's a little of what's going on in the studio.  I've also fired up the longarm and am making progress on a quilt there.  I'll share that when it's done.

Linking with:  Linky Tuesday

Bits and Pieces

A bookstore is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking. 

Jerry Seinfeld

No, I haven't fallen off the side of the earth.  I'm still around and hopefully I'll be making my presence know a little more often here.  When I got back from Texas I began seeing a nutritionist to try and get some help with a few chronic health issues that have been causing me to have very little energy and other problems.  After 2 months on my new diet I am beginning to feel better and have a little more energy.  

As I was explaining what I am to be eating to a friend a few weeks ago she said "Oh, I'm familiar with that diet.  If it tastes good spit it out."  Of course it isn't quite that bad.  It's really a clean food diet, as organic as I can make it but I'm not too obsessed with that point.  No gluten, very few carbs.  I don't know about you but changing the way you eat takes a lot of time and mental energy.  My husband and I had gotten used to eating out a little too often but sometimes we just don't want to cook.  Now I am back to cooking more and eating a lot of salads.  This and the more frequent trips to the grocery store have of course changed my daily routine more than a little.

I have managed to get a little sewing done in the studio.  Here is some of the things that I have done for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I am behind in my posting them so I am sharing all I've made so far.

I got the directions for this block off a blog a few years ago.  I love the movement of it.  I would give you a name for it and who designed it but I have no idea.  The PDF was not copyrighted nor did it have the blog name on it.  I know it was off a popular blog but I haven't a clue as to which one it was.  If you know let me know.  If you don't let this be a lesson that if you want credit for something... PUT YOUR NAME ON IT!!!

 Perhaps you remember that I wanted to make this Storm at Sea Quilt.  

I have all the blocks finished except the Square in a Square ones are missing the final triangle.  I left it off until I get them on the design wall and decide if I want to use the color layout that was in the magazine or not.  The layout will decide the color of the last triangle so that is why I'm waiting.  I'm using the hand dyed fabrics that I ordered from Vicki Welsh for this quilt.  I had a set of 5 batik fat quarters that worked for the center squares.  I'm not sure what I will be doing for the borders.  I'm pretty sure I don't want to do the Monkey Wrench blocks that was in the magazine.

I did use Marti Michell's templates to cut it out and it went well in the cutting and sewing.  I know many people paper piece Square in a Square blocks but I don't see the point.  If you cut them carefully they go together well.  The magazine had templates for all of the blocks to be paper pieced but I didn't  make them like that.

I went ahead and finished the colorways.  Since the pink and red, yellow and orange were both in the same blocks it doesn't follow the monthly colors picked exactly.  I'm kinda curious to see how it will look all together.  The only thing I didn't like so far is I would have liked a little more value difference in the purple blocks.  They are together now and not likely to change.

I have a few more things to share but I'll share those another day.  Tell me if you have had to change your diet drastically and what results you had in the comments.  I'd love to have a little empathy.  LOL

Linking with:  Rainbow Scrap Challenge and Design Wall Monday 
                  and Show and Tell Tuesday