Sewing results (with some chocolate and a kitty on the side)

On Saturday I cut, pressed, sewed, pressed, sewed, pressed, sewed some more . . . you get the idea.  Pretty soon it was evening and I realized I hadn't eaten or anything!  (And had a terrible migraine to show for it -- yikes!)  But I did get a good start on my quilt. 

There was a minor set back when I realized that my strip cutting method was not as accurate as I hoped.  I can sew a lovely seam, but the cutting part freaks me out!  They always seem to gloss over that part in the books and classes and I still haven't figured out how to get it quite right.  So after Squaring up, my blocks were 1/4 in. smaller than I planned.  That's okay though, I'm designing the quilt, so it's not like I have to adjust things to fit a pattern. 

I have quite a few blocks finished.  And to tell the truth, I'm not sure how many I'm going to make.  I want to make this large enough for our queen size bed and there will be sashing between the blocks.  (You can see the original plans here.)  So I guess I should do some calculating.

In other news, Amy sent me a wonderful gift of chocolate! 

They are chocolate covered cacao nibs from Scharffen Berger Choclate.  As usual, I'll give a full review when I finish them -- all I'll say for now is that they are highly addictive.  Thanks, Amy!

And I leave you with a picture of Spike, who has been my constant companion this past weekend.  Here he is sleeping on the bottom shelf on the bookshelf in my office (yes, I actually cleaned off an entire shelf in my office!)

Comments

[Pat]

Your cat is a gorgeous and oh so relaxed!

[Vicki]

The cutting's the hardest part for me too. In the quilt I started years ago and have since ignored, every strip is cut funkily so I feel like the whole thing is doomed. When I do go back to it, I think I'll have plenty of squaring up to do also.

[Michelle]

Love those bright blocks. One hint on cutting, you might want to buy a quilt ruler that has the thinnest lines you can find. I bought a cheap-o one first, but ended up switching to a more expensive one with very fine measurement lines and it's been much easier to get an accurate cut. Everything is looking great, good luck!

[Chris]

Spike looks very comfy!

[renee]

the quilt looks fantastic!

[Helen]

Your Spike looks very similar to our Milo. Chris let me know about your post with his picture. It seems we've both put up pictures of our cats on a shelf today. :)

[becca]

Holy Mackeral that's a big cat. Looks very well taken care of :)

[janna]

It's the whole cutting thing that keeps me from sewing -- so final! (And Spike is a cutie!)

[Tsoniki]

That's beautiful! I just got out a bunch of material to make a friend a baby quilt. Thanks for sharing. :)

[Marie]

Spike is adorable! He looks like a giant, orange teddy. :)
Your quilt pieces looks beautiful! I've been slowly edging towards making my first quilt too but the fear of cutting is holding me back (that and the washing and ironing before starting). I'm a bit puzzled by squaring up...if you cut the fabric after you've sewed the pieces, doesn't it also cut the thread holding the square together?

[Jan]

The quilt's going to be a beauty!

[lorinda]

Hey, Julie. I love the colors you chose for your quilt. It looks great! And Mr. Spike is not a small kitty, is he? Hope you are having a great summer.

[kathy]

The quilt colors are fabulous. Great contrast with the center squares. I can't exactly tell from the picture what type of ruler you're using but I have one that looks like that and it has a lip on one end. I don't use it anymore because it tended to slip and didn't have any grip on the underside. I now use an Omnigrid ruler (the green ones). They have some type of tacky substance on the underside that keeps the ruler in place while cutting. Another good thing to do is test your 1/4" seam. Cut 2 strips 3" wide and sew them together. Press the seam and measure, if it's not exactly 5 1/2" then you need to calibrate your stitching line. Hope that makes sense :)