100

Thats ONE HUNDRED posts on Susan Being Snippy!

You'd think that was enough to put in a book...

Some of the things about this blog:

I try to write about everyday things.

I try to have a few 'ongoing' subjects

I try to give my readers a bit of instruction on the subjects of quilting and crochet and other bits of things I run into.

I am learning how to do stuff everyday, quilting, crochet, photography, food things, and whatever else I run into -- did you know, that when airplanes were invented and war came along -- for awhile the airplanes were faster than the bullets they used?  Saw that on a talk show on CBC...

I'm not going to post 100 things, but it would be nice if you come by and say hello! 

This is not any particularly important day, except that I am writing my 100th post on this blog...  I'm sure there are alot of other very special things going on today...

Keeping with the theme of backyards in summer....

My Worker Guy/Husband/Light of My Life/ spent some time playing in the yard -- he decorated our fence...

I do have a thing for dinosaurs...

Thanks for coming by today, leave a comment and let me know you were here!

Rae's Epiphany...

I read alot of other crafty blogs but sometimes it takes me a week to get through the list that I have on my RSS feed...  Today, I read a blog Made by Rae and she wrote about an epiphany that she experienced...
She is a very insightful lady! She made me realize that not only does it take time to write whatever I am writing about, but because crafting of any sort (including cooking) is very visual, that we need to photograph what we write about.  Not only the time to write and photograph, but the time to MAKE what we are writing about!  She does explain it very well on her blog, so go visit Made by Rae and read her thoughts (and shared by me) on the subject of writing a crafting blog...

Today, I have no photographs for you, even though I  purchased a new camera (just over a week ago)-- a bit better than a regular point and shoot, but not quite a dslr...  I always wanted an slr camera, but now that I can afford one, through research and a fair amount of thought, I discovered that a very good point and shoot is quite the right one for me -- so I am practicing and learning how to use it to full advantage -- it is a Canon with 14 mpg's and 14x zoom!

I am working on a few projects, one is a vest and you can find the instructions for it at Raglanguld .  I am actually doing this in half double crochet, rather than knitting.  A few years back, my sister made an afghan that popped back into my mind when I discovered this vest pattern.  My sister, is a wonderful crochet artist, but I am sorry to say, I do not have any photos of her beautiful work so that you might see what I mean.  Anyway, the afghan she made was multi colour scrappy bits with black between all the part or full rows of colour.  I have the image of that afghan in my head even all this time later -- so I thought I would use that concept to make a vest.   So far it is going quite well and I am about 1/3 done.  I realized last evening though, that I have no RED!  Aw well, that just means I can take a wander over to the second hand store to see if I can find a small ball of red yarn...

So, I will try to get the camera figured out and present a few photos in the next day or two, perhaps my progress on the vest...

My Backyard in Summer (sewing on the deck)

I was going to run some errands this morning while my hubby was doing some volunteer time at the local food bank, but I so love my backyard, I decided that I just could not use those quiet hours for busy stuff that could wait til later in the week....

The easiest thing to keep myself occupied while sitting outside in my backyard is to bring the big purple box of yarn out and then set myself on the swing and crochet the day away...

Today, I didn't feel like picking up the hook, but the day was so perfect I just could not just plain sit.  I managed to get a box of scrappy bits down the stairs and out of the sewing room, then the next trip up and back down again was the bag of scrappy batting bits.

Finally I lugged the Number 2 sewing machine down and set 'er up, and began to apply fabric bits to batting bits.  The idea was to really have no idea, but once you get going the project starts to identify itself -- turns out I am making some crazy quilt type blocks.  I will continue this project for the next few days--leaving the sewing machine and supplies sitting right where it is on the deck.   There has not been any dew in the mornings so a table cloth thrown over the works should protect it as much as it needs overnight.

And one of the wonderful things about sitting outside and sewing away, is that I am constantly greeting visitors who come by for a drink or a few seeds...

And in order to keep Pearl occupied so that I don't have to be interrupted by puppy antics too often, I gave her a chewy thing that she seems to muchly enjoy...

My Backyard in Summer (and how I occupy it)

I really like my backyard.  There is not very much of it as it is only about 20 ft wide by about 25 ft long -- a townhouse size backyard.  The best thing about it is that once it is arranged and things planted all the gardening left to do is only to water.  And to sit.  I love to sit (thats why my bum is extra big!).

My garden this year is not quite what I had hoped because since the beginning of June there has been a puppy doing her best to dig and pull and eat and knock over anything she can...  But I still like my backyard.

Pearl is trouble even in a little garden -- if you look behind her - you might see a few hosta leaves, well they get nipped off as soon as they appear.  The Strawberries in containers have actually been pulled out by the roots! (and replanted so they are having a tough time).  Growing catnip for Archie and Fossie for winter indoor fun is also proving a challenge, I guess catnip tastes good to a dog...

Setting aside that my garden is in turmoil, I still can sit on my swing and crochet...

The beginning of another project -- I think it will be a vest -- multi colour with a black background...  It is barely started so I may talk about in a day or two.

Oh but this is done, and I am not very pleased with it -- it is one of those things that the best I can think to say about it is "it's done"...  This is the experiment with cutting that really ugly fabric into 1/2 inch strips and then crocheting the strips together.  The fabric I had was about 3/4 of a meter so was fairly limited as to what I could create with it even once it was transformed into fabric yarn.  I did start out with the idea of a sort of bucket shape, but it only made quite a shallow bucket so I took it apart and re-started this which when it got to the point where there were only a few yards left of the recycled fabric turned into yarn I made the handle and that was it.... Okay, but not a prizewinner in my mind -- Now, though, what do I do with it???

So as long as the days remain sunshiny and I have yarn and a crochet hook, the sewing room way up on the third level of the townhouse will not be occupied because it heats up too fast in daylight hours -- but I have been known to wake up at 4am just so I can alleviate the urge to sew and spend a couple of hours with the window open and a fan going before the heat of the day makes it a sweat shop...  I have a tote bag on the burner up there but it is slow going...

I hope you all are enjoying your own special summer place...  Soon enough the rain will fall, and the snow will be blowing across the highway....

A Chat about Economy

Not THE Economy, just economy. 

Lately, I have been clearing out things that I don't use, or need.  Tho' there are a few thing in the don't need category that have become "pieces of my heart".  Ornaments for the sake of decoration no longer exists in most of my house.  It is not that I don't want pretty things, but pretty things can get out of hand...

This shelf in my living room holds a few of my very favourite things.  Two framed pictures of prairie flowers that my cousin in Manitoba gave to me -- to me reminders of walking through feilds and along country roads in my youth.  Two brass bud vases -- these my father gave to my grandmother for christmas one year before he was a married man and she kept them and used them for many many years.  The clay cat was a gift to me from co workers when I left to move to Victoria, BC -- it is the only gift I ever recieved from co workers and made me feel very loved and that I would be missed.  The photo in the silver frame, of my mother on her wedding day, July 16, 1949 -- getting ready to stand in front of family and say "I do".  The ashtray, a gift from my maternal grandmother -- only important because it came from her, not for what it is.  An egg coddler -- I have a couple of dozen and they hide in a box.  I like this one, and it is full of special mint quarters -- olympic events, provincial flowers and ? but really only about $10 worth.  And do you see that bit of round glass?  It is the strangest thing.  I found it.  In the mud of a flowerbed.  Had it for years before I knew what it was -- a pot watcher, I'm told.  You put it into a big pot of water (in the days before electric kettles) and it would start to rattle when the water came to a boil...

Anyway, back to economy.  Perhaps it is that as I get older I have a desire to "live for today",  so things have much less value to me -- I tried the collecting bug, and have a couple of collections now that are as complete as they ever will be and now I don't even know why I have them...

A dozen, or maybe 2 dozen beaded (prom) or evening type clutch bags -- most thrift or antique store finds.  A box filled with plastic figurines from McDonalds which are the 100 figures from the One Hundred Years of Disney -- every single one!!   And the Egg coddler collection...  Perhaps they are all destined for ebay...

I am trying to gear up for a month of frugality -- I am planning to test myself and my family with a No Spend Month -- the month of August. 

I am well prepared, and think that it will not be difficult to keep my money in my wallet so I am determined to not go and wander through the DVD section at Best Buy or Wal-Mart or any other store.  I am determined not to buy beef roast on sale at the grocery store -- My hubby did an inventory of our freezer earlier this week and there is probably a month of meat in there!

Now, it is not a necessity that I be frugal in August -- it is just an exercise and a reminder that just cause I have some money in the bank I don't necessarily HAVE to spend it...

As things usually go around here, We generally have a budget of about $800 a month (not including mortgage, household utilities and car payments) and that includes all the cash type purchases - things that include, groceries, gas for the car, eating out, clothing, gifts, hobbies, and various supplies such as toilet paper, laundry detergent and cleaning stuff and personal hygene and even prescriptions...  In fact we take from the bank $400 every 2 weeks so that we can actually see what is spent and what is left -- using the debit or credit card is not such an visual tracking method -- with cash (or no cash) in the wallet, it is easy to see where we stand when it comes to spending...

When there is "leftover" I move that money into my long term savings account.  This month, so far I have about $60 left and the budget for next week stands at $200, so without really working hard at it and thinking about each purchase with the question "Do I really need this?"  The family economy is on track.

Now just to point you over to another blog -- which is where I am trying to learn about being more organized, and more economical -- take a read there and see if it doesn't get you thinking about keeping things to only what you need...  By the way -- it's good for the earth too...  Go check out  Small Notebook

Saved from the Garbage Bin!

I can't help it, even when I make every effort to just see the beautiful around me, I look at the ugly and often see what it needs to be pretty again.  I'm a make-up artist who doesn't wear make up!

So a couple months back I was driving out of my condo complex and happened to look at the garbage bins -- well truth to tell,  I really can't pass the garbage bin without taking a quick look at it.  Often I am picked up by a friend to go somewhere and while I wait, I thoroughly eye the garbage and recycle bins...  And sometimes there are things that I just can't leave there.  Most often, good cardboard boxes -- seems I am in need of a cardboard box for something or another.

Anyway, a couple months ago, a glance at the bin and my eyes laid upon a wall shelf.  It was in excellent shape, which led me to wonder, why put it in the garbage bin.  How difficult is it to drop it off at the second hand store?  So, I hollered at my husband "STOP the car!"  (he is always so embarrassed when I pick up what the rest of the world calls garbage)  I got out, opened the hatch of the car and put the shelf inside.
This little wall shelf was definately meant for a child's room cause the upper part had Holly Hobby in all her Pinkness emblazoned all over it.

Over the last while, waiting for good weather outside, I worked at sanding down and mostly rubbing out Holly Hobby.  A couple of coats of primer and then some white melamine paint and ...

Well, I was going to wait to post this, and show you what it looks like on the wall, but I took it over to a friend's place because she has a cricut machine.  I was going to ask her to do some lettering on it.  She liked it, and had a use for it, so....  I gave it to her.

The happy little wall shelf will now be used to keep laundry things on and the pegs to hold newly washed and ironed shirts for her mister....

It feels especially good to rescue a item from the garbage bin and even better when someone loves it and has a use for it!

The Roof

So I went to visit a friend of mine a couple of weeks back and when I was sitting in the kitchen I noticed that the roof is leaking so I said,  "The roof is leaking"
 my friend said "yeah, I know" 
so I said "Why don't you fix it?"
and he said "cause it's raining"
"Oh." I said.

So I went around to visit my friend today and just had to ask him " did you fix the roof?"
and he said "Why?"
then I said "cause it was leaking the last time I was here"
And he answered "well, its not leaking now."
I just had to say "but its not raining now"
And in his ever laid back way he said "I know."

In the Summer Time

Well, life is not quite the same as it was but then again there are somethings that never change over the years.

I was just thinking the other day that it is 40 years since my first summer away from home.  I was such a grown up girl!  I had taken a job for the summer as a Mother's Helper at Winnipeg Beach.  A mother's helper in those days was usually a mid to late teen who was responsible enough to watch a family's children, mostly on the beach, playing with the children making sure they were safe and generally having a fun time.  There was a bit of work to it, like making up the kids beds each morning and often taking them back to the cottage (while parents visited and socialized with friends) for lunch and a nap for the younger children.  I was in charge of two happy little creatures, aged 5 and almost 7.  Their Ma insisted on a afternoon rest.  This meant a quiet time for me too as I was required to stay with the children at the cottage.  Afternoons were a real lazy time, but things picked up at dinner and often the various families would socialize in the evenings and I along with other girls who worked as Mother's Helpers went to someones cottage and played with the children while the mom's played MaJong and the Dads talked shop with their fellows....

I had learned sometime before, from my grandmother how to crochet and over the summer I worked on granny squares.  For most of the summers since that one at the beach, I have gone back each year to crocheting  grannies.  It is a very easy project to carry around and is easily interrupted without loosing your place.

My days were full but yet there were many hours that only required my presence but not my participation so I usually carried along some yarn and a hook - and I ended up teaching most of the other girls how to crochet, while I learned to play bongo from one girl and how to better swim from another and how to make tuna melt sandwiches from another...  Oh and that banana and sour cream with brown sugar was a great dessert!

That summer ended with 80 dollars wages in my pocket (that was for the WHOLE SUMMER) and a finished granny square afghan that I carried around with me for a few years to my own little apartments...

So even though it seems a bit strange to be hooking away each summer, it has become a tradition for me.  Many of the completed grannie square afghans have been given as shower, wedding or baby gifts, and it seems that I usually manage to get at least one done each year and that it is done in summer....

My stack of grannies are quickly growing.  I decided that I would make each a single colour, but I have not yet decided how I will arrange them when it comes to connecting all the squares.

My sewing room is mostly being neglected now, except to go and find something that doesn't generate heat!  I rediscovered one of those really ugly pieces of fabric that you later wonder why you got it -- well, at least this one had a value village price tag on it of 99cents!

Since I am crocheting out on my backyard swing and working so diligently on those grannie squares, I thought I would take a bit of a break and see what I could create with this really ugly fabric.

First thing I did was decide that it was going to become YARN instead of remaining as yardage.

To create yarn, you slice the fabric into half inch strips, but don't cut the selvege on each side, so it looks like this

So you have all these long stringy things all joined, carefully cut through the selvege on one side, then back to the first side, so essentially you are snipping every second strip on alternate sides and if cut properly you will wind up with a very very long piece.  The fabric that this stuff just happens to be was a poly knit, so when you cut this into a 1/2 inch wide strip and lightly pull on the strip, it will sort of roll around itself and become YARN, especially if the back side is fuzzy, that is what will end up being on the outside.  Last is to carefully wind it all into a ball and crochet something...

I have no idea what I am actually making here, maybe a tote? maybe just a basket to keep stuff in, maybe I will make a lining for it.  At this point, as I tell my hubby when he asks "What are you making now?"  I don't rightly know, but it will be something sometime soon...

"in love"

A break from sewing is called for...

It has been HOT and my sewing room is UPSTAIRS where it is even warmer, so I have not been up there since working on the Patriotic Salvage Mystery.

Water and Sleep seem to be the main elements of life lately -- especially for Pearl!  Everything is an adventure and should be chewed on til it is nothing but raggedy tooth-marked whatchamacallits!

I knew there was a reason that I wanted a black and white tile kitchen floor.  Camoflage!

Puppies are notoriously difficult to take pictures of when they are awake!

She is a good girl -- already the command "SIT!" means sit exactly where you are!  And there she is bum on one step and front feet on the lower!

Love means, letting someone give you a bath and thanking him for it and letting him pick up your poops Too!

Correction to Patriotic Salvage cutting instructions...

Thanks to my friend Rose, a slight error was discovered in the cutting directions... It is corrected now -- I think it must have been my finger hitting the wrong key cause my hand written notes say the right number of B1 pieces to cut is 36, but the typo on part 1 says to cut 31....

Patriotic Salvage optional border applique

Just a bit of extra, if you should be inclined to add some applique.

This is completely machine done, and is using wool felt -- just cause I like the look that felt has on top of cotton -- and it is pretty quick to add on.
You can do this even after your quilt is quilted, but I usually do it before, as with most other types of applique.
My first step to this type of applique is to use a stabilizer behind the fabric as it helps to keep the fabric from stretching or rippling when you machine applique.

I generally use a non-woven fusible light weight interfacing.  It's purpose is not to add bulk but to keep the fabric from stretching.

Next I cut out the applique shapes from wool felt -- I have been collecting wool skirts (usually from the second hand store, but sometimes friends give me their old wool clothes) .  I wash and dry the wool after taking the clothes apart and they shrink to the point where when used for applique there is no need to turn under a hem.

In this case, I am making leaves to decorate the border, it will be a simple vine on the edge of the quilt, so to cut the leaves without a pattern, I simply cut a strip of felt that is about as wide as I want my leave shapes to be, so the strip of felt (3 strips in my case) are between 2 and 2 1/2 inches wide.

I mark the approximate shape that I want, some wider some skinnier, with a chalk marker, and then I cut them out.  Depending how many you want to applique you will have to decide how many you want to make.

If this is your first time trying out this method, I would suggest that you make a test piece of fabric say about 6 inches square and do a small section following my instructions -- you can decide if you like the effect or not, then continue if you like on the border of the quilt.

The border, because it needs a vine also requires either long narrow cuts of the same wool felt or a similar colour of yarn.  If you use yarn, be aware that the yarn stretches and causes the fabric to scrunch up, so you may have to "break" some of the stitches and pull out the 'gathers"  or if you use narrow strips of felt, it will be more difficult to accurately sew it neatly to the fabric.  Just sew slowly and you will be fine...

With the yarn I insert it into a couching foot, so it follows where I aim my sewing machine foot.

When I use narrow strips of felt, I use a zig zag stitch and hold it in place just ahead of the needle using a japanese chop stick (they have a pointyer point).

So as you can see, the interfacing has held the fabric quite nicely with no stretch apparent.

Now to applique the wool felt leaves.

Change your foot on the machine to a darning foot or as some call it the free motion foot.

Beginning at a convenient place, use either a narrow zigzag or a straight stitch, free motion stitch around the edge of each leaf, and to give it just a touch of realism, 'draw' some veins on the leaf.

Continue to add leaves as you see fit, as many or as few as you like.  You will find that because it is so quick, you will be quite generous as to how many leaves you are wanting to applique.

Finally, here is one corner of the quilt border with the simple vine applique.  With Practice, you may find yourself adding this applique to everything!

Finally, for those who have followed along with this Mystery, I would love to see how your projects have come out.  Please email me a photo of the finished, or almost finished quilt and tell me whether or not it is okay to use your picture on a future post of the quilts made from this design.  Send photos to jswb4com@yahoo.ca.

Thanks, so much for playing along.

I am planning to do another Mystery for the Labour Day weekend, so check back over the Summer for exactly when and what you will need to follow along on that one.

A note about copying -- I have taken the time to create this mystery quilt along with the time to write, calculate and photograph the steps, so I would greatly appreciate it if you do not download or copy my work here. This mystery is free on my blog and if you think you must keep the pattern, and instructions for yourself, your store customers or your friends I would prefer that you donot give away my work. I feel that I am the author and if you want to share my work with others, there will be available after this weekend a PDF file that I will email or print and mail to you for a small fee. Otherwise, please visit my blog for these instructions...

Patriotic Salvage Part 4

The design, Revealed...

Try not to scroll down to the bottom of the page -- it really is more fun to work out the finished design as it progresses...

** to view the photos in more detail, click on each and it will be enlarged, to go back to the page, simply click on your webbrowsers back button up on the left top corner of your browser...

Now, we have done the major part of the sewing -- it is a matter of putting together the three stacks that you should have left.

When I photographed these stacks I put pieces of tape on them to give them new names, without realizing I had no way of typing those symbols and posting them to the blog!  So there are two main sections that you should have 16 of each (the small strata of 4 pieces sewn together, and the sorta log cabin square) plus 4 B1 squares still unsewn.  One pile is a triangle symbol the other a square symbol  -- check out the picture...

Now, remember that orientation is incredibly important in this design so carefully follow the instruction, referring to the photos, when in doubt.

Proceed to sew 8 of the triangle sections to the square sections;  if in doubt, check out the photo below that shows the way the two sections will be placed as they go under the machine needle.

Making sure to line up carefully the seam lines -- if you have been pressing your seams  towardward the darker fabric, the seams should nicely "lock" together and fit exactly.  It is quite important to keep things inline so that the design doesn't look off-kilter, so try your best to make sure the seams line up.

Now take 8 more of the square symbol section and sew it to the other side of the triangle section.   As you can see in the above photo the square symbol section is orientated differently.  The E2 piece is at the top and the C3 piece continues the design across from the triangle section.  Make sure you have 8 sections exactly like this sewn together.  Press and set these 8 pieces aside for a few moments.

Now you will be sewing the rest of the triangle sections to the last 4 B1 squares.  Sew each of the triangle sections so that the 3 B1 squares form a long centre section.  See the photo below.  You will have 4 of these when you have sewn them as shown.

Once this section is sewn, you will now have 4 of the long narrow strip and 8 of the larger rectangle section.   If you have done a fair amount of piecing of blocks, I think you can see how these last pieces fit together.

 Sew the long narrow strip to the side of the wider piece as shown, and then follow with sewing the second wider rectangle to the other side...

You should have 4 complete blocks.  This block is a traditional Japanese pattern, actually named Knotted Square.   Now from this point your choice of setting is optional.  In my case I chose to sew the four blocks (finally the orientation doesn't matter, because it is a symetrical block and all the outside edges are the same) to make a larger square.  Each individual block will measure about 15" square -- I say about, because everyone sews the 1/4 inch seam slightly different -- also because the pieces fit together in this particular way, to make an exact 16" square would have meant sewing in 1/8" increments I did adjust the cuts so that we did not have to deal with 1/8" measurements.   I do have available how to cut the pieces for this block in two other sizes.  In a 12" finished block (the D1 pieces are incredibly small!) and I am working on a extra large size block of 24" square.

Here is the 4 blocks about to be sewn to create a small table topper, without borders, it will measure about 30" square.  If you prefer, these four blocks can be set so that they form a long table runner (I forgot to take a picture of them that way) or even if you are so inclined you could make a larger finished square by setting the four blocks on point (which would mean figuring out the setting triangles around the sides ).

I have chosen to create my blocks into a square with a border,  my border consists of an inner "stopper" border, which is the length of fabric "C" cut at 1 1/2 inch wide, then an outer border using my "A" fabric cut at 3inches wide.  

There is an optional border applique that I will give you the instruction for later today or early tomorrow, if you wish to add it.  I am not so far ahead of you in sewing this project.  So must sew and quilt it before I show you the final complete project.  I will be making straight fold binding using my "B" fabric.

I hope that you have enjoyed doing this project, and that you found it to be easy to follow instructions and that you can make use of what you have created here. 

Thanks, EVERYONE for following along.

Patriotic Salvage Part 3

Are you ready for some more sewing?
Today's Sewing is going to be broken up into two parts -- just a little break, so you don't have to sew all in one session and also because sometimes too many photos on one post makes for slow downloads...
Well, here goes, ready or not.

First you will go back to the D1/D2 pieces that was the last that you sewed yesterday.
You will sew 16 C3 pieces to the 16  D1/D2 piece -- you must sew it so that the C3 is correctly orientated so carefully check the photo and make sure you sew exactly the same

press.

Next you will be using the remaining 16 C3 pieces and sew them to the section (D1/D2/C3) piece that you just finished.  Again, make sure that the orientation is exactly as shown in the photo.

As you can see, the second set of 16 C3's are sew on the side of the previous section so that the C3 is sewn touching the D1 fabric and the C3 fabric.

Now, you will be sewing 16 B1 pieces to the section we are working on, so that the B1 is sewn next to the last C3's that you sewed.  See photo above.

Your next step is to pick up all your E2 pieces and sew these to the section you just finished (D1/D2/C3/C3/B1)

The photo below shows how to orientate the pieces so they are correctly done, make sure when you put the pieces on your machine that they look likethe photo below.

Next you will go back to find the previously sewn A1/C2 section - and you will sew the 16  A1/C2 sections to the section that you have been working on (D1/D2/C3/C3/B1/E2)

And here is how it will look while you sew the two sections together.

Sew these and Press and you should have a stack of 16 that look just like the photo below.

Now we are taking a little break, cause truthfully, I have some puppy babysitting to do -- it really is impossible to work on the computer and keep an eye on a puppy who is not quite house trained and has just too much fun with just about anything left laying about in house or garden!

Edited in at 2pm Pacific Time...

We will finish up tomorrow -- there have been a number intrusions today, things that are taking too much time...

There's not THAT much more to do tomorrow -- well, it doesn't include the quilting and binding which you will have to finish up on your own.  So hold your breath til tomorrow for the last few steps...  About an hour and a half more sewing...  less if you are quick...

Patriotic Salvage Part 2

I slept in -- Canada Day, Yesterday, was a busy, busy day!

So.

Lets Sew.

This should take about an hour or so of sewing, not long...

Check back to the stacks of cut pieces that you made yesterday.

First sew 16  B1 to  16 C3  
Sew 16  C1 to the   16  B1/C3 unit
Sew  16  C2 to the  16  B1/C3/C1 unit

Now you have 16  strata units that should look the same as the photo above.  Check and recheck the order of your pieces -- remember anything out of place and the pattern will not show through properly...
Press so that the seams are pressed toward the darker fabrics.
Set these aside for now.

*******************************

Your second strata unit to sew is to sew together 16 A1 to  16 C2 units

Just exactly as shown above, again press your seams toward the darker fabric.

*******************************

Your third section to sew together today is to take the stack of D1's and sew them to all of the D2's so now you have 16 of these little D1/D2 units and you are finished sewing for today...

Press, toward the darker fabric.
You are done for today.

I hope you are finding this interesting so far -- and that it doesn't take too much time on this very busy weekend...

A note about copying -- I have taken the time to create this mystery quilt along with the time to write, calculate and photograph the steps, so I would greatly appreciate it if you do not download or copy my work here. This mystery is free on my blog and if you think you must keep the pattern, and instructions for yourself, your store customers or your friends I would prefer that you donot give away my work. I feel that I am the author and if you want to share my work with others, there will be available after this weekend a PDF file that I will email or print and mail to you for a small fee. Otherwise, please visit my blog for these instructions...

Patriotic Salvage Part 1

Good Morning!

Just a few little things about this little mystery.  This is the first time I have "invented" a mystery quilt so if you have any questions or my explaination is not clear, please email me at jswb4com at yahoo dot com  or leave a comment on this blog as I will be sticking fairly close to the computer for the next four days.  I don't want to hold you up in your progress if you are working along with me.  I would most dislike to see one of you become frustrated and end up with a half-done project.

Another thing I realized, that perhaps you might need to think about too.  I live on the West Coast of Canada, so as things go -- time that is -- where I live is halfway into the day for some of you.   So if you are very far east of me, this mystery will open to you much later in the day.   As it is, I am sitting at my computer now, just a few minutes before 5am PT --- but that is just about ususual for me.  I get up EARLY for most people.

Patriotic Salvage Mystery Quilt

Refer back to this post for fabric selection suggestions
Cutting your Fabrics

As you start to cut, a good idea is to have some masking tape so that you can mark each stack of cut pieces so they don't become mixed up.  You will be cutting some fabrics in different colours in the same size, so you want to make sure to put the right fabric in the right place when sewing them together -- IT MATTERS TO THE DESIGN.  All Measurements include the seam allowance.  This block is not USUAL so the measurements may seem odd, but they are accurate and you MUST sew them accurately with 1/4 inch seam allowance.

From your Main Background fabric ( all fabric in this colour will be labled 1 from now on, and the colour will be the number so all background fabrics will be 1 and the cut size will be the letter)  Thats probably backwards from what everyone else does, but, thats the way it is here...

I am assuming that you are using full yardage cuts -- if you are using fat quarters or other scraps you will need to simply make your cuts as each is measured.

It is not recommended that you use a directional fabric -- for example, flowers that all go in the same direction, as this may make the final design less effective.   Stripes too could be difficult, but if you perhaps make this same design a second time you might want to try using a stripe and cutting it so that it follows itself (you will have to figure which way to make the cuts on your own)

You will first need to cut 6 strips width of fabric 3 inches wide from your background fabric -- your #1

Then from 3 these strips,  Cut 36  -  3 x 3 inch squares -- there will be a partial strip left over, which you will use next.  Label these 3 x3 inch squares  B1

Cut 16 rectangles from the 3inch wide strips so that it is 1 3/4 inch cross cuts, each rectangle in other words will be 3 x 1 3/4 inches, label this stack C1

Still using the strips you have cut, cut 16 rectangles that are 3 inches x 5 1/2 inches, label this stack A1

You may or may not have enough of the 3inch wide strip depending on the width of your fabric.  What is left of the 3" wide fabric, measure and cut it to 1 3/4 inch wide strip -- you may need to cut a further 1 3/4 inch wide strip from your background fabric. 

Cut 16 - squares that measure 1 3/4 inch x 1 3/4 inch  Label this stack D1

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onto the next fabric cuts, these cuts will be from your medium value print -- make sure it is a good contrast from your background print.  This fabric will be #2

Cut 5 strips, the width of your #2 fabric, 3 strips 1 3/4 inch wide  and 2 strips 3 inch wide.

From the 1 3/4 inch wide strips, cut 16 pieces that are 6 3/4 inches long, so they are 1 3/4 inch x 6 3/4 inch, label these E2

Cut 16 squares from a 1 3/4 inch wide strip, so each measures 1 3/4 inch x 1 3/4 inch -- label these D2

From the 3" wide strips cut 32 rectangles that measure 3 inches x 1 3/4 inch each, label these C2

There will be left over after these cuts.

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Fabric #3 - again, this should have a strong contrast from both of the other two fabrics, in my case it is the lightest fabric.

You will need to cut 2 strips 3inches wide from your third fabric. Then make crosscuts of 1 3/4" or

Cut 48 - pieces 3 inches x 1 3/4 inches

Label this stack C3

All this cutting should take you about 1 hour, or as much as 1 1/2 hours, depending on what you are cutting from.  Check back to the above photo to make sure that you have the correct number of stacks and then check each stack to make sure you have the correct number of pieces in each stack.  Thats it for today.   We start sewing tomorrow...

A note about copying -- I have taken the time to create this mystery quilt along with the time to write, calculate and photograph the steps, so I would greatly appreciate it if you do not download or copy my work here.  This mystery is free on my blog and if you think you must keep the pattern, and instructions for yourself, your store customers or your friends I would prefer that you donot give away my work.  I feel that I am the author and if you want to share my work with others, there will be available after this weekend a PDF file that I will email or print and mail to you for a small fee.  Otherwise, please visit my blog for these instructions...