Sylvia's Bridal Sampler resurrected!

I'm fired up!! Today is the first day this year that I'm off on an away-from-home adventure! And it's almost the end of March. However, I'm going to make up for that, as I have several trips on the horizon in April. 

I'm in the process of migrating the data from that old hard disk to the new one. And it's slow, but I'm getting there. There are a couple of issues - of course, there are! I've tried a couple of folders, and despite using copy/paste or drag-and-drop, they won't transfer. OK—maybe I'm not putting them in the right spot. But NOPE -- after trying several times, the darn files stay where they are. The entire folder, that is. I don't have time to investigate it much this morning, so I'll look at it when I'm back. 

It's just annoying, and I see there is a lot of data that needs to be deleted, and technically, I should delete it before I move what I want, but I need to move that data. I don't want to say that a failure is imminent, but I'm getting signs from this hard disk that it's not happy, and I dare not wait too long. 

However, that's not even the best news! That is what I accomplished at the sewing machine yesterday. I'm not sure how much of this project I've mentioned before, so bear with me if there is any repetition. 

In addition to hosting a UFO Club, I also host Many Blocks. The premise was that many of us were working on quilts with many blocks, and some of us needed help. It's very similar to UFO Club, but focusing on quilts with lots of blocks. Anyway, I was working on my 365-Day quilt until I needed to take a break, and since I took that break, I've finished several quilts - Vintage Christmas, Farm Girl Vintage, and Dear Jen, which I've shared as I finished those quilts. Except for Dear Jen, which just needs the binding and a label sewn on, the others are done - binding, labels, etc. 

My next project is Sylvia's Brida Sampler, which I taught as a class at Ruti's Needlebed (now closed) back in 2012!!!! 

Sylvia's Bridal Sampler book

OH -- if you go back to this blog post from 2012, have a look at the setting in the first picture. That is beautiful!!!! And if you want to see more (I'll be going back to review some of the posts - the tag line is Elm Creek Quilts, which you'll find on the right-hand side of the blog.)

I had made many of the blocks, but I never finished them. So, for the Many Blocks homework this month, I dug out the container of blocks and fabric. 

The extra fabric

The completed blocks

I needed to take inventory of this project and counted out 100 blocks, which you see above, and there was a bag with partially completed blocks or fabric set aside to make blocks. 

Partially completed blocks

100 blocks are complete, and 40 are partially complete. The blocks were all labeled, so that was good. 

Each block is labeled.

 Plus, I had identified in the book which ones I had done. Everything checked out. 

A colored dot means it's done!

So -- it was time to get working on those last forty blocks. I've already decided not to make one large quilt. I will make three quilts instead. I have loads of fabric leftover to make sashing and borders. I have designed them in EQ8, but I don't have that information handy this morning. I believe I might need to make a couple of extra blocks to get three quilts. 

I split the blocks into bags by page in the book, resulting in four groupings. I decided to work on all the blocks on page one that had not been done. There were three - how hard can that be? 

As you saw yesterday, I had the first block laid out. Oh boy --- a LOT of Y-seams. 

The first block was laid out to sew.

The slow process of sewing the Y-seam began. I was very careful as I sewed each one, so as not to over-stitch the ends and to ensure everything was pressed well. 

Slow and steady

To sew Y-seams well, you must be 100% aware of how your sewing machine ties the knot, if it has that feature. I love the TIE-OFF (PFAFF) or FIX (HV), especially for this type of seam. 

I'm using the PFAFF Creative Icon 2, and it starts at one spot and goes back about 1/8" of an inch to start the tie-off. As long as you accommodate that, you are good. I'm pretty darn good at that after yesterday. 

Starting a Y-seam with a tie-off

And there we have the finished block. It's just shy of 6½" in a couple of spots along the bottom left corner, but otherwise, it's bang on. I'm happy, and one block down, 39 to go. By the way, this block was cut out. 

One block done!

The next block I grabbed was not cut out, so that was the first thing I did. 

Cutting the next block

I had to make strips to cut into diamonds, and then they were also ready to sew together. Guess what? More Y-seams!!!

Block two is ready to sew together.

And then, before I knew it, that block was complete, and I was working on the third and final block for Page One in the book. It was a Bow-Tie block, with Y-seams, and it was NOT cut out. 

Blocks two and three - done!

I was on a roll. I put the three blocks back in Bag One and labeled it to indicate that all 28 blocks for the first page are complete. PHEW!!! 

Now onto Bag Two, which had 28 blocks complete, 8 blocks prepped, and four blocks with nothing done. The eight blocks are at various stages of completion, and I grabbed this Hunter's Star block, which is paper-pieced. Only to find that two pieces of fabric were in the incorrect position. So I fixed that and finished the block. 

Block four - done

That's as far as I got, but I managed to get 1/10 of the missing blocks done yesterday. My goal is to get the three quilts done this year. That is very doable, although I know some of the upcoming blocks are doozies!!!

Last week, when I was working on Colour My World, I took a presser foot off the sewing machine. Do you think I could find it? "I looked everywhere" is silly to say because I didn't find it; I did NOT look everywhere. 

Yesterday, a thought crossed my mind, and I looked under the free arm (I have an extension table on the machine), and VOILA—there was the missing foot. How it got there, I have no idea. The bottom line is that I found it! 

There's the missing foot!

Thanks to everyone who came out for the Virtual Retreat. It was loads of fun as usual, and we certainly do keep each other entertained! 

I had a lot of questions about the upcoming scrap class starting in the fall. Basically, after this class, you will know everything you ever wanted (and didn't want) to know about scraps. Will you be obligated to sew something? Nope! Will you need to buy a pattern? Nope! It's more of a technique, learning to work differently, and it will be great for everyone regardless of your skill level. 

Well, I've got to run. No spin class this morning as I had some last-minute packing to do (the portable office) and some computer work, and I want to be out of the house by 8 AM. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!