Sunshine and warmth

I must say it has been wonderful to not only see sunshine but feel some of its warmth. It has also been good to see some familiar faces that have been hidden behind scarves and coats zipped up tp your noses. I know in the last few months all anyone wanted to do, was to get quickly from one warm spot to the next, me included. Stop in with your warm smiles and say Hi! It brightens our day.

Pinwheel dilemma

Someone came to me this week with a, new to me, way to make pinwheels or just half square triangles in general. You start with your two squares cut to the size you want for your unfinished pinwheels to be.  In my case I tried 3 1/2". Now sew 1/4" around all of the outer edges

                 

Next cut the square in half, twice on the diagonal.

         

Open up the half square triangles, press and sew together. Believe it or not it comes out 3 1/2" square.

I was a little skeptical that I could truly get the same size as the square I started with, the math just didn't seem to make sense to me. Although, to think about it a square on point does take up more space then one set square.

        

Usually I make mine by adding 7/8" to the finished size of the half square triangle I need, in this case 

2 3/8" for the squares. Draw the diagonal line on the wrong side and sew 1/4" on either side of the line. Cut apart on the line. I would need two sets of squares to make the four sections of the pinwheel.

Only real disadvantage I can see, to this, new to me method, is that all the bias is to the outside of the square. So you will need to be careful not to stretch it as you handle it and piece it in. But you do seem to save fabric and maybe even time.

Guess I will be using this method a little more often.  Thanks Mindy, for challenging me with this method.

Marion quilt walk

Connie and I have made this quilt and will be selling raffle tickets, starting in April. The proceeds will go to increasing the Annual Marion Quilt Walk, activities and exposure. We are excited to be a part of this Marion Main Street event. The Quilt Walk this year is Saturday August 23, 2014. Stop by or contact the store to purchase raffle tickets or if you would like to hang one of your quilts in the show. Or go to marionquiltwalk.org for more info.

Cottage Rose quilt patterns

I thought it would be fun to start posting quilts using my patterns. If you have made up one of my patterns send me a photo. I would like to post them along with your name to give people ideas of color ways. I made this block using some of my scraps and my newest pattern "Empty Fields" now I would like to continue it.  This may work well for a "quilts of valor" quilt or just something patriotic.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Green is the color of the day. So many shades, so many choices. Enjoy!

Late New Years resolution and Wool projects

OK, I think I have gotten the hang of Facebook so now I am going to try to become more proficient and active on my blog. If you haven't been in to the store lately, you need to know I have started doing more with wools. We have even added a rug hooking class which is talking about becoming a monthly get together for already working on rugs to wanting to know how to get started hookers. This little wool appliqué is great for Spring.

Rush Delivery - pattern $9.00, kit $22.00