My sewing mojo (sew-jo?) has been pretty lacking lately. Between travel and illness and various other things, I just haven’t had much motivation to sit down at my machine in the past few weeks and have been spending most of my free time reading or vegging out instead. Nonetheless, I am making slow progress on a few things…
I’ve made about 25 of the 70 blocks I need for Emma’s Ten Square quilt. Considering I cut the fabric nearly 2 months ago, this is indeed slow going but I’ll get there eventually. The blocks are simple but the process is somewhat dull — especially trimming each unit to be a perfect 10″ square. (They’ll finish at 9.5″ square for a twin size quilt measuring 66.5″ x 95″.)
I wrote on Instagram that trimming half square triangles is both annoyingly tedious and immensely satisfying and several people agreed with me! Glad to know I’m not the only one.
One thing I HAVE made decent progress on is Charlotte’s stocking, since I was able to take it to North Carolina and do a bit of stitching there. The tree is really starting to take shape! (For comparison, see what it looked like a month ago.)
As usual, I’ve also got several items on my list for when my “sew-jo” returns — and it’s all selfish sewing. I want to make myself a Sailor top, a wristlet to easily transfer cash and cards from diaper bag to work bag and beyond, and a maker’s tote to carry my cross stitch around in. There’s always something else to make, right?
(Linking up with Let’s Bee Social and Sew Cute Tuesday)
LeeAnna Paylor says
what fun to meet you Sarah! My husband is an electrical engineer in MD. He went through his master’s degree with NASA flying with NOAH.
I’m the quilter and writer. The bloc-loc square ruler is supposed to make HST’s a breeze. I saw them demo’d but don’t own one. You basically slide the indent along the seam line to trim each side. There are ways to make 12 hst’s at once by drawing a grid and one long continuous stitching line too. I did it when I made an ocean waves quilt.
Thanks for coming by Not Afraid of Color. Keep in touch!
LeeAnna
kind of wished dh worked there!
LeeAnna Paylor says
on a NASA scholarship I meant
Sarah says
I have one Bloc Loc ruler but it’s a different size. I suppose I could use that ruler and use the lines on my cutting mat at the 10.5” guide…but I’ve just been using my 12.5” square ruler instead.
And how cool to hear about your NASA connection! I love finding other people who mix creative and technical pursuits in their families!
Jen says
I have my sewjo (love that) but lost my blog mojo (Blojo? hmm…maybe not). I finally posted again today! When I have a lot of HSTs to trim, I put a movie on my iPad and it helps the time go by. It’s almost rhythmic after awhile. I recently bought a rotating cutting mat, which makes trimming a little less cumbersome, too.
Jen says
I meant to add this link. I usually make 8 HSTs at a time, but next time I have a quilt of HSTs, I’m going to try this tutorial: 18 at a time!! http://aquilterstable.blogspot.com/2014/07/big-batch-hsts.html
Sarah says
I know these techniques exist to make a lot at once, but for this particular pattern they really have to be done one at a time because of the way the colors and pieces mix. But 18! Wow!
carrie wikander says
Yes, time gets away from us sometimes. But luckily our studios will always wait for us to come back to them – and we always do…
Sarah says
Yes, I remind myself of that all the time!
Stephanie says
I know what you mean about the HST trimming! It’s nice to get those uniform blocks, but I find the trimming gets old really fast.
Sarah says
Yes, exactly! Totally necessary but mind-numbing.
Gail says
I made CCS stockings for my daughter and two nieces when they were babies and they still use them now…my daughter will be 25 this year. Hope your sew-jo returns in full force soon!
Hannah@unsophisticated+jejune says
The colours are looking exciting on the quilt blocks. I can just about see some cool patterns too! Cant wait to see what it looks like all together 🙂 Hannah