NEW ROW OF JANES

 I made the first two blocks of the C row on the Dear Jane quilt.

This second block, C-2, was a little difficult.  I thought I could use my 60* diamond rulers, but these diamonds were not 60*.  So, I got out my protractor and measured the angle for these.  They are 54*.  So I made a guide for my ruler and cut the needed angles.  And, in the original block, it looks like the two outside diamonds were appliqued on after the center nine-patch was assembled.  But, I went ahead and pieced two more diamonds on.  

OLDIES BUT GOODIES

 We are rearranging furniture and getting rid of some to make room.  One of the things that wasn't needed was a quilt rack.  But, I'm keeping the quilts.  Here are four older quilts that have been hanging on that quilt rack for quite a while.

This first one is one I made right after the opening of Pieces Quilt Shop in Renton.  There were very few customers and I had time to sew.  This was made from the first collection of fabrics I bought for the store. 

It is titled "All That Madders" made in 1996. 65-1/2" x 83"

The back - 

The next is one of my favorites, made from Kaffe Fassett Shot Cottons.  I love how they are so soft.  This pattern was taken straight from one of his books.  It is titled "Square Diamond Quilt", made in 2003. 79"x86"

Even the back is Kaffe fabric.

This one was made from fabrics I collected while we were visiting Denver Colorado in 2009.  I made and finished the quilt in 2011.  78"x90"

Backing made from leftovers and some hand dyes I made for it.

Then there's this one.  It has no label ! 

I know I had these diamonds cut out and laying about for quite a few years before I sewed them together.  It is 95" x 95", too big for my design wall, so it's curled down to the floor.

I appliqued the leftover diamonds onto the backing.

NEBULA OFF THE Q24

 Finally finished the quilting on the Nebula quilt.  It was touch and go there for a while.

HALF OF IT

 Got this first half all sewn together.

The other half is two thirds done, too.

BIGGER THAN I THOUGHT

 I've been sewing the parts of the Nebula BOM, that I've made over the last few days, together. It just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

I'm not a big fan of sewing large chunks - they tend to want to fall off my sewing table and they are just plain hard-to-handle.

There will be six big pieces to the top - then those will be sewn together and it will be done!

Upper center piece

Lower center piece

Upper left corner

Lower right corner

These went together pretty fast!  It's Monday so I was with the Monday Brave Patch group while I did this.

Speaking of too big...  I realized I wasn't happy with having just a 9-foot table for my Q24, so I've been shopping around and asking questions.  Looks like I'll be upgrading to a 12-foot table.   Soon, I hope.  This quilt will be one of the first I quilt on it, too.

ANOTHER BIG DIAMOND

 I've been working on the Nebula BOM.

I completed these big diamonds.  

FINISHING A TULA PROJECT

I got out the container with the Nebula BOM blocks, fabrics and instructions.  The blocks are all done, now the joining parts just need to be cut out and made.

I cut out a lot of triangles, diamonds and a few other shapes - but not all.

And the sewing together began. 

Chain-piecing...boring.

OOPS - WRONG SIZE

 I spent the morning putting together my little version  of Nebula 9.  It should have been the last one and complete the set.

However, I discovered, after I was all done making them, that they are the wrong size!

I'm out of fabric and I need these blocks to make the smaller version.  Dang.

This is just so frustrating.  I hate do-overs.  And I really hate impossible do-overs.  (not enough fabric to do it over, unless I either take these wrong ones all apart and cut down each strip, or I buy more of these fabrics, or, I suppose, I could use similar but different fabrics - all very annoying choices that I don't want to do).

Here's where I was so happy that I finished the last of the blocks for the smaller quilt.

Here's where I discovered that those last blocks were not the same size as all of the other blocks.  Aaargh!

I think I'll just put them away and think about this some other day.

NEBULA 9

 I finished putting together the Nebula block 9 parts and pieces I had made the other day.

Then I drafted and made the half-size blocks, too.

TULA SEWING

 I finally got around to making this last month's blocks for the Tula Pink Nebula quilt.  The fabrics have been waiting for me for a few weeks now.

I got all of the parts together, but I didn't have time to finish before lunch.

This is the longest I've sewn since my knee surgery.

NEBULA 7

 It was cool enough that I could finally get back into the studio after all the very hot weather we just had.

I got both of the Nebula 7 blocks and their small counterparts made this morning.

NEBULA BLOCK 6 MINI

 I put the parts together today for the Nebula Block 6 mini version.  

It got hot upstairs afterwards and I had to leave.  It's at least 84 degrees.  And having the iron on for several hours does not help.

SMALL NEBULA 5

 There was way  more than enough fabrics leftover from the Nebula 5 blocks to make the smaller versions.

I drew up the pattern on paper first to make sure I cut parts the right size.

They went together easily, same as their big sisters.

I got these made while zooming with my Brave Patch Monday Sew group.  We talked about Improv - how ironic.

NEBULA 5

 I pieced together the blocks for Tula Pink's Nebula quilt.

NEBULA 4 BLOCKS

 I don't know why, but there were two blocks this month.  

I made the ones from the pattern and then drafted and made the smaller version from the leftovers.

NEBULA 3

 I finally got around to making the Nebula 3 blocks today.

There was barely enough fabric wide enough left to make the smaller versions.  I had to piece together a couple triangles to make it work.

I also got the Shattered blocks out and put them up on the wall.  Hopefully tomorrow I can sew them together.

FIFTH FLOWER BLOCK

Not perfect, but better.

I give up.  I was very careful and measured each piece after sewing and it still isn't square.  I give up.

Now to figure out how to set them.

Should I make more?

DIAMONDS REDO

I cut out more diamond shapes and started remaking the failed attempt at my Flower block.

This time I'm not using steam in the iron and I'm measuring each shape before I move on.

I've had to re-sew quite a few seams to get the size right.  I'm sewing each one a little slower and making sure everything is lined up correctly and the seam allowance is good.

Duh.

FIVE FLOWERS

I've almost got five flowers done.

I'm having problems with the diamond blocks and need to remake it.  But I love it!

LONE STAR FLOWER

Yesterday I started on making the Lone Star Flower block. 

I cut out all of the triangles and sewed together half of the first part of the block and then realized I had cut the diamonds out the wrong size.  Aaaargh.

So, today I re-cut out the parts in the right size.

I got half of one part sewed together.