Further Escapades

From the quilt retreat...
Jean/Jayardi's Show 'n' Tell Jayardi put made this top pretty much from beginning to end.

Jayardi also tats! I thought this was needle tatting, but she corrected me. She shuttle tats like first hubby's grandmother did. This is one needlework art I have not tackled...yet.

LisaTX made a dress for one of her daughters, a matching dress for a doll, and a fairy skirt. ;o) She hung this yo-yo quilt for Show 'n' Tell.

I machine quilted a table runner.

Got the binding on it at home.

Kathy/Shawkl taught a lace dying class...furnishing the dyes and the laces! I've got to find my MIA CQ blocks...they are in a really, REALLY safe place. eyeroll

Visit http://www.shawkldesigns.com/.

I also assembled 2 1/2 Grandmother Flower Garden blocks...completing the third block yesterday.

I am doing the English Paper Piecing method. Long story short...here's how I do it.

I cut butcher paper (the paper with one coated side) to fit my printer. Then I put it under my cutting mat to flatter and take the roll out. After a while, I print off pages of hexagons. The most tedious part is cutting the hexes apart. Using a paper punch, I punch a hole for easier removal after the stitching.

Press a piece of fabric. Arrange the individual hexagons on the wrong side of the fabric, coated side down. You want the paper to stick to the fabric...not your iron! ;o( Make sure to leave enough room around the hexes for the seam allowance. Cut about 1/4" from the hexagon. This does not have to be precise.
Take some waste thread...thread from old projects. I'm probably doing a no-no because I'm using poly/cotton blends from my garment making days. Getting rid of that stuff. This stitching is not structural...so no biggie. Finger press the fabric over the edge of the paper on two sides making a tuck. Tack the tuck with a couple of stitches. Don't tie off, knot, or break the thread, just fold the fabric and move along to the next 'corner.' At the final tuck, take an extra stitch. Clip thread.

Start with the center...add a second patch face to face. Whipstitch the edges. Build around, then add the next row. Once a hex patch is completely surrounded, you can remove those paper templates and reuse them.

I added my three new blocks to my GFG stack. I think I counted 22.

The 4-Runner is at a body shop in Sherman. I pretty much stripped the inside of all personal stuff. Except this morning I realized that I'd left my spare office key and another incidental set in a small cubby hole. Sigh.

We should hear the verdict in a day or two.

Couldn't get a rental car yesterday, so hope to get one today. I'm in Sam's pickup. As long as it doesn't rain, he'll be okay on his Harley. My insurance will not fully cover the cost of the rental. I'm hoping the property owner's insurance will pick up the balance.