I hope you all had a peaceful holiday. My family came home for Christmas and it was so nice. For New Year's I was lucky enough to spend five days with two dear friends sewing in my sewing room. My husband, Dennis, did all the cooking for us. We just waited for him to call us to our meals and otherwise spent the entire time sewing. I made this Poppins Bag by Aunties Two. It took me most of the weekend and two nights of hand sewing but I really love it. I didn't realize how large this bag was but I am very impressed. So impressed I think I need to make the smaller ones to match.
I am sharing this great tip I was taught during our New Year's sewing spree.
How To Keep Your Blocks Straight While Piecing.
I want to tell you a bit about my friend Linda Dynan.
Linda spends many hours volunteering for Quilts of Valor She lives in a small community, Battle Lake, in northern Minnesota.
She and her fellow quilters are responsible for a huge amount of donated quilts to this cause. Underwood American Legion and Underwood Lions host each St. Patrick’s Day a fundraiser with proceeds going to Quilters Embrace of Otter Tail County. Each year their efforts raise over $20,000 to make quilts for veterans. Funds from this event help three Quilters Embrace Chapters from Fergus Falls, Dent, and St. James Catholic Church purchase fabric and batting.
They hold an Irish dinner of corn beef and cabbage with a free-will offering! They have a raffle, a silent auction, and a bake sale. If you are near northern Minnesota it is the place to be the weekend of St. Patrick's Day.
We all have people that we go to for advice and my friend Linda Dynan is one of those people. She is my go-to person when I have a sewing problem. She is talented and a great teacher. While she was here on New Year's she gave me this great tip.
Linda showed me this great way to keep your blocks straight when piecing. I think it's rather ingenious.
Linda showed me this great method to keep your blocks straight while piecing. You should give it a try.
This block is from a pattern found in the February Fons & Porter magazine. It was designed to be used for a Quilt of Valor quilt.
NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION:
It's a new year and I am dedicating this year to trying to use as little plastic as possible. I am trying to find one thing a month to change. This month we :
Have reviewed our packaging for our racks and will be going without any plastic this year. I learned that cellophane is compostable so our hardware will be packed in cellophane. Everything else will be cardboard.
No more plastic garbage bags for me personally. Our community has begun compositing. They make it very easy to do this. They have given us small bins for our kitchens and a separate composting bin for outside pickup. Because of that we no longer need plastic bags. So I use my brown grocery bags for all of my garbage now.
I give you my Irish goodbye.
Rita
I will be at the Rusty Barn Show in Phoenix from January 30th through February 3rd. If you are in the area drop by and tell me you read my blog and get a free Mini Rack.