12 Things I learned from Frolic

12 things I learned while doing this mystery quilt.

 #1

When cutting, place the two fabrics together that will be sewn together. Then cut.  Now the pieces are paired and ready to be zipped through the sewing machine. Makes chain piecing sooo much easier and quicker.

#2

How to use my strange looking ruler, the Easy Angle Ruler.

 and the Companion Angle 

and how to switch and turn and flip.  NO waste - love it.

#3

What chain piecing Really is! Zipping through hundreds of HST one right after another without stopping.  (It's actually quite fun!)

#4

The background of a fabric is often how the fabric will "read".  Such as flowers on a cream will read cream or frogs on dark blue will read as dark blue. 

This floral reads lavender.

#5

To take a picture in black and white it to see the contrast.

#6

To read, re-read and mark the instructions with a high lighter if necessary. I did this in college, never for a quilt. However, it was good to realize that is the way to go. You never know what a designer is really saying unless you dissect it.

#7

That I really do like to sew and even better -  Bruce appreciates my passion for quilting and is willing to do whatever it takes for me to continue it. (Dishes, cooking even those bathrooms.)  Wow!  I really lucked out!

What a guy!

#8

How to spin seams. (Hey - I didn't even know this was a thing until Bonnie taught me!)

#9
I learned to think about HST differently. Before I would just do a block - like a star block. Then do a bunch of different star blocks to make a quilt. And this time I realized that if I had a bunch of hst made up I would create my own design by adding other elements, like a four patch or flying geese.

#10 

That I may never master that scant 1/4 inch. UGH!!! hahaha

#11

That I have an unbelievable amount of patience to rip, sew, re-rip, re-sew the same seam over and over and over again until those points match up!

#12

And mostly importantly - scrap busting quilts lead to more fabric not less! 

So then my question when I first started was, would I like doing a Bonnie Hunter AKA "Thousands of Pieces Quilt"?  The answer is yes.  It was a challenge and it was hard but it was worth doing. 

Happy Stitching,

Linda 

Rolling Instead of Frolicking

  Do you know what happens when you have a silly dog 

and you are trying to measure the length of your quilt?

She lays right smack dat on the tape measure.

 And rolls around 

 becoming a blur.

Gotta love her!

I made this little dress for my daughter's soap bottle.

It was much fun to make with the rick-rack and ruffle.

We decided you have to be old to appreciate this type of thing.

Then my 15 year old granddaughter busted our theory - telling us she loves it too.  Or maybe we just raised her right. hahaha

Happy Stitching,

Have fun staying home.  

Linda