Saturday, December 11, 2010

One Down Fifty-Nine To Go

I've finally gotten around to starting Step 3 of Bonnie Hunter's Roll Roll Cotton Boll mystery, and I can see that it is a doozy.  This is my second string block ever and making the first one for the mystery was almost as tedious as I remembered.   Last time I was up and down pressing after each strip, and this time I used my trusty little wallpaper roller, so that was easier, also this block was a trial so I didn't assembly line sew, so I know that doing that will make things easier.  I didn't really have strings, so I was cutting and sewing.  I plan to cut a bunch of varied strips, and that is three things to make life and strings easier.   There is hope!  If worse comes to worse, I will try to get 30 finished and do the other 30 later, as I plan to make 2 lap quilts anyway, unless it is so gorgeous that I have to have it for my bed.  It is one of Bonnie Hunter's, so that could happen.   My brothers visit was very nice, he liked the fleece blankets and pillowcases that I had made for his step grandchildren.  I didn't realize until after he left that I had forgotten to take pictures of them, oh well, if you've seen one the others aren't much different, lol.   I do like to have pictures though, it helps me feel like I'm accomplishing a little bit.  
We have made plans for Christmas, like Thanksgiving it won't be our traditional.  Christmas Eve we will go to my daughter's and see her side of the family, and hopefully sometime during the holidays we will see my son and his side.   Christmas day we are taking one of my grandson's, Micah, to visit with his cousin Robert and my brother Vince in Georgia.  They will meet us in St. Augustine and we have reservations to eat at the Columbia Restaurant, which is one of my favorites.  It will be a nice day and I'll get to see more of my family.

PS  My brother Vince just called me, he is at an estate sale where they have a Singer Featherweight.  He isn't really a sewer, but he does like unusual things and he has taken a liking to my little featherweight and so he's going to get the one he's looking at for himself.  He's bringing it with him on Christmas, and I'll bring mine too, so we can compare.  Both of my brothers are very handy, and I told him that he will be able to take care of his himself, and then he can teach me.  I miss having a sister, but it is great having brothers. 
  

7 comments:

Amanda said...

I really like the mix of fabrics in your string block; if the others are going to look like this I'm sure the quilt will look terrific. I've found another good way of 'pressing' the seams without jumping up to go to the iron; I run the seams over the edge of my sewing table a couple of times and they're pressed flat.

Amy said...

LOL...you're further than I am! {{and I'm sure you meant step #3---step #4 is easy-peasy compared to this one}}

Lovely mix of colors and here's hoping your Christmas gathering is as wonderful as it sounds.

Fiber Babble said...

Great string block! I know it gets tedious, though - do you have a video to put on, some music or an audiobook? Sounds like it's kinda like log cabin blocks for me: BOR-ing!

But we both (okay, literally hundreds of us) know that Bonnie hasn't made an ugly mystery yet - so we can presume that the 'pain' will be well worth the effort!!

LuAnn said...

You are right - those string blocks are going to take awhile. I think I have 10 finished and then after clue #4 came out I started working on that. It seems like it will go a lot faster than the strings. You've got a good start though.

scraphappy said...

Your first block looks great! What a great variety of fabrics you have. I'm slowly slugging through mine as well, though I cheated and finished off step 4, it was super easy. Now back to those silly strings.

Micki said...

I have a Singer Featherweight too, and you will love it.
Micki

Anonymous said...

Hello Candace, I love the colours you have chosen for your string block.....when I made my string quilts I throughly enjoyed making them.....I keep a small iron next to my sewing machine...to prevent ...getting up and down....Merry Christmas to you and your family Candace...I too have a little featherweight...and love it...hugs lyn