Boom 31 Spring
04-28-2024, 10:47 AM
#982
Power Poster
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 26,053
Good morning everyone!
Janice, so sorry about your birds. We have had nests made in our open garage, and usually when the eggs hatch, the babies are eaten by a predator. So sad but true. Once it was a big black snake we call a chicken snake. Hubby found him in the garage near the nest, but he had already eaten every birdie. Hubby relocated him, but he probably came back. I guess it's the way God has of balancing nature. Not all babies make it.
Macybaby, hope you enjoy the adventure of setting up a new home in Georgia. I don't envy you the long trips back and forth and I'm sure you'll be ready to stay in one place soon. And what fun setting up a new sewing space.
Looking forward to seeing blocks in person and putting the quilts together!
Janice, so sorry about your birds. We have had nests made in our open garage, and usually when the eggs hatch, the babies are eaten by a predator. So sad but true. Once it was a big black snake we call a chicken snake. Hubby found him in the garage near the nest, but he had already eaten every birdie. Hubby relocated him, but he probably came back. I guess it's the way God has of balancing nature. Not all babies make it.
Macybaby, hope you enjoy the adventure of setting up a new home in Georgia. I don't envy you the long trips back and forth and I'm sure you'll be ready to stay in one place soon. And what fun setting up a new sewing space.
Looking forward to seeing blocks in person and putting the quilts together!
04-28-2024, 11:27 AM
#983
Super Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: WNC
Posts: 9,057
SBG, it’s nature and it’s just the way it is. We’ve had dozens of successful fledgings so this is a one off. But I don’t think we’ll risk it again. Just saw a small garden snake sunning itself on our back stoop. A bear has been frequenting garbage cans nearby and deer, rabbits and a woodchuck have been eating our plants. Lots of nature here. They’re all just doing what they do.
Libster, I remember when you made your oops block. Seems to me we all liked it!
Question for those who quilt with a walking foot. What stitch length do you use in general? I’ve got a mini scrap quilt I’m going to quilt tomorrow. It’s small, only 24-1/2 square. I’ve done all kinds of stitch lengths and I tend to like them a bit longer than normal stitching. Wondering what others would do. Any comments appreciated! The quilt sandwich is spray basted and ready to go for diagonal quilting. Just giving it a little more time to set up and be completely dry.
Libster, I remember when you made your oops block. Seems to me we all liked it!
Question for those who quilt with a walking foot. What stitch length do you use in general? I’ve got a mini scrap quilt I’m going to quilt tomorrow. It’s small, only 24-1/2 square. I’ve done all kinds of stitch lengths and I tend to like them a bit longer than normal stitching. Wondering what others would do. Any comments appreciated! The quilt sandwich is spray basted and ready to go for diagonal quilting. Just giving it a little more time to set up and be completely dry.
04-28-2024, 02:09 PM
#984
Power Poster
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 26,053
I like my quilting stitches to be longer than my piecing stitches... so closer to a 3? I really can't say for certain because I drive a longarm without a stitch regulator. But the sts I like best look kind of like a 3 on my domestic machine.
04-28-2024, 04:51 PM
#985
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Traveling the USA
Posts: 2,312
When using my walking foot I do have a tendency of longer stitches. Especially if just doing straight lines.
when I echo a pattern I do a normal stitch.
Guess it depends on what look I like at the moment.
when I echo a pattern I do a normal stitch.
Guess it depends on what look I like at the moment.
04-29-2024, 04:02 AM
#988
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Connellsville Pa
Posts: 1,701
Sorry I did not get to log in this weekend and was MIA, I had to make an unexpected trip to SC to visit my aunt. She has cancer and is now being put on Hospice. So My whole family decided to visit and take Lunch to her. got up on Friday and drove 6 hours to my sister's home in Mount Holly NC, then on Saturday went to SC and spent the day. Drove back to PA on Sunday. It was a really short trip but so good for the Heart. Hug your family, you never know how long you will have with them.
04-29-2024, 04:09 AM
#989
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Connellsville Pa
Posts: 1,701
Originally Posted by Janice McC
Good afternoon. Spent several hours going through the blocks I’ve received so far. Great job ladies! However I did discover that some blocks were made too small but that person has been contacted already and we’re working on a solution.
But I have a question of you all. Would you rather receive the blocks as they are, some 1/8 to 1/4 inch small in one or both directions and fix them as you see fit, or would you rather me return them to the maker for fixing and possibly delay the swap? I don’t think there’s a one size fits all solution. I’m curious how you all feel. Please feel free to email me or pm me with your opinion. Thanks!
But I have a question of you all. Would you rather receive the blocks as they are, some 1/8 to 1/4 inch small in one or both directions and fix them as you see fit, or would you rather me return them to the maker for fixing and possibly delay the swap? I don’t think there’s a one size fits all solution. I’m curious how you all feel. Please feel free to email me or pm me with your opinion. Thanks!
04-29-2024, 05:13 AM
#990
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: South Dakota
Posts: 8,140
As too fixing blocks that come out a bit small, Since I sash so much, it's not a problem for me to deal with it by adjusting the size of the sashing on a block or two. And sometimes, like with one of my sets, I am using 10" and 12" blocks, and will need to cut two of what I'm getting down to the 10" size to make the layout work. Lucky for me, there are a few blocks made that will be super easy to do that to without changing the look of the block.
One of my tricks to not getting small blocks is to cut the outer pieces a bit on the long side where it will be the edge of the block - like if the block has 2.5" squares, I'll cut the edge ones at 2.5x 2.75 and the corners at 2.75x2.75. That way I'm more likely to end up with a bit to trim than being a bit skimpy. My points may not always be where they should be, but my blocks aren't going to be undersized. I know that if I didn't do that, the bulk of my blocks would end up about 1/8" undersized. I do a lot of "slightly oversize and trim down" when sewing, But I also like to use small pieces and there is no way you can get them to work unless you do that.
Today I am packing up my stash and breakable stuff. the fabric makes wonderful padding for those items, and I've got plenty! Last time I moved, I had 50 boxes of fabric, so I'm interested to see if I've managed to shrink my stash at all in the last five years. I'm pretty sure I've not bought that much fabric, and I've made a lot of quilts. I'm going to have a smaller stash closet at the new place so maybe that will help me to get it down in size. And if I'm really lucky, my DD will want to start using some of it. I also have a stay at home Mom on one side and a newly retired lady on the other, so maybe I can entice one of them to take up the quilting hobby.
One of my tricks to not getting small blocks is to cut the outer pieces a bit on the long side where it will be the edge of the block - like if the block has 2.5" squares, I'll cut the edge ones at 2.5x 2.75 and the corners at 2.75x2.75. That way I'm more likely to end up with a bit to trim than being a bit skimpy. My points may not always be where they should be, but my blocks aren't going to be undersized. I know that if I didn't do that, the bulk of my blocks would end up about 1/8" undersized. I do a lot of "slightly oversize and trim down" when sewing, But I also like to use small pieces and there is no way you can get them to work unless you do that.
Today I am packing up my stash and breakable stuff. the fabric makes wonderful padding for those items, and I've got plenty! Last time I moved, I had 50 boxes of fabric, so I'm interested to see if I've managed to shrink my stash at all in the last five years. I'm pretty sure I've not bought that much fabric, and I've made a lot of quilts. I'm going to have a smaller stash closet at the new place so maybe that will help me to get it down in size. And if I'm really lucky, my DD will want to start using some of it. I also have a stay at home Mom on one side and a newly retired lady on the other, so maybe I can entice one of them to take up the quilting hobby.
