Easy Street Brakes On

I suppose I should have been finishing up Easy Street, but I decided I'd put the brakes on, pin a few more blocks onto the design wall, take a picture for the blog & Quiltville's link up (which was yesterday! if you haven't already, check out the beauties there), then take it down and work on it when I can get the living room cleaned up enough, and vacuumed, so that I can lay it out on the floor.   I could just close my eyes and sew the blocks together, and it would probably work, but I suppose I'm just anal enough that I want to make sure I don't have too many of the same fabrics in one area and not in another.  That said, here's another photo, just willy-nilly pinned to the design wall...it will get sewn together, just not right now.

Easy Street - partial

I am really loving this quilt!

Tootling Down Easy Street

I just can't contain my excitement about how much I'm liking how my Easy Street Mystery quilt is looking.  I.am.loving.it!  I'm happy with the colors I chose, I'm happy with the pattern, I.am.very.pleased!  And here's a pic of what would be one corner.  This corner consists of 3 block "A", 1 block "B", a corner triangle block and 2 setting triangle blocks.  Overall, there are 16 block "A"s, 9 block "B"s, - all set on point - 4 corner triangles (stating the obvious right?), and 12 setting triangles - it will measure 84" square before borders (optional).  I still need to finish the last two seams on the "B" blocks and then I can assemble the top.

If you tilt your head to the right so that the block corner becomes the bottom left corner you'll have the correct orientation of the setting.

I'm pretty well pooped out tonight so will sew those seams tomorrow after I get home from my MRI.  Painkillers have really only taken the edge off the pain.  Sitting is somewhat comfortable up to a point, then I have to get up and move around, but moving around, standing, bending and laying down, all hurt, so I'm sure hoping that whatever is found in the MRI can be dealt with and eventually free me from pain.  Pain or no pain, chores need to be done so beyond sewing, I did a few loads of laundry, the dishes, and fixed supper today and that's why I'm pooped and am going to go watch the rest of Oregon vs. Kansas....GO DUCKS!

Breezing Down Easy Street

I started working on Step 7 of Easy Street (link on side bar) this afternoon.  I still have no idea how this will be arranged - truly a mystery, but then, I haven't sat down and really tried to play around with the possibilities either.  

Today's release gave us these four 'corners' - are they really corners? hmmm, we shall see.  In addition to the four 'corners', we're to make 12 of the larger triangle sets - I've done two, and I'm a bit tuckered out - so only two are being shown in my photo.

I'm excited with how my colors are working together; I thought more of the reds & blues would show, but wow, so far, those yellows/golds are really popping.  

Easy Street Step 7 on design wall.

Back on Easy Street

I spent a good part of Christmas Day getting caught up on Easy Street.  I'm really enjoying this mystery quilt, and still have no clue as to how it will play out as a finished quilt.  I've seen some guesses by others, but I'm not bold enough to venture any guesses, so I'll wait, patiently, or not.

I don't know why this first picture loaded sideways - somewhere between my computer and Blogger, it just did it on its own!  No matter, it still shows the blocks of Step 5 with the first 'wing' added.

Here, I'm adding the second wing.  I started out using a tool I have to mark the diagonal line, which really just gives a crease in the piece of fabric, but tired of that.  I then tried using a pencil, and it just doesn't show up well enough with the lighting I have.  I've even tried that tool, I believe called the Angler and didn't like having that on my machine.  and many years ago I'd read - somewhere - of marking my machine in order to get the sewn line right from point A to point B.  So I've had that 1/4" orange tape affixed to my machine for quite awhile, and use it by putting the point of my square, where I want to start my stitch, directly where the needle will fall.  I then line up the bottom point along the edge that corresponds to the needle line and as I sew, my eye doesn't follow the needle, but rather the bottom point which is kept aligned with that orange tape.  Perfect line, giving perfect placement.

I know Bonnie said she doesn't keep those little triangles but I've always wanted to do a miniature quilt so I thought to myself "Self, why not just go ahead and stitch a half inch from your project stitching, and then cut between the two stitch lines."  That's what the blue tape is.  Between the right edge of blue tape, and left edge of orange tape is 1/2", so I aligned the fabric under the needle using the first line of stitching along with the right edge of the blue tape.  Then trimmed off that little triangle, which when opened would give a nice, albeit very small, square.  I stuffed them all into a plastic bag and set them aside for a 'some day' project.

And here are some of my finished Step 5 blocks.  Nearly all came out needing little or no extra trimming using this method, and I didn't spend time doing a marking chore that to me, is a chore.

Linking up to Easy Street at Quiltville.  

Gettin' Better on Easy Street

I should have posted and linked this up to Quiltville's Easy Street Mystery on Saturday as that's when I finished them all, but I've been under the weather.  This is just a sampling. 

Stacked Flying Geese, 3.5" square

While I was making them, well I just wasn't feeling well. On Friday I had felt the chest congestion & tightness begin to settle in.  And it progressively got worse.  I didn't get to the 3.5" squares though, maybe this evening.  In fact, I've spent the last few days spending a lot of time shivering, coughing, sleeping and just plain feeling cruddy.  If it was a flu, it was mild compared to the flu I had back around 1980, I still remember how much I wanted to die at that time, I felt so badly.  I haven't felt like that with this one, but boy, I sure haven't had energy for anything. Last night I went to bed early after smearing Mentholatum all over my chest, hacked all night and felt so bad yet this morning that I almost went to the doctor.  But after a shower, breakfast, lots of rehydrating water and a nap I started feeling a little better.  I hope this is an upward swing from now on...I am tired of being sick and tired.

Dualing Monday: Mystery Monday and Design Wall Monday

Haha! Both places I'm 'reporting to' have their link-ups on Monday, so I'm killing two birds, or in this case maybe Flying Geese, with one stone, ok well, maybe with a few 4 patches.

On my design wall today are some of the blocks from the first three steps of Easy Street (head on over to Quiltville to see a whole lotta other works in process. And when you're done there, you can stop by Patchwork Times to see what's been added there. 

Cruising On Easy Street

Whew! Tonight, I'm cruising!  Which means I'm caught up with the necessary elements for this week, other than cutting 64 2" x 3-1/2" rectangles from my black & white prints, which will be used in a future step...maybe tomorrow's new step?  I'll get those rectangles cut tonight.

Basket of Flying Geese and 4-Patch Units

They've all been trimmed and look nice and purty now.

Hustling Down Easy Street

This morning I finished sewing the two-sies for Step 1 on Easy Street and started working on turning them into 4-Patch units.  I love making progress.  I was slow in getting started so that's why I'm now HUSTLING to catch up with everyone else before the next step gets released on Friday.  I know, I could just do a portion so that I have some of each step done, but I want to keep that progress-in-motion going, so am completing each step as I go.  Here's a couple of pics to see where my hours were spent yesterday and are on-going today. :)  

This pile is 384 two-sie sets, actually there's a few more than that, like 4 or 5 extras.

Coming off my machine are the 4-Patch units; I opened up 3 of them so you could see how they look.

I've a whole lot more to do so I best get....hustlin'.

Mystery Monday - Part 2

I'm a late starter on Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street Mystery quilt.  In fact, I added the button to the sidebar, saved and printed the intro and first two sets of instructions before I managed to look in my stash for fabric.  I knew I probably didn't have enough scraps or yardage to fit her colorway choices, but pulled them anyway - nope, definitely not enough, relying mostly on my scraps selection as I don't want to cut into actual yardage. With that realization, I decided I'd better come up with a different colorway.  I printed out a color wheel, and I agonized over what I could do with what I had. I pulled five or six different sets of color and decided my best options were a set of blues, a set of reds and a set of yellows.  None are in primary colors as I don't work in them for the most part; all are subdued varieties of these colors, and in looking at my photo, I think a few of the lighter ones will be swapped out for more medium/dark tones.  I also need to get just a little more of the black on white and may swap out a couple of the ones I have.

I hope to get some cutting and sewing in yet today.  

  
Head on over to Quiltville for a look at the progress of other Easy Street participants

Easy Street

Last year I followed along, though didn't participate in making, Bonnie Hunter's Orca Bay Mystery quilt.  At the reveal, I thought it was an absolutely beautiful quilt.  Sorry, if you're not familiar with it - but who in the quilting world isn't? - if not, you'll have to do your own searching for it.  It's no longer available on her blog as it's gone into print in a book.  Many quilters had/have photos on their blogs, so a Google search should help.  

This year, I'd like to actually do her mystery quilt known as Easy Street, but I know myself too well, and with all I need to be getting done yet am not, I'll probably only get so far as saving each installment to my computer.  I've added the linky on my sidebar anyway.  Maybe I will just do it.