My “problem child” block came out great when I got it sewed together again. I was a lot more careful getting an exact 1/4″ seam this time. I have a bad habit of trying to “eye” the seamwhen I sew. (Too many years of sewing has made me a little cocky, I’m afraid!) Also, when sewing with triangles, I’m learning that the seam “looks” bigger, but it really isn’t. This time, I puta dot at the seam intersection and started at that point even if it didn’t “look” right to me. It came out perfect! Boy, you certainly have to be accurate when you piece blocks for a quilt! I’ve read that in magazines about quilting, but I didn’t realize it until now that it really does matter!
These blocks in the brown tones with hearts on them were coming out very nice and I got a fifth block done.
Then I discovered that that was all I had of the heart blocks. I got them on clearance and that’s all they had. (I remember that now—years later.)
But I do have a set of twelve other block kits that I got at the same time. These are green, but almost ALL of them have those blasted triangle pieces. Some of them have little ones to sew together to make a bigger triangle and then sew the bigger ones together to get the block! Well, I should get a lot of experience sewing triangle pieces together! I’m working on the seventh block now, so they’re going pretty fast.
I got a little tired of sewing blocks one day, so I decided to sew up a UFO. This project has been laying around a looooong time! Here’s the story behing the Valentine puppy: I gave my kids little treats for most of the holidays when they were growing up. Valentine’s Day was one of those holidays. I bought a pre-printed panel of a couple of puppies that you cut out, sew together, and stuff to make a soft, lovable toy. The girls were older and they got something girlish, but my son was the youngest and still into stuffed animals, so this was perfect for him. There were two puppies on the panel, and since I only needed one, I gave the other panel, plus the directions, to my MIL to sew together for another grandson the same age as my son. She got hers sewed together, but failed to return the directions so I could get mine sewed together. I had little confidence in my abilities to sew without directions back then, so my son got something else for that Valentine’s Day, and the puppy has been boxed away for all these years! I dragged that out of the box, looked it over, and thought, “I can sew this together, I bet!” So I started playing around with it and this is the result:
My son is now 34 years old, folks! I’m sure this is one of the oldest UFO’s I had, but now it’s no longer a UFO. I have no idea what I’ll do with it. My son’s youngest son will be one year old by next Valentine’s day, so he just may get it then!
This has been a busy week for me. I made a cake for a friend at work who had her 77th birthday! (I wonder if I’ll still be working when I’m 77! Gee, I hope not, but I do hope I’m still able to get around as good as she does.) The cake turned out pretty nice. Here’s a picture of it:
I made it twice as big as a regular cake because of all the people at work that would want some of it. It was a lot of work, but when I saw how she seemed to like it, I was glad I made it. I used to make a lot of cakes when the kids were little. Family members wanted me to make cakes for them, too, and I got kind of burned out for a while. But it’s fun to do one occasionally, though.
I dug out in the yard a little just enough to plant some flower bulbs this week. Wow, I was a little sore the next few days. It was just a little spot—I can imagine what I’ll be feeling when I start digging the patio! My vacation is in a couple of weeks, and I’m hoping we’ll have some nice weather so I can start that digging! More about that later.
Last, but not least, I finished the fuzzy socks this week also. I’ll be starting another pair in a day or two. Everytime I finish a pair of socks, I think of someone else that I’d like to make a pair for. I’ll be making socks forever at this rate. Well, I have plenty of yarn for them, that’s for sure! Until next time, keep those needles clicking!
