Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Ruler Review

Something different to write about today. 

I thought I'd do a product review of a new ruler that I've bought. I have absolutely no affiliation with the product, I just wanted to give it a try and pass along my findings to fellow quilters.


This review is of the Simple Folder Corners Ruler by Doug Leko.

You know when you do the stitch and flip method for snowballing corners?...that is what this ruler is for. There are other applications, such as flying geese and square in a square blocks.

Here is the ruler...





The first advantage is that there is no problem trying to figure out what size of fabric to cut. My pattern called for 2" unfinished squares, so that is what I use for use with the ruler.




There is no drawing of any lines, you just place the square on the base fabric...



Place the ruler in position...



(Looking at the above picture. I can see a tiny mistake. Doug Leko does state that we should keep things squared-up by making sure the lines on the ruler fall along the side of the block....in mine, the line coming down from the #2 on the ruler should lay right on the edge of the fabric. Pretty close, though!)

Something to note in the above picture....there is a diagonal line that will soon be your sewing line....what used to be a drawn line using the old method, but no drawing using this ruler.

Now, make the cut...




Now, sew using a scant 1/4" seam...



Be careful to be gentle sewing the seam...it's a bias cut and could stretch.

And, see that little piece that was cut away? I know some people will sew that together to get an extra HST from it. Well, using this ruler, it automatically comes out to be a perfect size, no trimming.



The only trimming is the dog-ears on the HST.....meaning, no dog-ears at all on the main block!

In the above picture, you can see that I prepared all of my snowballed corners and just pinned them 'til they get to the sewing machine. 

Here is my block completed, as well as the little HST's.





There is another option with this ruler, and that is to use an over-sized piece and trim down afterwards. I wondered why would one bother?....but I do think it would make for an even more exact piece, especially if you are not quite confident in your sewing skills.

Here is a link to a video on YouTube with the creator of the ruler giving instruction on the use of it...

https://www.facebook.com/FatQuarterShop/videos/10154684101773358/

I bought my ruler at my LQS, Quilt Junction

In the end, I can think of only one thing I would change, and it's not even a true problem. I like to hang my rulers on a peg board, so it would be nice if there were a hole in the ruler like many other rulers have.

It is a bit pricey, but not at all out-of-line with what rulers are costing these days. 

So, I definitely give this ruler two thumbs-up and I'm sure I will use it often!!!

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Here is a picture of my latest running adventure...



This was this past weekend at the Dundas Conservation Area, the race called the Sulphur Springs Trail Race. I did the 10k....others did 25K, 50K and 100 miles! 

I was a bit nervous, but in the end it was a truly beautiful experience. When I got to where I took the picture, I was actually a bit choked up at the beauty around me.

And the ultra-marathoners!....so many of them took the time to give me encouraging words. I met some great people on my trail run and realize that this will be a race I will register for year after year. My favourite.....so far!!

I am linking up with Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social ( I can't wait to try my new ruler on my BlackBirds quilt, one of Lorna's patterns, should be perfect for it! ), and with Susan at Quilt Fabrication for Midweek Makers.

Have a wonderful Spring day!


Wednesday, May 23, 2018

It's been a while!

Well, I knew a while ago that May was going to be a very busy month....but I didn't know that I wouldn't even have a few moments to do a blog post!

The jam-packed calendar continues until mid-June.

Here are a few highlights of the month so far, beginning with our quilt show at the beginning of May.

I was able to see my Down the Rabbit Hole hanging. This was the quilt that was completed just in time! 




Part of the fun was strolling around looking at the quilts with Gail of The Cozy Quilter and Kathy of Kathy's Quilts




And I was only able to visit with one of the vendors (due to a series of events brought on by the terrific wind storm that weekend), so was only able to make one purchase...



I wish I could make time to do some prep-work on this before heading to Nova Scotia, as it would make a perfect travel project, but I don't know if there is time for that!

The quilt show was followed by a quilting retreat. Why is it that it feels so relaxing while on retreat, but you come home exhausted???

Here is our hostess, Lana of Quilt Junction...




Here is our set-up for the three days, in the ballroom at the Elm Hurst Inn ....




....and the beautiful view from my room...




I managed to work on a few projects, such as my RSC18, Squared Away...




...and some of my Simple Folk pieced blocks...





It was also fun to see what others were working on!...




....and I even had to get a picture as proof that I am no longer a salmon virgin...


...that's a big piece of salmon! I figured if I was ever going to try salmon, doing it at a 5-star Inn may be the place to do it!

I did manage to get all the blocks completed for our BOM we've been doing at the Haldimand Guild this past year....






I am going to like this quilt once it is done. The irony is that despite the simple blocks, there were many errors in the pattern which made it frustrating. The further irony?....it wasn't until I had all the blocks on the design wall that I saw that I had made a huge design error in the planning of this! So funny! Oh well, keeps one humble, I guess!!  I'll elaborate at a future time.


Right on the heels of the quilt show, and the retreat....race weekend!

I had three races that weekend....not sure I'll do that again, but I did have a lot of fun!




.....and managed to have a wee visit with my daughter at the Optometrist where she works....obviously we have good taste in sunglasses....



This past week was more of the same...so busy with visitors from Alberta. Somehow I still managed to get a bit of applique accomplished. 

Here is the first block of Tomato Soup, The Sequel (almost)(finally!!) done...




Today I am linking up with Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social, and with Susan at Quilt Fabrication for Midweek Makers.

Have a lovely day!

Sunday, May 6, 2018

Quilt Show news and some slow stitching

It was especially nice to sit with my stitching this morning. It feels like such a busy time lately that I feel fortunate to have a hobby that takes me out of the busy times and allows me to just "be".

I've been poking away at this block, which is one of the Sarah Fielke BOM's for 2018, Simple Folk...



My go-to method of doing circles is not conducive to fussy-cutting. I'm not terribly fond of my circles on this block....it would have been a perfect opportunity to test the Appliquick method. Oh well, I'm sure there will be more opportunity in this quilt to try it...I'll live with this block, warts and all.

I'll be going on a Quilt Retreat this week and, of course, I've packed way too much....but it is good to have choices!

I hope to get the pieced blocks for Simple Folk somewhat started. This is what they will look like...



This is the big weekend of our guild's Quilt show in Simcoe, Ontario. 

We had a wonderful start on Friday....and then a huge wind storm blew in with gusts of up to 120km winds. 

About an hour before the show was to finish up for the day the electricity went out at the venue and we had to close early.....and the power didn't come on again 'til mid-Saturday!

So, the show did not open on Saturday....we are having the second day today. Thanks to social media, we're hoping that the word has spread. 

I haven't even had a chance, myself, to take in all the quilts, as on Friday I was volunteering at the show's boutique booth. So I'll be looking forward to seeing the show today....as well as meeting a couple of fellow bloggers!

I did whip around quickly before the show started on Friday to get pictures of my quilts hanging. I love the look of my Tula Pink City Sampler and look forward to it finally being on my bed after the show...


I'm still happy with the coral sashing....even though I originally went to Quilt Junction looking for grey fabric!

One of our vendors specializes in EPP, Eagle's Wings Quilts....and she also happens to be a blogger who links up with Slow Sunday Stitching!

I haven't done much EPP in a couple of years, but I do love to do it, so I picked up this pattern to start at some point...




That's it for today...wish us luck on a successful day at the quilt show! I hope it works out after all the hard work everyone has put in :)

I am linking up with Kathy at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Tomato Soup - The Sequel

One of the favourite quilts in this house is this one...


Of course, it doesn't have a label on it, but I put it around 8 years old and it's one that everyone likes to snuggle with while watching tv... it scores high on the mooshy scale, probably because of the lovely wool batting. 

There's many things I like about this quilt and why I think it works. I used three different reds as background fabrics which gives it some nice interest and I think the blue in the border is just right. 

I'd have to look up the pattern to know what it's called....I'm pretty sure its a design by the Piece o' Cake women....but around here this quilt is simple called Tomato Soup :)

When I began my current project I was again drawn to the reds but steered myself in a different direction. As I've said in a previous post, which you can see HERE, the piece just wasn't working. I feel so much better now with switching to my original gut feeling....


...everything is just going to pop on the red background....love it!

This quilt will be known as Tomato Soup - The Sequel.


I'm going to do another plug for our local quilt show this week hosted by the Norfolk County Quilters' Guild. There are over 240 quilts to see. The guild has so much talent in quilting and fibre arts, should be a good one!



I'm almost ready for set-up day on Thursday....




I love the energy of being part of a quilt show. So much work and then it all comes down so fast when the show is done.

I'll be manning the boutique area on Friday morning and just generally hanging around on Saturday afternoon. If you're able to come be sure to say hello!

Today I am linking up with Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social, and with Susan at Quilt Fabrication for Midweek Makers.

Have a lovely Spring day!