Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Cascadia Finale and Reveal

If you are one of the three who have been following along with the Cascadia mystery , here it is!
Mine isn't all quilted but I did the binding prior to bringing it to Guatemala with me. 
 Here is the inspiration quilt. Isn't it adorable? I saw it on ebay and thought it would be a fun one to reproduce.
 If you haven't already,  trim the sides of your rows, leaving 1/4" seam allowance. (don't burn it like I did!)
 It doesn't really matter how wide it is, but mine finishes at 4 1/2". Your two rows may not finish exactly the same- that's okay!

One of my rows was a perfect fit but the one in the photo was not. I think it is because I sewed my edge triangles on wrong. No problem, I added a little strip to both ends. and sewed my rows together as shown in the top photo.
Here is one end with the addition of a muslin strip to make my row long enough.

I really don't think you would have noticed had I not told you. 
I hope you love your little quilt as much as I love mine. I think it is so charming!

You can see in the 2 photos above I'm stitching straight down the rows that are set on the diagonal and plan on quilting on the diagonal on the straight rows. 

I will do a linky party at a later date, since the holidays are here!


Monday, November 24, 2014

Color! Color!

Look at what these guys are packing around! I would have loved to jumped out of the van and see what kind of fabric they were bringing to this house. Click to enlarge if you can- they are carrying yards of fabric! We were out in the country, but I wonder if they only call on the nicer homes, like this one. Isn't the color of the house wonderful?

Look at this wonderful sunny yellow church.

How about this bright aqua/green medical center. (One of my favorite places to do our program)

Look at the color against the dry brown background. I love this picture.

On another note:
If you are interested in buttons for the Flags of American Revolution quilt, they are on Jan Patek's site! (thanks Lizzy) Click HERE.  I've ordered mine.
We will post our flag and sawtooth star blocks on December 1st. If you don't have a blog, send me a photo of your blocks.  I'm going to have to work hard to get my stars all appliqued, but I think I can do it. If we haven't seen your blocks from precious months we want to see them too!



Friday, November 21, 2014

Highlights of Guatemala

Many of you asked to see and hear more of what we did while in Xela. 
We went to several place and presented a program. I was in charge of the wordless book (click on the link if you don't know what that is) , using t shirts. We had bracelets to hand out to everyone as well. 

We passed out toys, hygiene items, candy, soccer balls. It all depended on what the needs were, although all the kids got a toy of some sort.
I purchased new testament Bibles and brought them in my bag (we got more while in Xela) I loved seeing these girls holding the Bibles I brought,
We prayed and had many prayers spoken for us. (and the safety of our vehicle!)
We passed out flyers telling everyone to come to the free festival on Friday night and kids festival Friday day. I loved getting on the ground and meeting people up close and personal.
We did a wordless skit to music. (this was only practice)

Young and old alike enjoyed the balloon hats.
We dedicated a water well we helped finance in a village at the foot of Santa Maria volcano. (This photo was the ceremonious "turning on" the water! Followed by lots of firecrackers.

 We shared our hearts with them.
 We invited the masses, and they came. Approx 60, 000 of them!

 They got to experience fun and exciting music.
Then they got to hear the Word of God preached. Unlike North America , Central America is eager to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ. 

Sunday morning we divided up in small groups and attended church. It was appropriate that I had brought my "love more" bag and hadn't given it away yet. You can see the pastor's wife put it on as soon as I gave it to her. I couldn't be more thrilled about that.

So, that's the highlights of my past week. 

Thursday, November 20, 2014

I Left My Heart in Guatemala

I hope many of you are sewing along. So sorry about my post yesterday. If you cut your pieces before I edited the post, it will all be fine, just be careful because the bias will be on the outer edge. (yours will be like mine!)

I had no idea what I was  in for when I signed up to go to Guatemala on a missions trip. I see poor people in and out of the country, but it is completely different when you can talk to them and see them more closely.
We spent quite a bit of time outside of the city of Xela.
We were waiting for a medical center to open when these men came walking down the street.  Look at the boy in the center with the long machete!

The women dressed very traditional outside of Xela.


The school that this photo was taken is full of kids who have sponsors. 

They were getting ready to eat and they all came out of their classrooms with a dollop of soap to wash. 

Many kids help earn money for their families. I met little 11 yo Jaime on the streets when he asked if he could shine my shoes. (I was wearing my tennis shoes!) I had a bit of a meltdown after giving him a few pieces of candy and a granola bar.  Isn't he precious? 





Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Cascadia Quiltalong Part 3- EDITED

Hey, I'm back and ready to give you the next step in the Cascadia mystery. I had a very rewarding trip and will be sharing photos soon.
EDITED to reflect no bias edges on the outside. (I knew I should have waited one more day to post!) If you already did it the first way, it's fine- don't change it! Ask me how I know it will work out. :)

So, here we go!

From muslin, white, light, or whatever other color you want to use, cut thirteen (13) 2 3/4" squares, then cut them on the diagonal twice to make 52 total triangles. Sew them, as shown,  to a single printed 1 1/2" square.  Make 4 of these units.

Then cut four (4)  muslin, white or light 1 3/4"" squares, then cut on the diagonal  to make 8 triangles. (this will keep the bias edge off the outside) sew to the corner, as shown.  Make 4 of these units.

 To the three square strips add the triangles from the 2 3/4 square to the ends, as shown. Make 4 like that.
Press, as shown and sew these two rows together.

Use one of your 1 3/4" corner triangles add to the end of a 5 square strip. (this will be your other corner) Add it to the end of 4 strips.

Add your quarter square triangles to the ends as shown above.

Using the rest of the triangles made from the 2 3/4" squares add them as shown to the ends of the 5 square strips.  Sew them together as shown. Make 2 of these strips.

It's been a long week with very little sleep, I sure hope this makes sense! Let me know if it doesn't.

Have fun with it!


Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Cascadia Quiltalong Mystery Part 2


Hello! I'm thrilled to see many jumping in and not letting the mystery part to this stop them!

Take 2 of your strips and sew them together.
Then you should have this.


Take your baggy of 1 1/2" squares strip of 5 patches- do that 20 times! (sewn, unlike mine in the photo)

Then I want you to make 4 strips of 3 patches.


You should be able to knock them out quickly. 

(I'm posting this on Tuesday for automatic posting) If I can get another  post ready to go I'll do Cascadia step 3 to go on Monday. If not, it will wait until Wednesday when I am home.

Have fun! Love to you all!

Monday, November 10, 2014

First Friday at Quiltworks

My daughter was here for a visit and came to First Friday with me last week. The theme is 
"November Inspirations Small Quilt Show" They were great quilts, so creative, so fun! 
I entered mine, and it was inspired by an antique, but was boring compared to the other quilts.






 My favorite pieced.




 My favorite appliqued

 Love this wooly one.



And mine.

It was a fun exhibit! If you happen to be in Bend stop and see them and vote for your favorites.