Here is how to make 8 1/2 square triangles at one time. First, you cut out a square of each fabric you want to use. I wanted 2.5 inch 1/2 squares so I cut 6.5 inch squares. Next, you draw a diagonal line from corner to corner so there is a big X on the fabric. Then you mark sewing lines 1/4 inch on each side of the center diagonal line and sew them.

After you sew them line up a ruler to cut 1st through the middle of the X vertically.
Then cut horizontally (note I turned my square to make it easier for me to cut).


Last you cut between the two sewn lines of each of the four segments and...

Then you have 8 triangles ready to press open.

After you press them open then you square them up.

I was actually surprised by how little waste I had using this method and how much faster it made the job of alot of 1/2 square triangles. I completed 160 in just a couple of days. Since I don't get but a few minutes of sewing at a time I thought this was a great accomplishment! I was also surprised by how many 1/2 square triangles I use. Last night I was trying to complete the blog bom and it called for eight 1/2 square triangles. The next block calls for 12! It will be a breeze with this method!

Sew Long for Now!

The wedding quilt is finished, label and all! I started this quilt last February/March after seeing a picture of a quilt using a pattern like this on a Fons and Porter publication. A couple of months into it, when I finally found the actual pattern to the quilt, I saw it was for a lap quilt and I wanted a bed quilt. So being me I just ad libed. I knew the bride's color for the wedding was red and so I made half square triangles in reds and went to town putting something together similar to the look of the quilt I had seen. I just kept adding rows until it was the size I wanted.
So next week I will send it with a box of other items to my son and his wife.

I am working on another quilt with lots of 1/2 square triangles and Fons and Porter has saved me again! I was watching my dvr recording of their weekend show on my local PBS station and they showed how to make 8 half square triangles at one time! Since I am trying to make 160 right now this will be a great time saver. I will take pictures and share the process soon!

Sew Long for Now!

20 parts done. So I have completed 9 pieces of 20 blocks and have what 1260 more pieces to go for these 20 blocks. The I have 16 more blocks...432 more pieces. My family wants 3 of these quilts! I love my family, I love my family!

I have almost finished the border of the wedding quilt and then I just have to put a label on it. I hope to get it in the mail by the end of the month!

Sew Long for Now!

I had an emergency thread run last night.  Was in the middle of sewing and ran out of the right color red thread.  So off to JoAnn's I went.  I had a 50% coupon and I had been wanting to make something with hexagons and had seen these really neat re-usable hexagon and thought I would have to order them online.  Low and behold I found them in our local store.  I have so many different projects going, but I think I will add another!

Sew Long for Now!

I have actually been able to work on the machine quilting a bit more and I am so excited to get the wedding quilting done and send it off before cold weather settles in.  It really hurts my neck and back to hunch over and quilt it though.  I am using my normal sewing machine and doing free motion quilting.  I last about 1 hour.  I have been itching to start something new.  I have so many sewing projects in my head.  I have had the Memories quilt pattern laying here for a while and decided to pull out some material and try it out.  Each block has 74 pieces.  After working on the quilt last night I cut out 3 pieces and put them together to see what what it looked like.  71 more pieces and I will see the finished block!  I only want to make 3 or 4 of these quilts!  Have I lost my mind?  Usually!

Sew Long for Now! 

It has been a bit since I updated what has been happening with sewing here...not too much.  I am machine quilting the wedding quilt, it is taking awhile because life has went haywire.  The children, school, and their extra curricular activities have come on us with a flurry.  My daughter and I did do a display for ASG at one of the local library branches to celebrate National Sewing Month.  I tried to take pictures, but the reflection in glass of the display case made them impossible to see.  I hope that as we settle into a routine I can get some sewing time back in my schedule!

Sew Long for Now!

TaDa! Here is part of my finished project with the Ugly Fabric challenge!

The Salvation Army dolls came in and I thought how nice it would be to complete two tasks at once. I made all three doll's pants out of my "ugly fabric." I also had a pretty big piece left so I made a table runner with it.

I had this teal fabric and I thought they matched nicely. It had a sort of fall look to me with the crows on it. My daughter told me it looked more like Halloween and it wasn't crows it was ravens. She promptly began reciting Poe to me. Really? I think they are crows, ravens would be much more menacing.

Sew Long for Now!

A teaser on the ugly fabric contest!

Sew Long for Now

Our local ASG is having an ugly fabric challenge. I received this piece as my fabric. It's really not ugly! So I am working on projects to take to our next meeting with this fabric! I got an ample piece and so far I have 3 items cut out so far!

Sew Long for Now!

It's been so busy here. I have done a bit of sewing. I made 5 of the biscornus (that was all the linen I got from the workshop!)


I have finished the two bridesmaid dresses, good thing since the wedding is in two days!
(update: since when I was trying to write this the wedding is over and all went well!)



I even found matching ties for the best man and groomsman, the couple even decided to give the pastor a matching tie to wear during the ceremony!


I finished the quilt top for their wedding present and showed it to them, unfortunately it will not be quilted before they fly back to my son's duty station. Hopefully, I will get it to them by Christmas!



Sew Long for Now!

Another biscornu that I completed. I thought summer was suppose to be slower paced and I would have more time to get things done. Maybe it has to physically be past June 21st. I would like to finish another couple of biscornu before tomorrow, can I do it? We will see.

Sew Long for Now!

We have been on a trip so not much sewing took place. When we got back I got to go to a sew in with my ASG group. A member taught us how to make Biscornu. We also learned about using different needles and different stitches on our machines. This is a great project to practice on.

Two views of my Biscornu. It's suppose to be a pin cushion, but mine turned out a little large for that. Oh no, I will have to make another (said with hidden smile).

Sew Long for Now!

The Dove's eggs hatched. There were two. They grow big fast! Within a week they had left the nest and now it's empy.

There's going to be a wedding! Our oldest son is getting married in July and I am helping with a lot of the wedding details. I made the wedding invitations and have been getting them ready to mail. We didn't have a wedding ceremony so this is all new to me. There are so many details to having a ceremony and reception!


This is the pattern for the bridesmaid dresses, she is using the yellow dress style without the bows in the material the pattern is on top of. Last week I cut the pattern out and made a muslim for our daughter and then did the adjustments. Now I just need to transfer them and do the rest. I am making one more of the bridesmaid dresses and the rest are taking care of their own. So many details to work out in a little over two months.

Sew Long for Now!

The excitement of Monday here was finding this dove with a nest on our fence. She was so still! She let us come with feet of her and never moved or flinched. We have checked on her every day since. She is always in the same position. We wondered if she was even alive, but she seems to be. The dogs run around and the children and she never moves. It is on a part of the fence that is currently covered with a tarp, so she will be dry and shaded. I completed four more blocks for the Just One Star project. I thought this red stripped fabric I had would look good, it's ok but not as much contrast as I like. I am going to try to do four more blocks next week and then mail them in. Sew Long for Now!

Some of the blocks I made to participate in the Just One Star Challenge that I found out about through Deb's blog. They only ask for one block, but it was just as easy to make four. Then I pulled out enough different fabrics, trying to decide what to use and I have two more weeks before I positively have to mail them, that I am planning on making more. The instructions are great and they are easy to put together. Now, the red quilt is another story. I put another row around it and I wasn't happy with the points and so I ripped the row out and made new strips and now have to attach them.

I have also been hand quilting a fence rail quilt I started years ago. I hope to finish it by the end of summer. Busy hands are happy hands! I am working on crocheting a blanket when I get tired of quilting and when I am waiting at soccer practice. I don't know why I gravitating to quilts lately in my sewing, but it's very satisfying and I am enjoying it. Sew Long for Now!

I went away for a girl's weekend.

When our oldest son turned 16 he got to go on a trip to meet his favorite band. In February our daughter turned 16 and I planned a weekend away. We couldn't take her at the time of her birthday because I wanted to take her to see a play at the Sight and
Sound theater and it didn't open for the new year until this past weekend. My Momma wanted to go also, so we planned a trip for the girls. We had a nice time. Our daughter had never been to this area of Pennsylvania and so there was so many new things for her to see. We went to a farmer's market at Bird-in-Hand, we went on a buggy ride at Intercourse, we even road over to Quarryville and went shopping in the house my sister used to live in!The climax was going to see Joseph Saturday evening at the Sight and Sound theater. It was spectacular! I had seen Ruth and David before and love those, this one didn't disappoint. She loved it! We were in the fourth row center aisle, great seats! Joseph flew over our heads and the animals and actions were right beside us when they came down into the theater.

To add a little sewing in this post. This is the pattern I ordered. The quilt on the set was done in blue and white. I have been slowly working on my red quilt and then I will start on this pattern.

Sew Long for Now!

I interrupted my quilt to make curtains for a church group. Now back to piecing blocks. I had to decide on a pattern and a size, so I sketched it out on graph paper to see how many blocks I needed...more than I thought! Also, while watching an episode of Fons and Porter with my family they saw a quilt hanging in the background and went nuts over the pattern so I ordered the pattern from them. I need to get this top pieced to start on that. Everyone wants one of that pattern all in different colors!

Sew Long for Now!

My red quilt so far. I haven't been able to work on it as much as I wanted, but I am slowly progressing. I will be adding another of the antiqued fabric with the small red print around this piece and then I have enough blocks to do another row of the half square triangles, and then another row of the antiqued fabric. I don't know after that. It depends on how big it will be by then. Wow, it is so hard to believe March will be here in a couple of days!

Sew Long for Now!

The complicated quilt pieces have been put on hold for a while, I have been staring at a pile of red fabrics for a while and I just fell in love with them and decided to make a quilt with a more simple pattern. It's another that I saw on Fons and Porter. I don't have anything, but a picture to go by so it will be fun to see if I can copy it. I wanted to finish piecing this by the end of Feb., but I have been so busy it's ify.

Sew Long for Now!

This is one of only two blocks I finished of the new quilt I am making. These blocks take a long time! I am thinking that the quilt I want to make needs to be completely finished by June and this one just isn't going to meet that deadline. I will continue to work on it because it is such a challenge, but this week I may pull out some other material and cut out another quilt in a simplier pattern that I can get together a bit faster. I have two ideas of blocks floating in my head. Off to dig out material to fit the bill.

Sew Long for Now!

Scary looking eh? It took me visiting 5 stores to locate these needles. They are curved needles that can be used to tie quilts. I needed them to repair my livingroom furniture's upholstery. We have a couch and loveseat with attached cushions on the back and they had pulled apart at the seams. These worked really well to get in that awkward spot and re-attach the cushions.

I needed to make a quilt and I saw one in a Fons and Porter Love of Quilting magazine I really liked. After cutting out all the pieces I may be questioning myself though. Each block has 52 pieces. Some of the pieces are inset so you have to mark all the pieces seam allowance to get them set correctly. What was I thinking?

Sew Long for Now!

I have gotten lost in old photographs. I brought home a box of photos from my mother-in-law this summer with the intentions of making a scrapbook of their married life for them for Christmas. This was their 45th wedding anniversary year. She sent so many pictures from their family. She had them in boxes everywhere in no order. It has been wonderful putting them in order and finding out more about my husband's family. Not much sewing getting done though! The above picture is of my husband's grandmother, his mother and two of her sisters. I love this picture and the story with it. They did not have much money and the girls helped pick cotton to earn enough to buy those matching dresses and then they sent the picture to their father in the army.

Sew Long for Now!

This is what the nifty ruler I got for my birthday does! It is so easy and actually addictive. The hardest part is picking the colors and getting a good contrast. I didn't on the yellow ones, oh shucks I will have to do more!

close up of one of the bookmarks.

I also finished my two denim skirts. I ordered the material off line and was extremely pleased with the quality of it. Our local JoAnn's is closing in Jan. to move so they are not getting in any more inventory that's why I ordered this online. I went in the store the other day to pick up some snaps and elastic and found out they are not re-opening at their new location until April. Four months. We have a few local quilt shops, but I sometimes need more than 100% cotton material. I feel if I start shopping online I may find it easier and continue even after they open. This is sad to me.

So Long for Now!

The past several weeks I have been working on more skirts for me. I made a long skirt to wear to an event, I have two denim skirts and linings cut out and I have been working on those. I stopped to help a friend quickly put together a quilt for a pastor appreciation present and now I am to finish them in the next few days.

The picture above is of a an item I received for my birthday. I had seen this used to make the cutest bookmarks. I also saw a jacket embellished with diamonds made from the big ruler. I tried to find one locally and came up empty handed so it was ordered from Bright-Quilting-Notions.com. Their shipping was very quick!

Sew Long for Now!

I found the cutest shoes for the dolls!

My three Salvation Army Christmas dolls are ready!
Our local Joann's is moving to a new shopping center in Jan. and they are not getting in any new inventory. I couldn't find any denim I wanted for skirts in the store so I went on line and found some at their website and on sale! I ordered denim and lining. I received an email saying the lining was shipped, but no word about the denim so I called customer service. I was told it was something to do with stock coming in and that it would be shipped later. Today I received an email saying the denim was shipped. Hopefully, by next week I will have both and be able to wash it and get ready to make at least two new skirts. In the meantime, I have been cleaning out my sewing room and trying to organize my patterns.

Sew Long for Now!

I finished two of the doll jackets and still have one more that I need to put the snaps and buttons on. I need to find some shoes and shirts to go with the outfits. I wanted to purchase those, but I may have to make them. I found an online tutorial for making shoes to fit 18 inch dolls. I have some brown leather like fabric, so I could make them. We will see. I have 2 more baby blankets complete, 3 1/2 left here to finish. I was thinking what I would like to do next versus what I need to do next. I need some more skirts, so that may get top of the pile status.

Sew Long for Now!