That’s me, late. With the Tips & Tricks block for September that is.
I have the block all sewn.
Pictures are taken, not cropped.
But no words are written and it’s getting super late (there’s that word again) on 8/31.
The September bonus block is even sewn…nope, nothing written about that one yet either.
Forgive me, it’ll be up soon {please please}
It’s the morning after the remnants of Hurricane Irene passed thru our area (Albany, NY). It came thru as a tropical storm and wow, did it rain here! Lots of wind, too. It started Saturday nite and last thru the wee hours of this morning. The small town of East Greenbush that we live in was spared the worst, thank goodness. We had a couple leaks in our home and a semi-flooded basement, but that’s it. Many we know had mudslides, massive flooding, trees down in their yards, on their homes. 140,000 here in NY are without power, many roads are closed. My DH just called and said he’s turning around because 1. He can’t get to work with the road closures and 2. His partner just called him and said the office is powerless! We are blessed and feel so lucky that we were spared the worst.
Let me tell you how scared we were…as we prepared driving around our town Saturday, it was eerie to see windows taped and boarded up, shelves depleted of batteries, water, canned goods….these types of storms just don’t happen here.
Last time we had a major event like this was in July 2008 and it was a fluke storm that downed three trees in our yard. That one started and finished in less than 5 minutes.
So, as I count my many blessings this morning, I’ll be sewing a bit and hugging my kids and DH (our 18th wedding anniversary was also yesterday!)
Posting this hoping you all and your loved ones are safe and healthy today. If you are cleaning up, I am sending wishes that it goes quickly for you and that life returns to normal very soon.
All at once, life has interrupted life….what?
Seems like everything is happening at once these past few weeks – it’s all GOOD, but super BUSY!
Love seeing my in-laws. They are wonderful people, and I’ve been so looking forward to hugging them. Their month-long visit from Florida is a welcome change to our summer.
It’s a task I’d rather not do, but I need to now sort thru the huge pile of my daughter’s 1st grade papers to make room for 2nd grade. Less than 2 weeks away is the start of our school year, and I so need to get organized for it. Have to also clean off the kitchen table so the kids can eat their breakfast in there away from the distraction of TV and toys. Our youngest also starts preschool. September 6th is going to be a tough day for this mom.
And then there’s the potty training. My son decided on his own to tell this unprepared mom that the diaper fairy came and took his diapers to the new babies. He had to learn to use the potty. We’re into day #13 and actually doing well, both of us. I’ve held my patience in check and he and I are both better for it!
In all of this I am trying to work on a bonus block for August {grin} and the September T&T block…have some ideas, just have to get moving on them.
Back to life…think I can fit a shower in today?
Edited 9/1/11: Blogger did it again, grrr….it ate up my post for the August T&T block! Doing a very quick repost now and will fix the photos soon. Check the PDF file under the Tips & Tricks tab to print these out….
It’s August! We’re midway through summer – whew! We’re just back literally, hours back, from our two week vacation to the beach. What a fantastic time we experienced! Hope you’re enjoying time with your family, too, whether home, away or something in between.
A new month brings a new block in our quilt along. For August, let’s do a Brilliant Star. I just love LOVE star blocks and this is near the tippiest toppest of my list! The star is meant to glow from the center out and radiate brilliance, so color placement is important.
Pick out your fabrics:
Pulling from my stash again, I found some plain muslin, and blues and purples I just had to use.
Here we go…
Light Blue: 4 each – 5” x 5” squares
Dark Blue: 8 each 3-1/2” squares
Light Purple: 4 each 3-1/2” squares
Dark Purple: 4 each 2” x 3-1/2” rectangles
Lightest (here I used the muslin): 1 each – 3-1/2” square AND 8 each - 2” squares
This block pieces together SO FAST! Yay – more time to get out into the sunshine this month {big toothy grin}. Take out your blue fabrics, both light and dark. On the back of the dark squares, mark a diagonal line from corner to corner. TIP #1: I use a chalk pencil to mark the back of dark fabrics. Lead pencils just don’t show up very well unless it’s a light fabric.
Place the dark square in the corner of the larger light blue square… 
and sew 1/4” away from that line on either side. TIP #2: Another repeat of the same ole’ tip…sew a second line 5/8” away from your first seam. This will result in an extra HST and not wasting the “unwanted” corners in the sew and flip method 
Cut apart 1/4” away from the drawn line. Set the extra HST aside (we’ll use it in the final quilt top layout). 
Press open the corner... 
Place another 3-1/2” square on the opposite corner of the light square and repeat what we just did above… 
Cut apart 1/4” along the drawn line, set the extra HST aside and press the corner open. 
Make 4 of these units and press well. Square to 5”. Set aside and let’s work on the purple units.
Pull out your light purple squares and the muslin 2” squares. Using a lead pencil, mark from corner to corner on the back of all 8 muslin squares. TIP #3: Use a mechanical lead pencil and you’ll always have a fine pencil line and not need to stop to sharpen it! 
Okay, remember what we just did above? Sew…let’s repeat it with a couple of easy adjustments. First, these units are smaller than the blue ones. Therefore, no extra HST unless you are really a glutton for punishment {hee hee}. Sew, place a muslin square on the corner of the purple square…and sew on the drawn line. 
Trim 1/4” away from that line… and press open. 
Now, here is the where the other adjustment comes in…place the next muslin square on the corner BELOW the one we just did. 
Proceed as we did earlier making 4 units. Square up to 3 1/2”. 
Sew the purple rectangle now to the 3 1/2” unit. See the photo for placement. 
And press open toward the darker fabric.
Let’s layout your block and piece together. First in rows and then the rows to each other. 
And here’s my completed block 
Don’t forget to post your block in our group photo album! Enjoy your August and eek – it’s almost back to school time! Enjoy this last month of summer break!
©2011, Carrie Graziano, crickets studio
