Wednesday, January 30, 2013

A day off!!

 Good morning to everyone!!  I have worked the last six days in a row...there at the hospital at least 13-14 hours each day.  Our charge nurse abruptly quit...so I have been in charge.  I can do it just fine, but it takes me away from the patients...the nurses become my patients, and I love taking care of patients more!  Oh well, maybe this is temporary.  Above is a crumby flying geese block!  This is just the most fun, mindless sewing in the world...someone wanted a tutorial, so I will try to explain how I do this...I know that lots of you know how, so bear with me!!
 This all started because of the quilt crumbs...tiny pieces of fabric that I saved, not big enough for strings, etc.  Like quilter's candy!!  Little sweet pieces!
 I take any light fabric for a foundation...I used an old, thin piece of fabric, and cut it a little bigger than 6.5 x 3.5 inches.  You can make any size geese you want!!  I usually use muslin, and lots of people use phone book paper, but I just can't stand taking out the paper, so I use fabric foundations.
 I then start filling the foundation with fabric little pieces...some small strings, triangles, parts of old blocks, just anything I have in the basket.  This is fun!  Freewheeling and anything goes!!  Just fill the space, flipping and sewing.  Have your music on, toes tapping, or a fun movie to watch!!
 TA DA!  A block filled...then I go and trim, after shooting it with starch and pressing it...SQUOOSH!!
 All trimmed up, 6.5 x 3.5 inches.   The trimmings?  I use the biggest pieces again for more crumb blocks!  The tiniest ones end up as fillings for other projects, or hot pads...very little fabric hits the trash can at my house!
 Then a corner connector triangle, 3.5 square...sewing diagonally...
 Of course I make two seams, so I can have those extra triangles for blocks and borders!!
I have a lot of them so far....


OK, so sew on the other triangle to finish your goose, sew three of them together, then I added the sides of the blocks, 9.5 x 2 inch strips to make a 9.5 inch unfinished block.  TA DA!!  I used up some tiny pieces...and had fun doing it!!  Let yourself go...no matchy-matchy fabrics, no fuss or worry...just fun sewing!!


Have  a great day, all!!!

Julie

22 comments:

Libby said...

Cute blocks! Enjoy your day(s) away from work.

Janet O. said...

You deserve a day off--more than one, I'd say!
Good crumb tutorial. I actually took a class once on making different crumb blocks, and I struggled. I waaay over think the whole thing. I need to do it with you--music playing, toes tapping. Sounds like fun. : )

Cindy said...

Isn't "FUN" sewing just fun? I did that last week when I made the Potato bags - mindless, no thinking involved and you get fast results.

Have a wonderful day off. You certainly deserve.

If I may - how long have you been a nurse, Julie? Son is in second year of nursing school right now, enjoying every minute of it.

Mrs. Goodneedle said...

Cute, cute! Enjoy your day off, recycling your scraps! Love it~

Nancy said...

These would make great mug mats, too. I love the string mug mat you gave me: it makes me smile every time I use it.

Enjoy your day off.

SandraB said...

Thank you for the tutorial. I emailed you and asked for the directions. What fun to use those tiny pieces I have been saving. Appreciate your love of quilting and the sharing.

Missy Shay said...

I love it, I pinned this tute! It reminds me of crazy quilting!

Anonymous said...

I love your work here Julie! Thank you for the tutorial. I really needed the refresher course to encourage me to get started with this pattern..and to make it with scraps/crumbles which I have pounds of it!!! ♥

Terry said...

Those blocks are so cool! Thanks for showing us how to make them! :0)

Mary said...

Thanks for the tutorial! Love those scrappy geese!
Hope you have the bestest day off ever! I'm off too! I'm FMQ Amy's Island Chain quilt, and it's so fun! I'm over the half way mark on quilting, and hoping I finish it up this week so I can quilt my Easy Street.
Miss you!

Unknown said...

god bless the nurses xxx

ria vogelzang said...

WOW!!!! Just love them!! And such a great tutorial!!
You just made my day! Happy dance on my side of the world!!!
What a great way to use those crumbs!! I just love scrappy quilts!
FUNFUNFUN!!!
Love, Ria.
(and a HUGE hug!! ;) )!

Merilyn said...

I just so know what those six day weeks can be like!!! It is definitely food for the soul to do some mindless sewing, and using up those tiny scraps!!

Angie said...

So glad you got a day off, girly. :) Great tutorial using those tiny pieces. Thank you. :)

em's scrapbag said...

What a fun crumb project. I love your flying geese!

Leeanne said...

Every time I come over to your blog I see more I love!!!! Glad you are having some time off, sounds like you could use it!

Barb said...

how great to have a day off to play.
I want to make a crumb quilt too they look so fun!

vivinfrance said...

Any new ideas for using up those crumbs are very welcome to me. I haven't bought any new fabric for a couple of years (except lining) because I am working my way through my scrap bin. Here's a 2.5 metre square quilt I made for my daughter's sofa: http://vivinfrance.wordpress.com/quilt-gallery/sallys-sofa-cover/

Joyce said...

Wow, does that look like fun. I put all my crumbs in the bottom drawer of my cutting table. All the grand kids know that's their drawer. They have so much fun "building" their own quilt on the design wall. The drawer is getting so full that it's becoming hard to open. This will be the perfect project to use up some of those crumbs! Thanks so much for sharing!!!

Joyce said...

Wow, does that look like fun. I put all my crumbs in the bottom drawer of my cutting table. All the grand kids know that's their drawer. They have so much fun "building" their own quilt on the design wall. The drawer is getting so full that it's becoming hard to open. This will be the perfect project to use up some of those crumbs! Thanks so much for sharing!!!

vivinfrance said...

I came back to say that I have had fun all afternoon with your method, and have linked you in my blog post here: http://vivinfrance.wordpress.com/2013/02/01/9198/

Kim said...

Oh my how cute! Looks like a nice therapy to get you to relax from all those many hours of nursing. I do hope you are getting paid the salary of the charge nurse since you have taken on all that responsibility.

Take good care of yourself with all this extra stress and Happy Sewing

Hexies, rainbow quilts and plaids!

Good morning to all!!!  Above is a hexagon, for English paper piecing.  My kitten Lucky has discovered them, and decided that they are great...