Wordless Wednesday #282 ~ Cold Cardinal

Wordless Wednesday #282 ~ Big Black Mountain, KY

Big Black Mountain

Southeastern Kentucky bordering Virginia

Kentucky's highest point

Chris writes:

"The last light of a cold January day

 shimmered jewel-like across the peak of Big Black Mountain

 Tuesday [Jan 15] in eastern Harlan County."

 

Tip for Sewing a Straight Line

      Once one has been sewing for a while, it's hard to realize a beginner might have a difficult time sewing a straight line, because they let the machine take over.

     While working with new sewing students last fall, we used several tricks to help them sew a straight line on their 4 inch quilt pieces.  Here is one of the tips.

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Tuesday Tutorial Tip

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If you have a regular ruler,
take a regular sheet of paper and
mark 1/4 inch from one edge.

 Connect all the 1/4 inch marks with a straight edge.

 I'd rather use one of my favorite sewing rulers,
that has 1/4 inch marked along the edge
and place that mark along the paper's edge
and mark my line.

Check the measurement on your machine.

We combined this technique with the painter's tape trick.

Then the paper was cut in strips that were about 1/2 inch shorter 

than the quilt square to be sewn.

The width of the strip is your choice of something easy to hold.

 The student lays the paper guide on the square as shown above.

The line on the paper matches the edge of the quilt piece.

 Using a mechanical pencil or fine Frixon pen,

mark along the edge of the paper.

 Not every piece as to be marked.

 We used the assembly line sewing method to save time of 

making sure needle was up, pulling out thread to cut,

trimming and starting over so as not to knot up the thread again.

These are things that become frustrating to beginners.

These little 1/4 inch marking tools last a while and are very cheap.

Memory Monday 109 ~ Reading AMAP

The memory from this year's Snowbird trip will be

"Reading as Much as Possible"

RAMAP

Over the past 4 years coming down to Florida,

I bought several books at the many second hand stores.

Also, many have been bought at yard sales we have scoured over the years.

My rule is not to pay more than 50 cents each.

A few have actually been free or a trade.

Even though the condo has several books,

I brought about a dozen with me

as a process of purging back at the house.

Between Sewing, Quilting, You-Tube & Netflix,

I never have time or take the time to read at home.

But, this year while on the beach,

I've really been in the mood to read.

Between Jan 5 to Jan 29,

I had read 9 books

that I won't be taking back home!

I will remember this as the year of 

RAMAP!

Shots by Mr. G
cropped by yours truly 

Sun Best ~ Hey, You're Going the Wrong Way

 They're flying north?

 Oh, wait, it's just Sea Gulls.

Quilt Block Shot~ 2018 KHQS Traveling Quilt Show

 Last fall the Kentucky Heritage Quilt Society

presented their mini quilt challenge show to

The Elkhorn Quilt Guild.

Here are a few.

For more information about these quilts,

please visit

The Kentucky Heritage Quilt Society Website