Saturday, July 29, 2017

July - Slipping Away ?

DH and I took advantage of a cooler, dryer day this past week to walk our very wooded, narrow, country road.
 
Interesting, huge fungus.
 
 
 Pretty red daisy-like flowers in a cultivated, common area.  
Reminds me of some we've seen in AZ.
 
 
Lots of rain in New England this summer.
Crystal Creek is still running !
 
 
Thursday was July Jo Day at The Quilted Crow...
Detect a square in square theme ?
Oh the fun we have !
 



 
And then we shop !!!
 
 
QLTR,
Jeanne
 


Sunday, July 2, 2017

Fun at June Jo's Little Women's Club

This is my 9th year leading Jo Club at The Quilted Crow.
The friendships created and the fun we have never ceases to amaze me.
 
 This past Thursday we gathered for our June meetings.   
To accommodate members busy schedules, we have two meetings on
Jo Day at The Crow, 1:30-3:30pm and 6:00-8:00pm.
 
Here's a photo of the afternoon meeting members and their "Tea for You" quilts:
 
 

And here's a photo of our evening meeting members with their "Tea for You" quilts:
 

Each month I present another Jo project for the members to work on and share at the next meeting.  
The quilt for July is "Square in Square"
Here is my sweet little quilt top:
 
 
 I also give the members Tricks, Tips and Techniques
to make the process manageable for their busy lives.
 
While making my little "Square in Square" quilt, I, accidentally, found a very cool trick for centering outside triangles to the center squares for this little block.
 
Here's a quick tutorial:
 
1.  Place a triangle, right side up, at 45-degree intersection of mat lines:
 
 
2.  Place a 2" square, right side down, on the triangle between center inch marks
 
 
3.  Stitch triangle to square at upper edge
4.  Press seam toward triangle
5.   Place another triangle, right side up, on mat at 45-degree intersection of mat lines
6.  Place square unit, right side down, on second triangle between center inch marks
 
 
7.  Stitch second triangle to square opposite first triangle
8.  Press seam toward second triangle
9.   Trim the four dog ears - both sides of triangles 
 
 
9.  Place third triangle, right side up on mat at 45-degree intersection of mat lines
10.  Place square unit, right side down, on third triangle between center inch marks
 
 
11.  Stitch third triangle to square on a free edge
12.  Press seam toward third triangle
 

13.  Stitch fourth triangle to square unit on free edge
14.  Press seam toward fourth triangle
 
This is your un-trimmed Square in Square block:
 
 

NEXT I showed members how to trim this block to exactly 2 5/8" square using a Bloc Loc Flying Geese ruler (any size 1 1/4" x 2 1/2" or larger)
 
 Simply place your Bloc Loc Flying Geese ruler securely at a point of center square and trim off the (acceptable waste) at top edge:
 


 
  Do this at all four sides.
 
As long as your center square was initially cut at EXACTLY 2", your little Square in Square block will trim to 2 5/8".
 
These are a lot of fun to make !!!
 
I'm looking forward to hearing how the Jo Gals did with these tricks.
 
QLTR,
Jeanne