Still Triangling

This mystery project has become an obsession!

When I started the "Oh say can you sew" mystery I had no idea I'd be sewing over a thousand 1" HST blocks in August.  I have put aside everything else I had been working on to be able to keep up with this mystery. 

The repetitive process involves sewing fabric to paper, cutting out the blocks, counting pieces, clipping dog ears, depapering, and finally making the blocks. 

And for some blocks, unsewing and remaking the darn thing!

Here are the blocks sewn this week. I'll just keep sewing these and hope I'll be ready when the next clue of this mystery is posted. But honestly my brain is quite bored of this repetitiveness and I will be so happy to sew something else in September. And my blog will be more interesting then too!

Linking up to Design Wall Monday

Slow Sunday Stitching

Hello stitcher! 

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party where we hope you will get lots of inspiration and encouragement to help you on your stitching journey.

I have been obsessed with sewing hundreds of HST blocks this month for the "Oh say can you sew" mystery. Some of my hand work time today will be spent cutting apart and depapering these triangles. I have been using scissors for this step instead of rotary cutting the pieces. 

Since kindergarten I have enjoyed using scissors. There is no logical reason for why this makes me happy, especially when it's quicker to use the rotary cutter. But since I find it enjoyable, I'm going to enjoy some scissor time!

I will also spend some time hand stitching today. Here is the most recent photo of my meditative hand embroidery project.  The words are almost finished - just one more to go and then I can work on the butterfly and the flowers.

What are you hand stitching today? We'd love to see your project and the link up is below. A new feature added today is the ability to add a photo. Thanks to Kathi for this idea! This is for those folks who don't have a blog or instagram account, but would like to share their project with us. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Triangle Design Wall

Here are the blocks I have sewn this month for my "Oh say can you sew" mystery. You are looking at 225 HST blocks that finish at 1". 

I am using the Primitive Gatherings triangle paper for these blocks and am finding the process enjoyable. Removable of the paper is quick and easy, there is no need to square down the blocks and they come out the perfect size every time.

I have to make at least that many blocks every week this month to keep up with the mystery. It's a very ambitious goal for the summer, but it might be doable. Better get back to the machine!

Linking up to Design Wall Monday at Judy's

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party where we celebrate and enjoy a wide variety of stitching options! It's very hot here this weekend, so I'll be sitting beside the air conditioner and stitching with a minimum of movements!

Lately I have been drawn to learning new knitting stitches. I have been making a "bee stitch" cloth, and it's supposed to be 8.5" square. As you can clearly see, it is 2" too big! Maybe I need smaller needles, or finer yarn? Oh well, it will work for a dishcloth and I continue to learn as I go.

What are you stitching today? I hope you will link up your blog or instagram post and share your hand stitching project with us. I am always amazed at the wide range of projects that talented stitchers around the world are creating. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Riley Blake Block Challenge

I am way behind in getting my Riley Blake block challenge sampler blocks sewn and spent time this week figuring out which blocks and colours still need to be sewn.

It's orange month at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge so I started with that. This is block # 9 called Lynx by Amanda Niederhauser. 

This is block #10 called Wind Blown by Amy Smart

These pretty orange blocks will join the RBD sampler collection. 

I missed the 2nd quarter of colours for this project, so I have 6 more blocks to make in green, purple and blue. Happy to be back on track with this project! 

Linking up to the weekly scrap party at Angela's

Triangle Paper

I have been participating in the "Oh say can you sew" mystery and last month we were given advanced notice that for step #5 we would be making 1" HST. 

So I invested in a Primitive Gatherings product called Triangle Paper. The product costs $9, but if you have it sent to Canada, with shipping costs of $15, taxes, and the currency exchange, it ended up costing me $31.74. 

That's okay - I knew it would be a pricey purchase but really wanted to try it out!

First step was to watch Lisa's instructional video.  This is the block we're making with 9 HST's sewn together. I am totally surprised that with no trimming, the blocks are coming out the exact perfect size! I have to make about 30 blocks per week to be ready for the next clue in September.

Here is a photo to show you the scale. These are sweet little blocks which make me very happy, but I can imagine that not all the mystery quilt makers are feeling the same! 

Have you tried this triangle paper? Do you like it for making small blocks?

Design Wall Monday

Covid took away my last 2 weeks of July, so I have fallen behind on everything. I didn't work on my July UFO project, or make a mini quilt this month. I have been slowly recovering and thankfully have felt much better this past weekend. I'm sure August will be better!

We had a guild zoom sewalong on Saturday and I have almost caught up with my quilt guild's summer mystery. We are making a 2 block quilt pattern and this is block A. I made a few of block B but haven't pressed them yet. The next step is posted on Friday and I intend to be ready!

Linking up to Design Wall Monday at Judy's