Inspiration!!! And now a road-block :0(

The 2nd step (actually 3rd) of Life's a Stitch's Seven Shirts & Seven Steps was posted. I printed it off and headed downstairs all set on tackling it.......

but......I first needed to unpack everything (including the sewing machine) from last night's class. In the process, I set the 12 Diamond Strings blocks on the ironing board for the time-being. Just as I was getting ready to dive into the SS&SS, I had a moment of "ah-ha!," because in the back of my mind was what I was ultimately going to do with the DS blocks.......

For those of you who have been around my blog for awhile, you may remember these gems???? These are from May (2008); 10 of them have been completed. So.....I played........

I pulled some mauve/pink fabric; cut and sewed some sashing. I pulled a cute flowery (very GRANDMA-ish) black fabric; cut and sewed some corner-stones.......and 9 of my Scrappy Baskets are now a quilt center.....

And after sewing up 4 more complete Diamond String blocks..........

I HIT A ROAD BLOCK! I've been staring at the layout.....I've been sketching and drawing on paper.....and I just am at a loss on how to continue. This is why: the Basket blocks are 8.5" (8" finished).......BUT the Diamond strings are 9" (8.5" finished!).

If I continue with the same sashing fabric, the "lines" won't line up due to the uneven size of the outer blocks vs. the inner. So....maybe a different sashing fabric? Maybe the black that I used as the corners in the center section?

Do I sacrifice nice corners in the Diamond blocks and simply trim them down to 8.5" (8" finished)??? JUST to make it piece nicely?? (I think that's what I'm leaning towards......)

So...I needed to take a break anyway...I figured I'd post to see if anyone had any advice.

Do you?

In the meantime, I'm back off downstairs to actually work on the SS&SS quilt.......
Happy Tuesday!

OC layout; Scappy Basket putzin'...ahhhhhhhh.....

it feels GOOD to be back quilting!!! I wrapped up Step 5 this afternoon as hoped, and have the blocks lying out on the carpet downstairs......

I didn't feel like starting to sew the rows together yet, so I decided to put the corner pieces onto my Scrappy Baskets Leaders-Enders project. I have 10 blocks done, with 6 more to go (or more....who knows?) I need to sift through the stash to see what "gawdy" fabric I can use for the sashing. I really want to burn up something I would never dream to use in a quilt. Believe me, Grandma handed me quite a bit of fabric that I'm sure will fit that bill :0)




As I was walking up the stairs, I snapped a pic of my "carpet area" downstairs where, as you can see, I have three different projects in progress. It is nice having the room, even though it's not a finished area.

As always, I hope all of you are enjoying your quilting time; family time; and summer time. It feels so good to be sewing again; no stress; no time commitments; and just being able to enjoy......

The afternoon update...

The day isn't over yet, but I'm taking a break. I needed to come up at 3:00 to cut up some potatoes and carrots to throw in with the Roast I'm "cooking" in the slow-cooker. So, now, I'm sitting back and watching a VeggieTales movie with the girls and checking in with the latest.

More putzy pieces....blah, blah, blah! And more ironing of all those putzy pieces....blah, blah, blah! But......





...the end is in sight! All the pieces are complete, and I've already pieced four rows together before taking my break. And I must say once more....PUTZY! So many stinkin' pieces!!


Also, while needing some more 1.5" Light squares for my Leaders/Enders (I've been simply sewing 1.5" light and dark squares together), a lightbulb occurred to me! I pulled out the scrappy basket block that Bonnie had on her site earlier this week, and I figured....GOLLY....I could whip out these blocks in no time using them as my Leaders and Enders. So, at this point, I have enough pieces ready to put three whole blocks together already. Amazing!


Also, you may be wondering...."Ummm...Amy, I thought you were planting your garden today."

Yeah, well....Paul and I talked this morning, looking at the thermometer, and decided to wait at least one more week. But Paul did get out on the tractor to till up the garden. For Amanda, Yes! We have a large garden. That's the joy of having 10 acres of previously owned farm-land.

We have about an acre used for the horses, which we got two years ago. I don't know exactly what breed they are, but I would almost consider them welsh-ponies. They are "ponies" but BIG ponies! Candace and I took some time this morning to give them some goodies, so a Photo-op was born :0)



And since we weren't going to planting the garden, Paul decided is was a good time to start making a chicken coop. And, of course, my response was ...." A WHAT???" He chuckled, and said...."Oh yes dear, I forgot to tell you, I'm getting some chickens later today from a buddy...."

OH DEAR!!! I'll keep you all posted on THAT endeavor!


Anyway, I'll probably get back downstairs later tonight once the girls are in bed, but I'm going to take a break until then. Besides, I need to put together our school's Tech Plan Website. So I'm off to work on that now.