second quilt block complete

I am participating in Sew Many Ways Block of the Month Club and completed my second quilt block named 'Linoleum'.  I am new to piecing blocks.

My first quilt block 'Bow Tie can be seen here.  I don't know - it just feels like I've got a lot to learn.  But hey, this one finished at 12 1/4" x 12 1/4" compared to the first block finishing at 12" x 12".  They are supposed to finish at 12 1/2" x 12 1/2", so maybe my third block will be the 'charm'?!  Still not crazy with how the fabric designs are looking against each other.  Oh well.  Up next, Flying Geese.... sounds like fun.
Hope all is having a good day.

a little 'housekeeping'

A little bit of housekeeping here today, to 'claim' my blog for bloglovin.  Thought it might be easier for some who want to read posts in a reader.

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Hope all is having a good day!

a quilt block ~ complete!

I am dipping my toes into the world of quilting and thought Karen at Sew Many Way's Block of the Month Club sounded low pressure and a great place for me to learn how to piece.  Karen is known for giving detailed step-by-step instructions and lots of photographs and her Bow Tie Block instructions did not disappoint.

As an aside here, I was thrilled to figure out how to add websites to my iPad's 'reader' so I could look at, read and re-read, enlarge photos with a flick of the fingers and not have to worry about being online and re-loading pages!  It was perfect as I worked slowly through each step.... iPad by my sewing machine.

Karen wrote the post for this Bow Tie block back in February, so to say the least 'I'm behind', but that's okay.  Piecing blocks are a new learning experience for me, though through the years I've done lots of other types of quilting - just not 'blocks'. 

One of my problems is matching colors and prints.  Still not sure I'm happy with what I've chosen here, but we'll see as the other blocks are made.  I'll be using the same fabric throughout.  I actually had to go out and purchase fabric just for this project as I realized I don't have a proper 'stash'.  Need to work on that!  :)

This block should measure 12 1/2" square.  Hmmmm.... looks like a 12 1/8" here....

....and right at 12" here.   Oh well.  I'm still pleased and will just have to figure out how to pull it all together.... later.

The next block in her series is Linoleum, so that's up next!

Oh, and by the way, the 2013 Pets on Quilts Show has begun over at my sweet friend's Lily Pad Quilting blog.  She has terrific prizes to win and lots of beautiful entries showcasing adorable cats and puppies.  Last year there was one quilt showcasing a horse that blew me away.  No quilt for me to enter, but maybe next year I'll have something!
Hope all is having a good day!

Stripes is DONE!NEWLOOK 6110

Can you tell I am excited to have this little top DONE?! 
Geez .......it's only been in the works since June. 
Is anyone else having problems realizing it's already August?!  Where has this summer gone.

This is why I called this little top 'stripes'.  I lost count of the many seams that had to match up the (many!) stripes.

NEWLOOK 6110, view B looks simple enough, and should be simple enough, but for some reason this little top gave me fits.

Part of the problem was probably my fabric.  It was oh-so-stretchy and oh-so-ridgey-stretchy that neither my serger nor Bernina liked to sew on it very much.  Even using the differential feed on my serger, which usually works beautifully on knits, did not work on this fabric.  Everything seemed to s-t-r-e-t-c-h it out.
It was a $3.00 purchase from Wal-Mart.

To add to my aggravation, I'd initially cut out plenty in length for the tunic length, then thought it'd be 'too long' and promptly cut off a huge chunk to make it more of a 'shirt'.  Then purchased some new leggings and decided that a tunic length would be perfect after all and THEN it was too short.  When I added a strip of fabric (more like 'scrap' of fabric at this point because I'd been using the previously cut out 'chunk' to try to get my machines to sew without puckering) back on to the length, you can see the stretchy, pucker lines of the seam.
I am not so keen of how the hem puckers in these photos .....and it really still needs to be a little longer.
Somehow it didn't look so bad in the mirror.  *sigh*

Also, after sewing the sleeve per the instructions, (see 'top of sleeve' in the photo collage above for a view of the slit) I decided I didn't want the 'slit' after all, so I slip-stitched that closed.  I like this better for my shaped arms. 

The instructions have you turn the neckline facing under and sewing on the outside of the garment, finish the entire neckline.  That absolutely did not work for me and this fabric.  It stretched everything out so that it 'missed' the facing fabric in spots and others were skewed all over the place.  I ended up pinning the facing, without turning anything under, sewing the outside stitch, then trimming the fabric to 1/4" or so from the seam in the facing and let it be.  Because it's knit, it won't fray or ravel.  I'm not thrilled with that, but I had to move on.
  
Changing the subject..... have you been able to spot my little friend hanging out at the base of the Rose of Sharon?

His name is 'Astral' and he's a magical, mystery gnome who loves to pop up in different locations on our property.  :)  I found him here this morning.

I don't know if I'll make another shirt from this pattern.  But am looking at the 'view a' slim-fitting pants to try. 

Let's see how the cost works out:

Handmade Shirt Cost Breakdown:
Pattern cost:  $2.97 (from Wal-Mart)
Fabric cost:   $3.00
---------------------------------
Total handmade shirt cost: $5.97

Leggings are rtw.

Thought my Rose of Sharon's blooms are so pretty and has the colors of this shirt, that it'd make a nice background for this humid, overcast morning's photos.   Hope everyone is having a good day!