Sajou redo & October Mini

I know, I know--I was adamant that I was not going to remake my Sajou (again), even though I wasn't crazy about my finish. Well, I lied. The border was just too bland, and I loved the pieced border Lori had on hers. Just because I didn't use the round of the setting triangles, there was no reason why I couldn't do the final border.

I like this so much better. I guess the third time IS the charm. 
 


I did draw paper foundations and copy them onto newsprint to use for foundation piecing, making sure the borders would fit properly.



 







My October mini was finished just in the nick of time, but I was too tired to post it last night. This is the Jewel Box mini I made with leftovers from other projects.

It is posing with a jewelry box that my grandmother gave me for my birthday when I was a young teen. It still sits on my dresser. It has been decades since I wound the key and tried to get the music to play, so I did it today. I got a very slow, but perfectly in tune version of the love theme from Dr. Zhivago.

The day before Halloween I had been in my LQS and had picked up the last FQ of a very cute owl fabric. I didn't know what I would do with it, but it had to come home with me. So when it came to layering the Jewel Box mini for quilting, I decided that since it was my Oct. mini for Wendy's Mini a Month challenge, owls would be a fitting back. I felt like I was channeling my inner Barb (who is the queen of fun backings).

You can see I simply quilted (wobbly) diagonal lines. Aren't those owls great?

Color: Boysenberry--looks like plum to me

On a non-quilty note, my kitchen just received a new addition this week. I have been using my MIL's 25 year-old, refurbished, white KitchenAid stand mixer for about 3 years now. Seems almost every gluten free baking recipe I like calls for the use of a stand mixer, and I didn't have one. I had been a Bosch user all my life, but had to get rid of mine when I was diagnosed with celiac disease. The old KitchenAid still worked well, but I wanted larger bowl capacity. And if you are going to get a new one, why not get a fun color, right? This arrived yesterday. (You can see my distorted reflection in it as I take the photo.) It makes me smile whenever I see this on my counter.

And to break it in I made a batch of my new favorite gluten free muffin recipe from King Arthur Flour. They are a delicious gluten free pumpkin muffin that you can dress up in a variety of ways. I have made them with pecans or mini chocolate chips. These are the pecan version--so yummy! The grandkids prefer them with chocolate chips. I am just happy to have a great pumpkin muffin again. They are fluffy, moist and flavorful, and they taste good even several days after making them. That is rare for gluten free baked goods.

One final note--I have finally made and sent blocks to the 70273 Project, something I have been intending to do since I first read about it on Lori's blog over 2 years ago. 
 
It is very important, and deserves its own post (which it will get). In the meantime, click on the link above and see if you are inspired to participate.

Until next time,
Janet O.

Last block sewn!

You've seen a lot of this one, I know. It was started back in March, just a couple of weeks before my shoulder surgery. Since the logs were mostly already cut (thanks to Karen), this was one of the few things I could work on when a rotary cutter was off limits.

Can't wait to start trimming the blocks and sewing things together! A fun story about this--while we had all the family staying with us in August, our youngest son was using my sewing room for his room. During his stay there he had a video job interview for his dream job and he filmed it with this as the backdrop. When he got called in for the live interview his video backdrop was one of the first things the interviewers mentioned. And yes, he got the job! :)
It is a good thing they couldn't see the whole wall, because it isn't very neat. 

This is things as they really are. I am often pinning things onto the edges of my design wall, and as my main focus project grows, I remove or squish together those items, as needed.
Notice on the left side, about midway down, I have the recently made tiny 9-patch flimsy hanging from a cute little quilt holder a sweet blog friend had sent a few years back. I was auditioning it to see how it would look in that holder. Then I noticed the fun contrast to see those tiny blocks next to the large ones in the half log cabin.



I also have my Jewel Box mini blocks made and have started stitching it together since I took this photo. But I am running into all kinds of issues with seams not being pressed in directions that will nest together. I don't want to press seams open because I want to stitch in the ditch, so where I can, I need to do some repressing.





 
And remember this mess in the sewing room closet?

Now it looks like this...

This makes me so much happier when I open the closet doors!
In two weeks I cut up 14 dozen shirts, piled up another 2 dozen to go back to the thrift store , and threw away about a dozen that I had started to cut apart and realized the weave was too coarse, or too textured, or too loose. Many of those were purchased in my early days of collecting. Now I know better what works and what doesn't.
And I can look forward to working with more of these plaids and stripes in future projects. I have a few in mind already. No surprise there. :)

In the past four months I have tried to give this pattern and scrap bundle away twice, but each time I picked a name and posted the winner, asking them to get back to me with their address, they never responded.  

They say the third time's the charm, so I am putting that to the test. If you are interested in this doll quilt pattern and CW repro scraps, say so in your comment, and then please check back to see if you won. To sweeten the pot, last soap making session I made some fun Fall shapes, and I will throw in a couple of bars.

Next month I will be in the Lenox, MA area for a few days. Anyone know of a quilt shop in the vicinity that would be a "must visit" for a CW repro fabric lover?

Until next time,
Janet O.