Hearts and Pinwheels

 Back a week or so ago, when I was digging around for my Dear Jane supplies, I found a baggie with 6 partially completed Dresden Hearts blocks. Then when I was assembling things to take to my Friday night once-a-month quilting night, I thought of them.

So I did the sewing on them and then took them to trim and turn during the session. They're done with "faced" applique, an old technique that has been revived sporadically over the years. One person teaches it using iron-on interfacing instead of fabric.

That works about as well as you'd think it would. Which, depending on what you expect in a finished product, varies from "just passably okay" to "outright horrible."

Well, I never said I didn't have an opinion!

 These are backed with a lightweight solid white fabric, tightly woven enough to hold together when trimmed really closely (a little less than 1/8") to make a sharp turn line. Then they'll be appliqued by machine to the proper backing fabric.

The red/white/blue one is the original class sample I made many many years ago--the copyright date on the pattern is 1989 so my guess is probably 1990. Some of the fabrics have faded horribly, as many of the fabrics from that era did. Combination of non-lightfast dyes and setting methods that didn't work all that well.

I did get them all sewn down and turned,  ready for a good press one of these days when I feel up to it! Maybe I'll have to work on it for a Christmas quilt. That would be fun.

My little DVD player has been quite helpful in keeping me happy at the sewing machine--though I must say, I'm really enjoying this part of the pinwheel project! Chain piecing, especially when all the pieces are cut so they fit nicely together, is very pleasant. Reminds me of my mom sewing dozens of doll clothes!

I've been running through some of my DVDs at last. It's so much nicer to be able to sit there and change the DVD when one is done instead of having to get up and do it on the TV box. My TV will stream videos but it's not in the same room as the sewing machine, and my laptop just doesn't have the capacity for it.  When I'm doing something (like the hearts) that needs closer attention, I put in a music DVD and then I can listen but don't need to watch.

The supervisor, of course, doesn't approve.

 Poor baby. He feels very neglected and has to let me know exactly what I can do about it.

Though I must say it's quite endearing when he lays his head on my arm and purrs madly at me. (Right now, he's alternating meowing at me to go upstairs and feed him RIGHT NAOW!! and exchanging cat-curses with Shyla.)

So this last picture is kind of what it looks like in the middle of all this chain piecing. I had counted the white rectangles out into groups of 50, so I'm doing each set, then cutting them apart and stacking them.

Latest count is something like 850 done. Very good progress... considering.

Today was quilting at Sandy's house, so I took my cutting-out-the=sashings project with me. I need 720 (planning to cut a few extras) and managed to get 600 cut today.

I will not run out of fabric, thank goodness.

I also got to meet Sandy's sweet new little foster pug, Lottie, who is 14, blind, and feisty! She's already learned her way around the house and where the doggie door to the yard is. All of the  pugs seem to enjoy quilting days, lots of hands to pet them and people to talk to them.