Saturday, July 4, 2015

Stopping and Starting...Stopping and Starting...

Stopping and starting seems to doom a lot of my projects!  You know...where you are going great guns with your hand stitching and then come to a screeching halt because you need to prep more blocks!  It's my one MAJOR complaint with the Clam Shell Quilt.  You can only stitch one row at a time before you have to stop to prep the next row.  I could see my Orange Peel blocks heading in that same direction!

We are experiencing a heat wave...and it is killing me!  UGH!  So yesterday, with the fan pointing right at me, an audio book playing in the background, my favourite refreshing drink on hand...I first prepped another row of clams shells and glued them into place, ready for hand stitching....
 Then moved onto the Orange Peels....

 I first prepped the four patch background pieces (5" squares")...

and then started the actual orange peels!

                                       
Time consuming but easy to do...I use the starch turned applique method...see tutorial provided by Joanna (Fig Tree).  She makes it look as easy as it actually is!

If you are like me and don't drink sugary drinks, then you might like to try this...ice water with three or four sliced cucumber rounds...delicious and VERY refreshing!  And when you hit bottom you have a nice crunchy snack!  :o))

 It's another HOT one today...into the 30Cs!  UGH!!  But that's alright...I have plenty of Orange Peels to prep...to help me stay COOL as a cucumber!:o))

To all of my friends South of the Border...have a wonderful and safe Fourth of July!!

Have a Super Saturday and Happy Stitching!~P


13 comments:

  1. I feel you pain...I also suffer from "start 'n stop" I wonder if there is a vaccine?

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  2. Good Morning! You are already on a roll for this month! Little cooler here. We already got our walk in and it wasn't bad! I just keep reading of all your wonderful finishes and progress on all your projects! I keep hoping it will rub off on me! ;-) We have a big fireworks display on our lake, so we can see them right from our house. Have a great day too. Hugs

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  3. I know I shouldn't complain, but this hot weather takes all my sewing energy. I finally cut some fabric for a nine-patch quilt I'm making, but that's as far as I got. I tried getting up early today to cool the house down, but it's already 8:45 am, and it's hot. I guess it's back to the knitting in front of the fan. Hope you can continue on your clam shell and orange peel quilts, they are going to be beauties.

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  4. You get a gold star for plugging along on those projects. I might of even up and give the the heave ho into the trash. Isn't this heat horrible, I didn't move to OR to be HOT--I had that in Fl for many years. All I can say is thank goodness for a/c.

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  5. I hope it cools down for you soon! I'm not fond of summer and this is the time of year I complain about the weather (and we have air conditioning). I hope it cools down for you soon!

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  6. I hear you about the heat, I'm so glad a friend told me about the portable a/c I got a few years ago. I can put it in my sliding doors on my patio, turn it on and cool down. Then when it cools down roll it back into the cupboard, not drips, self evaporating, well worth the money!

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  7. I feel your pain. Both with the hand work prep and the annoying heat wave.:)

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  8. I agree about the clamshells, and not terribly portable either. Love your orange peels, one of my all time favourite designs.

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  9. sorry but I love the heat mind you we rarely get it. Have not done clam shells or orange peel but I can see that preping is a bit of a pain, the iron will not help in this heat or do you have a mini one for quilters that does not give off too much heat

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  10. You're just a cool cucumber no matter the temp. Great prep work. Now you can move forward. I like the starch method too so I don't have to cut the back or soak the piece to get the freezer paper out. I'm thinking about a orange peel quilt too. I really like the finished look.

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  11. Looks like you are getting lots done, even with the hot weather!

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  12. Thank you for the great link for starch method appliqué by Fig Tree. I think it looks easy and I'm going to give it a try. I like your orange peel quilt idea. That looks like a great quilt to start. Keep cool, it is summer.

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  13. Glad to know I'm not alone....but hey, I too am enjoying watching your progress on this project.

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