Sunday, December 25, 2011

Speedy Tricks


 My quilting buddies know I'm a speedy sewer and it's because I organize the steps of each project for maximum output. For Orca Bay step #6, I didn't stop to set up each block before I sewed, I started with one center (in my case green) and chain sewed a quarter square to it 28 times.


Without cutting the strings, I brought the whole chain to the ironing board--so much easier than moving one piece at a time!
I press them open THEN cut them apart. Back to the sewing machine to sew the other quarter square to this row then over to the ironing board again with the whole string to press then cut apart. Viola--one row done!
I did the same thing for the other two rows in the block and it saves so much time because I handle the whole lot of them at once instead of picking up one piece then another then another. A great time-saver.



Here are my dark blocks . . .

. . . and my dark and light together. 4 1/2 hours for all of them.


I would be happy with Bonnie's quilt just like this!!

Total time on all 6 clues: 39 hours 40 minutes.


17 comments:

Quilting By Celia said...

Your blocks good great !

Katie said...

I love all your dark blocks together. But all of them look fantastic. I like your time-saving tip not to snip units apart before ironing...I'm going to try to remember that for future projects.

Michelle said...

I did mine almost like yours, I sewed all 28 units at a time, instead of sewing a few to completion. I haven't tried keeping them all connected though. I'll have to try that next time. Your blocks look great...I do see one tiny booboo though. If you look at the picture, the "light" block right in the center has an hourglass turned the wrong way. Sorry to be the one to point it out, but it just popped out at me when I looked at it. :P

All8 said...

Full of great ideas and churning out your blocks at a fantastic rate. Great job.

On the light block with the switched hourglass block, I can see a whole quilt done that way with both parallel hourglass blocks switched to make them appear to be "stretched" stars. It could be very pretty and look like a bar quilt.

Keep up the great work.

Connie Kresin Campbell said...

Your blocks look great and I like all the dark blocks together too!

Sue Daurio said...

Love the purple and green, looks great!!

Julie Kaye from KS said...

Your blocks are terrific. And yes, this would make a beautiful quilt just as it is. But I am so glad we aren't done yet.

YankeeQuilter said...

I'm sewing in small increments of time (think how many blocks can you sew while a batch of cookies bake) so have been blissfully unaware of how long it is taking. Since I am a "snail stitcher" most likely I've spent almost twice as much time...oh, well....

Judy D in WA said...

That's how I'm sewing mine too. I love Ohio Stars. Your layout looks fabulous...can't wait for the next clue!!!

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

Great colors. I love chain piecing too, however I bet I am not anywhere near as fast as you!!

LuAnn said...

Love the colors you are using. Great blocks, too. Glad you are caught up.

Helen in the UK said...

Great colours - your blocks are looking wonderful :)

*karendianne. said...

Great colors. Thanks for sharing your process. *karendianne.

Anonymous said...

Looks like we're doing the same colors. Can't wait to see how ours turn out1

Art by Rhoda Forbes said...

Your blocks look fabulous! And you are one speedy sewer :)

Anonymous said...

Very nice! I like your colours, and the tones are so soft looking.

Unknown said...

Thank you so much for the tips. I am sewing the rest of my block this way now and it is going so much faster! and i am letting it be random rather then planning out each block. Much more fun! Your colors are great!