Crafty Gemini: Turban Inspired Headband-DIY Tutorial

Crafty Gemini: Turban Inspired Headband-DIY Tutorial: If you need a quickie hair accessory this is the project for you!  Super easy to make and a great beginner project! Even kids can m...

I love this and plan to make some for class!!

Steph!

RobbyGurl's Creations: Mini Menu Board Giveaway!!!

I would LOVE to have one of these!!

RobbyGurl's Creations: Mini Menu Board Giveaway!!!: On April 26th, 2013, the Menu Board will be celebrating it's 2nd birthday here in blogville! As a special gift from me to you, for all y...

350 Block Project: UPDATE - Jacob’s Ladder

I am soooo excited.  I bought this little charm pack on sale from our local quilt shop at their going out of business sale (right after I just found them, bwaaa).  I simply LOVE it, had no idea what I was going to do with that one charm packet, but the colors just popped and I had to have it.  After all, it was on SALE!  So I took it home to my little growing stash of charms and fat quarters. 

While scouting my favorite ‘go to’ site, come on, you know it, YOUTUBE!!  Can I just say I love Jenny from Missouri Star Quilt Company  (I’m going to do a YouTube video soon on all the cool projects I have done from Jenny’s tutorials, just my way of saying ‘Thank You Jenny’).  Well one day while going through the list, there it was.  The perfect quilt for my little charm packet.  I couldn’t wait to try it.  This would be the first time I’d be making big blocks like this and I was a bit worried (although each block consists of five 4-patches and 4-half square triangle units, which I’ve made plenty of before).   I had to make many, many trips to the store to find the perfect green and brown to make my 4-patch units.  Finally I settle on a fat quarter each at the local Wally’s World.  To add even more pressure they (the individual units) had to be laid out in a certain order or there would be no ladder to follow.  Ask me how quickly I came to realize that…

As I made the blocks I laid them out in my portable UFO tote that I made, super cute (pictures and details to come next week, using supplies on hand or from the local fabric store bargain bin).  I did not consider how to put them together.  I was just so excited to be starting another project.  Not to mention having blocks to count for the 365 Day Block Project .  So the first time I laid them out on the design wall DS (darling son) and I only saw 4-patches turn into 16 squares.  L, After feeling a bit let down, thankfully I realized that I had not lined them up in the correct directions.  I was simply going by which design I wanted on the top on each block.  Ah, amateurs, you gotta love us (because once you were us J).  Once all the blocks were turned in the appropriate directions. There it was my very own little Jacob’s Ladder. 

o_O  , ummmm, yes I see the ladder, but… something still is not right.  Oh for pete’s sake.  I only have half of it.  I could only see 2 diamonds in the center, there were 4 in the example.  YIKES!  Quilt store officially closed and Wally of course does not carry these wonderful lines of charm packets.  OH NO, panic sets in.  What am I going to do, I need another charm packet?  Okay, went to Moda site, nothing, gone, no longer, I think they discontinued it.  [Thump!!  Head hitting desk in pool of tears.] Okay, breath, hit Amazon, ugh, nothing.  Okay, Ebay, nothing.  2 days later I refuse to believe I can’t find this on Ebay, so I go back.  No [sniff sniff] I did not find the charm packet but I did find someone selling the whole line in fat quarters.  Um, is it worth it to me to pay $40.00 plus s/h?  Let me think on that one for a bit (yes, I’m cheap, so what of it! Rather frugal!!)

I have the blocks on the wall in our bedroom behind the door (you just gotta love those little cheap 3 for $10.00 lap blankets.  I tape them to the walls and hang my quilt pattern on them, and until I made my UFO totes I’d rolled those up with quilt pattern laid out) because I already had a quilt laid out on the one in my sewing/craft room for another project I was working on.  So sitting with DH at our desk, he looks over and says, “I marvel at you (tee-hee J), you have to find the fabric and finish that.”  To which I look over and fall in love (with the quilt layout that is, you know I LOVE DH already).  He is right I have to finish it.  Hey I had to buy more green fat quarters and yardage of brown for the 4-patches so what’s a few more fat quarters of the whole line of fabric.  Besides, if had more of the fabric design I could go ahead and make it big enough to fit out bed or family couch cover while watching movies together, yeah…  Looks like it’s off to Ebay I go.

For the Month of March my little Jacob’s Ladder has helped me in my 350 block project count with 10 blocks plus 2 blocks from another project equals 12 blocks for the month.  Not a lot, but it is progress and it means I worked on some blocks last month.  So, that would be February’s 20 plus March’s 12 equals 32 for the year so far.  Yeah Me!!  Of course the count was for 28 in February which is when I found the project and started.  For March the goal was 31 and for this month, April it’s 30.  I have to play catch up, not to mention the 17 for January (which I was not a participant in the project at that time).  WOW, I’d better get busy. 

Jacob’s Ladder inside one of the new portable UFO totes I just made.

My finished yet unfinished Jacob’s Ladder on the design wall!

Love and Shimmies, Steph!!