Ocean Waves

I know you all may think I have forgotten about my Ocean Waves Quilt Along but I have NOT. 

 I have been steadily working towards getting all my blocks finished. 

It takes forever just to prep all the HSTs that go into each and every block!

I sewed up three blocks worth of HSTs over the weekend.  

I got one block's worth pressed. 

 Last night I pressed one more set of HSTs and then trimmed 2 blocks worth.  

The pressing and trimming took me an hour. 

 I still have one more set to press and trim!  That's just to be ready to sew. 

 I have had a goal of sewing one OW block per month and so far I have kept to that.  

I have 19/36 completed.

Here is what one blocks worth of HSTs looks like after trimming.

And this is the second block.

All I have to say is THANK GOODNESS for my Bloc Loc ruler!!!  

I would be completely insane without it!!!  

These HSTs are all trimmed to 2.5". 

 If you need a Bloc Loc ruler to make your life easier please go here and buy one!  

Another MUST have is the Clearly Perfect.  

You no longer need to draw lines on your squares.  

Just follow the line and sew!  

Do you have any idea what a time saver this is??? 

 Imagine that I have 24 HST in each quarter of my block.  

That's 96 HST per block and there are 36 blocks, so 3456 HST!!!  

If I had to draw lines on all of those I would be driving further down the road to crazy.  

If you need your own Clearly Perfect, 

go visit my friend, Cori's shop (Crazy Quilt Girl Fabric Shop) and pick one up.  

You can get the Bloc Loc and the Clearly Perfect at the same time and save on shipping too.  

I will have a finish to share with you all tomorrow too.

What are some of your favorite "must have" notions?

~XOP~

WIPs With Friends

Wow, crazy Michigan weather over here.  

It was almost 50 on the weekend and on Monday we got 3" of snow!  

What the heck, Michigan?

I had a super busy weekend (well really what weekend isn't when you work?)

I *finally* had time to take all the Christmas decorations down and put them away.  

I think that must be some kind of record for me, letting it go on so long.  

The health issues of my son took over the 2 free weekends I did have until now.  

Did laundry, grocery shopping, cooking (the usual).  

Took laundry over to my son's house and ended up spending the evening with him.  

Then made him some dinner so went back on Sunday to deliver that.  

Anyway, I did manage to sneak in a bit of sewing too.  

Not much mind you, just enough to keep me sane, LOL.  

I saw this big goofball when I was visiting my son too.  

She is starting to get a little bit gray around her muzzle.  

I had some Bee blocks that I needed to get made so I got right on that.  

The free pattern is a modern heart by Threaded Quilting Studio.  

It is paper pieced. 

If you have never done paper piecing this would be a great one to start with.  

It was super easy and she even tells you what size to cut everything 

(although I cut the strips slightly longer and that worked better for me).

We were supposed to make 2 that were dark gray background and the heart was to be low volume. 

 I made my 2 then made a "reverse" one.  

I did this in a previous bee and she used it in the quilt and it really made the quilt.  

We will see if our lead person decides to use it or not.  

If not, maybe as a label?

Then I had to decide what I wanted to work on next.  

I have a LOT of WIPs and thought I might work on the ones that are the closest to being finished, 

but I really just wanted some mindless sewing.  

I chose to work on some Ocean Waves blocks. 

 I managed to sew up 3 more and sewed and trimmed enough HST to make 2 more!

I am officially half way now!  I have 18 of these blocks made. 

 I am anxious to make some more. 

 Sewing HST really is quite mindless sewing and so is trimming

 (using my trusty Bloc-Loc ruler).

So, I will link up with Sew Fresh Quilts and I ask you to link up on this blog with your WIPs.

~XOP~

An InLinkz Link-up

Ocean Waves QAL Check In

I know you think I have not had time to work on this but I have!  

Last night I made one more block. 

 I have a total of 10 blocks finished.  

Only 26 more to go!  

Here is my latest block.

I am finding that each block (after the HST are sewn and trimmed) takes me about 2 hours to make.

I have one more set of HST all sewn and trimmed and ready to put together.

I have to take a break after that to work on the fishy baby quilt.  

I also have another chenille baby blanket to make for a baby shower.

THEN I can get back to the Ocean Waves blocks.

I am finding that I am really enjoying the process and working on my precision.

Hallie has become my new sewing buddy.  She is overweight and uses my chair as a step to get up to the table.  She does not like to lay down so I have to coax her, but once there she is fine.

I bought a new mouse to use with my lap top.  I thought it was funny to see her with her head on it.

How are you progressing on your OW blocks?  

I would love for you to link up here and show everyone your progress.  

Use the blue Inlinkz button to link up

If you are using IG then use the #oceanwavesQAL

Happy Sewing!

~XOP~

An InLinkz Link-up

WIPs With Friends

I can't say I have much new that I am working on as I was on vacation all week last week.  

We got home on Saturday and I did some sewing on Sunday though. 

 I am working my way through the Ocean Waves quilt but have to stop to work on a baby quilt. 

 Here is my latest OW block.

 The pattern I am using for the baby quilt is called Folksy Fish, by No Hats  

I love Sarah's pattern but this fish was VERY time consuming!  

The paper piecing was what paper piecing is and even though it takes time it is not really difficult.  The curved piecing on top of the paper piecing though was KILLER! 

 I don't have a lot of curved piecing experience so hopefully it gets easier!  

I love how this fish turned out though.  

The 8 x 10 block took me just over 5 hours to complete.

My plan is to make more of the fish in various shades of blues and greens.  

I plan to use lots of low volume prints to make the "water".  

I will be making some pieced water blocks and have a little more negative space in the quilt.  

  If I find out the baby's name (ahem, hint, hint) 

I have an adorable paper pieced alphabet that I could put his name on the quilt.  

I think I would really love that.  

I'm not sure how many fish I will end up making.  

There are 8 different fish with each one facing left and right (so 16 total).  

I'm a sucker so will most likely end up making them all and then adding the water and name.  

I am linking up with Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts too.

Your turn.  What are you working on?  Take a minute and link up using the blue Inlinkz button.  If you blog about the link up please link back to this post.

~XOP~

An InLinkz Link-up

Ocean Waves QAL Check In

How are you coming along on your Ocean Waves quilt??  

I managed to get 9 blocks completed so far!  

That means I am 1/4 of the way done!  

Are you enjoying the process?  

I sure am. 

 I am trying to sew three blocks worth of HST at one time when I get a chance to work on them.  

Then I press and trim.  

I like to assemble four quarters of each block next.

Finally I put the quarters together into one block.  It feels so good to be making progress on this quilt.

I am re-watching the series 24 while I am stitching.

Falling in love with Jack Bauer all over again!

What do you watch when you are sewing?

I'm always looking for new series.

I'm afraid my progress will be coming to a halt as I have yet one more baby quilt to work on.

The pattern is one that I have wanted to make for some time.

It is called Folksy Fish. 

More on that later, but for now please share your progress.

We can all use some encouragement on our Ocean Waves project.

For me it is 9 down, 27 to go!

If you want to join in, please go to the Ocean Waves QAL tutorial page under my header.

If you are playing along, please link back so others can join us!

Please link up using the blue inlinkz button.

If sharing on social media please use #OceanWavesQAL

~XOP~

An InLinkz Link-up

WIPs With Friends

I'm pretty sure you can tell from the last post what I have been working on! 

 I did manage to finish the baby Yeti wall hanging.  

It has been a bittersweet week at my house this week.  

Every time I go into my sewing room I am reminded that Autumn is no longer with me. 

 I miss her so much!

Hallie is trying so hard to fill those shoes.

  She is very sweet and with all the other cats in heaven now, she is coming into her own.  

I am remembering the reason my daughter left her with us. 

 That cat LOVES me.  

When I get home she is waiting on the steps and wants to go upstairs.  

She is a little overweight so getting up on the bed or my sewing table requires a little more thought, but she does it.  

She sleeps next to me every night now too.  Like a giant, purring cat pillow!

I did get another Ocean Waves block done. 

 Even though each block seems to take forever to do, I am really enjoying the process. 

 I have to say it is encouraging me to sew slowly and more precisely.  

I feel like 99% of my points are right on. 

 I have found that pressing open has really helped with this. 

 It was something I learned in a class with Jan Krentz. 

 Not only does it reduce bulk but it allows you to see more easily where to pin for perfect points. 

 I will try to get a good photo of what I mean when I get home.

If you want to play along you can find the collection of posts about the QAL under my header.
It says Ocean Waves QAL.
If you click on it you will go to the posts with directions.

We are leaving for vacation to visit my in-laws tomorrow, 

so I will probably not be posting here for the next week. 

 I am not bringing my computer only my iPad and it is really difficult to post using that.

  I should be on Instagram and Facebook if you want to see what we are doing.  

Otherwise I will post all about our trip once I get home.  

My son will be staying at our house to watch over the house and keep Hallie company.

I will link up to Sew Fresh Quilts

Your turn now.  

Share with all of us what you are working on.  

Please use the blue Inlinkz button to share.  

If you are sharing on Instagram please use #OceanWavesQAL.  

Have a Happy Week!

~XOP~

An InLinkz Link-up

Ocean Waves QAL Part 3

I hope you all are making progress in your cutting.  

I thought for those that may be ready to begin making their blocks I would do a post showing construction of the quarters needed to make the block. 

 It was kind of late last night so pardon the poor lighting!

First up is to sew your HST (or half square triangle) units. 

 There are a LOT of them! 

 I know that I like to sew some, trim some and put some together 

so that is what I will be showing here. 

 You can then go at your own pace as far as how quickly you want to put your blocks together. 

 I plan to have regular check-ins and show my progress, and would love it if you would link up and show everyone else how you are doing too!!

Alright, let's get down to construction, shall we?  

Since I am using navy and white fabrics I will refer to the white as my background.  

Your background may be different. 

 I am using navy for my second color and again yours may be different.

If you remember you should be cutting your background and colored squares at 3" for the HST units.  I sewed mine by sewing 1/4" on either side of the middle, and no I don't draw a line, I use the Clearly Perfect as you can see in this photo.

I sewed up six sets of HST units. They become 12 when cut apart.

Once I sewed them all, I cut them apart down the center. 

 I opened them up and pressed them to the dark side.

These are all my HST that I need to make an entire block.  Four sets of 12 HST

Next up came the trimming.  I LOVE using my 2.5" Bloc-Loc ruler to trim all my HST units. 

 I also use the heck out of my little 12" turning mat.

I centered my ruler over my HST, locking it into the seam and trimmed two sides, spun the mat,

 and trimmed the other 2 sides.

 The pile of trimmings sure pile up!  Wonder if the birds would use these for nesting in the spring?

Autumn was sleeping on the job!  To be fair, as I said earlier, it was late for both of us!

I really wanted to be able to do this post today though.

This is how one quarter of the block is laid out ready to sew.  

All of the blocks are sewn the same as this one.  

(Yes, trust me they really are)

 I did have a discussion with someone recently about the block construction.  

As you can see there are 12 HST for each quarter of the finished block.  

You are looking at 1/4 of an Ocean Waves block here. 

 In addition, there are 4 2.5" squares per 1/4 of the block.  

The math works out that for one Ocean Waves block you will need 48 HST units and 16 squares.  Please know this is certainly not the only way to construct an OW block, 

it is just the way I am choosing to do it.

OK, back to work.  

Next up, by row, I sewed together the first pair and the second pair in each row.  

I pressed the seam open. 

 I did this because I feel it makes matching the points easier 

when it comes time to sew the rows together.  

I then sewed the pairs together to form 4 rows.

Next up is sewing the rows together.  This can be slightly tricky.

  I tried to show in this photo that I put a pin at the point of the triangle. 

 This pin would go through the point on the triangle on the opposite side

 (see what I mean about ease of viewing?)  

I pinned each intersection and both ends. 

 So, I sewed row 1 ==>2 and row 3==>4.  Again I pressed open.  

You can see that the points matched up quite nicely!

Nest I sewed these two units together to form my final quarter of the block.

This was the second one I made last night. 

 It took me ~2.5 hours to make these 2 units. 

 I did have all my squares cut.  I just thought I would give you a time frame.

  I am not rushing, I fully intend to enjoy the process!

Once you have 4 of these units sewn

 it is time to sew them together to form the actual Ocean Waves block.

Please note in the photo the placement of the quarters to form the "circle".  

Also note that they really are the exact same units just rotated to form the actual block. 

 I do confess this is from a test block I had made previously though, as it was past my bedtime!

Once you have all four units you may sew the top two together and the bottom two together. 

 I pressed these seams open. 

 Then you will sew the top section to the bottom section.  

You now have one completed Ocean Waves block!!  

I am dying to see how everyone is progressing so please link up here and show me.

Don't forget to use the #OceanWavesQAL on social media too.

Have a fun and productive weekend!

~XOP~

Please link up your progress here using the blue "Inlinkz" button.

If you don't have a blog maybe leave a comment, so we can see who is playing along.

An InLinkz Link-up

Ocean Waves QAL

Ocean Waves Quilt Along

We are going to start this thing today!

So you can maybe get planning your colors I have uploaded this worksheet.  

You can print it out and color it in.  If you are working with scraps then never mind, LOL.  

If you are working like me using different fabrics for each quarter of the block but all the same color family then also never mind.

Ocean Waves Coloring Grid 

I am planning on using 3" squares to make the HST blocks required for this quilt, and trimming them to 2.5" squares.

You will need 48 HST squares per block, and 16 2.5" background squares per block.

To make this queen sized you will need 36 blocks.

Each OW (Ocean Wave) block will be 16.5" before sewn into the quilt.

Finished size will be 99" x 99 

You can make any size quilt you like though.

I am planning on making my HST by cutting 3" squares of navy and white (my background).

I will be using my Clearly Perfect rather than drawing a line.  If you are drawing a diagonal line you will sew 1/4" away from both sides of the line and cut on the line.

Press to the dark.

Trim to 2.5" square.

Total number of HST is 1728

You can get 14 three inch squares out of a 3" x WOF strip.

So if you are using one color for your entire quilt you would need 62 strips of your colored and your background fabrics.  Plus an extra 2.5" strip (36 of them) to cut out the 2.5" squares for each block.

I hope this makes sense.  

I am hoping to get to my cutting soon.

I need to finish up my Hallowedding quilt first! 

So this is the beginning.

Select your fabrics.

Plan and execute the cutting.

Start sewing the HST

When finished trim the HST to 2.5"

Once I am beginning this I will post my progress.

In an upcoming post I will post a linky so you can post your progress too.

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's progress

Please grab the button and put on your blog and spread the word!

Use #oceanwavesQAL on Instagram to post your progress too.  

Find me on Facebook at Mama Spark's Quilts and post there as well!!!

Happy planning, enjoy your weekend!

~XOP~

Ocean Waves Quiltalong (QAL)

Now you know which quilt I am wanting to make!  

It is an Ocean Waves quilt.  My friend, Norma, has made one that I *need* to make.  

This is a photo of her finished top.  

(with her permission)

What do you guys think? 

 Anyone interested in working on this with me?
I am planning on beginning this in the new year, so plenty of time to consider.

I have NOT mapped out a thing, but the QAL can go at your own pace.  We will choose fabrics, then talk about cutting and assembly of the main block.  

We can even make our own hashtag if you are on Instagram,

#oceanwavesQAL.  

So think about what colors you would like to use.  If you are unsure, just Google "ocean waves quilts" and you will see a LOT of inspiration!

  Or you can check out my Pinterest page, I have an Ocean Waves board.  

Who is in?? 

 I would love for some people to join in on this. 

Maybe I can make a button?  I guess I will give that a try.

Have a great weekend everyone and be sure and let me know if you will be joining in the HST fun!

~XOP~