Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Plus Blocks

6 inches "Plus Block"
My quilting Bee, "The Cotton Pickin Bee" is making this block as an exchange. For this one, we are making the blocks 6 inches finished "(so they are 6.5" unfinished.) Each person can make up to 40 blocks and we will exchange them on our next meeting.
The construction of this block is very simple. It uses 2.5 inches strips, so if you have some pre-cuts that size, you can sew them in no time at all.
What you need for 1 block:
2 fabrics, one main color fabric and one background. We have decided that the background should be light.
Cut: Background fabric: 4 - 2.5 inches squares

Main color: 2 - 2.5 inches squares
                                 1 - 2.5 by 6.5 inches rectangle

Sewing the blocks is very easy. Use the 1/4 inch seam. Sew a background piece to each side of the main color squares. Press the seams to the main color.
Add the main color rectangle in between the 2 new 3 pieces rectangle you just sewn, press, trim to size if needed and you are done and done.
Enjoy, this is an easy and beautiful block.
I am linking this to Esther's quilt blog WIP's

I did modify construction a little, I cut these 2.5 by 5 inches, sew them together and than cut the new strip into 2.5 inches which gave the 2 pieces I need for the top and bottom of the main color rectangle. Don't let this confuse you. All I did is to cut the fabrics into rectangles and sew and cut.  I did not cut any squares as above.
trimming the unit into 2 top and bottom rectangles

Sewing the last seam. The purple thang shows how I mach the seams to make sure it all is lined up. The main color rectangle is underneath.



Some of the finished blocks




Sunday, April 19, 2015

Yarn stores in Granada and Seville, Spain


EDITOR NOTE: Sad to report that Home Suit Home in Granada is OUT of business. There is a gorgeous olive oil store in this address as of March 2016.

Just back from a trip to Seville and Granada in Spain where I had a chance to visit some nice yarn stores among site seeing.
I did buy some nice yarn and almost finished a scarf on the way home. Long trip due to weather.
In Granada, I visited:

"Home suit home"
Calle San Anton 10 Bajo
18012 Granada
 phone: 958521995
info@homesuithome.es
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Granada, Spain


The store has some nice yarns AND fabrics. There is an area for classes and it is very close to the historic center, so if you are around the center area, it is just a few steps away.
I did buy some cotton yarn  "Katia Arte" which is MADE in Spain. How cool is that!
There is a yarn store at "Gran Vie de Colon" near "porta de Elvira;" but I did not manage to get there when the store was opened. I did buy yarn there in the past.

The address:
Lanas Ricardo
Pie de la Torre, 4
Zona Centro, Granada

Next, it was Seville. There I went to "Lanas Esther" where the ladies that own the place make you feel very welcome and are very helpful. I did buy more cotton yarn, this time "Katia Thahiti Beach" in 2 different colors (this is a variegated thread), and another ribbon type thread that is acrylic but looks like cotton.  I bought "Katia Jedi" to make a cool top that the ladies where kind enough to write down the directions for me. I can't wait to make this one. But it has to wait a little longer so I can finish some other projects.

The address:
Lanas Esther
Calle Madre Ràfols, 3
41011 Sevilla, Spain
+34 954 45 56 94
Plaza de Spain in Seville

Barrio Remedios in Seville
Lanas Esther as photographed by DH.





Texas panel quilt

This quilt top is part of a Bee challenge. We are challenging ouselves to use a panel to make a donation quilt. Now, I will quilt it usin...