Our neighborhood book club had its usual monthly get together the other night. I almost didn’t go because I’d had one of those days. I was not in the best of moods and definitely wasn’t feeling sociable. Got ready and went anyway. I’m glad I did because I quickly realized after talking to my friends that I wasn’t alone. Thursday had been a difficult day for several in my book club group. We commiserated together over wine, dinner and a great discussion about our monthly book selection. I think we all left in much better moods. Community is so important.

My day started off fine and went downhill fast. All because my SUV wouldn’t start (again). Car troubles forced me to really acknowledge how much one of our trade-offs for early retirement – delaying the purchase of any new vehicles for at least two years – was starting to impact my ability to get around. I’ve had to miss a few events of late due to car issues and subsequent repairs. As aggravated as I am with my SUV, trading vehicles isn’t likely to happen until our health insurance premiums drop from COBRA to retiree rates next summer or I return to full-time employment. After another day with the mechanic and a full analysis of battery, electrical system and alternator – he couldn’t find anything wrong. He did, however, find a TSB and applied that remedy. So far, so good. Hopefully, it sticks. Guess I’ll be adding a portable charging unit to the winter supplies box i keep in my vehicle.

Flying Geese blocks give me fits. Single FG blocks come out perfect almost every time if I I sew just to the right of the diagonal line (see single FG in upper left corner of photo). The folded corner ruler also works – it’s just that I’m more consistent with the drawn line method. Regardless, there’s a lot of extra fabric wasted – especially with large FG blocks.

I was on a mission to try the no-waste 4 at a time “heart” method FG with/without a specialty ruler and the strip cutting method used with the specialty triangle ruler from Bonnie Hunter.

4 at a time “heart” method FG definitely works! My best advice is to start with the “modern” (larger) cut square sizes and sew using a full 1/4″ seam. You don’t *need* a FG trim ruler, but it helps. I tried a Wing Clipper I ruler from Deb Tucker/Studio 180 designs. Easy-Peasy. The individual geese all had a true 1/4″ seam left above the point once trimmed. All I had to do was sew the units together with a scant 1/4″ seam. (See trio of FG in upper right of photo.)

The ability to use strips to cut my FG blocks and minimize waste really, really appealed to me. However, I could not for the life of me get the hang of how to sew the blocks together so that they consistently came out (1) the correct size and (2) had a true 1/4″ seam left above the point. I watched several different videos and spent way too much time trying to figure out this method. The yellow/navy batik FG block is the result of this experiment. I had to sew the FG together using a 1/8″ seam allowance across the points. Not my preference. Several of my quilting friends swear by the Bonnie Hunter ruler for making FG, so perhaps I’ll try it again someday.

My recommendation: if you have to make a ton of FG, do the 4 at a time “heart” method starting with oversize squares and invest in a specialty ruler to trim them. Companies such as Creative Grids, Studio 180 Designs and Bloc Loc offer specialty FG rulers. A single, multiple size FG trim ruler is usually about $30.00 while the product from Bloc Loc has a different pricing structure. Check with your local quilt shop (or quilting friends) to see if you can try out the various rulers.

As an alternative, use FG papers available from Fat Quarter Shop.

Don’t you just love it when you get so wrapped up in what you’re doing that you lose all track of time? I sure do!

My sewing room, kitchen and home office certainly reflect that my creative genie is out of the bottle! Gotta get it all cleaned up before hubs returns home tomorrow afternoon.

Today, I taught grown-ups for a change at the SQTM. Students conquered their fears of curved piecing. They learned how to make Drunkard’s Path and Orange Peel blocks. We used Memi’s Lemons pattern by Fran Gulick @ Cotton and Joy. Didn’t they do a great job! I was also asked by students to teach more classes – which is a great feeling!

This evening, I’ve spent time figuring out how to incorporate a bit of hand-sewing into a DIY Jolly Roger pirate activity for Monday’s enrichment classes. Pinterest is a such great resource for this! I cut the scull and crossbones from felt I had in my stash. The kids will sew on 2 buttons for eyes and make a few straight stitches for the mouth. Our flag backgrounds are a 12″ x 18″ piece of black construction paper cut into 4 rectangles (6″ x 9″) that will be hole punched on one end with ribbon ties added to connect the flag to 14″ long sticks we find outside. The bonus? This activity will allow me to gauge if my students can handle the felt stuffies I want to make with them before Christmas. Hopefully so, because I have a bin of materials and picture books I assembled back in the summer ready to go! If not, I have festive back-up activities planned and the older kids can make them spring semester.

A friend asked if I planned to continue teaching Monday enrichment classes after this school year. I don’t know. It’s been exactly what I’ve needed right now. The tradeoff has been having to plan travel and other activities around someone else’s schedule again. (Hubby was right when he said committing to 28 Mondays in retirement is a big deal.) It didn’t really bother me until the bee group I’ve been invited to join scheduled its organizational meeting for this coming Monday morning. Dang it! The group’s organizer expects the actual bee group meeting day to fall on Wednesdays, like the majority of other bee groups, but the official day won’t be determined until Monday’s meeting. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Now to clean up the creative clutter!