Let's Do the Twist

Hi Everyone,

I'm back, just as promised, to continue the saga of my Uncle Sam Twister quilt.  When I left off on my last post, I had made it to the point of having all of the squares sewn together.

(And the picture is still sideways...)

I heard from several of you that Sam looked really great "as is" and I agree!  He looked great and I did have a few qualms about starting to cut it again, but I plunged in anyway, hoping the new version would be at least as good.  I do to let you know that I altered the pattern a bit.  Did I say this yesterday?  I can't remember, but in case you didn't either, or I haven't said it yet, the pattern called said to cut 3.5" squares and then use the appropriate Twister template for those squares.  I only have the mini Twister, and it cuts from 2.5" squares, so that was the size that I used.  Just imagine how big this Sam would have been if all the squares were an inch larger!!!

In case you are new the the Twister templates, they look like this:

You align those black lines onto the seam allowances between your pieced squares and trim around the edges.  It is a good idea if you have a small rotary cutter when doing so, because you don't want to "overcut" too much, or you will ruin another piece.  The pattern tells you how to cut.  I had my largest Lori Holt design board out to place the newly cut squares on so they would stay in order.  (The design board is a piece of foam core covered in batting)  Another important bit to mention is that since the piece is "twisted," the newly cut edges are all bias.  In anticipation of this fact, I heavily starched my Sam quilt before I began to cut. In order to avoid any other issues, I only cut 10 rows of squares at a time.

Here you can see that I have the lines on the ruler aligned on the seam lines of my Sam.  I used the rotary cutter with the blade about the size of a quarter, and it worked brilliantly for this project.

As you cut out the pieces you need, you leave "waste" pieces behind.  This is the reason for the drastic shrinkage between the "before" and "after."  I suppose Bonnie Hunter, and maybe many of you, would keep these, but I just chucked them.  (Yes, I can hear your horrified gasps, ha ha!)

More cutting.

I sewed the first 10 rows together and ended up with this.

I put it above the rest of the Sam so I could see just how much it shrank.  Wow!

Before I began this project, I considered it, as I usually do about any new project.  I had decided that the "worst" part of the project would be all the cutting with the template, and boy was I right!  It was downright tedious!  The little template is small and even though it has little grippers on it, I used a lot of pressure to keep it in place--making my arms ache.  It was a good thing that I was working in batches of 10 rows, as I the break between cutting sessions was just what I needed.  So I cut and sewed, and cut and sewed, etc.  The sewing was really easy.

This is how it came out:

The original Sam measured about 25" x 70" and the twisted Sam measured 12" x 37!"  Quite a difference.  The little squares that I cut using the template finished at one inch!  The finished Twisted Sam is heavy and thick with all of the seam allowances.

Here is the back, so you can see it.

But not only do I have that "finished" picture for you, I have another.  I got it quilted!  I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, since it was so thick.  I decided to put on the walking foot and just stitch in the ditch the grid lines between all of the squares.  I like how it came out.

Earlier today, I went to lunch with some of my good Bee friends, and after we browsed in some quaint shops.  There was one shop that was full of banner flags--the cute outdoor ones.  I've never seen so many in one place in my life.  They also had stands in many sizes to hold the flags.  I started picturing using the stands for quilts instead of the banner/flags.  Then I found one that would be perfect for this Uncle Sam quilt.  I wasn't going to get it, though, but my friends made me  encouraged me to get it.  I ended up being really happy with it.  Have a look:

See the stars on the pole and the base?  Perfect!  He isn't done yet, though.  I realized I still need to sew on a small button or else a french knot for an eye.  I will do that later.  I wanted to spend the rest of the evening blogging and sharing him with you.  By the way, even though the stand is for outdoor use, Sam will be staying inside!

One other thing, when I woke up on Sunday, my head was all back to normal--no more vertigo and no more sinus congestion, too.

Have a great day!
JoAnne

Twisty, Snaky, Dizzy

Hi Everyone,

Wasn't it a great long weekend?  I hope if you live in the US that you had a great one.  If you don't, I hope you had a great regular weekend.  Ours was a four day weekend, as the Army thinks it is a great idea to give an extra day off whenever there is a three-day weekend--this is to make up for the long hours normally worked.

My husband and I discussed a few possibilities of things to do.  One of which was to go to Philadelphia, but frankly, I couldn't stomach battling all the traffic, especially around DC, etc., so we stayed at home.  The next plan was to possibly go somewhere nearby for a day trip.  I suggested going across the James River and travelling about an hour to visit some antique shops that I had seen over a year ago.  Vague?  Yes, but we were game.

Thursday night, I got a wild hair to start a new quilting project.  I had the pattern to make the Uncle Sam twister quilt.  I proceeded to do all of the cutting and laid out all of the squares that were needed.

You can see that he doesn't even fit on my design wall--I had to halve him to get the squares up.   I thought it would be fun to work on a patriotic project for the holiday weekend.

 Friday morning, I woke up and got started sewing them together.  My husband asked if we were going on our outing and I was torn.  This always happens--we sort of plan on doing something and then never do, for whatever reason.  So I decided to go ahead an go. The sewing could wait.

And so we set off.  Before too long, we were on a rural highway.  Rural highways in Virginia mostly seem to be fairly narrow--with no real shoulders, and they wind around in curves and over hills and other rolling terrain.  I had forgotten that my husband really doesn't like to drive on those kinds of roads.  I rather enjoy it myself, but then, I'm not the one driving the car.  He kept complaining, asking how much further.  I had vague directions.  He remarked that he didn't like "snaky" roads.  Finally, though, we arrived at the area I had remembered.  We found two antique shops.  The first one was horrible, and the second one wasn't much better.  The first was dark, with no air circulation, and full of junky stuff--and not the good kind of junk, either--just the picked-over leftovers or something.  The second one had mostly furniture--some pieces were nice to look at, but nothing I wanted enough to pay the shockingly high prices for at any rate.

We decided to cut our losses, and head back towards home.  I knew of a few more antique shops in Smithfield, and I'd visited them before and they are pretty nice, so it was time to travel back on the same road that we already driven on.  The curvy one.  My husband started up grumbling and wondering if there was another road to take, etc.  Then we went around a curve and there it was!  In the middle of our lane of the highway!  A giant snake!  It was coiled up a bit and had its head lifted off the road.  There was nothing we could do to avoid hitting it, and so with the sensation of running over a coiled garden hose, the car ran it over.  Yuck!!!  I sort of feel bad about it, but really there was nothing to do that wouldn't have caused an accident.  Eew!  As I was getting over the shivers of the whole experience, my husband quips, "I told you these roads are snaky--and I don't like snaky roads!"

We made it to Smithfield without encountering any more wildlife and had a nice lunch and more browsing.  Getting ready to move, etc. severely curtails my desire to buy much, but I did find a vintage, blue, souvenir plate from Jamestown that came home with us.

We got home again and I resumed sewing some more. When I went to bed, everything seemed fine and then I turned my head to turn off the bedside lamp and the world spun out of control.  I guess I had vertigo or something--it was unusual and had never happened before.  I didn't immediately pass, either.  I finally fell asleep and when I woke up, I wasn't too dizzy, but it felt like I had a hang-over for most of the day.  This wasn't good, as I had plans to go to Richmond with a friend in order to visit The Quilter's Corner--a very nice quilt shop that I'd only been to one other time.  Luckily she called and asked if I minded if she drove!  I felt much better about that.  I was beginning to suspect that the vertigo was being caused by some sinus issues, and it sort of felt like I had a brick in my head, so I took decongestant and it did help.

We got to the shop and it was just as nice as I remembered.  I didn't take many pictures, which is really a shame, but I'll blame that on the fact that I wasn't quite a hundred percent.  I did get this one of a mini that was hung outside the door.

Once we browsed for a bit, I began to visit a bit with the employees.  You see, one of them has been a blog follower for quite some time.  I didn't quite want to blurt anything out and sound weird, so I was trying to be subtle.  However, Vicki was already suspecting that it might be me, but she wasn't quite sure.  So anyway, we "met" and hugged and visited for a while.  It was fun.  I always love finally getting to meet "virtual" friends.  They never disappoint me.  I hope I don't let them down in any way.  Now at least, we can be "real" friends, too. Even though we already were.

I did find a few things to buy.  As you know, the last thing I need is any more fabric right now, but there were some red fat quarters and a few other pieces that I had to bring home with me.  Mostly it was just fun looking. The shop has a great variety of lots of different things and the selections are really nice.  While we were getting our things cut, we asked where to eat.  It will come as no surprise by any of you, I'm sure, to know that quilters always know the best places to eat!  We went to one of the suggested places, the Brick House Diner, and it was delicious!  We got home in early afternoon and I resumed sewing.  By Saturday evening, I had all of the squares sewn together.

Hmmm, for some reason the picture wants to be sideways!  Grr.  Sorry about that.  Can you see, though, that his legs hang off the bottom of my design wall?  At this point, it was about 25" x 70."

As this post is getting pretty long, I'm going to end it here.  The Sam is still not done, though, he needs to be twisted.  Stay tuned!

Have a great day,
JoAnne