Piecing quilt blocks using Fibonacci numbers

As promised here are the instructions for making a quilt block using Fibonacci numbers. I decided to put some pictures in, too, for clarity.

In case you don't know, Fibonacci numbers are those in a series where the next number is always the sum of the 2 previous numbers. the series always starts with 0 and 1.
so, the series is 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, etc.

If you google Fibonacci numbers you will find all kinds of interesting info concerning these numbers and nature, architect and history. quite interesting.

But for our purposes today, we just want to make a quilt block (or 12). LOL

You start with 2 yards of fabric...1 of each light and dark  or contrasting   or coordinating   or whatever you like. if you cut the fabric exactly as the numbers indicate, you will be able to make 4 blocks from the 2 yards of fabric and your blocks will come out 18" square. if you add 1/2" to the numbers for seam allowances you will only get 2 blocks for your 2 yards of fabric and your block will be 19 1/2" square (19" after using it in a quilt.)

take a piece of paper and draw 5 little squares on it. this will be your 'pattern'. in those squares put the numbers 1, 2, 3, 5, 8...in no particular order. but once you put your numbers in, don't cheat and change them.

in my first blocks with my black and white fabric like this i used 3 2 8 1 5 as my number sequence that went into the little squares:

 

they became these blocks. i cut them as indicated without adding seam allowances and came out with 4 blocks that were 18" square. you will get 2 of each colorway.

Pay no attention to the wonky blocks...that are hanging crooked. LOL

For this demonstration i went to the stash to see what i could find. i wondered if a stripe would work...only one way to find out. so i am using this purple floral stripe and a light purple dot. now take your paper with the squares drawn it and put the numbers 1,2,3,5,8 into the squares....in any order. for this fabric i am using: 5 1 2 8 3

 

i laid out my fabric on top of each other so i could cut them both at the same time. fold your fabric with the selvages at the top so you are cutting across the width of the fabric.

you are going to cut (from both fabrics...across width of fabric) a strip 1"; 2"; 3"; 5"; and 8".

here are the fabrics cut into the strips...i pulled them apart a little so you could see that i have a strip of each fabric cut into each width.

now you are going to look at your little squares with the numbers in them and pile your fabrics into 2 stacks according to your numbers. remember, mine were 5 1 2 8 3 .  so my fabrics are stacked up with the 5" strip on top, with the 1" under that, and the 2" under that, etc.  you will alternate between the 2 fabrics when you stack. look at the photos and notice the top stack has the dot fabric on the top and the bottom stack has the floral strip on top. that is what you want. in the order of your numbered squares.

now take these stacks to your sewing machine and stitch the rows together, in order. you will have 2 large pieces. here are mine....but i just noticed they are upside down in the picture. ignore that part. LOL   they are stitched in order, 5 1 2 8 3...this picture shows them from right to left..yours should be left to right. or, it really doesn't matter which way you stitch...as long as you are consistent with each stack and follow your number sequence. remember, no cheating.

now press them a bit. if you press each piece the same they will nest nicely together when you stitch them again. for instance, press both pieces to the left.

now, lay them together like you did with your beginning yards of fabric. you can put them on top of each other. this shows my fabrics on top of each other. you want to make sure that the various widths line up correctly. for instance, the 5" strip of one on top of the 5" strip of the other. both pieces should match according to the width of the strips. if they don't you will have to take them apart and resew correctly. (i did that once.)

now we are going to crosscut these pieces. again, cutting the same widths: 1", 2", 3", 5", 8". if you are cutting exactly, you can cut 2 of each of these widths and get 4 blocks. if you are adding 1/2" seam allowances, you will only be able to cut 1 strip of each and get 2 blocks. here they are, crosscut into the proper widths.

Now we are ready to stack them up again...according to the numbers in your squares. remember to alternate between the colors of fabrics. here are mine in my sequence of 5 1 2 8 3. take them to your machine and sew them together once again.

now press and your blocks are done. you might want to trim them up a bit if needed. now you have 2 (or 4) blocks and you can make a wallhanging, table runner or small quilt. or make more blocks and make a bigger quilt.  here are the 2 that i made. i think i will make a table runner with these 2. i'm not sure i like the stripe and dot but they gave their life willingly for this demonstration. LOL

I promise this is much simpler than the instructions look. once you start and do it once you will see it is a piece of cake. if you have any questions or problems let me know.

have fun and let me know how you do.

Stashbusting Report #2

I used up 3 more yards of my stash. yeah!!!  while cleaning out the studio the other day i came across these little applique embroidered animals that i had done ages ago. there were 10 of them. don't know why i stopped at 10. 12 would have been better for a baby quilt...well wasn't going to embroider 2 more. so i used some black and white kid faces fabric and cut 2 more blocks.

then found some wild floral print with bold kid like colors along with fabrics to match in purple, green, orange, pink and yellow. i put a little 1" border around each animal and sewed them together. since i used the black and white kid faces print in 2 blocks, i put a small 1/2" border with some black and white print and then the wild floral for the last border. it came out to 38"x50" and i think that is the perfect size.

i used most of the rest of the fabrics to piece a backing for it.

and this little lovely will be the binding.

so, 3 more yards gone easy as pie. i believe this will be saved for a friend in Texas who is having a baby in May.

of course, now it goes in the 'to be quilted' pile. but, i am working on that, too. LOL

4 yards down; 96 to go.  now...what's next....hhhmmmm.  did you bust any of your stash today?

First 2010 StashBusting Report.....Ta Da!!!

First official stashbusting report of 2010

Goal: 100 yards out the door in 2010

Used:  1 yard....yep, that's right....i whole yard. hey, you got to start somewhere. the first step is the hardest. i finally finished up a wallhanging that was ordered back in September or October last year. the embroidery part was the holdup.

Yards to go:  99 yards

reminds me of that song....99 bottles of beer on the wall...99 bottles of beer....if one of those bottles should happen to falll....98 bottles of beer on the wall.....98 bottles of beer on the wall....98 bottles of beer...if one......you get the idea.

99 yards of fabric on the shelves....99 yards of fabric....hahahahahaha

here's my proof....i yard gone....half yard for the front; sashing, borders, binding and hangers. this came out to about 18"x24".

And 1/2 yard for the backing...a rust colored paisley. 

wouldn't it be nice to look out the window today and see these flowers instead of snow?  aaaahhhhh spring....

99 days till spring is here....99 days till spring.....

Through 5 miles of snow...3 feet deep....uphill

oh no,..... that was the father story when you didn't want to go out into the snow. and who knows, my father may have trudged through 5 miles of snow...3 feet deep....uphill....to get out. he grew up in Toledo, Ohio.


today i braved the snow and trudged out to the studio. granted, it is just across the road. BUT, from the house is downhill down the first part of the driveway and there is where my main problem lies. i am always afraid i will slip and fall and break something....then down a LOOOONG driveway to the road...then across the road and to the studio. it seemed like 5 miles. it's about 12 degrees and we had 3 inches of snow. it just seemed like 3 feet deep....and 5 miles....and uphill.

my truck is 2 wheel drive so there was no hope of driving it over. i tried that last year and got stuck at the studio and dh had to pull me out. the truck is lazing in the barn till spring or the snow melts...whichever comes first. as dh left this morning to deliver mail he asked if i was going to the studio and reminded me about the truck fiasco from last year.

i did bring the cane over to the studio with me. i have a fear of falling and breaking something in the snow. so i think the cane gives me some stability. it may not be true but it makes me feel better. here's my trudge across the frozen tundra. LOL
 
see the little 'line' next to my tracks...that's the cane. hahahaha
 

Looonng driveway...then make a slight right and up the hill  

Back behind those trees and up the hill is the house. Brrrr!!  

I'm not venturing back out until i am ready to go back to the house for the day. during nice weather (think no snow) i will sometimes go back to the house for lunch and then walk back to the studio. not today.

also i usually go out and pick up the mail when i notice Jean has come by. not today

and since dh is gone all day today delivering mail...i would usually go back up to the house and let the dog out to go potty. not today....she can just cross her legs till i get back. besides...she is laying on the couch right in front of the vent from the wood stove with nice warm air blowing on her. i think i hate her.

 

Re-crafted thrift store hat

I love thrift stores....do you?  sometimes my sister and I spend the whole day checking out thrift stores all over town. some days we fill the truck with goodies and some days we just go have lunch instead.

the local Goodwill stores around our area seem to be getting donations from Target and such stores. you see many more clothes with the tags still on them and lots of kitchen items, household items and such that are recognizable as coming from a retail store.

a few weeks ago i found a hat...they had several colors of the same hat. it was made of angora and still had a tag on it. so i figured i would give one of them a new home. i was thinking of adding some felt embellishments or something to it with my embellishment machine.

it had a funky flower on it made of wool....i took that off. i had some different yarns that i thought might look good. so i embellished them on there first. i went around the hat 3 or 4 times with each yarn.

then i had a piece of silk that i folded and stuck on there with a piece of folded pink felt over that. i embellished it all down in the middle. then piled 3 buttons on top. that was it. quick and easy with a whole new look.

my niece loves thrift shops, too and i thought she might enjoy this hat so i sent it to her. she showed me a picture of a knitted cap that she had gotten at the thrift store and that is what made me remember this hat.

so the hat is on it's way to savannah, georgia.  if you see it around somewhere, you will know where it came from. LOL

perhaps the next time i am at the thrift store i will look for another hat and see what else i can do.

 

Meet Jigs

This is Jigs

 

I know it's not a great picture but he was on the road and it was too cold to go our and get closer. i took the pic from the doorway.

Jigs is a great dog that lives with Bill and Ruth, our 80-something neighbors, about a half mile down our road. I don't know what kind he is but he is about 70 pounds of friendly. He has become quite the wanderer here lately. i think he is lonely.

His life has been turned upside down. Bill had a stroke last spring and is now residing in a nursing home and won't be coming home again. Bill spent all his time outside...piddling around here and there....with Jigs by his side.

Then a few months ago Ruth fell and broke her neck. so she has been staying with relatives and not been home for weeks. Now she is back home but she is not the outside person....so Jigs has no one to play with.

Jigs started coming by our house a few weeks ago. he would show up in the morning and we would feed him and give him a drink...he would play with our dog for a while...and then he would wander on. sometimes he showed up again in the evening and we would feed him again. i knew that relatives were going by Ruth's place to feed Jigs and the chickens. and he had never wandered down this far before. so we checked on Ruth and things were fine. Jigs was just lonely.

sometimes he came by every day for a while. then we wouldn't see him for a few days. he is a great dog and although he is about 10 or 12 years old, he gets around like a much younger dog. they have a large pond and when the guys go down to fish, Jigs is right there. Jigs is a snake killer. he jumps in the pond after the water moccasins, pulls them out and kills them. he has been bit several times but i guess he thinks this is his job....Jigs the snake killer.

so, yesterday he showed up again. that's when i snapped this picture of him. he was just laying on the side of road at the studio. i guess he saw my truck there and came to protect me for a while. after about 30 minutes i looked out again and he was gone. once he was here really late at night and jim took him back home and checked on Ruth. Jigs was just lonely.

Jigs is basically an outside dog and Bill was always outside so i guess poor Jigs doesn't know what to do with hisself now. we figure if Jigs is still around when Ruth passes on then we will just adopt him. he is house broken and a good dog....and a snake killer.

Bobbins can be trouble

I have been throwing away bobbins. i have read posts on winding bobbins slowly and straight. and how bobbins can get out of true. or not to wind them too fast so they don't get too tight. so, when i started having problems with some of my bobbins i figured they were just old or getting out of whack....no idea how that happens. but my bobbins were tight and not fitting in their case. i couldn't get them out without a needle or pin to pry them out. and i couldn't stitch properly with them.

over the last year i have thrown away about 8 bobbins.

and just last week i figured out that i have been throwing away bobbins for nothing...it wasn't the bobbin....it wasn't the thread...it was ME.   siiggghhh!!!

check this out.

see that little bit of thread that is all curled up. that has been my problem all along. when winding the bobbin, i hold the end of the thread and then cut it off after it winds around a few times. and as it winds, the thread curls up on itself. when i just snip the thread and finish winding, there is a little curl of thread there. sometimes it goes down into the hole when i put the bobbin in the case. then the bobbin is caught and doesn't want to move. i have to take a needle or pin to pull the bobbin out. i would put in a different bobbin and it would be fine. so i thought the first bobbin was bad and rewound the thread onto another bobbin and threw that one away.

finally one day i guess i looked closer or something. when i pulled out the tight bobbin i saw the bit of thread curl. i pulled it up and there was about an inch of thread...all curled on itself. once i clipped that off, the bobbin slipped right in...no problem.

so, the new rule is to pull up and snip off that last little bit of thread before putting the bobbin in. works every time and no more thrown away bobbins.

sheesh.....it must be the Polish in me.....sometimes it takes forever to figure something out.  i guess it is good that i figured it out before i threw away ALL the bobbins and went and bought more.

i was thinking that if I had the problem...perhaps someone else did, too.  or not...you all might be more clever than i am and know about this already. but i feel so relieved that i have solved one of my life's little problems. now i love my bobbins again.