RJ Ward Design

I'm behind a week with my NY Beauty QAL but I finally squeezed in some sewing time to do it. I didn't use the tutorial that was used on this block because it was pieced a totally different way that I've been doing it so far. The tutorial also didn't have any dimensions to cut the fabric so I had to measure and figure out my own way. I was very cautious the way I measured my squares because I want to be able to have enough of this fabric to finish. For anyone else that is contemplating doing this block I measured the height and width of the points and added at least 1/4" all the way around. This seemed to work well for me. On the smaller points near the end I used scraps since they were such tiny points. Of course no sewing can get done without ripping apart some seams or starting over and I did have to do that a few times. This is a learning curve for me and I'm plugging right along. So here is NY Beauty Block 3. In other news I've been honored to win...

The pictures are way to dark when I took this even though the sun was still out so you'll have to see purple and white not black and white. This block went together so well. I can see I'm starting to run low on my leftover material from my girls dresses that I'm so hoping I can get these done. We only have 4 blocks more to go. All my seams have come together without a flaw and the points look really good. I can honestly say I'm improving on this technique. Here's all the blocks that I've done so far. In other news we spent our Easter at our cottage in Northern Michigan. It was so nice to be able to get away and know that in 4 weeks we'll be putting the dock in the water. The lake was so peaceful and calm. I have so many projects in my head that I'd like to start and I'm hoping I can find the time to get to them. I took a job that is 3 hours a day being a Parapro for Autistic Impaired Pre-Schoolers, so hopefully I can find the time t...

I've been a paper piecing fool! For 3 days straight I've been playing catch up to get caught up with the NY Beauty QAL. Since work and family life has occupied my time I needed to get to my sewing machine pronto before I got even farther behind. Since I'm technically doing each block 4 times it took me almost 2 days just to cut and sew. I decided early on since I had so many blocks to do that I'd just get all the paper piecing done first and then put the blocks together. I didn't want to take the time to keep switching my needles and stitch lengths everytime I got a block done. This is Block 1. At first I was going to add a solid as the 2nd color. I made all of the pieces with the 2nd color to finally come to the conclusion I'd rather keep it a 2 color block - white and my purple print. So I technically had to go back and start over on the piecing. I'm glad I did because it makes the blocks more elegant looking without the 2nd color thrown into the mix...

I'm MIA but for a good reason. Sewing is a hobby for me. Something that makes my days go faster and keeps me away from - cleaning.  Lately though I've been doing what I thought 20 years ago I'd never do - subbing in my local school district as a teacher's aide helping physically impaired children. If you're a mother you know the routine of what you have to do when your children are young. You are their sole provider to getting them fed, bathed, clean and the obvious happy and safe. As a teacher's aide I don't bathe children but the other 3 are up there in the to do list, besides helping them get the best education that they can. Thank God my children went to a school where children of all disabilities are a regular site. Their elementary housed a program in our district with special needs children. I've noticed when my children were young and we would go out to dinner and their was a handicapped person there that people stare - my family and most impor...

Sara at Sew Sweetness is hosting a New York Beauty Quilt Along on her blog that I have happened to join along in. These blocks are all paper pieced and I have found a new love for this art. This quilt was at the quilt show I went to a month ago and when I looked at this quilt I then wondered what I had signed up for. All those pieces should have made me run as fast as I could but it didn't. I was scared with all the colors so I was still undecided on what fabrics I was going to use. So the 5th of March was the day that the tutorial for Block 0 came out over at My Go-Go Life  hosted by Kim. As I read over the directions I decided that the curved seams were going to be my hardest part. The more I read the directions, the more I told myself I could do this. I continued to watch the Flickr group to get inspiration on colors. One particular square kept catching my eye and I knew what I was going to do. I decided 2 colors were going to be my desti...

I cannot begin to write about how much I have learned from doing Sew Happy Geek's QAL this past month. When I found Jenna's blog over a month ago I really had no clue what I was doing.  To get you caught up you can find the first blocks here , here , and finally here . This block was called the Quatra Star. Jenna has a video up on her site on how to do this block. It could have been done 2 ways - paper or foundation pieced. After watching the video I decided I'd rather screw up on a piece of paper than a piece of fabric, no matter how scrappy it is. Call me scared but what little fabric I have I need to make the most of it. I've done a few paper pieced blocks from participating in the Solstice Star  blocks by Fresh Lemons Quilts so I felt more comfortable in this technique. Good thing is because my handy, dandy seam ripper came through again for me. When you paper piece you really have to make sure that you have enough fabric to cover the area that it ...

I've been on a table runner kick lately. I had bought three 8 ft. white table runners for only $9.99 from Pottery Barn's outlet awhile ago. They've been sitting just waiting for the perfect project. One of them is a birthday table runner for my buffett. Below is my inspiration that I had pinned on Pinterest . RSH Catalog First things first though I didn't want an 8 ft. table runner, I wanted a 4 ft. one for my buffett, so I cut it in half.  The table runners have mitered corners so I had to finish up the end that I cut off before I could even get to the applique. The original table runner had a 2" hem plus another 1/2" so I had to rip the seam down 10" to give me room to miter the end. I did this on both sides. I ironed the runner really good and then folded in a 1/2" for the first hem. I folded again another 2" to match the hem for the whole table runner. As you can see from the picture above I also made sure that I ...