WOW!!!!

I got the best new year greeting Friday morning.

I walked into Aunt Annie's quilt shop, right into a box FULL of base blocks! 550 blocks ready to be knotted! OMG! Anne H - this is a dream come true! More than half of what is needed to finish this project by Memorial day. I can' stop saying, "Wow!"

THANKS ANNE!!!

We're really gonna get this done! Let me know how many blocks you need!

Photos!

At last.... photos from Atonement.





Huge Thanks to folks who have been helping with more blocks - the pile keeps growing!

oh goodness!

Wow! Look what came in the mail this week!!



Holy cow - Thanks Marcia!!


And you too, Sarah!

Am working on getting a display ready for Atonement Lutheran Church in St Cloud later this month, so these will hang there!

Thanks for your notes of encouragement, and the great mail this week! It helps to keep me going.

What A Week!

Check it out! Here's a link to the press coverage in the Echo Press from Alexandria Minnesota. (I can't make the link work today, will edit this tomorrow at the library. You'll just have to trust me that we got some press.)

and....THANKS!!!

Every single day this week has brought me something else for the project. Safety pins!! Fabric! Competed blocks!! Batting! Thread! I can't thank you enough for all of your kind help with this. Some things have come in groups, and I am not certain I have everyone's name listed in the sidebar thanks section. Drop me a note if I have missed your name. I want to make sure you're thanked!

900+ !!!

Hey- we're making progress! I have just over 900 blocks completed with your help.

Keep plugging away and sending me blocks. And no excuses like, "I can't sew on a button." To sew on a bead, is one stitch up, and one stitch down. Granted, that's over and over, and over. Then you spin that technique and use the fancy term, "mastery learning" by the time you've completed a couple of blocks, you'll be able to sew on a button! Another bullet point on the resume of life!

If you still refuse to pick up a needle and thread you can help by purchasing some size #1 safety pins, and purple "E" beads. Right now I have 3 sections of 30 blocks each ready to pin together, but I am fresh out of pins and running low on beads. HELP!! I won't turn down other supplies either, but pins and purple beads are the top priority right now.

I am working the details to hang the project in another venue. I am hoping all 1000 (because by the time it hangs you'll have sent me at least 100 more blocks and the pins and the beads) will fit in this space. I'll let you know.

Catching Up

Life got a little overwhelming for a while, but, things are almost back to manageable.

We are making progress! Remember back in January when I hung the 330 blocks that were completed then? Now there are 330 hanging in The Hjemkomst Center, 360 blocks hanging at the Loft in downtown St Cloud, and I have another 100 finished blocks courtesy of Anne, Bob and Eileen . THANKS!! Sarah sent me a note saying she has another 70 blocks ready for knots!! We are going to pass the 1000 completed block mark soon.

I would love to know how many blocks you have in progress and might be sending in soon. And if you feel the need to send in some #1 safety pins, and size E purple beads, I will do a happy dance!!

My pc and I have been arguing about posting photos this week. I'm going with the tomorrow is another day theory. Check back for images from both the Hjemkomst Center and the loft soon.

Anne and the Lightbulb

So it's one of those ideas where we all went, "Well of course!" Okay, to be honest I did stop and think about it for a minute or two because, well, I can be a control freak sometimes. My family can stop laughing now.

Anne discovered that if she programmed her Bernina 1260 just right, she could add a space between the asterisk stitches, and they would look like the individual beads and french knots we have putting in our blocks! Thanks Anne!

On a 1260, the stitch is number 27. Hit number 27, memory, and then straight stitch, memory, and you should be good to go. The stitch is a little bigger than the beads and knots have been, and I am guessing that a spiral is going to be the best design to get all 212 stitches on the block.

Don't have a Bernina 1260? As long as you are able to program a stitch in between an asterisk stitch * * * , so they maintain their individuality, I say go for it. I don't want a running together of stitches ***** that don't have any distinction. This is after all, about remembering the individuals who have died.

If you have other sewing machine makes that have a similar tight stitch on them and you think you want to try it, let me know. St Cloud has dealers for every major brand of sewing machine and I can go test drive it to make sure it clears my inner control freak.

I like how there will be a nice mix of beads and hand stitching and machine stitching in the project. A bit of everything. And we may actually get it done! Now if Anne can figure something out for the soldiers and our government leaders we'll be set to finish the damn war too.

Cut Ups

I figured out that 1 5/8 yards of solid fabric can be cut up for 18 blocks with very little waste. Thought I'd share it with anyone who is working on blocks.

Make 3 - 6" cuts; subcut into 3 cuts @ 6", and 1 cut @3.5"


Make 11 - 3.5" cuts. 5 of them are subcut into 2 cuts @ 6" and 1 cut @ 7.5"


The next 5 are subcut into 2 cuts @ 7.5" and 1 cut @ 6"


The last strip gets subcut into 3 - 7.5 "cuts. Depending on the width of the fabric, I sometimes have to piece the last 2 from this section with scraps from above.



Now you're set to follow the original tutorial and put them together.

Again, THANKS to everyone who is working on this with me!!

I Got Mail!

Big Thanks to Georgia from Texas, who returned 4 blocks to me yesterday!! Yeah! If there is any sunshine tomorrow morning I will post pictures.

I'll take pictures of blocks too, so hurry and send them in!

Piles

My dad had a big stack of completed blocks for me when I stopped by last night. Thanks Dad!!
And, I recently got a couple of beautiful blocks from Judy, Thanks!

Here's a little corner of my home where I have organized some parts of the big project. Various stages of completion are shown. The plastic tote on the left is full fabric that is ready to be sewn into squares. There's cut batting in the chair. Below the chair is a box of blocks ready to have knots or beads applied. There are a couple piles of completed blocks on the shelf, and, on the floor is a pile of sections pinned together and ready to hang. I forgot the piles at the sewing machine. There's a couple more stages there.

I have been approached with potential space to display the project. It won't happen until after the first of the new year, so, you have plenty of time to complete and send me blocks!

I love adding blocks from different makers. We each add our own bit of personality to them. Seeing that variety makes one conscious of the fact that each block, and each knot represent an individual who had their own distinct personality.

Thanks so much to everyone who is helping with this project.

Holy Cow!

I'm home from vacation now, and I am overwhelmed by the support from all over the world! Thanks!

I'm going to spend the next couple of days creating the samples for the tutorials . My goal is to get that all posted by Sunday. I am still mastering my blogging skills, so we'll see how it goes.

More to come.....