Fabric Cutting Time

I have had a busy, busy week, can't believe I didn't have time to post to my blog.  Each day went by so quickly.  Do hope this week is a little slower and I get a little more accomplished.  I did work on the Log Cabin blocks, helped to put the Pineapple quilt together, and even started quilting my buzzsaw quilt.  I always plan on doing so much, but rarely get it accomplished. My full teaching schedule keeps me from getting quite so much done, but it is so fun and rewarding to see what my students accomplish, that I guess my projects can be postponed.

I keep a small container of leaders and enders next to my machine to use when I finish my regular piecing.  I learned this method from a great book by Bonnie K. Hunter called "Adventures with Leaders and Enders".  Since I love scrap quilts the method is perfect for me.  This year Bonnie is doing spool blocks, and she put the pattern up on her blog Quiltville.  If this is of interest to you be sure to check it out on her site (just Google Quiltville), there are lots of fun things to do there.  In a nutshell you have a small container of cut pieces next to your machine and every time you finish what you are stitching for another project you pick up an Ender and sew it through the machine and clip off your patchwork but leave the Ender which becomes the Leader for your next set of patchwork.  Having a Leader even keeps Jan from wanting to eat my fabric.
I generally sew on Jan, my Janome 6600P and yes she has a thread cutter, but I figure if I cut enough it will malfunction, and Jan will have to go to the hospital, so I save use of my cutter for applique and other things where I do not do chain piecing.

So I did get a little cutting in this week, seems like my little container is always empty.  That means I'm getting a lot of little 3 1/2" spool  blocks finished to use in a fun project that is starting to develop in my head.
I had about an hour before a student, so I got my drawer of 1 1/2" strips out, a ruler and my cutter and proceeded to cut about 40 Spool blocks in my hour.  It's like getting a free quilt since it uses scraps from other projects.
So another week is about to begin.  Popcorn and Downton Abbey tonight and then another week of fun.  Hope your week was enjoyable too....Don't forget to enjoy your journey.