Step two

Well, I've managed to get a small amount done today, in the time before I have to go in to work at 3pm. There are now 24 of unit 2 finished, and they are a lot faster and a lot easier to do than the first unit. I've gone back to pressing my seams to one side, and it is working just fine. I have tomorrow off, so I'm planning to see how many more I can get done then. I've laid out my progress so far, on the wall, and am happy with the way it is looking. However, playtime is over, and I must go get ready for work.

Sorry for Delay...Next Step, Unit 2

I'm very sorry for the delay in posting the next set of directions for the sew-along.  I made one of the unit 2s needed for the next step.  We need quite a few of these little units.  Please refer to page 27 and 29 for cutting and sewing directions.  At lease we don't have to slice and dice these little ones.  I'll try to work on these, but I'm giving at least 2 weekends to get them done.  As usual, let me know when you're done!

Teajuana

Unit One -- Done

I have made it through unit one.  Unit two should be easier now that I have a few techniques down.  My biggest challenge was pressing open the seams.  I tried doing it with the regular iron and after several burnt finger tips, I realized that I had one of those small pressing wands.  That's what I get for having so many gadgets that I have lost count.  Let me know when we are ready for unit two.  That should be fun!

Finished

I managed to get all of my unit one's finished yesterday. There sure is a lot of intensive sewing in those things. I've just been sewing in bits and pieces for the last 4 or 5 days, so it's taken longer than I had hoped to get them done. I'm enjoying the sew along process, and watching what Tea and Robin are doing.

Finally...Unit 1 Progress

I powered through more blocks last night and tonight for unit 1.  They are looking real good.  I have more than half completed, so I am going to continue to make a few each night.  I followed suite on arranging them on the design wall.  I am really liking what I see so far.

Unit 1 progress

Well, I had the chance to do a little sewing before going in to work this weekend, and am now up to about 90 units finished.  I like the way Tea laid hers out on the design wall, so I've done it the same way. I don't have any of my blues touching in the blocks, but there are some of the creams touching. But, I don't care about the quilt police, and it gives the challenge of, "see if you can find........". Hopefully I'll get some more done this week, in between other things that have to be done.

Finished Unit 1

Whew!  After a LOT of sewing and dedication, I just finished my Unit 1s for the project.  It took a lot of work and motivation to get through it.  I have at least 3 units where the same red fabric touches, but if any "quiltzillas" find it in my completed quilt, more power to them.

I will not be working on this quilt this week as I didn't get to work on another project I needed to start quilting last week.  So, I'm setting my sewing machine up for machine quilting tomorrow.  I still have dance classes and a quilt guild meeting this week, so I will not have much time for quilting until the weekend anyway.

Cathy and Robin, let me know how far you progressed this weekend too.

More later,
Tea

Progress report

After blitzing sewing today, I am happy to say that there are now 68 completed pineapple units sitting in my sewing room. Over halfway there. Yippee!!! I'm not sure how much more I'll get done over the weekend, probably just an hour or 2 a day before going in to work.

Progress on Unit 1 -- Take Two

Thanks to the advice from Cathy I took the old blocks apart and re-arranged them so that I could sew a scant 1/4 inch seam.  I also pressed open the seams.  It is a chore, but worth the finished product.  The blocks are looking much better.  I will try to catch up by the weekend.

Step one progress

I've been working on the Unit one pieces off and on for the last couple of days, and for a couple of hours this afternoon. I now have 20 of the pineapple units pieced together. They are slow going. I normally press my seams to one side, but there was too much distortion in these blocks when pressed that way, so I've been pressing the long seams open, which is a bit more time consuming. But, there are enough done now to put up on the design wall and get an idea of how well they play together. I must confess to being quite pleased with the results, so far. 20 down, 100 to go. Yikes.

Tea's Progress on Unit 1

Sorry being late posting my progress.  My Sunday got changed when the futon used in my husband's entertainment area crashed to the floor.  I then spent time online looking for a replacement and then going to the store to decide what to buy, picking it up, and putting the darn thing together.

I finally got the cutting completed just out of sheer determination.  I also have 31 tri-recs blocks sewn and cut 4 of them to make one unit 1.  Like Cathy, I was able to get quite a few of the smaller units cut from the larger strips too.  Remember me telling you I'd made a template for the light pieces?  Well the cutting was going so slow that I decided to purchase the ruler again.  It was only $8.99 at JoAnn's and I have a 40% off coupon.  It made absolutely no sense to use the template.

Making Unit 1

I have started sewing the first step in unit 1 and they are looking pretty good. The Kaffe Fassett blues and purples are a nice contrast to the white-white background.  Tomorrow I  will cut and sew the final step in block together.  I wish I could just have one whole uninterrupted day to work on these, but I have several must do projects going on at the same time.  I am not a good photographer, but here are a few pictures of the start of block A.

I've started

Well, I've gotten a good start on cutting fabrics for the first step. All the dark triangles are cut, and I have half of the light triangles cut. While I was at it, rather than throw out the trimmings at the beginning and endings of the strips, I used the ends that were trimmed off to get the 60 degree triangles for the darks, and cut some of the smaller dark triangles, as well. The same thing is working for the lights for the side triangles. I was able to get almost 80 of the small dark triangles out of the beginnings and endings of the 6 inch strips. I'd love to keep going ay it today, but, unfortunately, I have to work 3-11 at the hospital this weekend. (sigh). I'll try to get the rest of the cutting done tomorrow before I have to go to work, and maybe be able to start sewing.

Let's Get Started!

Cathy, I'm glad your book arrived.  I still haven't found one piece to my tri-recs ruler set.  However, as the weekend is approaching with the opportunity to have some good sewing time, I've decided to make a template for now.

So that we  are not spending too much time cutting and no sewing, I thought we'd cut for a particular unit and then sew that unit.  So, let's see if we can make the block that creates Unit 1 on pages 27 and 29.  This block does use the tri-recs pieces.  I have posted photo below for reference.

   










Remember, these units are scrappy so use a lot of different fabrics.  Also, please make a post, adding photo of your unit 1 blocks.  Thank you,

Tea in MO

They're here, and eager to get started

My book, and fabrics both arrived today. Yippee!!! I was hoping, with the arrival of these fabrics, to have enough reds, but there aren't. So, my second choice is blues, which I have more than enough of, and have been waiting for a quilt to use them in. This is going to be it. I'll be using medium blues, to navy, to blacks. And then creams and light blues. There are more creams than this, leftovers from my latest quilt. so there should be a really good, scrappy look to this quilt, with lots of depth, and variety, I hope.

And still waiting.....

Well, according to the tracking number I have for the fabric, it should be here tomorrow. So, that just leaves the book, which was actually ordered before I ordered the fabric. (sigh) I'm sorry to be holding things up, here. However, it is giving me the incentive to get the quilt that I am currently working on finished, so that I will have more time to work on this one. Maybe the book will come in the mail tomorrow. I'll let you know, if, and when it gets here.

Still Waiting...

We are still waiting for Cathy's book and fabrics to arrive. 

While doing so, I noticed that the book recommends using the tri-recs rulers.  The templates for the units are in the book, but if you have the rulers, the cutting will be much faster.  I have that tool in my stash and just used it to make the cathedral stars quilt.  Now, I'm missing my edge piece ruler.  Goodness, I must do a full search.  I do remember seeing it a few week ago in a place it shouldn't have been.  Hmm, I wonder where that is...