Product Review - Creative Grids Ruler

A few weeks ago, I noticed that when I cut long strips, they were a tiny bit bowed.  Hard to believe, but after only 12 years of using my trusty Olfa 6 x 24 inch ruler, it had become a bit worn.  OK, probably not so hard to believe, but I always expect my stuff to last forever!

And my 6 inch square ruler had had a chip in the corner since about 2 weeks after I bought it.  Time to go shopping!

I decided to buy 2 Creative Grids rulers.  They aren't the same size as the Olfa - they are 6 1/2 inch square and 6 1/2 by 24 1/2 inches.  Here is the square one.

See the grey dots and grey around the edge?  That's a bit of texture that grips the fabric.  No slippage at all! Fantastic!  The grey around the edge is exactly 1/4 inch.  I'm not sure if that is going to be handy for measuring or not, but I like it.  (The textured parts aren't as opaque as they seem in the photo.)

The other neat thing about the ruler - notice that some of the numbers are upside down?   Turn the ruler around and it is the half inch markings that stand out.  Makes it far less likely that you cut on the wrong line.

The lines are clear and easy to see in both dark and light fabrics.  I was used to the yellow "highlight" on the black lines on the Olfa, and this ruler doesn't have that.  I do miss that a bit, but I'm getting used to being without it already.

I really like these rulers.  I am impressed with the excellent design features.  Two thumbs up!

Liebster Award!

Pauline, at The Little House on the Hill has been kind enough to pass on the Liebster Award to me!  Thank you Pauline - that is so nice of you!

The Liebster Award (German for favourite) is for bloggers with 200 followers or less. As a recipient of the award, you have the chance to thank and link back to the blogger who gave it to you as well as pass it along to five other deserving blogs.

 The Liebster Conventions says that:

    1.  Thank your award presenter on your blog and link back to him/ her

    2. Copy and paste the award to your blog

    3.  Present the Liebster Award to 5 blogs that you think deserve to be recognised

    4.  Let them know by leaving a comment on their blog

    5. Have faith that your follower will spread the love too.

I thought I'd go completely Canadian with my list.  Here are my nominees for the award:

Chatterbox Quilts Blog  Kim is a quilter, a designer, and, most recently, a video producer.  Check out her videos listed on the right hand side of her blog.

Books and Quilts   Also cooking, knitting and crochet, if truth be told.  Heather is a voracious reader, and has excellent reviews of the books she reads.  She also posts some good recipes.  Not much quilting lately, but I enjoy reading about her other crafts.

Creative Confessions  Heather is an all around crafter - but her main focus is quilts.  I love her blog because she always has such a positive attitude.

Life is a Stitch  Nancy Rose is a great writer and talks about her quilting, her family and her new  job.  She used to post prolifically, but has been fairly quiet lately.   Maybe this award will encourage her to come back and write some more!

True Blue Canadian  Dolores likes to share her quilting and the occasional stories about her adorable little grandson.

Congratulations to all of my nominees, and thank you for keeping me entertained and inspired!

This is Getting Ridiculous!

Take a look at that diagram.  Note that it says it finishes at 2 inches by 5 inches.  Now count the pieces.  Did you get 72?  72??  And, they want us to do it with templates!!  Each of those little right angle triangles finishes 1/4 inch by 3/4 inch.  Are they crazy?  Do they think I'm crazy?

This, by the way, is the companion block from last month's Freebie Fifteen.   The quilt shop that is offering this will remain anonymous for this post.

I'm seriously thinking of just making 3 stripes and be done with it.  On the other hand, I could draft up a paper piecing pattern...

Freebie Fifteen This Month

Well, it's time for the Freebie Fifteen block again at my LQS.  Although today is the 15th, the store isn't open today, so I'll bring it in tomorrow.

This one has a bit of a Valentine's theme - I guess they were designing it last month this time!

Again with the templates!  I have to say - these are certainly (ahem) unusual blocks!

This is the alternate block from last month.

Again with the pinwheel templates, but I'm getting used to those.  This one had a little more colour than most of the others.  You might think my photos are washed out, but those are the colours of the fabrics - very subdued!

It was Mr. CQT's birthday on Friday.  My daughter was home for the week, as it's spring break at the school where she teaches.  Mr. CQT is a huge John Deere fan, so my daughter made him a John Deere cake.

Needless to say, he was delighted!

Finish-A-Long Time Again

OK, so I didn't do all that well in the first quarter of the Finish-A-Long.  But, I'm persistent, so I'm going to set some new goals, and renew my old one in this next quarter.

First, I still want to finish up my son's quilt:

It's at this stage right now - this is half of it.  I'm going to quilt it in halves, then put them together.  I was procrastinating on this for the longest time, but a couple weeks ago, I came across this book:

Marti Michell has several methods for doing your quilting with less bulk - all of which seem like great ideas.  I had seen her demonstrating one on The Quilt Show, but having the instructions written out, with illustrations, really helped me to understand.  I don't think it will be all that difficult.  (Famous last words!)

Quilts number 2 and 3 are the same pattern, from Judy Martin's Scraps.  They are currently at this stage:

plus a bunch of these:

These two HAVE to be done by June, as the babies are due then.

Visit the Finish-A-Long at Quilter in the Gap.  Thanks Rhonda!

Happy Easter

Nothing I could show you can compare to the absolutely gorgeous Antependium (i.e. Altar Cloth) that Karen Neary has designed and created for her church.  Please go here: http://sewkaren-lycreated.blogspot.ca/2012/04/easter-antependium.html and take a look!

And have a wonderful Easter with your families.

Oh, It's Springtime in Alberta and the Gentle Breezes Blow...

There is an entire poem about this, but that's all I can remember - except for the last line, which is, "I'll never leave Alberta - my feet are frozen to the ground".  This is what we're seeing tonight.

Actually, in the 5 minutes since I have taken this picture, the snow has started falling even heavier! They were predicting 10 cm (4 inches) overnight, but I think we've already got half that, and it's only 7:30!  It should be a fun drive to work tomorrow.

On a lighter note, I made a very enjoyable purchase from a new-to-me online shop called Dragonfly Fabric.  I liked the look of Jennifer's shop, and she carries Kona Solids, which I haven't seen anywhere in Calgary.  I thought I'd try her out with some Kona coal and Kona snow for one of the baby quilts I'm working on.  Here is what arrived.

She included an extra fat quarter of Wooden Horses by Michael Miller.  What a treat!

Jennifer's prices are very good, her shipping is reasonable, and the package arrived only 3 days after I had ordered (and I ordered on Saturday).  Great service!  Thank you Jennifer.