2009 June 12 — Patchwork Times by Judy Laquidara

The Line Up

June 12, 2009 · by JudyL

Yesterday evening I passed by the breakfast room window and noticed the chickens all staring off in one direction. Then I realized there were a dozen or so deer in the back yard. I wish I’d taken the time to run downstairs and get the camera with the 15X zoom but I grabbed the little one off the counter which has only a 4X zoom. I went out the garage door to “sneak” around back, though I can never sneak up on the deer . . their sense of smell and hearing is way too keen. Chad was working on his car and I told him there were a ton of deer in the back yard so he came back there with me. He was saying “does it have *something* (baby antlers) . . but I forgot what he called them. He was saying “zoom in and see if it has *whatever he called them*!” Yep, it does . . so that means it’s a young buck.

Then it ran off into the woods and when I walked out there, there were three more lined up . . all perfectly straigh in in a line.

I couldn’t get a great picture of them but it was so funny to see all three of them lined up perfectly. This one is blurry but it’s the best shot I had of them all lined up.

So much for city living, huh?

· Filed Under: Home & Garden · 9 Comments

Perfect Half Square Triangles

June 12, 2009 · by JudyL

If you’ve paid much attention at all to the quilts I make, you know that most every one of my quilts has more than a few half square triangles. . I’m always looking for a “new and improved” method for making perfect half square triangles. Maybe I’m the world’s worst presser because no matter what method I use, they get distorted when I press so the only way I can get my half square triangles to come out perfect is to use a method where I trim after pressing.

At quilt market in May, June Tailor’s booth was across from us and Katy and Kristie were demoing a new half square triangle ruler. As best I could, I was trying to watch what they were doing from across the aisle and never quite figured out what would make their Perfect Half Square and Quarter Square Triangle Ruler so great. The last day of the show, I walked over to their booth and Katy explained it all to me. It seemed easy enough and after market closed, she gave me the ruler she’d been using for demos.

Once I tried this ruler, I don’t see that I’ll ever use another method for making half square triangles. I love it! The half square triangles come out so perfect but what I like best is that the half square triangle is under the ruler so when I hold the ruler down, the fabric isn’t moving at all and I have the whole ruler on which to place my fingers . . no reason at all to get my finger too close to the rotary cutter!

Please click on this video link to watch a little demo of the ruler in action. It’s an amazing new tool for those of us who love half square triangles. I’m sure using the ruler to make quarter square triangles is just as amazing but I haven’t done that yet. I’ve been too busy making this quilt, which by the way, has 614 half square triangles. I put the ruler to a good test and I do love it!

After watching the video, if you think you would like one of these rulers, please ask your local quilt shop to get them! They’ll be more than happy to do so . . and maybe you can even do a demo of the ruler at your local shop!

June Tailor has very generously donated 5 of these fantastic rulers to be given away on my blog. All you have to do to be eligible to win one of them is to leave a comment about your experience with half square triangles! You can tell about a quilt you made, when you first learned to use half square triangles, a big mess up you made with them .. anything related to half square triangles will get you eligible for the rulers. The winning names will be drawn June 15 about noon and the rulers will be shipped directly to the winners from June Tailor.

And . . remember what’s on my design wall? Next week I’ll be sharing that pattern with you. Yep, 614 half square triangles but you can do it . . especially if you have this handy dandy Perfect Half Square Triangle Ruler!

Also, the cone thread racks that readers often ask about are a June Tailor product also. I don’t think a lot of quilt shops keep these cone racks in stock but your shop can get it for you if you ask them to do so.

Thanks June Tailor for a great new tool and thanks for the rulers for the giveaway!

· Filed Under: Quilting · 198 Comments

Want to see the Chickens?

June 12, 2009 · by JudyL

Living right in the middle of town, we seem to have lots of people just stop by. Most of the time we’re outside and they stop to visit for a few minutes. Vince always says “Want to see the chickens?” I think he’s really wanting to show off his handiwork on the chicken coop (still not finished) and so far, everyone has been really impressed. He’s proud of it and he should be! But since he’s showing off the chickens to half of our town, I figured I’d share some current pictures of them here.

This is one of the Ameraucanas. They’re not usually real friendly but this one was pretty interested in what I was doing with my head and camera down in the coop.

Here they are outside in the run. Haven’t they grown so much? I still can’t get over how friendly the Gold Stars are.

This gray one . . still not so friendly!

They’re so nosey! Always looking around to see what’s going on. When I walk by the window, if all the chickens are in one corner looking in one direction, I know there’s a bunny or a deer or something out there that’s gotten their attention.

Last night we moved them so they’d be back on fresh grass. See the dead spot behind where they are now? It takes them about one week to destroy the grass!

Someone told Vince that if we’d put the water up on a cement block, they wouldn’t get on top of it. When they’re on top of it and they need to relieve themselves . . into the water it goes! So, we’d prefer that they not sit on top of their water.