Watched You Tube

Today sucked actually. It is lovely outside, but the smoke from fires so many miles away have settled in the valley making it impossible to be outdoors or to have open windows. I do not want smoke coming in and settling on fabrics for projects I am working on right now.

I watched several of the tutorials from Quilty https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PPcP1eHbdo&list=PLsYvTdlNYsS6WvLOnEL5-ZoNDLst7HQ2K 

and Missouri Star
https://www.youtube.com/user/MissouriQuiltCo

Sometimes I flipped through them, sometimes watched for awhile and sometimes watched the entire video. There is a lot to be learned even when I think I know what it is about. 

One thing I learned on a Quilty tutorial was about accurate 1/4" seams. The two women on the show were Mother & Daughter and are legends in the quilting community. Of course, they have wisdom born out of experience and from being with, and teaching so many quilters. 

Yet. One needs to know herself too. 

Marianne Fonz measures the squares. A 3 1/2" raw square with accurate seams finishes at 3". She joined two squares and measured to see if they finished at 6 1/2". Less meant the seam was too scant. More meant that it was too heavy. Mary Fonz said that if they were all the same it didn't make any difference. Her Mother said it did if you were using triangles. Mary also said she had a tool on her machine that helped her sew to the edge and be done with the stress of measuring. Her Mother countered with birthing and growing up stories, and scoffed at the tool saying they were not for all machines. Sigh.

I am on the side of the Daughter. I am only making quilts with squares and rectangles and sew the same seam, and do not care what size the quilt is when it is finished. I plan to look for that 1/4" guide. One video was also on a similar Log Cabin quilt pattern that I am currently making, so I watched with interest.

The other tutorials from Missouri Star always seem to have shortcuts to traditional patterns, and I like what I see. I flipped past the triangle patterns. And the thing is that I am doing so much now that I have no time for anything NEW.

So why do I say today sucked? I have several bins out of my closet on the floor that are opened with fabric spilling out. The doors to my closets make them look stuffed. I am just feeling sorry for myself that there is so much here. And yet, I am grateful for all I have been given and have and feel quite pleased with what I make from it all.

What else I did was to sew up one of the baby quilts, add the batting, turn it and pin baste so it is ready for tying. Then I baked two onions for onion rings. OMGoddess are they good! And my housekeeper came. She spent several hours doing a few things I passed onto her.

As for the new computer setup. The geek is returning with an extension to the keyboard and will answer any questions I have. I have a growing list. I miss the Mac and he says I can do the same things with this system. Hah! I have a full page of questions already, and a lot of frustration.