I tell you, this man makes my heart sing.  Especially when he comes home from his solo shopping trip with these goodies for me.  We may have to look for joy right now, but sometimes it just comes along to cheer us on.

I continue to find joy in this daily process of making these 6" blocks.  The block for today is called Letter X.  More Hourglass units to practice on-I do think I am getting better at them.  I also enjoyed the kick off of a new blog hop today which I tell you about at the end of this post.

For this block I went with Cyan which is aquamarine blue.  I used two different values on Cyan and then wanted that center Hourglass to really pop so chose a Blue Red for that.  Red is one of those colors that will steal the show if you let it so using in a limited way adds some "pop" to a quilt.

For this block you will need:
Dark Fabric:
     (cut 1) 3 1/4" x 3 1/4"
Medium #1 Fabric:
     (cut 2) 3 1/4" x 3 1/4"
Medium #2 Fabric:
     (cut 4) 2 1/2" x 2 1/2"
Light Fabric:
     (cut 3) 3 1/4" x 3 1/4"

As in the past I used a scant 1/4" seam to make the hourglass units and starched my fabrics as well.  The starch is really helping with getting these to look nice in the end.  I pressed towards the plain squares as I put the block together.

And here is my finished block.  These colors are just making me happy today.

I have seen several posts on Facebook lately about declluttering.  There must be something in the air.  I joined up with a great group of quilt pattern designers for a blog hop that gets underway today.  It's the Spring Clean Your Studio Blog Hop hosted by Cheryl Sleboda of muppin.com.  I am looking forward to seeing how everyone organizes their studios.  I was really encouraged by Sam Hunter's post today-I need to work on that 10 minutes of clean up at the end of the day.  Below is the list of everyone participating and a link to their blog.  I hope you find some inspiration and stop by and encourage these quilter's who could really use some support right now.  Many have lost their incomes and are feeling down and discouraged and wondering how to move forward from here.  They are used to getting out there and teaching workshops and vending at quilt shows and visiting with you all so I think that you could bring joy to their day just by stopping by their online homes and saying hi.

Have a blessed day and may you find some joy in this day.

I suppose it is no wonder that each of us have had our own connection to astronomy over the years working in the field in various ways.  My oldest has asked for another star quilt so here we go on an adventure to the stars together.

As I shared with you when I introduced this Block of the Month a few weeks ago I am making two versions of this quilt.  This is my first version of Block 1 which I have named Sirius for brightest star in our night sky.

My second version is going to be a baby quilt.

I always love seeing what my pattern testers come up with too...

I am starting us off this month with some video's of how I made my block.  I walk you through all of my tips and tricks for making all aspects of Block 1.

Join me as I show you my method for making Flying Geese.  I demonstrate the use of the Bloc Loc Ruler in trimming these to size.  The wonderful folks at Bloc Loc are providing one free ruler for my giveaway which you can learn more about at the end of this post.

There are some things that will make sewing the block together easier and I share these in this last video.

I am always so excited when we start a new BOM. 
​I can hardly wait to see your versions of this block.  The best place to share photos with me is via my facebook pages.  There is a public one found here:
https://www.facebook.com/tuningmyheartquilts/
and/or my private group page found here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/tuningmyheartsewalong/

You can get your copy of Block 1 by clicking on the link below. 
All blocks will remain free for the year. 
​Block 1:SIRIUS pdf.

Now for the Giveaway. 
I will announce the winner of the Giveaway on Friday, April 10th here on my blog.
For rules and guidelines clickhere.
To be entered you must leave a comment here on my blog.  It is always sad when I have to choose a different winner because they did not comment here first. 
So in the comments just say "hi" and/or let me know what you are doing to stay busy these days.  In the online world your comments really make my day!

Thanks for sewing along with me and may the stars shine brightly for you.
Happy Quilting!

Today's block has me thinking about chains.  At first I thought about the chains that are used to confine people and their movements.  Fitting I suppose.  But then I thought about the chains that bind us together and how strong we are when we are linked like a chain.  That is the picture I want to go with today.  So for Day 15 let me introduce you to the Malvina's Chain Block.

For this block I went into my scrap box again and pulled out a couple of colors from the same family but with different values (one is darker than the other.)
This block is an Hourglass lollapalooza.  The Hourlgass units themselves are pretty easy to make once you get the hang of them.  As I mentioned yesterday I found that I need to use a scant 1/4" seam allowance for these, which is just a touch narrower than my usual.  What worked for me was to move my needle over one position to achieve that.  You could also cut your fabric squares 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" instead of what I call for below if you have trouble with getting the correct finished size Hourglass units.  This will give you leeway for trimming.

For this block you will need:
Dark Fabric:
     (cut 3) 3 1/4" x 3 1/4" 
Medium Fabric:
     (cut 2) 3 1/4" x 3 1/4"
Light Fabric:
     (cut 5) 3 1/4" x 3 1/4"
 
So let's start by making the Half-square Triangles.  Since I making several HST's I chain-piece them all.  I have found that if I start sewing with my piece butted up against the needle I get a much straighter seam.  So each time I start a new piece I lift my presser foot slightly and carefully lay my fabrics in place.

I pulled out my starch for working with this block.  It is amazing what a difference starch can make for getting these Hourglass units to lay flat.  I think the stiffer fabric is also easier to work with.  Today I am using my Best Press which I buy in a refill size and add to a spray bottle that is dedicated to this purpose.  I have also used the Faultless spray starch with good success but am getting away from aerosol cans; though the price is great and it is readily available at least in the states.  One tip: I use a towel on my ironing board whenever I am using starch.  It keeps my ironing surface clean and free of starch and I can just toss it in the wash when I am done with it.

After pressing the HST's I drew diagonal lines on the back of half of them.  I want my line to go from one corner to the other and do not concern myself with the sides of the HST being square at this point.  A piece of very fine sandpaper works like a charm to keep the farbic from slipping while I draw the lines.

I place the HST's with the drawn line right sides together with the matching HST's that I did not draw the line on.  (So the Dark fabric HST's get matched up with Dark fabric HST's and same for the Medium fabric HST's)  When I sew these I work with the seam facing the needle.  This will help push those two seams together when you sew over those locking seam allowances.  Sew a scant 1/4" from each side of the drawn line.  I need to remember to switch my needle position when I sew on the other side of the line since I move to the other side of my presser foot to keep that seam allowance facing the needle or I will be sewing a seam wider than 1/4" which would be really frustrating.  So, looking at the photo that means I am sewing with the needle moved one position to the right here. 

Today I decided to try my Bloc Loc Ruler for trimming these to 2 1/2" x 2 1/2".  It wokred pretty well.  Now I could not see my center marks of 1 1/4" which I showed you yesterday.  (See here for trimming with regular ruler.) Instead I looked at all four corners to make sure that the lines met right at those intersections of the two fabric colors.

I am not sure which ruler I prefer, but it did seem to work for me.

Now to lay the Hourglass units out to make the block.

You will find that not all of the seams lay in opposite directions.  Though at least one of them will. I would sew with the seams that locked together first and then sew carefully over the seam at the bottom to keep them lined up as you sew.  SOmetimes that meant that I flipped the units over to sew them together.  Just check to make sure you are sewing the correct sides together if you need to flip them.  Press as indicated by arrows above.

My advice for joining the rows together is to sew very s-l-o-w-l-y over those bulky seams.  I found that at times it helped to use a stiletto to hold the seam down and keep things aligned.  

I really like the finished block-not perfect, but still beautiful.  

I hope you have a truly blessed day!