Passing the Days: Days 84 and 87

We woke up to such a sweet surprise in our backyard this week.  This fawn was just a few hours old and still trying to figure out how to stand and walk on its wobbly legs.  They have gotten stronger each day and now this little one is bouncing and jumping through the tall grass like a pro.  I just had to find a block to represent one of the joys of June around here.  I looked for blocks with deer in the name, I looked for blocks with new, and baby, and finally landed on one that had nothing to do with the names I was looking for.  Instead I came across a block called Grandma's Hop Scotch.  It looked rather jumbled and I thought immediately of those wobbly first attempts at walking.  So block 84 I have named Wobbly.  

This one goes together a bit like a puzzle so the main thing is to keep an eye on the direction the various units are facing as you put them together.

When it comes to matching those points I used the little pinning trick I have shown you before.  First placing a pin through the tip of the one on top...

...and then putting it straight through the tip of the one underneath.

This holds them together so that I can place pins on either side and holds those points together as I sew.  (Remove the pins carefully before sewing over them!)

As I was finishing up this block the little oil light on my machine came on.  It comes on every 180,000 stitches.  So it is time to clean and oil my machine.  

If I did not have that little light to tell me when it was time I would probably not do it nearly as often as I should.  I have neglected to clean the lint out of my machine in far too long.  Usually I take a moment to clean out the lint whenever I change my bobbin but it has been several bobbins ago that I even did that.  So now for the photos of what it looks like when we neglect this important aspect of sewing maching care.

Removed the throat plate and opened the bobbin case area.

Opened the hook race to get in there to clean and add a drop of oil.

I use a vacuum cleaner attachment to remove most of the lint, then use a tiny brush to loosen even more that I also vacuum up.  Now my machine is looking much better and purrs like a kitten.

All Cleaned and Oiled

With my machine ready to go I made Day 87's block Thursday.  I love this time of year for some of my favorite fruits.  The berries in Oregon are starting to appear, my apricot tree is looking very promising despite the snow and freezing temps we had this past weekend.  And cherries and apples and pears are growing as well.

We have had days that actually make me think summer could be on its way.  So Block 87 is Bowl of Fruit in honor of my summertime favorites.

I struggled with the color choices on this one.  At first I was leaning towards the colors of grapes which my current fruit bowl is overflowing with.  But I also have all kinds of berries and apples and bananas as well.  Then I stumbled upon some leftover strips of Tula Pink fabrics and decided to just make a colorful bowl.

There is a lot more difference showing in these fabrics before I made them into
1-inch  squares.  That is something to be aware of when working with large prints and cutting them down; the color values can drastically change.  This block went together really quickly.  I did repress one of the 4-square units to get the seam to lock together when I joined the rows and found I needed to pin all of those locking seams when completing the block.  Some days the seams just will not match together unless I pin them and I don'r have a clue why that is.  I hate pinning, but I really did not like the look of seams that did not line up when I pressed the block.

Click on the link below for the pdf's of these blocks.
Passing the Days pdf files

Have a wonderful  weekend and...
​Happy Quilting!