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Friday, October 13, 2017

A Day At The Beach - Clue 7


In the words of  the Steve Miller Band, "Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin' into the future."  At least it feels that way for me right now.  It seems like each time I blink, another clue is being released.  Am I typing fast enough?

Welcome to week 7.  I bet you're thinking that we must be getting close now.  Well, we are, but not just yet.  This week we are going to put some of those bits you've been working on into use.  I can see you nodding your head.  Yep, I'm glad too.

PLEASE READ ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE CLUE BEFORE BEGINNING.

Cutting Directions for Clue 7:

Using Color 3 (light blue) cut FOUR - 3 1/2" squares




Using Color 5 (dk blue) cut ONE - 2 1/2" square (maybe you have one left from an earlier clue, I did)
Using Color 6 (toasty neutral) cut TWO - 3" squares and then cut them in half on the diagonal.



That's it for this week.  Is your rotary cutter worn out?

UNIT 15 - Make 60  Isn't this just so cool?  I have to admit, I'm in love here.


Gather your units as listed:  Unit 7 - all 60, Units 8&9 - 60 of each, Units 12&13 - 68 of each, and 128 of your 2" Color 3 (light blue) squares.  You will need all of these parts to complete this Unit 14.


Starting out with Units 12&13, lay out as shown.  The light blue should form a downward arrow.


If you pressed the left side one way and the right side the other, you are on top of this.  If not, just flip as you go so that your seams nest nicely.


Stitch in a 1/4" seam, making sure your points match.  It works beautifully if you nest your seams and then sew with the top one going up.  THAT IS THE OPPOSITE of my picture.  I did all the still shots before actually chaining and thinking the process through.  If, in the picture above, the seam showing was pressed the other way and the one on the back pressed down, your feed dogs will help you get even better points.  I promise.


There are a lot of points at work in the next step so I am pressing seams open.  You can choose to do whatever feels best for you.


Does your unit measure 2" x 2 1/2"?  If not, try again before chaining everything at once.


If it measure right --- go, go, go  See how they are nested properly in THIS picture.


And just like that you have 68 sweet little modified flying geese.


Next - Using your color 3 (lt. blue) 2" squares, lay out as shown.


Stitch the first two sections in a 1/4" seam



Then the last two sections, also in a 1/4" seam.



Press seams to the light.  I know -- seems odd, but way less bulky.


Measure -- you want 2" x 5 1/2".  Do you have that?


Sew, sew, sew.  You will have 64 completed units.  Set 4 aside as you will not be using them in the remainder of this clue and you will be left with 4 of the modified geese units.


Lay out your Units 8&9 as shown.  The dark blue should form a downward arrow.


 Following the same advice as with the previous units, stitch in a 1/4" seam.  I got the picture right this time.  See, I can learn.  Make 60 of these.


Again, I am pressing these seams open.


Now just stitch away.  I got ahead of myself here and was just doing a few at a time and moving on, so I don't have a picture of these little cuties all pressed and hanging out together.


With the two parts you just made and your Unit 7's, lay out the new unit as shown.  Lt. blue arrow down, Dk. blue arrow down, Neutral arrow down.


Laying the top row over onto the middle row, PIN the seam and then stitch in a 1/4" seam.



Laying this whole section onto the Unit 7 and stitch in a 1/4" seam.


Open her up.  Does she measure 5 1/2" square?  I hope so.


And TA-DA --- Unit 15.  Now make 59 more.  (Yes, I fixed my upper right dark blue corner.  It was just a tad off and I didn't like it.)  Press half of these with seams going up and half with seams going down.


Are you still reading?  I hope so because we are not quite finished with this clue yet.  Remember those pieces you cut at the very beginning?  It's time to play with them.

Block B - Make 1


Gather your Unit 6 - all 4, the 3 1/2" color 3 squares - all 4, the, 2 1/2" color 5 square, and the 4 neutral triangles you cut above.

Start with the Color 3 (lt. blue squares) and the Unit 7's


Sew One Unit 6 to a lt. blue square as shown.  Do it again so that you have two.


Sew another unit 6 to the light blue square as shown.  Repeat for the second one.


You should have TWO of these strips.


Unit 16 - Make 1 -   Square in a Square


Gather the Color 5 (dk blue) 2 1/2" square and the Color 6 (toasty neutral) triangles (4)


Fold your blue square in half both ways and finger press to find your centers.


With one triangle, fold it in half and finger press the middle as well.  Then, matching centers, lay onto the square as shown.  Stitch in 1/4" seam.


Add another triangle to the opposite side and repeat -


This is what you should have at this point.


Trim sides even with center square.


Now, add another triangle to the third side, using the same "fold and find the center" method.


Stitch in a 1/4" seam.


Add the last triangle to the remaining side and attach with 1/4" seam.


This is what you should have.


Trim (AND CENTER) to 3 1/2"



With your Unit 16 and the remaining two 3 1/2" Color 3 (lt. blue) squares, create the middle row of the nine-patch.


Attach the left side first



Then the right



Sew the seam between the top and center rows - 1/4"


And the final seam - also 1/4"



Let's go just a bit further.  I'm sure you have figured out by the "press half one way and press half the other" comment, the Unit 15s go together.  Yeah, I wasn't too sneaky there.  So, why not just go ahead and put them together?  Gather your Unit 16's.  Yes, all 60 of them.


Stitch together in a 1/4" seam with seams nesting.


I did this all four rows at once, in a long web.


And wound up with this - There should be 15 in each string.  NOW, pay attention here.  Take a moment and stitch across the light blue top edge of each string in a 1/8" seam to hold everything together.  Ask me why I'm telling you to do this?   Hmmmm?  EXPERIENCE!!


That's it.  This clue is TA-DONE!!!

We'll end this week with the inventory:

2 - 9" neutral (color 6) squares (if stringing - they are diagonal)
4 - 4 1/2" neutral (color 6) squares (if stringing - 4 diagonal)
4 - 2" lt. blue squares
4 - Blue strips - square, modified flying goose, square
4 - modified flying geese -- small lt. blue/dark blue
16 - Unit 3's
32 - Unit 4's
32 - Unit 5's
4 - Unit 8's
4 - Unit 9's
32 - Unit 10's
32 - Unit 11's
16 - Block A's
1 - Block B
4 - Unit 15 long strings of 15 each.

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