Bless your heart, Rosemary!! This is supposed to be the easy part!! I would love to offer to help with the sorting, but I would need to start swimming NOW!
Hang in there, kiddo! YOU CAN DO THIS!!

Oh Rosemary, Woe is you! What a 'staggering' tale - gives a new meaning to 'stick and paste'. But I am sure it helped to stiffen your resolve to get those little blighters whipped into shape or it will be the stiletto for them! Thanks for the update. Rita.

oh rosemary, what a saga
but as some very smart ladies have said: "don't sweat the small stuff" - move on and enjoy !!!
i'm still quilting - but will get to those reels soon - a bunch of fabrics in the washing machine right now - hopefully i'll decide on what colours i want to go with soon and then...
yeahhhhhh

Reetzbobeetz wrote: Not necessarily, I have a mixture of 10 prints & 3 blender batiks, but due to my sewing technique there are no 2 the same! So don't worry about it, 1 lot of 82 or 2 lots of 41, either way is fine, or as NaneeWolf put it last year - 'don't sweat the small stuff.'

Latest Update from Headquarters

At the weekend I bit the bullet and re-arranged the spreadsheet, putting everyone who wants to do 1 set of reels in group 'a' and those who want to do a second set of reels have their second spot in group 'b', so if your were originally in group 'b' you are now in group 'a'.

HOWEVER this will not make a blind bit of notice to what happens at your end! If you have received a number, you are signed up and there is no escape - unless you have an excuse more imaginative than 'the dog ate my homework'

Current numbers Group a = 28. Group b = 7.
This exchange hasn't exactly gone 'virul' like last year's hst exchanges. Upon Margo's suggestion I have sent a request to Lilo & Mary Kay for a mention on the Daily Blog. We will just have to see what happens. If Group b doesn't fill up completely I am suggesting that those reels are done as a multiple swap (currently 6 of each, each) if you follow me.

A Bijou Saga-et

Before christmas I industriously starched & cut all my fabrics into 1"x 3 1/2" strips. I made a heap of half rectangle triangles as well & I then sewed them all into pairs, at which point I divided them into 2 sets. I then set about joining pairs into 4s, only to discover that I had a bad case of 'The Staggers!' for which the only know cure is the application of a pointed instrument :shock:

It was at this point that I decided that there wasn't enough starch in my starching, so I made up a stronger batch and poured it in the bag holding the second set, then let it to soak whilst I went to feed the (mini) Hoard. When I got back to it the starch was pink Synthrapol here I come. So I laid all those pieces out on tea-towels on a tray and put them in the airing cupboard to dry. Yep, they dried beautifully.... & pasted together, another application of a sharp instrument, but in a slightly different fashion, sigh!

So back to the first set of pairs which are now 4s, they are all being double checked for size & alignment after each set of stitching/ pressing. Then when finished they will also need to be soaked in synthrapol to make sure that there is no further bleeding ( by the way I didn't get any pink transfering, except into the water, but not onto the tea-towels )

When I finally get one set of 41 reels finished I will take a photo to show everyone what is essential for putting in the envelope and I will be able to work out how much the return postage will be.

And the Moral of this Story - I am most definitely NOT the person to turn to for advice for sewing up lots of multiples of the same thing!

Oh I thought that if we did 2 sets that they had to be the same

.....so there I was, lovingly putting the final polish on to a most excellent (even if I do say so myself) & long post and bleh! (it wasn't even exciting enough to be a ping), Bleh - I lost all connection, all my exquisite prose - poof! disappeared into the ether, never to be seen again!
'Wussan-dussan-dussan' as Muttley would say (The Wacky Races cartoon, for those who need the reminder)

7 hours later I am reconnected and will endevour to re-assemble my thoughts and try to re-compose the original post.

I starched fabric this afternoon for my second set of reels, and laughed when I thought that it reminds me of variegated King Tut thread!
I'll post a photo when they are assembled.

oh, i'm loving all these color combos - fab fab fab - i so look forward to this quilt

I have mine done now. It looks very florid now that they are all together. I had no stripes or checks in greens (hmmm must do something about that I am going to check if I have enough of the same fabrics and if I do I will send off a request to Rosemary to double it.

Yes the Classroom is where I was looking and where I expected to find it. Maybe the powers that be will make it happen soon. Rita.

Reetzbobeetz wrote:
Me too, Rita! For some reason that video does not come up when I do a search on the Daily Blog for 1/4" seam allowance, so I have also added it to MY FAVORITES.
I have requested that all my videos be added to my Classroom links, but so far they haven't been put there.

Yes that's the one! I never know where to find these things when I want them. But I think that I have now put it into my favourites so that I can find it again when I need it - which I probably will Thanks again Margo. Rita.

Reetzbobeetz wrote:
Thanks Rita! I had forgotten about the video! [url]daily-blog/103-good-advice/14745-margos-test-for-14-seam-accuracy[/url]