Try-It Tuesday.... Thangles

Well good morning.... I would invite you in for tea but I am out so I had coffee early this morning. I really needed the caffeine as I was dragging- it was cool in the mid 50's and foggy. I was under a quilt so what can I say I know how the bear feels when he is just coming out of hibernation!
Once again it is Try-It Tuesday, I have no idea where the week has gone except work!  I am still waiting on my bunnies to have the babies! They are due today, the one rabbit always goes 3 days over due date and the other two are first timers with the whole mommy thing! So you know what they say a  pot watched does not boil! Remember to go over to Jo's Country Junction and see what all the ladies are trying over there. Also when you care done visiting Jo's site go check out Tip Me Tuesday and see all the tips and home-made things folks are busy creating!
So today I am going to actually try sewing with Thangles. I know they have been around awhile, alot of people have used them or are using them.  I haven't tried them before, I am too cheap to purchase them especially when I don't know if I will like them or not. I lucked out at the Quilt show this last weekend and got a package that has size 1, 2, 2.5, 3 in there with a pattern to boot..... the price was only a dollar! Score me!!! I am working on graduation quilts and other gifts so I thought I would give them  a try.


This is the packet that I bought for a $1.00! Can you believe it! The picture is upside down but I want it at the beginning of the pictures so you can see what the Thangles look like! Computers! Or in this case humans! LOL I just don't want to download all the pictures again! 




So I ironed my fabric that I chose.




Then you put the like sides together. The directions say put the lighter fabric on the top and then the seam allowance will go
to the darker fabric.




Then you add the Thangle paper and pin it down. If you want your half square triangle to be finished at say a
2" than you cut your fabric 2 1/2 wide.




Here I am almost ready to sew. You will be sewing on the dotted lines, and cutting them apart on the solid lines!



As you can see my first attempt was wrong! Yes I sewed the solid line! Duh! Well lesson learned. =) I am also using my industrial sewing machine -Sushi is her name. She is fast! So I had to control her!



Here is a close-up to see how I got the needle right on the line and then actually put the needle through the paper before sewing with the foot peddle. Like I said Sushi is fast so I don't want to unthread the needle being I have it centered on the line so well! Remember you should have it centered on the dotted line!



So you are sewing on both of the dotted lines on each piece- which will give you 4 half square triangles. You will be cutting between the two lines that you sewed and between the two solid lines  that seperates the two Thangle pieces.

As you can see I was way better on sewing the one on the left! So yes, following a line will take some getting used too!



So I cut on the middle line- which I had sewn as you can see.




Here it is as I started ripping them apart. When you sew with the stitches so close together it rips easy. Also I realized after ripping them apart that you should wait til after you press them, then rip apart, that the seams don't stretch. Second lesson I learned!




I used the size 2.5 and I will get 4 of these cuties out of each Thangle paper.




This one needs to be cut down the middle solid line and then cut on the solid line at the top of the Thangle..




After ripping you have paper to recycle.




Before pressing open.





After pressing open. You will have to trim off the little point popping out of the bottom of the square.




Here are the finished project. I am excited that so far this morning I have added 4  half- square triangles to my bin. I have to say they seem alittle putsy, learning a new thing, trying to get the dotted lines sewn right and then cutting them apart. I think if all your fabric is put together, cut out and they are all put together with the paper it would go alot faster to just sew them up, put  them in a bin to rip later. Then what I would do is rip them apart while watching a movie.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Feel free to leave me a message. Let me know if you have ever made anything with Thangles. If you would like to buy Thangles I am sure your local quilt store might stock them or I am sure that they would love to order them for you!
Happy Sewing!



Try-It Tuesday- African Violets!

Good morning friends. I am pleased that you stopped by to visit my blog. Today is Try-It Tuesday, orginally thought up by Jo over at Jo's Country Junction. On Tuesday we try out things we would like to "try" . If you have come here before then you know I always ask you  to go check out Jo's site and see what her readers are "trying" and of course see what she has made. She has made some wonderful quilts! I do not know how she gets so much done, I wish I was that fast!
Today I started out with my African Violet that I bought at the grocery store about 5 months ago, it was a house warming gift to myself. I love the color and when I first bought it it was a healthy plant, not huge and had like 2 flowers. Not the same plant today!


The Violet is in a west facing window and has really taken off. I also have a Hoya in this window that has grown like a weed as well. This plant was small but hea;lthy when I bought it, 2 flowers and 8-10 leaves. Not any more!




I really like this color. I have not seen it on any other African Violet, it was the only one at the store. All the rest were purple and pink.



My first thing to do was to get the flat that I used before. These leaves that you see were harvested off a African Violet plant at my job, I have no idea what color the flower will be. I started 4 from leaves and three are still alive and thriving.




First thing I did was put water in there so that the soil can have time to really let it sink in. I will use these 6 starter  holes on this side, and the 6 on the other side as well. I will transplant the 3 that are already started into their own cups.




First I used a paring knife and cut a healthy leaf off the main plant. I used different leaves as I am not sure if the healthy new thick leaves will create a new plant better than a leave that is older and further from the plants core. This is Try-It Tuesday so I figured I will take the time and start as many as I can from various leaves  and see what I get. After cutting the leaf I then dipped it in water.... 




Then in root starter- I used Take Root Rooting Hormone by Shultz, I just bought it at Walmart.




Not a good picture, but I wanted you to see it is clumped on the end, just shack it off alittle.





Then dig a little hole and pop it in. I like to keep the leaf up alittle so it is not laying on the dirt. Violets seem to be picky about their leaves.







This is the seed starter that I used in the yogurt cups.



The leaves were dug out with a spoon and put in their yogurt cup, more soil was added. Watered.





This is how much soil I added before put the leaf in with the soil that they already had around their roots.




As you can see there are a bunch of new leaves coming out. That is why I decided to trim as many leaves off and give the plant some room to breathe. Also I think it will be fun to share some little African Violets with my friends. Friend plants have been started!  



Here are the difference between the leaves. The lighter one is from further out on the plant. The darker one is from closer to the plant- thicker and daek. I guess we shall see which creates a better plant.



Close-up of more leaves and tiny flowers that will be coming out!



The finished leaves all put to bed in their own holes. There are two cells that have 2 leaves in them. I am not sure how many will turn into plants. I was happy last time that 3 out of the 4 that I planted are still alive so I am hope 10 out of 14 this time. We shall see. This was a fun experience. I will have to update everyone as they grow!





Thanks again for visiting the blog. Let me know what you are growing or if there is something I need to know about African Violets. Make sure that you go check out Jo's Country Junction