To Answer Some Questions

I usually read the stats for my blogspot each day, to see how many people have been on my blog and what countries the people are from who read my blog. I also go to the referring sites that the people who read come from. One thing interesting to me this morning is that two of the people who read my blog in the last week had asked a couple of questions that lead them to my blog.

One reader  had asked what rulers you need for Smokey River quilt. I use a cutting board with a rotary cutter for all my quilts if I can. I have a couple of rulers that I use. One is probably 20 or so inches long. It has 20 inches of guiding area on one side of the ruler and the other side has a triangle at one end for about 6 inches and then a straight side the rest of the ruler. I have used this ruler for years. It was one of the first ones I ever bought. I have worn out one cutting board. It was not the self healing kind. The board I use now was given to me by my daughter-in-law who lives in Virginia. It is about 24 inches by 12 inches. I'm not positive about the dimensions, but that is close. I'd really like it to be a little wider, but I take what I have and make do with it.
The above straight ruler with point on one end is my all time favorite. For the Smokey River quilt I bought the Companion Angle ruler and the Easy Angle ruler. I don't think I would have had to have them, but they did make the cutting a little easier and made the pointy pieces more pointy.
The other question asked was "Why is Block of The Month quilt so expensive?" Wish I knew!! They are pretty pricey. The Civil War Block of the month quilt that I am doing is $28.95 a month plus postage. That makes it total $33 a month. The first month was worth the price, because I got a lot of fabric.  Some was used that month and some you used part of it and saved the rest to use later. Then the 12th month I got a lot of material. One piece was 3-4 yards. I won't do a block of the month quilt again, where they send me the fabrics. I would rather, I think, take the pattern and go to the fabric store and buy my own.
I had always wanted to do a block of the month quilt and the Civil War one was one of the least expensive that Keepsake Quilting had. I knew I would not be able to find the correct materials to use at our small quilting shop here. And I did not want to have to go out of town to find the fabrics. But it is a pricey quilt! I am making all the half square triangles that go in the small blocks that are the border. There are 204 half square triangles of one kind and 136 of another kind. I think I cut out 400 2X2 inch blocks for those border blocks also. I know I did not answer this question, because you would have to ask the quilting catalog owners why the block of the month quilts are so expensive. I expect you are paying for their time in cutting the correct amounts of the fabrics you need for the quilt.
I am sewing those half square triangles on my sewing machine. I am sewing them end to end without cutting the threads. I will go back and sew the other side so I'll be able to cut between the stitching to get the square. It is faster that way. With these border blocks being about 6 inches square when stitched completely, they will be stitched on the sewing machine. I would rather stitch my quilts by hand, but sometimes you need a faster way to do things.
I'd appreciate any comments or questions anyone has. Just comment on the end of the blog for that day and I'll get back as soon as I can.