Design Wall Monday

to see what others are working on go to Judy's page.

On my wall is this...

I am constructing the barn for the quilt I have been asked to make. I have been putting this off and couldn't figure out why because I have really enjoyed making the other blocks. I think it may be because I am trying to make it too detailed. This is the last major thing I have to make before I can start putting it all together.

I had some issues with my machine when I was finishing up the turkey blocks -  kept getting a foot control warning, skipped stitches when doing the buttonhole applique stitch, thread breaking. I rethreaded, changed thread, bobbin and needle and still had the same issues. So, it went in for service. The repair guy didn't find anything wrong with it except that it needed a good cleaning. That is good! And, it has worked well since I brought it home, but I have not tried any applique stitches yet.

I am wondering if the frequent stopping and starting to turn the piece when appliqueing caused the foot control to be confused or overheat or something. Also, wondering if the fusible web may have caused the skipped stitches. I used Steam-A-Seam 11 Lite, something I have never had a problem with before. But, they took it off the market for a short time and brought it back. I wonder if it is made differently and might cause an issue?

You can stop reading now if you don't want to see my little rant.
I'm tired.
I HATE when this happens:

It seems that I am the only one who can change empty paper tubes. This one is in the garage but it happens in the kitchen and bathroom, too.

This also happens with the laundry, dishwasher and recycling/garbage bins. I have let these things go for days to see if someone else will take care of it... nope. I can give my husband a bit of a break this time of year because he is very busy farming - sunup until sundown. My son, no excuse.

Late to the Party..

Seems that since school/work started back up again, I am always late posting for Design Wall Monday.

Anyway...
... here is what I have been working on.

This is the bag I received in the latest exchange for the Quilters Exchange group I am in. Pretty Christmas-y colors without being just for Christmas.

This is my block. I have had a lot of fun making my block for each exchange. I usually try to fussy-cut that center square. It ends up finished size of 1inch so sometimes it is hard, but this flower was perfect!

I have also been working on the farm quilt. This is the flag that will go in it. I like the looks of this, but I am concerned that the white background of the star will disappear when it is pieced into the quilt... unless I do something different. Like, sash the flag with something, but what?

Or, instead of a pieced star, just a square from the blue with white stars fabric. But, then I feel like it needs a few more red and white stripes at the bottom. Either way, I think it needs another white and 2 more red stripes at the bottom.

The little hexie flower you see was a free hand-out at the quilt show I attended a couple of weeks ago. The kit included hexie papers and fabric squares along with directions. I got it stitched up in an evening. I like the fabric that was included in the kit. It is a cute little hexie block, but now I don't know what to do with it.

It measures 4 inches. The kit suggested appliqueing the hexie block to a 5 inch square and making it into a pin cushion. I don't need another pin cushion and I don't know any else who does either. Hhhmmm.