Ann's Folly - Paper Pieced - Makeup from Week 4

This is part 2 of Week 4's blocks.  The paper-pieced version of Ann's Folly.  Let me just say that this block was a bear and contrary to the norm so far, harder (yes, I said harder) than the template pieced counter part.  There were more mistakes and more ripping done on these paper-pieced blocks than on most small quilts.  In the end, Holly caught her mistakes and fixed them before it was too late, but I didn't catch one of mine until the block was complete...so, I am not going to fix it.  I may decide to redo the entire block somewhere down the road...you know, before I shove pins in my eye sockets and after the frontal lobotomy (or a bottle in front of me).  Either way, if I redo it, it will be the template pieced way.  the points on that one seem to match up better, anyway.  Okay...enough of my rambling...onto the instructions.

 First, we printed out the paper-pieced diagram from EQ6 (left) and cut it into the various segments (right).

Next, place the background fabric right side showing on the back of the triangle segment.  Place a piece of focus fabric right sides together with the background and then sew along the bold line.  Trim the seam allowance. Add another piece of focus fabric and sew along the next bold line.  Trim and press.

Next, add a piece of background fabric to either side of the strip in the middle and sew along the bold lines.  Trim and press between each addition.  Add a piece of focus fabric for the small triangle tips.  In the picture below, Holly chose to use background fabric instead.

Here is where we find Holly's first big mistake...See the picture below.  It is only a mistake because she wanted to have the little red fans fussy cut in the small triangle tip.

Do all of the above steps again and you should have 2 of the units pictured below.

Now, to make the remaining pieces.  Start with the middle.  Make the strips just as you did for the units above, just without the large triangles.  Remember that in the following pictures, Holly chose to use background fabric instead of focus fabric on the small triangle tips.

 Once you have the 2 pieces above, sew them together to create the one below.

Now, to make the outer frame pieces.  Just like on the template pieced block, we decided that the tiny square in the corner of 2 of the frame sides was ridiculously small, so we simply made it part of the piece next to it.

Here is where we find Holly's next mistake.  LOL  She accidentally swapped the center fabric on the frames for 2 of her side pieces.  Oops!

After ripping and re-sewing, she had 2 each of the units shown below.  YAY Holly!

Okay.  Now you should have all of the pieces in the picture below.

Now, to put them together.  First, piece the 2 middle strip sections together.

Then, sew a large triangle section to each side of the strip.

Now, you have a complete middle square.  Next, we add the frames on.  Sew the frame sides onto opposite sides of the middle block (below).

Then, you sew on the remaining 2 sides and you have a completed block!

 Now, all you have to do is remove the paper...carefully.  :)

Mary's Finished bloc (left) and Holly's finished block (right).

Review of Wells & Young's Brewing Co's Banana Bread Beer

This week, we reviewed a Banana Bread Beer manufactured by Wells and Young's Brewing Co.

Today (and hopefully for all reviews in the future) we have a special treat for you! The Random Guy Review. Yep, you heard right. Not only will you get mine and Holly's thoughts on the beer, but the opinion of a guy, because, as you well know, guys think differently than us girls do. And now, onto our first Random Guy Review!

Banana bread beer!  Who come up with this stuff?  I have always been a fan of banana bread and what random male does not like beer.  This should be great…  The darkish color and banana aroma sort of drew me in; it smelled like it should taste great.  It definitely got the flavor of banana bread when I first tasted it.  It was not terrible, but I felt it was lacking any of the traditional tastes that make beer great for me.  It was too thin to be a smooth creamy beer and as I drank more just began to strike me as too sweet.  All in all I’d call it a beer for those people that don’t drink beer and are not comfortable being seen drinking Zima.  Much like bowling and sobriety I think I will keep my beer and banana bread separate in the future.

Brian Jarecki, Random Guy

Wells Banana Bread Beer smells like...Bananas!! And beer. Lol! There IS truth in advertising! I like this beer cold. Really, really cold. Like beer-cicle cold. So, if you put this beer in the freezer, then start paper-piecing Anne's Folley, then unsew it a bunch of times...You get to come back to a frozen beer. So then you take a shower. And then you can drink a partially thawed Banana Bread Beer WHILE you're picking out all those little pieces of paper. It has a nice medium golden color to it. And it tastes sweet, just like a slice of the banana bread itself :) yum. This came in a 1pt 0.9 US fl.oz. bottle and is 5.2% alcohol by volume. Wells brewed it with bananas and added banana flavor after brewing to make it extra banana-y. If you like those yellow things that most people put in their morning krispies, or you're part monkey, I think there's a good chance you'll like this beer. I give it 4 thimbles.
Holly


I guess a good place to start with this beer would be the smell.  It smelled just like banana bread!  Needless to say, I was shocked...and intrigued.  The lovely golden color looked warm and inviting.  There was very little foam or carbonation in this one.  I took a sip, expecting a mouthful of sweet, moist banana bread, but instead got the neighbor lady's over-done dry version of something she calls banana bread.  I was disappointed to say the least.  Maybe the beer would have tasted better at a colder temperature; maybe it would have tasted better if it had not smelled soooo good.  The remainder of the beer went down smooth and satisfying.  Overall, a decent beer, just know what is coming before you take that first swig.  I would have to say 2.5 thimbles for the banana bread beer.
Mary

Ann's Folly - Template Pieced - Makeup from Week 4

Okay...here we go.  Due to the number of pictures, we will be posting Week 5 in pieces. The first piece will be the template pieced Ann's Folly block that should have been done in week 4. This block will reside in spot K6.

This block, when done properly with templates, has 37 pieces. Our block, however, only has 33 pieces. We decided that because the size of piece 'a' was teeny tiny and piece 'a' and 'b' are the same fabric to combine them as illustrated in picture #2.

Template pieces for Ann's Folly laid out for the block

To start, you should cut out all of your template pieces. I printed mine from the Dear Jane software for EQ6. I always make sure to use 'paper' scissors to cut the templates, and not my good 'fabric' scissors.

After cutting out the paper templates, you will need to cut out the fabric pieces from the templates. I find it easier to do this with a rotary and ruler. Once all the pieces are cut out, lay them out so that you can see where everything goes (see photo above).

Here is where the fun starts...follow the pictures to put your block together.

Sew the sets of 'F' strips together and press

Sew an 'E' triangle to both sides of 2 of the 'F' strip sets.

Now, just in case you think "how can they do this without making mistakes?", see below for what NOT to do.

Sew the 'E' triangle on upside down and you get the piece in the picture above and have to rip it out and do it again. Arggg.

Sew the remaining 'F' strip sets to opposite sides of the center 'G' square.

 Middle pieces pieced and pressed

Sew a 'D' triangle to both sides of the middle strip and to the tips of both side triangles as pictured.

Middle with triangle tips pieced and pressed

Sew the middle pieced triangles to both sides of the middle pieced strip. I used pins to help line it up properly.

Middle pieced and pressed

For the frame, sew 2 'B' pieces to either side of 2 of the 'C' pieces.

Sew the 'A'/'B' combo pieces to the ends of the remaining 2 'C' pieces.

Sew the 'B'/'C' pieces on to opposite sides of the center piece and press

Sew the 'A'/'B'/'C' pieces to the remaining to sides of the center.  DON'T PRESS YET

On the left is what you should have. Use a ruler to line up the edge and cut off the excess on both sides.

NOW PRESS

My completed block (left) and Holly's completed block (right).