I Had Good Intentions....The Clamshell Report

Being the last day of the month, my Clamshell Report is due.  I did have good intentions, taking all those clamshells with me on vacation.  I was sure I'd have time to stitch a bunch of them together.  Didn't happen.  This trip just seemed to be a whirlwind - it was go-go-go all the time and when I wasn't going, I was napping!  But, I did get a bunch of clamshsells prepped during the month and now have a total of 55 done (including the few already stitched together).  Okay, well, that's not a huge dent in the 600-some clamshells I need to make the quilt, but I'm thinking of this as more of a long-term project, like I hope to get it done in my lifetime.

Because I like to do some prepping and then do some stitching (I'd get bored just prepping them all at once), I decided to take a few pieces from each of the charm packs I'm using to prep so I'd get a good variety to work with.

I'm liking the new basting glue pen I'm using - the Collins Fabric Glue stick - it's billed as a water-soluble instant basting adhesive.  $1.99 on sale at Sew Thankful - can't beat that!  I ordered a bunch of them, but I think I'm going to need a bunch more.  I have a feeling basting 600+ clams is going to take a lot of glue.

Next month I should have a lot more to show!

Clamshell Club!

As if I didn't have enough projects in the works, when I found out there was a Clamshell Club, I just had to join!  I've been intrigued by Clamshell quilts for awhile and the club spurred me to start!  Good thing I waited  - instructions on how to make a clamshell quilt are quite scarce!  I still can't believe it, in this internet age, but it is sadly true.  Luckily, the wonderful ladies in the Clamshell Club have been a wealth of information as I start this journey. I first found out about the club from Sue-Ann's Buddy & Me blog.  Jossie of Cybele's Patch is the hostess for this club.  She's from the Netherlands and her blog is in Dutch and English.  I feel so international! We are to post on our progress the day of each month.  So, after researching a number of different methods, I determined that using these freezer paper clamshell templates from Over the Edge Designs were the best way to go for me.  I found them on Cindi Edgerton's A Very Special Collection site.  Cindi's a doll, I ordered three packs - she sent me four.  On purpose!  Now, that's customer service!  She's got all kinds of paper foundations on her site.  I really like the idea of the iron-on freezer paper and they are economical!  It takes a lot of clamshells to make a quilt!  Each package comes with 160 templates.  Only catch is you have to cut them out. I'm doing a sheet of 8 at a time and it's not bad at all. My next decision was what fabrics to use.  I decided to go with a soft palette and realized that Charm Packs fit the bill!  I could get lots of different fabrics and there's not too much waste.  So far, my Clamshell stash includes (all Moda by the way) Martinique, Astor Manor, Park Avenue, Garden Party, Rural Jardin, Lumiere de Noel, Luna Notte and Beach Cottage. 

Here is one of the cut out templates fused to a charm square that I cut to 3-1/2".  I then made a plastic template 1/4" larger all around so I can trace my seam allowance.  Then, using my round lazy susan mat and a small  rotary cutter, I can cut out my clamshell.  So far, so good.  Then I had another dilemma.  How to baste.  I know this is a long-term project, but I'd like to finish in this lifetime, so I thought glue stick was the way to go.  I had a washable purple glue stick and began to use that.  Worked pretty good but then I thought, isn't this supposed to be permanent, so how was I going to get the papers out after the clamshells were stitched together?  So, I thought maybe I better hand-baste them.  I did about 4 (see below) and then said nope, not doing that! After some more research I found a basting glue stick that I'm going to try.  So, we'll see how that goes!

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Here are the glue-basted clamshells I've finished so far...

and the hand-basted ones...

and since I couldn't wait to see how they would look sewn together I stitched a few.  The guidelines on the back of the paper templates make it easy to line them up!  This is too much fun!!

I plan to cut out a whole bunch before our vacation later this month so I can glue baste and stitch some together while we're away. I think they'll let me take glue stick on the plane o:)