Blocks on the Go!

I have been working on Katja Marek's Blocks on the Go for Quilts on the Grow!  I am really enjoying these.  In fact I am enjoying them so much that I am doing a set in Reproduction fabrics as well.  They will not have the outer border and batting.  I will stitch them together once all the blocks have been made.  I will play with the color combos for the best layout.

I am enjoying picking out two very different kinds of fabrics.  I am using Kaffes in the modern one and picking out color combinations which I like for the Reproduction ones.  No particular color scheme going.  I want it to be scrappy and fun.

These blocks are so lovely and bright.  

More reproductions.  I love the little bees in the diamonds and well as the dapper soldiers in the light diamond of the top block.  I am actually all caught up and waiting for April's clues to arrive.  Such a lovely sew along.  Thank you Katja!

A Finished Quilt.

My daughter arrives home tonight. I got her quilt done on Thursday night.  It took a whole month to quilt. I did have a week hiatus while waiting for thread to ship to me. I finished two 1200 yard spools and a bit of the third one.  Here it is on her bed, just waiting for her to have a cozy night's sleep.

The quilt is very densely quilted.  Stippled in the snowball blocks.  I used a stencil at the intersection of all the snowballed corners.  I was going to do a more random vine like quilting in the sashing spaces and I started, looked at it and saw that it was not random at all.  I liked it so I just carried on doing the figure of eights.  

I still have water soluble pen marks to pat pat off with a damp cloth.  Got about half of them done.

It is a large queen size quilt.  7 blocks by 8.  I needed it to tuck over the mattress at the bottom of the bed.  I am really happy with the finish and hope she likes it as much as I do.  

It's Here at Last!

I have been waiting so very patiently for my thread to arrive and at last it came today.   Now I can get on with the finishing up of the quilt. 

I have not been lazy whilst waiting for the thread.  I crocheted two more doilies for the wedding. This one is a lovely peach color.  

This one is in Ecru.  I enjoyed making these two doilies and I just love how the edging turned out on this doily.

In The Meantime, Pillowcases!

I am still quilting the big queen size quilt.  Three weeks to the day.  Guess what!  I ran out of thread.  I have used two spools of 1200 yards.  Not wanting to change thread while quilting this top, I now patiently wait for our sweet post lady to bring me some more.

While I wait, I decided to make the two pillowcases that I wanted to do anyhow!  They turned out so nicely.  I used French seams so that there are no raw edges. 

The cuff and trim piece is the same as the binding for the quilt.  I made the binding with a flange of narrow black.  Yes, I made the miles of binding too.  Now I just wait patiently on my thread.  I am so close to being finished I can almost taste it.  Soon, real soon!

Wedding Doilies!

My second born is getting married in June.  His sweet wife to be has commissioned me to make doilies for the table centerpieces for the reception.  The style is shabby chic and the reception will be outdoors. 

I am making a variety of different designs and sizes.  The main color is an off white, and I will make a couple of white, peach and green which is her color scheme.  

I am so happy to do this for them.  They are just the sweetest couple and I love that she asked me to make these.  I actually have three done and seven (minimum) left to go.  I made these two this weekend while watching Nascar and the Red Carpet (Oscars).

I Need a Little Help from my Friends!

I am quilting a snowball quilt at the moment.  I have a stencil which I am using to quilt in the white fabric of the snowballed corners and sashing.  I am at a loss as to what to quilt in the remaining spaces between the stensils.  I am doing a stippling stitch in the snowball.  I welcome any suggestions you may have! 

A Finished Quilt!

After a week of furiously quilting away on a 13 year old UFO, I finally have it finished.

I started this quilt so many years ago.  I made scrappy nine patches out of all the red fabric I had.  I chose to sash in black which really makes it pop.  

I tried a new (for me) binding method with a flange for the first time and I have to say I love it and will certainly be using it again in the future.  It is so easy to do.  Just requires sewing two strips of fabric together along the length of the binding.  The main fabric is cut at 1.5" and the flange at 1.3/4".  Yes, that is correct, the flange fabric is wider than the main fabric.  Press the seam to the main fabric and then press the binding in half.  Attach to the back of the quilt and then flip to the front and stitch it down in the ditch.  It definitely added a little something special to the quilt.

I am so pleased with how it turned out and so happy to be able to cross this one off the list.  I ran outside to get a few pictures before the snow arrives again today.  We had about a foot of snow on Friday and we are expecting more today.  I plan to stay warm indoors and head on up to the sewing room to pick my next top to quilt.