Playing catch-up

Bet that got your attention!  This block, and the next two, were created by an extremely talented quilter I know, Sharon M.  She is one of the very talented people who are in my International Robin group.  I get to play with Sharon's faces first in the robin.

This is the smallest one, but I love the way she peaks from behind the leaves.  She looks as though she is just about to smile at something she sees.

I think she is the youngest looking.  Not showing in this photograph are the leaves as they extend past the edge of the background so they can lay on the next piece to be put on.  All of these blocks have this quality.  Each face is hand painted by Sharon.  The final name for her quilt will be Gaia, who was the primordial Earth-goddess in the ancient Greek religion.  It was from Gaia that all the other gods were born.  I don't remember reading anything about her in my ancient Greek history classes in public school.  I did some research about her the other night.  I am not sure how I will put these three blocks together yet, but my intention is to stay with the theme established by the name.

This is the piece I am working on for the ImproviRobin I am part of.  I am the second to last person to play with it before it goes back to the person who started it.  I have this much on my display wall.  I cut the blue coral piece to see what I thought, and Tom thinks I should add more in the various colors found in the other fabrics that are used.  I am going to fuse whatever pieces I do add and do some machine applique in buttonhole stitch.  The colors look really washed out in this photo, but I assure you they are much more vivid.  This is a very fun piece.  I raided Willa's stash to find the border fabric I am using.  Thanks, Willa.

Finally, I have been working on other Bee blocks that are due by the end of the month.  I still haven't figured out how to do a decent Bishop's Fan quilting on the doll quilt, but I will keep at it.  I am almost finished with the lilies quilt.  I have one Stash Bee block done and have another one to do.  I did finish the comfort bee blocks today.  They are really calming, so that was fun.

Fortunately, I have two days to play in the studio before my days with Bella start. 

Tomorrow, I have a guest post over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  Hop on over there to see how to make the quilt I made last year for H2H.

I think that is it for today.  Thanks for stopping by.  Joyful quilting, everyone.

Another great day in the studio

I got quite a bit done on my long list of things I need to accomplish in the studio this month.  Tomorrow, I have guild meeting and I am to bring the BOM pattern for the next month.  This meant I had to make a sample to show.  There are these Granny Squares all over the blogosphere these days.  I thought they would be fun and easy as a BOM.  Quite a few of the members of this guild make American Hero quilts (similar to Quilts of Valor, only local), so I decided to go for the Red, White, and Blue.  I hope the lucky winner gets enough of these blocks to create a good size quilt.  I also had to prepare the Presentation Block for the meeting.  That was a much easier proposition because I already had samples.  I just had to write up the directions.

I also created this block for the Ochre challenge at 15 Minutes Play.  I posted the fabric on Saturday, but got to build the piece today.  To read more about it, please stop by my post at 15 Minutes Play.  I like this block quite a bit and am going to use it as my center in the International Robin that is just starting.  You can see what others in the group are doing at our Flickr page.

In addition to these, I quilted the lilies quilt, added the binding, and am now ready to add embellishments.  I know it is kind of backwards, but this will work best for me at this point.  I also put all the units together, and photographed each step, for the mystery quilt I am doing for the guild.  I have to put them into the direction sheets I am creating for each step.  If I could ever figure out how to embed a PDF into my blog, I would post them for you to follow along, if you were so inclined.   Sometimes, technology gets me.

On a completely different subject, I want to share that I have now released 40 pounds!  It is pretty funny to put on my good pants and have them fall down around my ankles once they are buttoned and zipped.  Twenty more pounds, and I am getting new pants - and shirts, and a dress or two.  Just thought I would share.

Tomorrow, I start my three days with Bella, so I won't be back again until Friday.  Until then, joyful quilting everyone.