Have you ever . . .?

Have you ever really liked a block so much you wanted to make more but didn't really want a whole quilt from it?  This was one of the Grandmother's Choice blocks that I really liked.  When Victoria called for 12.5" blocks for a friend, I immediately thought of this block.  Then I realized I had the measurements for an 8.5" block.  Ordinarily, that wouldn't be a problem, but this one has those pesky triangular pieces.  After a couple of careful measurements, I was able to enlarge the pattern and create the block in the right size. What fun.

Have you ever put together a piece, quilted it, and then had trouble deciding how to bind it?  I have cropped this photo to show it all squared up, but this piece really has some irregular measurements.  It is the piece I made for the October challenge over at Modern 8 Create last year.  I just finished hand quilting the piece.  Now that I have cropped it into a perfect rectangle, I think I like it much better with the irregular sides.  Now to find fabric to use for binding.  The back is all the red stripped fabric you see on the lower left.  Fabulous find at the thrift store, just like much of the rest of this piece.

It is nice to have a new card reader.  It was a long day of training for Univera, then getting some salmon for visiting family.  I don't think I will have any more studio time until Friday.  I may sneak in there now and then if I can.  Until then, joyful quilting everyone. 

 

technical difficulties

My digital card reader bit the dust, so I will not be posting until I can get a replacement.  Hopefully, that will only be a couple of days.  I know you are all eager to see what I have been working on, right?  In the mean time, for some really cool fabric combination eye candy, hope over the the Grandmother's Choice flickr page. Be sure and go back through the photos. Some of these quilters are going above and beyond in the cutting and combining of quilt fabrics.  Enjoy.
Joyful quilting, everyone.

Playing and cutting

After spending the morning going to my ballet class and picking up Bella at her new pre-school, I had to run around doing some errands.  When I got home, I wasn't sure I was up to going into the studio, but after lunch and a Reginicare, I was ready to play.  This one really only took me 15 minutes.  I put it with the other three and I couldn't resist trying them against a dark background.

This first piece I found was really too small to get the full effect, but I decided it was too dark, and too blue/teal.  I wanted something darker, but not this.  I rooted around for a larger piece of fabric I could live with.

I found this piece of batik I had been hoarding and petting for a long time.  I think I have a little over a yard and a half.  I really like the way it works with these light blocks.  I am going to measure carefully and what I have will determine the size of this project.  Who knew I would enjoy working with lights? 

After playing with the lights, I turned my attention to the Marcia Derse group.  I re-did my math for the third time and finally felt comfortable enough to start cutting.  My finished quilt will have 12 14" blocks like the block I showed yesterday.  The sashing will be 2 1/2" wide and I will have two borders.  As you can see, I am using very light sashing.  It is a pale blue batik and it goes nicely with all the Derse fabrics I have.  Each little pile is for one block.  I discovered that I can make two blocks with each quarter yard of Derse fabric.  Next time, I will buy more.  Does anyone out there know where I can buy more here in the Seattle area? 

Ballet class was much harder today because we used the barre for the first time.  On Wednesdays, we rely on balance, so I am not able to stretch as far. I know I am going to feel this tomorrow. Taking up ballet at 65 is quite an adventure.  I am very glad I am blessed with a good sense of humor.

Until next time, joyful quilting - and dancing - everyone.

 

 

 

Post #300 - Whoohoo!

I finished this little AAQI quilt.  It is dedicated to Lori Crammer who is the mother of a friend's friend.  There are so many people I know who have friends and family affected by this terrible disease, Alzheimer's.   If you want to help raise funds for research toward the elimination of this disease, and get a little bit of quilt art for your wall, stop by the AAQI site and look at all the beautiful quilts for sale.  I know I mention this each month, but I believe these folks are doing a good thing and I want to help spread the word.

The other day, when we went to La Conner and bought the Marcia Derse fabric, I started toying with an idea for a quilt.  I had seen some pieces in the Japanese quilt exhibit based on a game called Genji Koh.  I really liked the designs, so I very loosely interpreted them with this one. In fact, it is so loosely interpreted, the people who know this game would probably not recognize my inspiration.  I made a block up using some batiks I like to see if I really like the design.  I will use this for a pillow, I think.  It is 18" square.  When I put four of them together, using the magic of Photoshop, it looks like this.

I have enough of the Derse to make 16 blocks, and I bought enough light batik to use as background.  There will be six different Derse fabrics in the quilt.  I think it will go together pretty quickly, once I get all the pieces cut.  Now, I am wishing I had purchased more of the Derse, but I will keep looking for them on sale.  Ha-ha.

I was trying to figure out how to celebrate my 300th post on this blog.  I could get all philosophical about why I blog, or why I quilt.  I could have built a collage of the highlights of what I have posted since I started quilting.  Instead, I will leave you with a photo of the first quilt I made when I started quilting again in 2010.

It is made with a layer cake of Sandy Gervais's Tranquility for Moda.  I had such difficulty with the layout of this quilt, I thought I would never get it done.  The trouble I had quilting it on my old Bernina prompted Tom to purchase me a mid-arm machine and Little Gracie frame for my birthday that year.  It has been all uphill since then.  I love quilting.  I love blogging about quilting.  I love the online quilting community.

With that said, joyful quilting everyone.