Studio time

I added two more blocks to the JL QAL.  this time, I used a really nice pink floral.  There are several shades of pink in it.  These will probably not end up near each other in the final quilt.  I just put them together on the design wall so I could see the pattern.  I liked it so much, I decided to make a small one for this months AAQI quilt.

This will finish out as a 9" square with the binding.  I am going to quilt it with red thread with diagonal lines.  I have wanted to make a red and white quilt all year, so here it is.

I also made two more blocks for the BOM sampler.  I am amazed at how different the jade fabric looks in both photos.  It is really about half way between both.

 The other big thing I did today was to load a quilt for BASICs on the frame.  This top and back were pieced by Irene Armok.  You can see her work at her blog.  She does many wonderful things.

This one is going to get an all over stipple.  I really like this quilt.  Someone is going to be very lucky to get it.

Tomorrow, I will be with Bella, so not much studio time I think.  I think I will do a bit of quilting on the BASICs quilt before I pick her up at pre-school.

Have a joy filled day.

A finished top and playing with my Kaffes

(Please excuse the crooked photo.  The quilt is straight)

It is amazing what a difference a border can make.  I heard recently that adding a border to a quilt automatically makes it old fashioned looking.  Since I really don't care about that, I ignored the comments, but I am in amazement about what personality changes a quilt can take on with the right border.  When I started this quilt, the mystery quilt for our guild, I decided to use some fat quarters I had on hand.  I really liked the color combination, so didn't mind that the pattern got lost in some areas.  After a while, however, I decided it was just too bland.  As I finished piecing it together today, I thought about a piece of fabric somewhere in my stash that had fall leaves in bright colors.  When I found it, I thought it might be too bright to use.  I decided to try it anyway.  Unfortunately, it is hard to show how bright, fresh, and sparkly it is now with its new border. The new border makes this quilt 49" x 61".  It is now in the pile with the other two quilts I need to quilt for BASICs.  Please read Victoria's post today about the BASICs program.

What in the world?  How could anyone in their right mind purposely cut up some very beautiful Kaffe fabric just to sew it back together again in random patterns?  Good questions.  I love all these fabrics separately, but I really wanted to combine them to make new fabric for my 15 Minute Play BOM quilt project.  I started this project with very different colors before I discovered these.  Now, I am redoing it all to make a really bright and fun quilt to cuddle under this winter.  As I was making all this fabric (so far it is 24" x 32"), I was thinking about what color background fabric I could use.  I have a nice piece of KF shot cotton in persimmon, but that was just too much red.  I then started looking at Kona solids.  I finally narrowed it down to two - Aloe and Jade.  They came today.  The Aloe is beautiful, but not strong enough to stand up to the reds, so  . . . . .

. . . . Jade it is.  Tomorrow, I will start cutting into both to start making the BOM blocks.  I need to have this quilt finished by December 1.  Think I can do it?  I am going to give it my best shot.

I am going to use the Aloe for the Jacobs Ladder Quiltalong.  I am still gathering florals for that, but I have enough to get started now.  That is a longer term project.

It was very nice to be back in my studio today.  I oiled Betty before we started, and she ran like a dream.  I need a new blade for my rotary cutter, so I need to find my JoAnn coupons.  I think I have one blade left in the case.  I will have to check that out tomorrow.

Until then, have a joy filled day, everyone.

A mystery solved

I have been working on this mystery quilt like a good little quilter, doing each step as it was given to us.  Today, I started putting it all together.  I started out using a bunch of fat quarters in fall colors.  I tried to sort the fabrics into lights and darks, but found that I had to kind of wiggle a bit with the "light."  I do love the colors.  I still have some sewing to do, then a border to add.  I am going to donate this one to BASICs.  To find out more about this, head over here.  This current drive is the brainchild of Victoria Findlay Wolfe and Pat Sloan.  If you have any undesignated quilts, this is a great place to consider donating one.

I also made fabric blocks for the Christmas quilt.  If I can make a few every time I am in the studio, I will grow this quilt before I know it.   Right now, I need to go work on hand stitching binding down on the wedding present quilt.  Black to black with black thread.  Remind me not to do this again.  It is much too hard on my old tired eyes. 
Did you see the new button on the right side?  The first block for the Blogger's BOM is up and ready to make.  Just click on the button to head over to Canton Village Quiltworks to find out all about the project and find the link for the first block.
Joyful quilting, everyone.