Two New Blocks and a finish

I had just enough made fabric left to make another BOM block.  Tomorrow, I need to make another big piece of fabric to finish the blocks.  I have six more to go now.  A couple of them need large squares (9").  I had trouble with the green stem in this As you can see, it is not quite centered.  I have one more stem piece I have to make for this project.  I guess I better read how to do it.  I also have to include leaf triangles on one block, and I think I will use the same green rather than make green fabric.  I hope it turns out okay.  If not, I will just go ahead and make some green fabric.  Maybe I will let you all be the judge.

Here is today's Jacob's Ladder block.  I love this floral.  I had a small piece of it in  my original stash, but didn't know what it was.  Then, on a trip to Sister's Quilt Shop in Chehalis, WA, I found a bolt hidden on a bottom shelf.  I was quite overjoyed, but relatively broke, so I was only able to buy a yard.  It is Christmas Presence by April Cornell for Moda.  Not sure why I love it so much, but I think it is the colors.

I also spent some time finishing this mini quilt top this morning, before I finished piecing Bella's quilt top.  I am so slow at applique.  Part of it is my glasses.  I really need new ones.  Part of it was the light I was working with.  We fixed that a few days ago, so I was finally able to finish it.  I you want to know more about this quilt, hop on over the Quilters, Books and Bindings. I have explained it in a couple of posts there.

Tomorrow, I will be making more cloth, making a new JL block, working on my Christmas quilt, and hopefully doing a little quilting.  What are you planning for your Saturday?

Joyful quilting, everyone.



Making more fabric

The first thing I worked on this morning was my challenge from Modern 8 Create.  I had to build another block like the second one I did.  As I was putting together the quadrants, I had a brainstorm about adding the inner border pieces as I went.  When I had all the quadrants together, I started playing with them and found at least four ways to put the block together.  Instead of choosing just one of them, I am going to make them all using different shades of the blues, purples, and greens.  I can even see more ways to change these blocks.  When they are all done, they will make an interesting quilt.

The second project was to finish Tom's birthday present.  I will post it here on Wednesday, after he opens it.  I sure hope he likes it.

After that, I started making fabric for the background for a small quilt.  Over at Quilters, Books, and Bindings, we all just finished The Lover's Knot by Clare O'Donohue.  Each of us is creating our own quilt that interprets the book, or some aspect of the story, in our own way.  My quilt will have flowers growing out of the red area.  Cathy did a wonderful AAQI quilt representing a place in the story.  This group is new, but I think it will grow as we read and post more.



As I started looking at the red, green, and gold made fabric blocks for my Christmas quilt, I had an idea about putting the Virgin of Guadalupe in the center.  I think I really like it.  I will leave it there as I continue to build fabric blocks.  I think she will add quite a bit to the quilt.

All in all, it has been a good day in the studio.  I have another studio day tomorrow.  Who knows what will happen then.  In the mean time, joyful quilting, everyone.



Guest Blogging and a Fabric Giveaway

Today, I am guest blogging at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  Please visit over there , then come back here to enter the fabric giveaway.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011, 8:30 AM

The giveaway is closed

I have three fat quarters from the Soul Blossoms collection by Amy Butler for Westminster Fabrics.  I have been drooling over this line for a while.  If you would like to win this yummy fabric, you have four chances.
1.  Visit Sarah's blog and become a follower.  Come back here and leave me a message letting me know you are now a follower.
2.  Read my post on Sarah's blog and come back here to leave a comment about the "Why" section of the post.
3.  Become a follower of my blog.
4.  Leave me a comment about what you are reading these days.
Winner will be chosen Wednesday morning.  Please be sure I have a way to contact you.

Thanks for stopping by.
Good luck, and joyful quilting.

Bella's newest design

As some of you know, I have a three year old granddaughter who loves fabric and creating on my design wall.  This is her newest design.

I am going to see what I can do to make this into a mini quilt for her.  I have the photo, and the fabric.  Now, I just have to play with some sewing techniques to put it all together.

For myself, I started a new project with the Asian fabrics I have been collecting since before I started quilting again.  I have seen this pattern around in many variations.  I had great hopes.

Imagine my despair as I went to put it on the design wall only to have the black fabric begin falling apart on me.  You can see some of the whitish tear marks on the upper right side.  I knew this fabric was odd when I ironed it and it smelled funny.  Not polyester funny, but something else.  Foolish me, I just ignored it and went on my merry way.  I love how the block looks, so I will make more, but I have thrown all the black out, including the pieces in this block.  It was easy to get them off.  They just disintegrated.  Sometimes, free fabric, even when it looks and feels okay at first, is not to be trusted.  Live and learn.

I am still trying to get the new quilters as readers club off the ground.  So far, I have one other person interested.  Look for more information soon, as well as a giveaway to help spread the word.

Joyful quilting, everyone.,

A little Matisse, another fish, a finished bookshelf top

Back in early July, Victoria over at Bumblebeans Inc invited people to quilt along on our own interpretations of any Matisse painting we liked.  I started by selecting this painting and these fabrics.

That was then.  After several starts and stops, I have arrived at this stage.

At this point, everything looks a bit out of proportion.  I will be able to fix some of that with the next additions, but it is still just my interpretation and not meant to be a real portrait.  There are several curved seams and quite a few Y-seams in this piece.  I was going to work in all solids, but I wanted to get the look that I could only get with batiks for a few sections.  When all the piecing is done, I am going to applique a flower or two to the hat.  I don't know if I will leave the face blank or add eyes.  I guess the piece will tell me what it wants.  This has been a real challenge, but I have learned so much doing this and that is what it is all about sometimes.

I finished the top for the bookcase wall hanging quilt.  It looks a little droopy in the photo, but it really is straight.  I know how I am going to quilt the book spines, but I am not sure about the background yet.  I think I will put a daisy on the mug.

I added another fish and now have a nice little family.

Have any of you heard about Cover to Cover Book Club Quilters?  They are Oregon based and they create quilts based on books they read.   Some of them are totally amazing.  I would love to start an online book club with other quilters to do the same thing.  Anyone game?  Take a look at some of the quilts these quilters have made and let me know what you think.

Joyful quilting, everyone.