Catching up

This is where I am so far with the D9P quiltalong hosted by Freda at Adventures of the Empress of the Universe. Take a look at what is being done at the Flickr site.  I still have a few units to add and some rearrangements to make before I start sewing this top together.

In the meantime, I have finished sewing Bella's baby sister's quilt top together.  I have the backing for it and I think I am going to use that satiny feeling blanket binding just for the texture.  This is very different from the extra bright one for the grandson due in May.  Now I need to quilt them both.

In a completely different direction, I finished the mini spider web top.  I did a few new things for this quilt.  The spider web, the Dresden plates, and the piano keys are all new for me.  The top and bottom borders are from a cotton linen jacket that was a size 18.  Now that I am a size 8, I thought it would be nicer to use it in a quilt rather than keep it around to grow back into.  It was too nice to throw away, and I liked the colors so I kept it.

Lastly, I finished my addition to the first round of the 2013 Improvi-Robin.  Take a look and see what is going on this year.  Most of us from last year joined again, and we added a couple of new people.  You can see below that block I received.  The rules for this Robin encourage improvisation.  I really enjoyed playing with this start.  All the rest of them are going to be just as much fun.

I am still working on the Criss Cross string quilt.  I spent some time cutting strips to measure today for another couple or rows. I figure if I have units cut and ready to sew, I can sew a unit or two when I have a few free minutes. It won't be fast, but it will get done.

Tomorrow, I will be working in the studio while Tom watches the Super Bowl. I will post what I get done.  Until then, joyful quilting everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

Spider Web Part 2 and 3

You know that place in a quilt where it can look like a hot mess?  This quilt got to that place after several hours.  I kept at it though until I got to this place.

Everything was sewn together, pressed, and trimmed, ready to sew together.

I decided early on that I wasn't going to try to make every seam match.  I was hoping that the centers would match a little better, but am not too unhappy with the results.

I decided to use some of my favorite orange fabric for the next part, but it was too plain.

Dresden plates!  Yes.  Just the thing.  So what next?  I found three fabrics to audition.  First, I used some of my favorite Alexander Henry fabric for a border.

  

I liked them all, but decided to go with the top one.  Hopefully, I will get time to get back to this over the weekend.  In the meantime, I have a few other pieces I am working on. I will post them a little later.

Joyful quilting, everyone.

Building a spider quilt in miniature

After being inspired by fellow Rebels, I decided I wanted to make a spider quilt.  Unfortunately, I didn't ask enough questions to figure out how to build a big one like the ones Patty and LeeAnn made. One thing I knew for sure was I didn't have the right tool and the Joanne sale isn't until next week.  So, I decided to have a go at a mini.  At first, I was going to make it into an AAQI quilt, but figured out that I didn't want to work that small.  I decided to start with 3" squares cut on the diagonal.  After some playing around, I decided on 3/4" strings that finish at 1/4".  This is how far I have progressed after about ten hours.  This will probably finish a bit less than 15" square.  It will be the center medallion for a larger quilt done intuition style.  What was I thinking!

Happy New Year and joyful quilting in 2013.