Cherry Berry Album top done

The blocks in this quilt are from the book Favourite Applique and Embroidery Quilts by Betty Alderman.  I can’t say the quilt is one of the patterns – as I didn’t end up finishing it as presented.

All of the blocks were done with fusible machine applique, using sulky blendable thread 30 wt for the stitching – what a nice thread!  Adds just enough highlight and accent to the batiks.Two of the blocks, once finished, I just didn’t care for.  The Rooster, especially, and another one which was a kind of horn-of-plenty.  I could substitute the blocks, or make the quilt smaller. 

This was my first attempt at the layout – I meant for the corner blocks to be the darker blue, but I miscut  (several times!) and didn’t have enough to do the job properly.  So I put the lighter blue in the corners, which I think gave me nightmares all last night, lol.

This morning I got up and decided to see what it would look like if I just squared off the corners – after a pressing preview, off I went with the rotary cutter.  Now I’m happy!  This quilt is destined for the kids’ basement room, it will certainly brighten it up.

Determination

Yesterday I brought out my box of somewhat prepped blocks for Lori Smith’s 30s sampler.  I was disappointed to discover that I was only on block 13 of 40 or so – it felt like I’ve working on this forever – but I think its been only a couple of months :)

I looked at the block I was to do, a 9 inch star – and I rolled my eyes.  I love Lori Smith’s patterns, but her sampler blocks can be challenging – a lot of pieces, and a lot of 1/8” measurements.  Not counting cutting time, it took almost two hours for me to finish this block!  But look at it – amazingly, its almost perfect and its very pretty – too bad it will get lost amongst all the other blocks in this sampler.

To recover from yesterday’s piecing trauma, I played with scrap blocks today.  The first is Charlotte’s Hodgepodge – made from leftover Charlotte line fabric, the pattern is dead easy,see making hodgepodge.  I chose a very pale pink as my centre square so there is something to follow within the quilt.

 

 

 

 

 

Then I laid out the Strip Mine quilt, from a class I took at Quilt U.  Another quick, easy, and fun block, this one I’m making from civil war repro style fabrics.

 

I was going to make more of these today, but then I ended up getting involved in planning the final borders of the Cottage Crossing quilt; the got restless and ended up pulling out the Cherry Berry Album blocks – guess what?  We just might see two finished tops this week!

Paper piecing

I have to say that while I like the idea of paper piecing, and I like the accuracy and final result of paper piecing, I despise the process!  To me, its slow and fidgety, uses more fabric than I would with regular piecing, and taking out the papers is on the bottom of my list as far as things I’d like to be doing :)

But, after several days effort, I got 12 goose chase blocks done that will be set alternately with the cottage blocks I finished earlier in March.  And they sure do look great, don’t they? – even lying out on the floor like this.

 

This week I also did the binding on vintage tiger lily quilt – its not so bad as I thought, and its hanging in the side hall.  It is nice to have something new and bright on the walls for  Spring.

Mini Spring Scrappy

I prepared the top for this mini quilt last fall.  I had planned on sewing down the appliques as part of the quilting, and it turned out great, although I wouldn’t recommend it for anything much bigger than this top, about 20 x 20 inches.  I’m glad I have a new, bright, spring wallhanging to look at!  I’m pretty sure its a Kim Diehl pattern, but i’m not sure from which of her books.

I ordered some fabric for the binding on the Tiger Lily quilt – the same line as the inner points and borders are, but a bit darker.  I’m hoping it will finish off the quilt just right, and I’ll start to like it again :)

Quilter’s Block

I am fortunate to have two sewing machines – one a longer arm Saphhire 870 that I use mostly to quilt, and another Husqvarana that I use for piecing and machine applique.  My sewing room is small, so my second machine is kept in the dining room.  This works  out really well, as I don’t have to disturb a quilt in progress in order to do some other sewing or piecing….this also works out not so well when I need motivation to finish a quilt!

I think the Tiger Lily quilt has been sitting with the centre quilted, for about two weeks, under the needle and set up to quilt the borders.  But I was stuck, I just didn’t know what to do about those borders.  So I was able to ignore it, except for a guilty glance or an exasperated sigh aimed at the quilt when I was working in the room at the cutting board or worktable.  All along I knew I wanted it hung for the first day of Spring, and all of sudden here it is.

  Today was not the day to get started again, I have a bad shoulder and a major headache, but I plunged ahead and I think it turned out fine – in fact, it took less than a couple of hours all together to finish it – hopefully, it doesn’t look that way.  But I don’t like it!  I really don’t like it!  I just want to roll it up in a corner and stuff it away.  I think many of us feel this way about our quilts at some point, and I’m hoping this is a temporary feeling – but there is just something wrong with the colours or design of the top that bother me. 

Now that I’m ready for binding I cannot find the piece of green border fabric that I am sure I put away….I don’t have any other large pieces of the other fabrics in the quilt…so I think I’ll have to use something all together different.  Yet another excuse to bury this quilt :)

Well I try out some binding fabrics, and finish it, and maybe hang it where I can’t see it too often….if I can’t easily find a binding fabric, well its going away somewhere!

Lots of sewing done!

I had a great few days of piecing and machine applique – I had a great time and there was hardly a hitch!

These are 16 cottages from the book Fig Tree Quilts Houses.  I’ll be putting in black sashings, two scrappy borders on either side of a pinwheel block border.  This will be a happy quilt for me – I’ve have always wanted a house quilt but never got this far.

 

Then I got crazy with machine applique, and got caught up on Sindy Rodenmayer’s Fat Cat Patterns Summer Pond.  I had a few already done, and got four more sewn.  I am looking forward to seeing the whole quilt, and it sure is a different theme than my usual flowers and piecing!