playing with blocks

Now that I have a few Wanderlust blocks made I can play with how to put them together.  Right now I am favoring a straight set like this first picture.

 

 Bonnie Hunter's pattern has them off set by half and a zigzag pattern develops. I like it too. 

It's fun to play :0)

Happy Halloween!

a fall finish

I found a fall ufo to machine quilt for a quick finish. I hadn't finished anything in ages -  it feels good :0)

 I hadn't done any machine quilting in months so that part didn't go as well as I would have liked...

 I think it will be better after I wash it.  I'm planning to display it here on the kitchen table so I imagine it won't be long before it needs a wash.

 I always enjoy feathering borders.  I was having a hard time finding a deep rich black to bind it with until I found this black and brown stripe.  I love striped binding :0)

While I was at the LQS I picked out some fabric to make owls for my Bird of Paradise border.  I really don't have these colors in my stash at all.  Anyway, I got home and went to wash them and they had been left on the cutting table of the quilt shop on the other side of the city.  There was other fabric purchased (stash enhancement) and that was what I brought home.  A quick call to the store and the owner promised to send them in the mail.  Canada Post can be dreadfully slow so I wasn't expecting to see them until next week but only 2 days later they arrived.  I will be appliqueing owls this weekend  :0)

Happy Stitching!

a new project

I started a new project. It's a Bonnie Hunter pattern called Wanderlust in the July/August 2014 Quiltmaker magazine.  I like so many of Bonnie's quilts but have never made one.  Every fall when she gets started on her annual mystery quilt I am so tempted to join in but can't quite let go to invest  in something so unknown. 

 I liked this block when she first showed it on her blog - I think it was her submission for Quiltmakers 100 blocks or something.  Then she made a quilt and it was on the cover of the magazine - tempting me all summer, everytime I walked by the magazines at the grocery store.  After a month I caved... and then this week I started slicing into some fabric.  It's coming out much brighter than I had thought - it seems to have a mind of its own.

 I did make one more 6 inch block.  I wanted to use some of this awesome green striped fabric I found - I love it! 

And, I received a bag of 9 patches in the mail this week. I took part in a repro 9 patch exchange that Barb organized.  It was so fun to open it up and look at all the fabrics people used.  I don't know what I'm going to do with them yet but I will enjoy considering different ideas. 

Happy Quilting!!

top border

Last night I finished stitching the last leaf onto the top border for my Bird of Paradise quilt.  I thought I would lay it out with the top row of blocks to get an idea of how it will look.  I am keeping them as blocks for now because they are easier to store.

 It's not a mirror image from side to side but I was aiming for balance and not perfection.  I love the borders on the original quilt - that top border is much freer than mine.  I am trying to personalize this quilt while keeping the elements of the original that I like.

 So my plan is to make the bottom border next.  Then maybe I will have to sew the top together so I will know exactly how long to make the side borders.  The original quilt is put together this way.  It's interesting to do things differently sometimes :0)

 I also find it interesting sometimes to draw and quilt my own quilting designs.  This is what I have drawn for the corners of my Crowfoot quilt. I guess its kind of a feathered pineapple.  I tried quilting it with white thread and I am pleased with how the quilting shows up. There is likely still some soap lines making it look whiter in this picture but the soap markings don't last for long.

I spent a bit of time trying to make a more precise drawing but in the end I decided a freer look was okay too. Here are my templates for tracing and the $2.00 coin I am tracing for the center circles.  I just love quilting feathers and look forward with great pleasure to quilting the feathered vine in the border as well.
Happy Quilting!!