arranging blocks

I finished all 9 of these blocks already. This was the perfect project for those few minutes here and there when I can sit down at my machine.
Now that I can see all the blocks together the busy background ones don't bother me anymore.













Now I can have lots of fun deciding how to arrange them :0)
This 2nd picture was how I had planned to lay them out but now I'm leaning toward the top arrangement.
I suspect this project will push ahead of the small stack of "waiting to be quilted quilts" It's a fun, happy quilt and I want to finish it asap so I can start using it.

Happy Quilting!!

a lovely surprise

Yesterday I finished sewing these Crowfoot blocks together. I want this quilt for my bed so it needs some borders to make it bigger. This picture gives an idea of how it will look. Next I will start the pieced border. I hope to quilt this by hand so it could be a couple years before we're sleeping under it. :0)

This is the inspiration quilt. It's in Betsy Chutchian's book "Gone to Texas". It's such a lovely book!

I was so surprised when I looked in the mail today! Marcie sent me a copy of her 2010 Christmas pattern. I have made 2 of her Christmas patterns in previous years and just love them. Thanks so very much Marcie!! I won't be able to get this done in time for Christmas but maybe I'll make it up in spring colors. The seed catalog was in the mail today too so I'm dreaming of flowers and spring as I watch the snow come down...

Happy Quilting!!

Christmas sewing has begun

I have started my Christmas sewing. Maybe this year I will have time to make all the things I have planned in my mind :0) I can't post that stuff though - at least not for awhile.
I've made a few more scrappy star blocks. I think some of my blue backgrounds are a bit too busy. I picked up a couple new medium blues today at the LQS. Some of these blocks may end up as orphans. They sure are fun to sew!

I finished my 3rd block for my Bird of Paradise quilt. I fussed and fussed over the nest on this block. After my third attempt I was satisfied. I looked back at the pictures I took of the nests and they really didn't look very different - lol.

Here are the 3 completed blocks together. I want to start another block but I'm going to be good and stick to Christmas sewing for now :0)

The ladies at my LQS very helpfully found me this egg fabric. I wanted slightly blue eggs so I used the Crested Lark eggs :0) I have no idea what a Crested Lark looks like. I want to use the Calandra Lark eggs in the next nest. We don't get a lot of larks at our bird feeder. Mostly chickadees, nuthatches and squirrels. :0)

Happy Quilting!!

too much new stuff

Thanks for all your kind comments!! A couple friends helped me decide on one of the prints and now that both the "funny shapes" match, I am much happier with the block.I have not been very disciplined lately. I've started 3 new projects in the last week. I haven't got too far on any of them yet. I don't know how I'll ever get to the end of my ufo's if this is what I do. :0)

I have been wanting to make this scrappy blue quilt ever since I bought Kathleen Tracy's book "Remembering Adelia". I've had lots of fun rummaging through my stash choosing fabric. I have only one block made so far and I sized it down from 12 inches to 8 to make a smaller quilt.

I won a giveaway over at Megan's blog. She sent these 8 beautifully appliqued setting triangles and a stack of lovely blue fabrics to go with them. I don't know what I'll make with them yet - they will have to wait until after Christmas I think. Thanks Megan!

Happy Quilting!!

Bird of Paradise #2

I have almost finished this second block for my Bird of Paradise quilt. There are a couple of white ovals to applique onto the red and white funny shapes. Are they are supposed to be seedpods, buds, flowers or leaves? I'm not sure which red print I like best (I sort of thought they should match) so I'm going to let it sit for a while before I do the last bit of appliqueing. Maybe I'll change them both and go with green like in the original quilt. I've started the next block - this one has a bird in it. I am really enjoying appliqueing these blocks. They are so different from what I've done before.

This pieced block is made by my DD#2. She's working from a bag of cut off triangles I had saved. I love what she's doing with them. She was a bit disappointed with the center pink triangle that "shrunk". I think it's charming and I really hope she keeps going with this project.

Happy Quilting!!

a little progress

Here in Canada we celebrated Thanksgiving over the weekend. I was thankful to find some extra time to do some quilting. I quilted all around the first corner - 3 more to go!

I was also thankful that the lines came around the applique straight and I didn't have to "fudge it". I do see that I definitely will need to quilt something in the large red center. The lines are just under 3/4 of an inch apart and I'm still deciding whether I am going to cross them with more lines. Probably just the one direction is enough quilting for this type of batting but is it enough quilting for me...? :0)

I'm still making these blocks in between piecing other things. I laid them out today to see how big they've progressed to. I definitely need more - lots more!

And I can't resist a picture of the pansies still blooming away in a pot on my deck. The flowers are lasting so well this fall - I love it!

Happy Quilting!!

antique applique quilts

I was so excited to have the opportunity to see up close 3 incredible antique applique quilts. We were allowed to take pictures and I only wish I could take better ones.
This first one is a Rose of Sharon quilt but my friend calls it the lobster claw quilt. It is blue, white and red - an interesting color combination for this pattern.
It has a wonderful scalloped border with stems of berries hanging down.

Does anyone else see a fried egg here? :0)

It was densely outline quilted but none of the applique pieces were quilted at all so it had large unquilted areas under the flower, leaves and scallops.

The next quilt I had seen as a black and white line drawing - even from that I knew I would love it but I was SO surprised by all the surprises in this quilt. I'm calling it the Bowls of Cherries quilt. It dates to 1840-1860.

The blocks were set together with piping - I had never seen that before. But it was the quilting that absolutely delighted me. It had so many different motifs. In the bottom corners on either side of the block were quilted maple leafs. This quilt comes from Ontario, Canada so those leaves are perfect!

Clamshell quilting was done in the sashing. It was interesting to see that the baskets were quilted with colored thread - yellow and green. I love the cheddar band.

Here is another one of the shapes used for filler in the border.

I really liked these circles quilted into the scalloped border than ran around 3 sides of the quilt.

The next quilt is a Whetstones and Chips quilt that was said to have come from Scotland. Dating to 1840 - it was a beautifully pieced and appliqued quilt.

It had triple rows of fine quilting with feathered wreaths everywhere.

I just loved the border design.

The yellow flower centers were fussy cut and reverse appliqued so that the flower in the yellow print wasn't visible.

The pieced blocks were circles appliqued onto the background fabric which was 2 lengths of cloth joined down the middle. There were some interesting repairs done to this quilt - if only the quilt could tell it's story...

I rambled a bit with this post - I just wanted to remember all the incredible details about these quilts. I hope you enjoyed them too!

Happy Quilting!!