Process

I'm finding it difficult to post often enough to keep up with the steps of my design process. There are many things "in progress" right now too, some creative, and some just going step-by-step to finish them.

I was able to find time to quilt and bind this quilt for American Hero Quilts. Melissa D., from my Washington State Internet Quilters group, completed the top for the New Year's weekend Cyber Sew-in. The plan was to make blocks, and they would be sent on to other quilters to assemble, quilt & bind. Melissa had these blocks from an exchange, so she put them together, and we connnected online. She mailed the top to me, and I provided batting, backing, quilting & binding. It went off in the mail yesterday.

Yesterday I quilted the small tumblers quilt, and it's ready for binding.

The other sewing project finished is a basic apron for my quilting studio. The fronts of my aprons wear out because they get snagged by pins on the front side of my quilting machine

This is the hat finished last week, blocking. The pattern is Caller Herrin by Kate Davies. It's stretched over a 10" plexiglass circle used as a quilting guide. I was surprised at how much it changed the shape of the finished hat--it actually fit me better before blocking, but the yarn did bloom nicely and the tension looks much nicer. I'm looking at other small patterns to use up the leftover wool.

Also completed were a set of felted hexagon coasters. Well, more like flowers, as the edges remained pointy. I'll keep them in a drawer except when company is coming, so they don't become dog chews.

On With the Old, Add Something New

I finished this Ocean Waves top over the weekend at a quilting retreat. It started as part of a swap group several years ago, and 16 of the blocks were made by other quilters. Most sent an extra square of fabric so the border fabrics coordinate. Blocks have been worked on at several retreats, and after the last one I had gotten on a roll, cutting out all the remaining strips (needed for Thangles for the small half-square triangles), and even sewn the sub-sets. There were only 6 blocks left to assemble, and the border blocks only needed to be trimmed down. Whew! The backing and binding fabrics are ready to go, it may be a while before it gets quilted. Approximately 71" square.

After I finished this top, I started playing with a layout of some tumbler blocks that had been cut with my Accuquilt Go cutter. Many of the fabrics in the box that had been collecting were leftovers from the Ocean Waves, with some of the rejects that were too bright for the quilt above, including vintage lime green with turquoise and white flowers. Unfortunately my math was off when I counted pieces, so the tumblers were packed up in the partial layout, and had to wait until Sunday for more pieces to be cut. We worked at home Sunday as the Senior Center was rented out to two churches, so our machines and projects were locked in a secure room until Monday morning.

Sunday at home was very productive, as I cut out the remaining tumblers, cut backing and binding for two quilts, binding for a third, organized batting scraps for some upcoming small projects, and organized pieces for charity cosmetic bags. I'm set for a while with quick, fill-in projects to work on while waiting for quilt customers or just needing a quick sewing fix.

Monday had me laying out all 320 tumbler pieces, stacking them in rows, and stitching. I was able to sew 18 of the 20 rows together, and most of them are pressed. I cut half-width blocks for the edges (to give a straight edge, and a good way to use the leftover bits), and I'll do another layout to select and add those before sewing the rows together. I chose the size to fit the backing...a wonderful piece with large flowers in the same colors on white (another gifted piece).