I'm starting Ellens Sewing Basket Quilt from Minick and Simpson. Some of the fabric will be Independence Trail as the pattern suggests and some will be French General and other civil war FQs I have in my stash. Also picked up a few new pieces at work today ...you know I can't go home with at least a LITTLE piece of something! ;)

This is the first block of 16 I'm going to make.... well maybe 16. I may stray from the pattern a bit because if I make 9 blocks and then make a border all the way around with 1/2 blocks, the 9 will center on my bed nicer.... we'll see..

These blocks are a bit of a challenge to make. The first attempt at this block I used the English paper piecing method but I wasn't happy with the way it was going. And, it was SLOW.

After reading a bunch of magazine articles and online suggestions, I decided that Minick and Simpson's way of doing the block was probably the easiest. I'm sure they went and tested all the different ways prior to making the pattern but I just have to do everything the hard way.... had to see for myself.

In an old copy of Quilter's Newsleter, I did find one interesting article on lone star blocks (which this is). They suggested that you draw the 9 piece diamond (8 of these diamonds make up the star block) on a piece of paper the exact size it will be before being set together... then BLOCK each section of the star to the drawn paper block. Using a starch sprayed on the diamond allows you to block the pieces so that each of the 8 diamonds is the same size. This helps ALOT! The other really good suggestion is to handle the pieces as little as possible so the bias edges don't stretch out of shape. Also press and starch your fabric BEFORE cutting so that it's a little stiff and doesn't want to stretch as easily.

So that's not all I was shopping for today. The quilt shop got in these little "Candy" sized pieces of Marmalade from Moda. LOVE THIS FABRIC! So I picked one up for someone that likes this line. Isn't it cute?!

Purple and gold batik scraps

Today I'm playing a bit with some of my purple and gold batiks. With the help of a wedge ruler I was able to create these large zigzags. After making about a dozen blocks I decided to put them into a table runner.... may change my mind before I'm done but that's the plan for now. 

 

That's it... short and sweet! :) 

Charity quilt and a pinkish one

This is one of 13 four patch blocks I brought home from a guild meeting. We bring in orphan blocks, fabric we don't want, patterns and books that we are done with and then we share them with the other members. This block was in a bag of scraps. I found 12 4-patch blocks with the beige triangles attached and one without. I added the beige to the last 4 patch so that I would have 13 blocks (which is what I need to make the quilt turn out).

After that I added a very light creamy yellow solid so that the blocks turned on point again. Gives it a square in a square look. Going through some of my books, I found a setting that I liked... with a little adjustment.

 

 

The block below, with the solid pink and the polka dot green, will be alternating with my found blocks. The blocks are both 12" finished so with 25 blocks (12 of one, 13 of the other) I'll have a 5'x5' quilt. That probably won't be big enough so I'm thinking of adding a couple of borders, maybe some applique and then a scallop edging with the pink for binding. When I get a little farther, I'll put more pictures up.

 

Another project I'm working on at the same time is this charity quilt. Since I have LOADS of brights to use up I decided to put them into a child's quilt. Our guild makes quilts for children that are admitted to the hospital to help make it more comforting for them to be away from home. Going through my strips and scraps, I came across a bunch of strips from a swap we did quite a while back... on Block Central maybe? Some of my bright strips from the swap were used in other projects but I still had lots. I'm hoping this makes a small dent in the pile. The quilt needs the piano key border on three more sides and then it should be large enough. 

Wedding picture and hitting the resale shops

I thought I would post one of my favorite pictures from the wedding... what a perfect couple! Jenns dress was all lace... and beautiful!... cowboy boots under :) The photography was done by a very talented person from TC... www.danstewartphotograpy.com.

 

And this cute owl cookie jar, below, is a find at the local Goodwill store (you know how I love the resale shops!). Wasn't sure what I was going to do with him so I gave the girls first dibs... Lisa says she'll give him a home. It's pretty old but no chips... just a little crazing inside. Reminds me of Jonathan Adler stuff.

Now to get down to the sewing room and do some work. I plan to clean it for a few hours, then do some repair work on a certain quilt. Maybe later, I'll get to play with a new charm pack I have. More pictures later.....

Ugly quilt is FINALLY quilted and done!

Not sure how many of you remember our "Ugly" fabric challenge at the Quilt and Needle (www.thequiltandneedle.com/forum) I received a fq from Pat that was outdoorsy (is that a word?) and swampy and pretty ugly ... at least to us ladies. It was the perfect fabric to inspire me to make a quilt for my brother. I finished the top...oh... two or so years ago and started the back but just never quite finished the quilt.

I wanted the back to be more modern ... and to use up all the leftover ugly pieces I had in my stash. My brother is an outdoor kind of guy... hunting and fishing etc. I also threw in a few orphan blocks that were in my stash.

SO, check off another UFO from the list :)
Here's my post from WAY back... had just finished the top:
http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6816445089863267415#editor/target=post;postID=2309909011419425883