Category Archives: curved piecing

Four Little Quilt Tops

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First up, the little tumbler star table runner that finishes at 12 x 48. I’m Not sure exactly how I’ll quilt this one, but it’s going to be pretty basic.

Second, the 24″ square tumbler star doll quilt. This one is going to be quilted, I think, to emphases the stars.

Third, China Plates. I think I’m going to do straight line quilting through the middle of the hexagons.

The fourth is the pink and red Winding Ways that finishes at 27″. I’m going to quilt to emphasize the circle effect. This one I should have done before now. It would be great  to have this one hanging around Valentine’s Day. Next year it will be!

All of them have the batting cut and ready and I’ll get the backings and bindings ready for them on Friday. I’m going to baste some temporary muslin borders on each of the four so that they’re large enough to put in the hoop and I can get right to the edges, although I may do the table runner without a hoop. I think that will work as long as I baste it well enough.

Why have I got all 4 of them out? Because I really want to get back to hand quilting the Ferris Wheel quilt, but would like to use these tops as my warm-up quilts.

Last night I designed yet another quilt in EQ but that’s it for a while. I need more stitching time! I’m almost three-quarters of the way through making one of the pieced borders for Scrappy Star. Once I get that done and added to the main body of the quilt, I’ll decide whether it needs the final pieced border I was thinking of adding.

Baxter is 10 months old today. He’s growing so fast now that we’re seeing changes in him almost daily and his silver markings are starting to show more and more.

Dreaming in Wedgwood, Part 2

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While precious little stitching has been going on around here the past few nights, after I finished playing in EQ last night I couldn’t resist stitching two more of the Dreaming in Wedgwood blocks.

I’m trying to decide on a layout, as I think I’m going to add something else to the mix even if it is just plain 12″ squares. That would lend itself to some wonderful quilting.

One more night of intense EQ play and then back to my normal stitching time. I’m glad I’ve taken the time to work with EQ as much as I have over the past week, as I think it will help in the future when I’m playing with ideas. That said, it also has the potential to take much too much time away from actual stitching.

Mr. Q.O.has been busy playing with photo effects. Baxter is definitely not opposed to having his photo taken.

Dreaming in Wedgwood

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When I was growing up, my mother decorated our house in mostly Wedgwood blue and white/cream. Wedgwood blue is, to me, one of the most soothing colours imaginable. When I finally decided to take the leap and start a two-colour Rose Dream quilt, this time using the 6″ collection, I chose this Wedgwood blue that I’ve had in my stash for next to forever. I knew the right quilt idea would eventually come along and it has. The working name for this quilt is “Dreaming in Wedgwood.”

While I’m having fun with the scrappy Rose Dream blocks shown last week, I knew the minute the collections came out that I wanted to make a classic two-colour quilt. The big question for me was what colour. I had a wonderfully long and silly internal debate going on all last week about pink and white, yellow and white, blue and white, purple and pink and even went so far as to get some fabrics ready for each of those.

I have a pink and cream top waiting to be quilted, so pink and white? I’m sure another pink quilt is in my future, but not quite yet. Yellow and white? Still a possibility, I suppose, perhaps using the larger size Rose Dream block. Purple and pink? Definitely in my future. The Wedgwood blue and white? I couldn’t resist it. Yes, I’ve made a blue and white quilt before, as seen in my blog header, but that is a much deeper, richer blue.

One of the things I enjoy about hand piecing is choosing the thread(s) for each project. With a two-colour quilt, it’s so easy. Find one thread that works, and that’s all that’s needed. I had the perfect thread to match the blue fabric.

The entire quilt is planned in my mind. I know how many blocks are needed, the border is figured out and a possible quilting design for this one is already roughly sketched out.

The blocks press beautifully. As I don’t want to have to do all the grading of seams at the end, I’m doing these as I go.

At the end of last week, I fell quite behind in responding to blog comments. I will catch up this week.

Baxter adores his Cosmic Catnip Alpine Scratcher. Along with using it as a scratching post, he often will fall asleep on it. Mr. Q.O. captioned this shot “Photo Life – I’m Posing For It”.

Half Clamshells

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Ages and ages ago, I printed a number of half clamshells on various fabrics. Last night I put together three blocks. They finish at 3″. I think I’ll make two more and then set them together into a 9-patch block and turn that into a doll’s quilt with a pieced border. They are amazingly quick to stitch and go together perfectly.

They only take a second to press.

Yesterday was a big day in the Q.O. household. After debating it on and off for about a year the decision was made. We now do not own a car but instead have joined AutoShare. For downtown residents like us it makes a ton of sense. Parking charges downtown are insanely expensive. With the AutoShare car, we park it back in its designated spot when we’re done and don’t have the monthly parking fees. No more insurance costs. They even pay for the gas!

Yes, it will mean that we’ll have to plan ahead a bit when we’ve got errands to run for which we need a car rather than just going downstairs and jumping in the car whenever we want but, when we looked at the amount we used the car, it made sense to make the move, particularly given that our car was old and probably getting to the stage of starting to need more and more repairs.

Baxter doesn’t care, of course, so long as one of the errands for which we will use the AutoShare car is to get his favourite food. Mr. Q.O. dubbed this photo “Pasha Puss”. I call it his “peel me a grape” look. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you just see the tip of his tongue sticking out.

Sunflower Centres

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The last two centres for the red and white Feathered Star/Sunflower blocks are done. Now it’s a matter of finishing the Feathered Star blocks themselves, adding them to those already done and starting on the borders.

I’m grading the seams as I go and have learned it’s a lot easier to grade the centre sunflower before it’s in the centre of a 20″ block. I wait until after pressing before grading the seams. Then it’s a quick press again and they’re done.

It snowed a fair bit last night but today it’s supposed to be quite mild again, so I suppose it will all be melted by noon. Last night was the first time this winter I would have possibly gone looking for boots had I been going out.

Baxter in what seems to be a chair meant for kitties. The cat I had as a little girl loved this chair, and so has every cat I’ve had since then. It seems to be just the right shape for them. It’s actually a very comfortable chair in which to sit but, as it’s usually occupied by a cat, we don’t seem to get the chance!

Rose Dream Pinwheels

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On the weekend, I started a new quilt with the Fresh Squeezed fabrics. I was holding on to them, waiting for just the right idea and when the new Inklingo Rose Dream collections were introduced I knew immediately what I was going to do. This set of four blocks finishes at 9″ as I used the 4.5″ collection. There are also 6″ and 9″ collections of this design.

While I want to make a classic Rose Dream quilt using two fabrics, this fun idea seemed like a perfect fit. Instead of using the square at two corners of the block, I decided to use HSTs. When the blocks are joined, the pinwheels appear. That inspired the name for this quilt – Rose Dream Pinwheels. Rose Dream is also known as Lover’s Knot, True Lover’s Knot and Endless Chain. The setting possibilities with this block are endless!

The next question for me will be what colour to make the classic two-colour quilt. I may have to really fight with myself not to make it pink and white. Maybe a yellow and white? Or perhaps green and white? Whatever I decide, I will likely make it with the 9″ collection. So far a blue and white quilt is made, a pink and cream top is done and waiting to be quilted and a red and white top is in the process of being made. A pretty red and white Endless Chain top can be seen here, on Tim Latimer’s blog.

The block was quick to press.

Baxter’s silver markings are showing more and more each day. It’s going to be fun to see how marked the silver is in another couple of years when he’s fully grown.

A Trio of Spring Winding Ways Blocks

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After seeing the circle almost appearing with six blocks done, I was determined to put together three more in order to see the full effect. These three were added to the group.

Then I laid them out together. I’m thrilled with how this is going to look. It will be fun arranging the blocks once they’re all done and watching the circles appear.

Tuesday was yet another gray and rainy day, but another mild one. We just saw our long-range forecast and it looks like it’s staying mild for the next couple of weeks.

Last night when I was stitching, I left my small scissors on the end table for a minute. The protective cover was on them. I turned around and Baxter had them, by the handles, in his mouth and was about to make off with them. As soon as he saw me looking at him, he dropped them. I wonder where he would have hidden them – probably with Mr. Q.O.’s pens.

Later he was reclining on the loveseat with his paws crossed. Mr. Q.O. grabbed the camera and we were lucky to get this shot as he moved seconds later. Mr. Q.O. captioned this one “The Lounge Lizard.”

Winding my Way to Spring

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Making these little 4.5 blocks is absolutely irresistible. So another two were added to the group. I love how quickly they go together and I definitely get my curved piecing fix stitching them.

I laid out the six that were done and can already tell that I’m going to love this quilt when it’s done. But it may be quite some time before I reach that point.

There are three quilt tops very near to completion. And two patterns that I’m in the midst of writing. And Ferris Wheel, which I’m slowly working on hand quilting. My goal is to have Ferris Wheel finished before the end of February. The binding fabric is ready, the label is made. So all that’s left is for me to get that hand quilting finished!

We had an unbelievably mild day on Monday, although it rained and rained. I half expected to see a robin on the roof garden this morning as January has been so mild that I’m almost convinced we’ll see spring start in February.

Baxter has decided that his kitty bed is a nice spot to curl up for an afternoon snooze or keep his eye on the toy basket. For some reason, he loves little paper cups and will roll them around on the floor for hours.

Feathered Star Again

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Another one done and three more to go. If I can buckle down and concentrate on stitching the three remaining blocks, I think I could have the centre of the quilt done within 9 to 10 days. Whether I can do that remains to be seen, but I’m going to try. Once the centre sunflower is done, it seems like the block is almost halfway done so today I shall try to get at least two of those centres done.

I love how easy it is to press this block. I graded the seams for two reasons. There are a lot of pieces in each block, so it really helps cut down on the weight and will make the quilt drape nicely. Secondly, I definitely don’t want the red shadowing through.

Yesterday afternoon the fog rolled in and the view out our window was quite eerie. I love how quiet it seems when there’s a thick fog.

Mr. Q.O. captioned this one “That’s the biggest bag of catnip I has ever seen!” Made me laugh the second I saw the picture.

A Trio of Pickled Ladies

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The first of the next three that are joining the group. Every time I finish one, I think it’s my favourite and then I make the next and think it is and then … well, you get the picture.

The second of the trio.

And the third.

Another 15 to go and they will all be done and ready to add to the others. Then I’ll start with the half Pickled Ladies that will go along the edges and then the border(s). I’m still undecided about how many borders it’s going to have.

Baxter likes to “hide” beneath things. When he’s found, his eyes get so big!