Category Archives: curved piecing

Another Farmer’s Delight

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Once this and two more blocks are finished, and the next one is already partially put together, the blocks for this quilt will be made.  Setting the blocks is something I’ve started thinking about and, while I have no firm ideas as of yet, I’m thinking about something that will involve some applique.  I’ll make that decision once all the blocks are done and I start playing with layouts.

An idea for another Dresden Plate variation is slowly working its way to the top of the list.  I may play with some fabric choices for it and perhaps make the first block this week.

Thanks to the rain early Monday, we have no snow left on the roof garden.  As it’s now March 1, I’m hoping that we get no more snow until next year.   Spring can’t arrive soon enough for me.  There’s something about it being March that always feels so promising.  We got through January and February and it’s all good from here.

We didn’t manage to get any photos of the kitties on Monday.  We just didn’t seem to have a camera at hand at the appropriate times, so I thought I’d dig up some photos from a year ago.

This was Lester just under a year ago.

And Smudge slightly over a year ago, giving a classic Smudge look.

Pickled Ladies and the Pastry Shop

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Sounds like a funny book title, doesn’t it?  As it’s time for the February Clamshell Club report, I’m showing the Pickled Ladies that got finished this month.  Not as many as I had hoped, but half a dozen to add to the mix is progress.  To see more clamshell reports from other participants, check in here at Cybele’s Patch to find those links.

On the weekend, a new Inklingo Pies and Tarts collection was released.  While I’ve often thought  the quilt was appealing, there was no way I was going to make anything that required English paper piecing.  Now?  Now I can make it with a simple running stitch and some continuous stitching as I’ve got perfect shapes with stitching lines marked on the back of my fabrics.

Of course, I had to start making some of the blocks and have printed enough shapes now to make a small quilt.  Mr. Q.O. suggested naming it Pastry Shop.  And that’s how the Pickled Ladies have ended up in a post with the Pastry Shop.  The back:

We had yet more snow on the weekend, but it sounds like today we’ll have rain and who knows what else.  I had a migraine Sunday afternoon that was rather nasty, but it lifted as the storm got closer.  The cats decided to find cozy spots to curl up.

Smudge’s new favourite spot is where the heating pad is.

Lester prefers the loveseat.  I think this is one of the best shots of Lester, as it shows how rich the red colour is in his coat.

More Melons

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All 52 melon blocks are made, so the X’s and O’s top should be finished relatively quickly.  I am going to machine quilt it, know exactly how I want to quilt it and may get this one finished within another a couple of weeks.  Making the melon blocks has me tempted to start another quilt using some melons and other shapes.

A while back, I joined the Bargain Lover’s Club at Sew Sisters and have been receiving 10 great FQs every month.  This time?  This time, when I opened the envelope, Mr. Q.O. said he wanted these fabrics.  I keep threatening to get him piecing to help get all these designs I have in my notebook and in my head actually made.  Maybe this grouping will do it.

Smudge likes to lounge by the water and food bowls.  This was a shot we couldn’t resist taking.

Lester found himself a cozy spot to curl up and have a nap.  It was cold again on Tuesday, but he’s showing more interest in getting up on the windowsill every day. Maybe that’s an indication that spring will be here sooner rather than later.

Half a Dozen Melons

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I’m hooked.  No question about it.  Stitching these little blocks is nothing but fun. They’re a quick stitch and those perfect curves make me smile every time.  I need around 40 of them for the border I’m planning but, at the rate they’re going together, it’s not going to take long.  But ideas for a quilt made with just these blocks keep floating through my mind.  It’s one of those blocks that I find irresistible.

Thursday was a great day.  The pink and cream quilt top is finished.  When I got up Thursday morning, I decided it was time.  Sashings were cut, sewn to cornerstones and added to the blocks and then the final border was added.  What I learned yesterday?  That machine piecing isn’t that difficult.  All the joining was done by machine, while the blocks themselves were hand pieced and I got it all put together without having to rip out any seams.  The top finishes at around 60 x 70, and I am thrilled with it.  Pictures when it’s quilted.  I’ve already got the quilting planned for it.

Charlsey posted some pictures on her blog post here from our two days of stitching, talking and planning as well as some interesting people watching.  There’s one shot of Charlsey’s Seven Sisters quilt and my X’s and O’s quilt that I love.  The hotel lobby is rather beige and I think our quilts added some needed colour!

For some reason we got no new photos of the cats on Thursday.  Things are definitely looking up — the two of them had one of their mock battles on Thursday evening, which they haven’t really done for a couple of months.  This is one of my favourite photos and a rather rare shot of the two of them together that was taken a few months ago.

Melons

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I’ve started putting together one of the elements for the borders of the X’s and O’s quilt.  These little 4″ blocks go together so quickly that I don’t think it will take long at all to get this part of the border ready to put together.

The back of one of the little blocks.

We’re definitely going to have a couple of days of milder temperatures.  If the forecast is correct, we may hit 50 on Friday!  It looks like it will go back to the cold winter weather shortly after that, but what a treat to get a day that warm in February.

Lester continues to improve.  Mr. Q.O. was taking pictures of the boys, focusing on their paws.

Smudge was showing off his paws while he slept.

6 More Pickled Ladies and a Plan

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Lots of stitching and talking on Tuesday resulted, for me, in six more finished Pickled Ladies.  I think this will end up as a large wall hanging with a narrow stop border in black and a larger border in a shabby floral.  When I have all the ones that are currently prepped done, then I’ll assess its size.

Tuesday was chilly again with temps in the mid 20s.  But it looks like we’re heading into a nice warm-up, so I’m hoping that maybe we’ve had the worst of winter and now it’s just a matter of waiting for the warmer weather to arrive.

Smudge was reaching for the kitty toy basket from the kitty bed.  Always makes me laugh when he does something like this.

Lester was having a snooze.

Rainbow Flower & January Clamshell Report

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The Cranes Circling Flowers at Dusk, aka rainbow flower, is something I can’t resist stitching!  So much so that, when I couldn’t sleep because of a migraine, I was fussy cutting six more flowers and cranes from another fabric at 5:00 a.m. on Saturday.  I have everything cut and printed now for the rest of this piece and hope to have the main piecing finished by mid-week.  When it’s finished, we’re going to have to find a way to photograph it.  The light at this time of year makes for not great photographs.  I can’t wait until spring comes and the roof garden reopens!

When I pulled out the storage container with the Oriental prints and batiks to choose the fabrics in this, I also hauled out the container with striped and directional fabrics. I have a feeling fussy cutting some stripes for this block will be the next thing I play with, although I’m also very tempted to do something with shabby chic fabrics.

I don’t have much to show for the January clamshell report.  While I’ve made lots of the black and white arcs for the Pickled Ladies, I only put together two of the pickled clamshells.  To see the list of and links to participants in the Clamshell Club, go to Cybele’s Patch.

On the weekend, I got a lot of the cream hexagons for the POTC blocks stitched.  At this point, I only need to stitch together the ones needed for two more blocks and that part will be done.  So I feel like progress is being made.  We were taking trying to take a picture of a finished POTC block when Smudge decided he needed to help. You can just see a bit of the block that he’s lying on.

Lester was having a snooze.