Category Archives: Patchwork of the Crosses

Lost and Then Found

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The POTC blocks, that is.  I was looking for a particular fabric and, along with finding it, found these blocks.  I knew they weren’t lost, just incredibly well tucked away.  It was a good thing I found them so easily as this is one of the projects that I’m determined to finish in 2011.

There aren’t many blocks that still need their cream hexagon frame, so I decided to add the framing hexagons to one block on Sunday.  It still needs the purple connecting squares, but those don’t take long to add.

The back:

The weekend was bitterly, bitterly cold.  We’re supposed to get somewhat warmer temperatures on Tuesday, so just have to get through today when they say we may have wind chills of -30 yet again.   I’ll be spending time this afternoon crawling around on our neighbour’s floor as I baste a couple of quilts, including the baby quilt.

On Saturday, we noticed Lester on the loveseat and had to take this picture.  Made us laugh to see his tail hanging straight down to the floor.

Smudge couldn’t resist an empty bag.   He was in it before we could turn around and we got this shot just shortly after he came back out.

Recap of Projects on List

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It has been so long since I’ve worked on a few of these projects that I thought it might be a good idea to have a look at them again.  First up are a few of the 30 Pink Ice blocks.

Than a few of the 30 Patchwork of the Crosses blocks.

Looking at these first two pictures makes me realize how nice it would be to have a design wall!  I could lay out all 30 blocks for each quilt and photograph them. Reorganizing the living room is on the horizon, so perhaps a design wall can get incorporated into that reorganization.

Next up are a few of the harpsichord blocks.  While I had started putting them into the first row, I have quite a few more done but not added to a row yet.  That will be something that I think I’ll start doing every 10 or 12 blocks or so.

While only one Storm at Sea block is done, as shown below, I have the fabrics for my Stormy Seas quilt ready to print and have worked out how many of each shape I’ll need.  Perhaps this weekend I can get some of the printing done.

The Pickled Ladies, which have clearly captured my interest almost exclusively for the past month and a half.

Then the sunshine star clams which are almost twice the size of the Pickled Ladies blocks:

The final item on the list is the baby quilt, which is ready to quilt as soon as I find the right backing.  Who knew finding a wider flannel would be such an adventure?  I may end up making a pieced backing with some ’30s FQs for it.  No picture of it yet but as soon as it’s quilted there will be.

Every one of these quilts has been/is being made with Inklingo templates printed on my fabric.  It has made even complex patterns like the clamshell pickles simple.

Smudge looking angelic in lace.

And Lester curled up beside Mr. Q.O.’s desk chair.

A Replacement Patchwork of the Crosses Block

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Earlier this week I made this block as there was one that just didn’t fit in and had to be replaced.  The more I look at the blocks I’ve made for my POTC quilt, the more I realize just how drawn I am to shades of purple.  Now all the blocks for the top are made, the cream surrounding hexagons are on more than half of them and the only thing I have left to sort out is what I’ll use as the connecting squares where 4 blocks meet.

The back:

E-mail on Wednesday was completely unreliable.  Among other things that didn’t get delivered, I realized Wednesday night that many comments that were left on my blog on Wednesday didn’t arrive in my inbox.  So if I owe you a response, please bear with me while I sort this out.  I wonder if the extreme heat and humidity we’re having is affecting our ISP?

Wednesday night I started on another Pink Ice block.  As I like to match my thread to the fabric I”m stitching, I ended up using a Mettler 50/3 thread.  I can’t believe how thick that is in comparison to the Mettler 60/2 thread or the YLI Heirloom thread I love using.  Aside from being a struggle to thread the needle with it, I felt as though it was harder to pull through the fabric.   I’m curious about the Superior Threads MasterPiece thread and will, when I see it here, buy a spool to try.  Have you tried it?  What do you think of it?

When Mr. Q.O. was downtown on Monday, he also got this shot of the flowers outside a restaurant.   Doesn’t this look like a great spot to spend some time on a summer day and just watch the world go by?

Wednesday was another extremely hot and humid day.  Today is … well, more of the same.  The humidex readings have been the highest I can ever recall.  While we rarely have to put the air conditioning on in the living room, this week it has been on daily.

Mr. Q.O. has been playing with some photo editing software and this picture of Lester taken on Wednesday is a result.

Smudge spent some time on the windowsill on Wednesday.  At one point there was a robin he could hear but not see.  The tail was swishing and he was very intently staring out the window.

Patchwork of the Crosses Block Framed

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Another block of the POTC ready except for the little purple connector squares.  As I’ve been looking through the blocks remaining, I think I may re-do a few of them.  I’ll reassess when I have all the ones I’m certain of framed and ready, but I think there are a few that just don’t quite fit.  Maybe once I lay them all out, they will work.  Once I get to that point, I’ll take a photo and look at it on the computer screen.  Perhaps I just want to make a few more of the blocks.  I’ve found a few more striped fabrics and other directional prints that could be used for some great effects, so perhaps I just want to make a few more to add those into the mix.

I also finished this one with its connector squares.

The back:

It looks like we’re in for a few rather cool days and then right back into the heat and humidity.  Lester’s happy as long as it’s warm enough to hang out on the windowsill.

While Smudge prefers the comfort of the soft cushions on the couch.

Summer Picnic Dish Progress & Summer Goals

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Summer Picnic Dish is one of the quilts, along with Farmer’s Delight, that I want to finish the piecing of this summer.  Hmm, am I setting my sights too high with all these things I want to finish?  Probably, but this one does grow quickly — the blocks are 12″ which is, for me, huge.  I love putting this together as it’s so easy to get perfect arcs and points with the Inklingo Pickle Dish collection.  At the moment, I’m debating whether to make it a lap quilt or a bed-sized quilt.

On Barbara Brackman’s blog yesterday I saw an absolutely fabulous pattern — a marriage of clamshells and pickle dish!  If you go here, scroll down a bit in the post and see the design in different fabrics.  What a great design that would be to put together.  Wonderful curved piecing and triangles.  What more could one want?

Another quilt I definitely want to finish this summer is the Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses.  I’m going to try stitching the cream hexagons that surround each block by machine as that might make the goal a bit more attainable.  I’ll still be joining them to each block by hand, but that goes quite quickly.  Then all I’ve got to do is figure out what I want to use for the centre squares in between the blocks and add the outer edging pieces.  This picture only shows a few of the blocks — there are quite a few more.

The Drunkard’s Path baskets are something else I want to finish fairly quickly.  It will be a large wallhanging.  I just need to sort out the centre block for it, which is different from the one in the picture.  It won’t take long to do the printing and piecing.

Also on the list to, at the very least, spend some time stitching:  blue and white Seven Sisters blocks, pink and white Pink Ice snow crystal blocks, the Harpsichord Quilt, more klosjes, the hexagon stripe quilt — oh, the list is endless!!  I wonder which will be finished first!

Thursday was another lovely warm day.  We wandered up to a fruit and vegetable store and picked up some fabulous Ontario wild blueberries and Ontario raspberries.  The flavour of both is just incredible — nothing comes close.  I’m going to try freezing some of our raspberries to use in smoothies in the winter.

Lester had windowsill time on Thursday.

As did Smudge.