Category Archives: quilts

Planning the Alabama Beauty Blocks

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These three little stacks of pieces represent the next three blocks for the quilt.  I’m still searching for the right name for it, so until then it’s simply “the quilt”.

I can see that working with the quilt is going to become more difficult the larger it gets unless I start putting it together in quadrants.  I’ve pretty well decided on a setting of 12 by 12 blocks, so I think what I’ll do is make four segments of 6 by 6 blocks.  That should make it somewhat less cumbersome to deal with until the end when I will join the four segments.  It’s rather amazing to realize that I’m over halfway done the first of four segments.  This is going together faster than I had anticipated.

On Linda’s blog yesterday, she showed some great layouts using controlled colour placement in the Alabama Beauty blocks that give totally different effects.  One of them gave me an idea for a quilt with the Improved 9-Patch block, which is another block that I do want to play with, although not a king-sized quilt.

I’ve joined in on the One Flower Wednesdays with Karen and Valentina.  At some point today I will be making at least one or two hexagon flowers, which I will show tomorrow.  I have an idea for a small lap quilt that will incorporate a few hexagon flowers made of 1″ hexagons and I think I’m going to use a small border of flowers made with half-inch hexagons to surround this piece when I get it to whatever size I finally decide on as large enough.

We had another gloriously sunny day on Tuesday.  The leaf buds on the trees on the roof garden are really starting to swell and show a little green.  With any luck we’ll have leaves in front of the living room window hiding the other high-rise towers before the end of the month.

This shot of Lester makes me laugh.  This was taken only moments after he had been brushed.  I don’t know why he does it, but as soon as he has been combed or brushed, he immediately starts licking and chewing on his ruff and looks so unkempt!  In this shot, I’m not sure if he’s meowing at something out on the roof garden or if we caught him in the midst of yawning.

According to Mr. Q.O., Smudge was thinking about “where’s dinner?” in this shot.

Alabama Beauty Circle Blocks

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Another row added and now six circles have appeared.  The more of these blocks that I do, the quicker I’m finding it is to stitch them.  What takes more time now is choosing the fabrics for the next row.   I’m trying to not have circles of the same colour next to each other.

It is now 27″ by 36″.  Once the next row is added, it will be 36″ square.  I’m thinking that I may work on this in 5-row sets so that it doesn’t become too difficult to handle.  That will make it a bit more complicated choosing the fabrics for the first row of each set but a little careful planning should be all that’s required.  I hope.  I’m thinking that it will end up composed of 12 rows of 11 blocks but that decision is one I’ll make once I get closer to finished.  I don’t think this will have a border.

I’m still trying to decide on a name for the quilt.  One candidate that keeps coming to mind is Spring Circles.

We got pictures of the cats awake.  Smudge, once again taking over my desk chair.

While Lester was relaxing on the pink chair.

Monday Miscellaneous

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When picking up the frame on Saturday from Sew Sisters, I couldn’t resist these fabrics for the Alabama Beauty blocks.  It will be mostly made from stash but I will need to add a few fabrics along the way as I want to have each circle in the quilt unique.

The roof garden has been opened for the season.  We were out there for a while on the weekend.  So far, there are only a couple of little daffodils blooming but lots and lots of green shoots starting to show in the flowerbeds.

All of a sudden the grass on the roof garden seems green as can be.

We have been taking care of Winnie since Friday morning.  Last time we took a picture of her was shortly after she had been given the kitty lion cut last fall.  Now her fur has grown in as seen here.  When we go in, we’re greeted most times by the loudest meow imaginable.

The weekend saw some very lazy kitties in this household.  Lester curled up in one bed.

And Smudge curled up in another.

Klosjes — It Must be Saturday

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Not much to show this week in the way of Klosjes, but I did get this one little block done.  It seems the quilt is going to be larger than the 81 blocks previously made.  Mr. Q.O. loves these little blocks so I’ll keep going, I suppose, until I have enough to make at least a lap quilt.

The back:

While I may have only stitched one, I did take a few minutes this morning to print the templates on some more charms and muslin:

We picked up the floor frame from Sew Sisters this afternoon.  Oh, my — it is fantastic!  Wonderfully made and has velcro strips and ribbon to hold up the sides so they’re not draped all over the floor.  Easy as can be to use — no knobs to tighten or loosen.  Perfect for someone with limited hand strength like me.  And it actually looks nice!

We’re taking care of Winnie, our neighbours’ cat, this weekend.  Winnie who makes all those funny sounds when she eats.  She did it again tonight.

Our boys have been resting up, hoping we get warmer weather again soon and that there are lots of things to watch out the window.  Lester was guarding the toy basket.

While Smudge was doing one of his impossibly cute poses.

Piecing an Alabama Beauty Block

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Thursday night I printed some more shapes for the nameless quilt.  I refuse to call it “The Thing” any longer.  It needs a name!  I got the fabrics picked out for the next set of 3 blocks and this block stitched.  I’m finding it easier and easier to plan these blocks.  I lay out the pieces for each block, make sure that the pieces that create the circles are in the right spot and then it’s really a quick block to stitch.

This is the back:

And this is a close-up of the centre of the back.  I had promised someone (sorry, I forget who!) that I’d show a close-up of how I press this block, so here it is:

The batiks I had ordered from Sew Sisters last weekend arrived.  I think a piece of one, if not two, of these is going to be used in the Alabama Beauty quilt.  These were definitely my lucky fabrics!  Tomorrow we’re off to Sew Sisters to pick up the frame.  I can’t wait!

Along with the batiks was this cute FQ of Easter fabric.  Wouldn’t this make a great back for a little doll’s quilt?

Thursday was another rainy, grey day.  Lester spent some time on the windowsill, but there wasn’t much for him to see.

Smudge, on the other hand, decided it was a good day to curl up with a teddy bear.

I Got Framed!!

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See this picture?  This wonderful quilt frame?  It’s a fabulous solid oak quilt frame that does away with the necessity of basting, folds up easily for storage and is a great asset for any hand quilter!

On Easter weekend, my favourite quilt shop, Sew Sisters, had a contest.  Every purchaser of fabric got an entry.  Sew Sisters had a very similar contest last year at Easter.  That was the first time I saw one of these frames and I’ve been wanting one ever since as basting is a nightmare and holding a hoop is completely beyond my hands’ capabilities.  When Judy announced the contest on the Sew Sisters blog last week, I knew I had to buy something and get an entry in the contest.  A few half metres of red batiks were purchased and a lot of finger crossing began.

I don’t usually have good luck in contests like this but this time —  I won!  When I got the e-mail from Judy Tuesday afternoon, I was thrilled — once I got over the surprise I had actually won it, that is.  I think the cats jumped at the noise I made when I read that e-mail!!  There are 3 big quilts waiting for quilting, a number of smaller ones and now — well, now I can’t wait!  I’ve done so little hand quilting in the past couple of years that the first thing I’m going to do is make up a sandwich of muslin and batting and get back into the rhythm of hand quilting before I start on any of the quilts.

The frame is made by Heartland Quiltworks, a Canadian company.  We’re picking it up from the shop on the weekend.  I can’t wait to get it home and try out quilting with a frame.  I have visions of the cats curled up under the frame and probably being little mischief makers trying to catch  the needle and thread.

There’s a table runner pattern I’m working on that will feature, among other things, this star.  I made it with the 6″ Storm at Sea collection.  The background fabric I used is one that I’ve had for ages and absolutely love working with.  It’s almost of the same thread count as a good batik but needles so easily.  I’ve been looking for the right pattern in which to use it for years.

The back:

It was a rainy, drizzly, somewhat cooler day on Tuesday and the cats didn’t spend any time on the windowsill.  Smudge did spend a lot of time in my desk chair, though.  It seems to be one of his favourite spots.  I’m not too sure what that look is all about — perhaps a bit of a Morris look.

Lester also has a funny look on his face.  He was actually awake but closed his eyes as he really dislikes the flash of the camera.

Alabama Beauty – Second Circle

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It seems that getting that first group of blocks done so that the first circle appeared was the hardest part of making this quilt.  Now it’s almost putting itself together.  There’s a little planning to make sure each block is going to have the right fabrics on the outer edges to match up with their adjoining blocks, but once that’s done they’re amazingly fast to put together.   As I’m pressing as I go, the top truly will be done when I finish the last block.  I’m already wondering about how to quilt it.  It’s a done deal now — this is going to be king-size quilt.

Monday evening I picked out some more shabby chic prints to add to the mix, cut them to the size needed to print my templates and now I’ve got enough prepped to keep going for a few weeks.  While I was prepping them, I was thinking about favourite types of fabrics.  I always seem to fall back to shabby chic for large scrappy quilts.  Do you have a favourite type of fabric that you always seem to go back to?

Monday was another absolutely gorgeous day.  Warm as an early summer day, clear blue skies, an absolutely marvelous treat for early April.  There are more and more green shoots showing up in the roof garden flowerbeds and the vines on the trellis are starting to show green leaves as well.

Both cats spent time on the windowsill Monday.   We have finches flitting about in the trees which I think they’re finding as fascinating as I am.   In the evening, Smudge relaxed.

Lester was back in his favourite spot in the pink chair.

Planning the Alabama Beauty Blocks

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It’s a bit of a change for me to be planning a scrappy quilt but to get the circle effect, I have to lay the outer pieces out to make sure I’m going to have the right ones in the right spots and stitch the 3-piece units before adding them to the peel.  Here I’ve laid out the four 3-piece units  just to make sure that I’ve got everything stitched the way it needs to be and am now going to start stitching them to the peel for the fourth block. The grey that shows in the photo is not the fabric I’m using for the peels in this next block.

Curved piecing is something I cannot get enough of, it seems.  With all the matching points that are printed on Inklingo shapes, it’s so easy to put these together and the curve in these is so gentle that I don’t even need to clip the seam allowance.

The gardener was back again on Wednesday.  Our forecast is extraordinary.  Friday and Saturday they’re saying we’ll have temperatures of 25C and a humidex reading of about 29C.  I don’t think I can ever remember it being that warm at the beginning of April.  I’d bet a lot of people go back to work on Monday with sunburns!

The weekend begins now for me.  I finished work late Wednesday night and have plans — although with our weather forecast, they may get changed a bit.  One of my plans is to once again try to organize my fabric into smaller containers that are easier for me to handle.  I currently have most of it in Rubbermaid containers that are a bit too large and heavy for me to move easily.  I found some great smaller ones at Staples last week so I plan to organize and move most of it into those.  That should make it easier for me to handle things.  I hope.

Lester spent a fair bit of time on the windowsill Wednesday watching the gardener.

Smudge loves to curl up on my computer chair.

Storm at Sea Block 1

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… is finished.  Finished size is 6.75″.  The back:

What I learned stitching this block?  That I really do need to get my machine piecing skills up to doing blocks like this.  Much as I love hand piecing, and it is my preferred way of stitching, this block would be super fast by machine and, with the stitching lines to guide me, I may actually be able to do it.  Maybe.  I think on the weekend I may print the shapes for one block on some other fabrics and see how I do on the machine.  Perhaps I’ll do it as a hybrid block — machine piece all the units and then put the rows and blocks together by hand.  Or perhaps, knowing me, I’ll break out in a cold sweat as soon as I sit down at the machine.

No gardeners on the roof garden on Tuesday.  And no activity for Lester to watch, so he decided to relax on the couch with a teddy bear for company.

Smudge posing, as usual, for the camera.

Stormy Sea

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Doesn’t this look like a churned-up, stormy sea? I am so impressed with how easy it is to put this block together.  I wish I’d had the time to finish it last night, but there’s only one long seam left to do and then I’ll press it.  Even though the bottom piece has yet to be added, the effect is already visible.  I can’t wait to stitch that last seam tonight and then press it.

We had a real surprise on Monday — the gardeners were out on the roof garden preparing the flowerbeds.  They have never worked on the roof garden this early in the year.  Makes me wonder if they have some long-range forecast from Environment Canada that says the threat of frost is gone.  The rule of thumb here is not to plant before May 24 and I cannot remember them ever working out on the roof garden much before then and definitely never this early.  I don’t know, but imagine we’ve broken all sorts of records this month.  I’m not complaining, as I love the warmer weather but I do wonder if we’re in for a really hot humid summer — oh, how I hope so!

Lester, of course, was sitting on the windowsill watching rather intently.

Mr. Q.O. brought home a new brush for the kitties on Monday.  Smudge was purring so loudly while he was being brushed that I could hear him on the other side of the room.  Afterwards, he was looking up at Mr. Q.O. as though he was made out of catnip or something!