Category Archives: quilts

A Walk Around the Block

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To see some flowers around the block this time.  Flowers from the pathway up to the front entrance to the building.

Flowers at the store right across from the building.

I had hoped there’d be pictures of the flowers from the roof garden, but I guess the gardeners are sticking to the don’t plant before May 24th rule. I’m a bit surprised as we had gloriously warm weather throughout the entire long weekend and this week looks like it’s going to feel like July rather than May.

On the long weekend I got lots and lots of the New York Beauty pieces I had printed on fabric cut and ready to stitch, a few more of the Drunkard’s Path blocks stitched and spent a fair bit of time giving my blog a facelift. Which, if you’re reading this other than through a reader, you’ve probably already noticed. I love the new WordPress option of being able to see a true preview of how the various themes look with the blog header photo. It made switching themes fun this time.

Baxter knows how to relax but, even when having a snooze, always likes to know where his toys are. Mr. Q.O. captioned this one, “Choices, choices.”

Five of One, Half A Dozen of Another

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Yes, I know the saying is six of one, half a dozen of another but only five of the little Drunkard’s Path units were finished so …

Yesterday there was a question about the matching/registration points on the 2″ Drunkard’s Path blocks. As a picture tells the story much better than words could, I took this picture of the back of two pieces showing just how many matching points there are. You can really see them if you click on the photo to enlarge it. Those matching points are the secret to perfect curved piecing. Pin, stitch to pin, move pin, stitch to pin and so on. And the curves are perfect every time!

The half a dozen?

Half a dozen of the red and white Texas stars. Remember them? Last time I showed this project, an entire row wasn’t yet done. Since then it has grown to three complete rows (I’m joining them as I go) and with these six and a couple more I’ll soon have the fourth row done and attached.

It presses beautifully. I realized as I pressed the six that I haven’t been grading the seams on this one as I went so some time will be spent on the weekend doing just that. I don’t want to take any chances on the deep red shadowing through the white on this one.

This is our long Victoria Day weekend and the weather forecast couldn’t be better. Hot and sunny. Who could ask for more on the first long weekend of the season?

Baxter on “his” quilt. He loves to sit up there in the evening.

A Dozen Little Blocks and a Repeat Appearance

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In next to no time last night I had an even dozen of these done. Now there are only 462 left to make. I could barely write that last sentence without laughing out loud. While it seems like an enormous number, I know I had the first 200 or so of them done in just a couple of weeks — and that involved tracing of templates, adding matching points and then cutting them out. I hate setting deadlines for myself, so am just going to enjoy however long it takes to stitch these.

This box now contains 370 little 2″ blocks.

After seeing the photo of the two blocks on my post yesterday, Mr. Q.O. insisted we take the photo again. He was right, the one yesterday seemed a bit muddy.

So much for me saying it was summer weather. Yesterday it got rather cool again but at least the sun was out. Our forecast for the long weekend is still looking like a true summer weekend with humidex readings in the 30s – Celsius, that is.

Baxter really does take his fabric minding duties seriously. When we set up to take photos, he’s almost always there to oversee the process.

Monet Block 2

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A few pieces were taken out of the big book box and another Monet block made. Right now I’m not sure which is my favourite (if one is at all) – the Tiffany Lamp blocks or these softer Monet blocks.

I finger press as I stitch, which makes the final pressing very quick.

Now I’ve made one of each of the New York Beauty 1 and 2 collections for the Monet quilt. I’m not sure how many blocks will be made for this quilt, but know that it’s going to be fun playing with the setting. That said, now that I look at these two side by side, I think this newest one may be put in the Tiffany Lamp quilt pile. It may not be soft enough for the Monet quilt.

Tuesday was another fabulous day here, with wonderfully warm temperatures. We went for a walk but, of course, forgot the camera. The shops have their planters out and there are some pretty arrangements to be seen. If it’s not raining today, we’ll try again.

Baxter still has his particularly unique way of drinking. It’s hard work. After he’s had a drink, he needs to rest. You can tell that the fur on one side of his face is pretty much soaking wet in this shot.

Tiffany Lamp Quilt, Block 10

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Block 10? It doesn’t seem as though I’ve made anywhere near that many! Ten done for the Tiffany Lamp quilt and one for the Monet quilt. I’m going to try to lay them all out on the floor — maybe when Baxter is sleeping. Otherwise it might be a nightmare! A series of these quilts is definitely in my future.

The back after grading the seams and pressing. I’m still thrilled with the Rowenta travel iron. It presses well and heats up quickly. The biggest bonus is it’s so lightweight and easy on the hands.

And yes, this is another quilt in a box. In the big book box. Not all the pieces are printed yet, although there are quite a few ready to cut and more sheets of fabric ready to print. This time the box also contains all the fabrics I’ve picked out for the Monet and Tiffany Lamp quilts. Yesterday I finished cutting the remaining shapes for the ’30s Drunkard’s Path. I need to get a fair bit of stitching done so those pieces will fit in that book box.

Summer is here. This weekend is the Victoria Day long weekend, the traditional planting time here and the weekend often thought of as the first long weekend of the summer. The gardeners were seen on the roof garden yesterday, the weather is glorious and one sure sign it’s summer is that the lounge chairs have shown up out on the roof garden. We’ve turned the heat off, the windows are open and it’s wonderful!

Baxter lounging about. Mr. Q.O. captioned it, “Are you perchance going to the kitchen?”

Quilts in Boxes

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Almost all the shapes for the ’30s Drunkard’s Path blocks are cut now. Doesn’t this look inviting? I love having everything for a quilt so well organized. Now, when I want to stitch some of these little shapes, I just need to pick up the book box and everything I need is there. Well, not the thread – but in this case I’m using one colour, an heirloom cream thread, and it’s in the end table drawer just waiting. I have to stitch a few more of the blocks to make room in the book box for the remaining shapes.

All the shapes for the red and white Texas Star quilt are cut and waiting in this box. In fact, everything’s in the box. The thread is there. The top, in the stage it is now, is in there. And all the pieces necessary to complete it.

The Winding Ways blocks I’d starting making with the  hand-dyed fabrics reappeared. Everything that’s necessary for the rest of them is printed and in a box as well.

A fair bit of time was spent on the weekend trying to organize my stitching. After I excavated – cleaned off – partially cleaned off the table where my sewing machine is, which had become the catchall area, I found a lot of orphan blocks and projects in one stage or another including a few forgotten projects. Then I went through the process of sorting everything into its appropriate box and am now much more organized than I have been for the past few months.

As part of that sorting process, I also made use of a large cardboard box into which went a number of projects and orphan blocks. Some of the projects have enough blocks done to turn into small quilts. Some of the orphan blocks may get turned into stitching books. But I am going to try to make a habit of fishing out one set of blocks once a month and doing something with them.

I’m always surprised at how disorganized my stitching area can get. When I was working at an office, I  never shut my office door at night until my desk was clear. It seems the creative process has brought out a whole different side of me.

I know what happens – a new idea comes into my mind and I have to start it immediately. Part of that means finding fabrics I want to play with, but instead of putting them back I seem to toss them on to the sewing table and forget about them until I either am looking for them again or the stitching table hits critical mass and I have to go through the organizing process again.

Every time I do this I swear I’m going to stay better organized. And every time the same thing happens again. And it will happen again and again. Just seems to be part of the creative process for me. But oh, how I wish I could keep that area better organized and actually be able to use the sewing machine when I want to instead of having to go through the excavation process!

Baxter likes to keep his eye on what’s drying on the clotheshorse when I wash fabric by hand.

16 Little Blocks

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Another 60 or so of these and I’ll be halfway done making the 2″ Drunkard’s Path units. They’re unbelievably quick and easy to stitch and, because they are so small, I can spread them out on the Cut ‘n Press and press them in seconds. Last night I was working on a gift for a friend, which I can’t show as she reads my blog, and after that I wanted to stitch for a while. An hour or so later, I had 16 more of these little blocks done.

This weekend I’m hoping to get at least half of the remaining ones I need cut. They’re all printed. The little book box should be pretty full by the time the weekend is over … that is, of course, if I stick to my plans for the weekend.

A portrait of Baxter. This is, we think, one of the best shots of him yet.

Bright New York Beauty 2

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The partially completed block I showed yesterday is now finished. And it’s bright. Almost need your sunglasses bright. I think I may do a series, as Wanda at Exuberant Color does, of small quilts with these blocks. That way I can play with the colour combinations as much as I want, play with the layouts as many ways as I can think up, and just generally have fun. I’m going to print some more shapes from the 12″ Sunflower collection and do quarter blocks that will play with the NYB 1 and 2 collections. Some will be for the Tiffany Lamp quilt, some for the more muted Monet type effect and some will be … well, I don’t know quite yet.

Even with the thicker metallic fabric it still presses like a dream. And, of course, grading the seams as I finish the block helps.

We had a lot of rain and a couple of little thunderstorms yesterday. I hope that’s it for the rain for a while as the window cleaners are about to do our windows.

This shot of Baxter was taken last week but the look on his face makes me laugh so I couldn’t resist using it.

Hand Piecing a New York Beauty 2 Block

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What’s in the box?

Loads and loads of printed sheets for the New York Beauty blocks, both those from Collection 1 and Collection 2. Impossible for me to resist these. As though she knew, a very special friend sent me another one of these marvellous box books but this one is huge! Some of the sheets in that box are 8.5 x 12.5 inches and they aren’t folded over or cramped in there at all. The book box is that enormous and it’s deep so I can print as many sheets of fabric as I want for these blocks. It’s pretty clear now that the Tiffany Lamp quilt is going to be larger than I originally thought. I’m adding some batiks and a few other metallic prints that play nicely.

So on to hand piecing a New York Beauty block from Collection 2. I stitch the two bands of triangles and the small arc to the corner piece. When stitching the two bands of triangles, I take advantage of the continuous stitching possibilities so they’re done in next to no time.

At this stage, I press it. As the triangle intersections don’t meet when the two bands are joined together I’m quite happy to press both bands in the same direction.

Now all that’s left is to join the four units and the block is done. And it’s really that easy. With the perfect matching points and stitching lines, piecing a New York Beauty is fast, simple and oh, so gratifying as each block is done! Getting perfect sharp points takes nothing more than stitching on the stitching lines. The finished block will be shown tomorrow.

For a great tutorial on how to machine piece one of these beauties, check out this post on the All About Inklingo blog.

Baxter was ignoring the camera so Mr. Q.O. was making some very weird noises to get his attention. I think the look on his face says it, “What the heck?!” He had just been drinking in his wonderfully funny style, so the fur on the right side of his face is still quite damp.

A Few More Drunkard’s Path Blocks

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Another 10 blocks were stitched. I only have to make another 491 of these to complete the blocks I’ll need for the quilt. Perhaps I shouldn’t be keeping track as that number does seem somewhat daunting. I love the fact I can finish making them using the 2″ Inklingo Drunkard’s Path collection and have, I think, printed the vast majority of what I’ll need. This will be a very long-term project.

I may start putting them together in groups of four soon. It would be easier than leaving that step all to the end.

And just because I get such a kick out of how cute they are once pressed, the back of one of the little blocks.

Am I the only one who is finding it more and more difficult to leave comments on Blogger blogs? While I do try, a lot of times the security words are absolutely indecipherable and I just give up. Surely there’s a better way to add some security to catch spammers.

Baxter was posing beside the mouse doorstop.