Patchwork of the Crosses – Block 24

Posted on June 26, 2009 by Quiltobsession

The pieces with the blue stripe had been printed for a while and I kept playing with them with different fabrics. I finally tried them with the black and block 24 is now done:

The back:
I may keep making more and more of these blocks and turn this into the larger quilt. That decision will be made once I’ve made a few more blocks. Making other blocks with a lot more fussy cutting and more directional prints is something I want to do but I love how colourful a quilt this would be with the blocks I’ve made so far.

Another picture of Lester on the windowsill with the outstretched paws. This one’s especially for Karen Dianne.

And an upside-down Smudge.

Patchwork of the Crosses – Block 23

Posted on June 25, 2009 by Quiltobsession

Saturday afternoon I was playing with the shapes I had already printed and this was one result — it is definitely going to be in the top!

The back:

Two blocks to go and I’ll have the 25 blocks done. I’m going to do a few extra so I have some wiggle room when I’m laying the blocks out. I know for sure that one of them won’t make it into this top. But, at this rate, by the end of the weekend I’ll have all the blocks done and be starting to play with the arrangement of the blocks. I can’t believe how fast these blocks have been to stitch together! And I have plans for another lap quilt size one as well as the large one.

Smudge in the window — with his reflection:

Lester and his reflection:

Patchwork of the Crosses – Block 22

Posted on June 24, 2009 by Quiltobsession

In honour of summer, I just had to make one of the POTC blocks with a floral and some greens.

The back:

We had another glorious hot and humid day. I wish summer lasted more than a couple of months. This weather is fantastic!

I couldn’t resist this shot — as the sun was going down, it was reflecting off the glass in one of the office towers and the gold shining through the leaves was really pretty.

Smudge — I’m not quite sure what that look is saying, but he looks almost small in this shot!

And Lester in his favourite spot — on the windowsill. He stretches right out and shows off his lovely big paws!

Patchwork of the Crosses – Block 21

Posted on June 23, 2009 by Quiltobsession

Block 21 done — lots of dots and some stripes. This block went together very quickly.

The back:

Wendy at Ivory Spring has been working on a sampler called the Mary Wigham sampler. I’ve been reading Wendy’s posts about this and have been fascinated by it. The sampler itself is something I think I’d love to stitch. Wendy’s posts led me to Needleprint, which is making the idea of the sampler altogether too tempting. I’m trying hard to resist though. I have enough on the go with quilting — at least that’s what I’m trying to tell myself!

Lester, once again enjoying himself on the windowsill.

Patchwork of the Crosses – Block 20

Posted on June 22, 2009 by Quiltobsession

Block 20 — well, block 20 just had to have all these different stripes in it, all pink or with pink. I couldn’t resist putting these all together and love the effect!

The back:

What an incredible weekend — Saturday very damp and quite cool with temps only in the high teens. Sunday? Sunday was absolutely glorious with temps in the high 20’s and a humidex in the low 30’s (all Celsius). Hot, humid and sunny. Perfect weather for the first day of summer. I live for this hot humid weather every summer. My theory is we need it to thaw out after our winters. The best part? We’re supposed to have this lovely hot, humid weather most of the week.

The planters outside buildings are all a riot of colour. This is just one example outside a building across the street:

Saturday we were out for a while and when I saw these leaves with the raindrops on them, I had to take a picture. The colour of the leaves is incredibly vibrant.

Lester enjoying the windowsill:

Smudge also enjoying it. Check out the crossed paws. He makes me laugh with these poses!

Patchwork of the Crosses

Posted on June 19, 2009 by Quiltobsession

I decided Thursday night to try auditioning a fabric for the connecting squares. This is interesting, but perhaps a bit dark considering that I’ll be doing some fussy cutting of 1″ squares for the units that are used at the intersections of 4 blocks. We’ve got errands to run today but when we get back, I’ll try some others.

One of the errands may just get us real close to the LQS. Just in case, I’ll have the window templates with me as I want to look for border prints, stripes and paisleys to start getting the fabrics together for the large POTC quilt. Thursday was day 2 of a migraine, and it’s not quite finished yet but I refuse to let it stop me.

Lester mid yawn or perhaps in the midst of saying a little something:

And Smudge relaxing in a typical Smudge position:

Patchwork of the Crosses – Block 19

Posted on June 18, 2009 by Quiltobsession

Six more blocks to go and I’ll have the 25 for the lap quilt done. It may actually be eight more blocks as I think two of the ones I have need to be replaced, but that’s a decision to be made when the remaining six are done.

As of right now, I think this will be the centre block of the 25. I love the idea of a yellow and orange centre.

The back:

Ideas for a border are floating through my mind already and I keep coming back to something with curved piecing. The other decision to be made is what colour fabric to use for the 1″ connecting squares between blocks. I’m leaning towards something either very bold and bright or something very soft and unobtrusive. Think I’ll finish adding the setting pieces to one more block so that I can start auditioning fabrics for those little squares.

I’m not the only one making these addictive blocks. Charlsey has posted some of the ones she has been making. I love seeing what others are doing with these blocks as they all have such a different look!

Wednesday was an overcast, rainy day, the first of three. They say we will finally get some real summer heat towards the end of next week. I can’t wait.

Lester on the windowsill on Tuesday:

A close-up of Smudge. I think he was practicing his lounge lizard look.

Patchwork of the Crosses — Block 18

Posted on June 17, 2009 by Quiltobsession

The little Patchwork of the Crosses lap quilt is going to be made of 25 blocks — I think. I’ve got an idea for a pieced border but won’t be sure about that until all the blocks are done. The centre of this little quilt is going to be a yellow/orange block.

This block went together really fast once I had picked the fabrics:

The back:
Lester on Tuesday afternoon, having a snooze on the windowsill. He was very busy a few minutes before this picture was taken watching a robin in the tree right in front of the window.

Smudge snoozing on the love seat. I keep trying to get a shot of him in action but he moves so fast that the pictures are just too blurry!

Patchwork of the Crosses — Block 17

Posted on June 16, 2009 by Quiltobsession

After looking at the photo taken outside of the 16 blocks, I realized that there are a couple that may need to be replaced as I think they may stand out a bit too much. I want to make this a 20 or 24-block quilt anyway, and have an idea for using the blocks that may be removed.

The other thing I realized is that there’s not much blue in the first 16 blocks. So I picked out the pieces for and made this block — with a little purple for good measure.

The back:

We have these plants in a couple of spots on the roof garden. The colour of the flowers is incredibly vibrant.

A close-up of one of the flowers on the plant.

Lester in his favourite spot on the windowsill Monday afternoon:

And Smudge resting. He has recently discovered that a straw is a great toy. It’s so funny watching him — those enormous paws hitting the straw and batting it around. He gets very intense about it and will play for ages. Other than his caterpillar toy, the straw seems to be the only toy he really enjoys playing with. Lester, on the other hand, will play with just about any of the kitty toys in the basket.

Patchwork of the Crosses — Outdoors

Posted on June 15, 2009 by Quiltobsession

The outside setting hexagons make a big difference, I think, to the effect I’m getting with the fabrics in these blocks. I’ve got one finished so far and 3 attached to another. Each block has 24 of these setting pieces attached and then they’re joined to one another with 1″ squares.

We took the blocks out to the roof garden on the weekend to see how they looked together in natural light — and without any kitty helpers. I think I’ll make another 4 or possibly 9 in these sorts of fabrics and then will probably have enough for a nice-sized lap quilt.

I’m definitely going to do a full-sized Patchwork of the Crosses, but want to do a lot more fussy cutting to get the same sort of effects Lucy Boston did. This is going to mean a hunt for stripes and directional prints, border prints and paisleys. I love the idea of doing it in predominantly purple fabrics, but am not completely sure about that yet.

Lester in his favourite spot — the windowsill. Look at the look on his face!

And, in a typical Smudge move, resting his eyes while keeping one paw on the kitty scratching post. He’s very possessive about his favourite things sometimes.

All of the little stars are now made and last night I started surrounding them with the white squares. It takes less than an hour to get two stars surrounded.

Seams graded and pressed.

There are now 17 of the little stars left to surround with the white squares. From here on out, it’s just nothing but continuous stitching to add the squares, then the connecting red diamonds and octagons and turn this into a finished quilt top. If I can stay focused, and I am pretty intent on doing just that, I could have this finished by the end of next week and be ready to quilt it next weekend.

I may take some time out this weekend and get the binding ready for Candy Stars as well as start printing for the Inklingo Periwinkle reverse mystery quilt. I think I’ve finally decided on the colours I want to work with for the Periwinkle quilt. No big surprise here — it will be pinks, pinks and more pinks. Maybe a mauve thrown in for a little relief from the pink. Maybe. Lessons 1 to 4 are available, free, at the All About Inklingo blog.

If you’re here to see who won the giveaway from the April Showers post, the winner will be announced later this afternoon after Baxter picks a winner.

“Mum’s Making Stars” is the title of today’s ‘toon.

As we were setting up to take pictures of the two little blue stars, he was right there just waiting for his photo to be taken because, after all, there is nothing that we could possibly want to photograph other than him!

Two Blue Candy Stars