Every time I finish one of these blocks, I have a new favourite. I made many false starts on this one after I had the centre done. What looked like a good match before stitching the shapes together really didn’t have the effect I was looking for so a fair bit of ripping out was done. I finally settled on this combination and am quite happy with it.

Some of the fabrics I’m using in these blocks are fabrics which were used in my scrappy Quilted Diamonds quilt. I got out the box of bits and pieces left over from that quilt on the weekend, looking for fabrics that would work for these blocks. Working with them again brings back some great memories of Quilted Diamonds meetings and taking the commuter train out to a quilt shop in Oakville. I got a lot of stitching done on those commuter train rides.

As usual, I’m showing the back as well:

Wednesday was a cloudy, rainy day as well as being rather chilly. Today we’re supposed to have thunderstorms along with a humidex reading of about 29C. Huge swing in a 24-hour span.

Smudge doesn’t much care — he’s content to have a comfy spot in which to curl up.

Yet another of the Monday photos of Lester on the windowsill.

This block is definitely not going to blend in with the others, but I couldn’t resist playing with these fabrics after Mr. Quilt Obsession picked them out for a block. Fussy printing/fussy cutting with Inklingo makes it really easy to get interesting effects.

The back:

This is another shot we got of Lester on Monday afternoon. Tuesday was pretty overcast and he wasn’t all that interested in looking out. But Monday? Monday he was very busy watching the birds.

Smudge, on the other hand, was relaxing Tuesday.

This block may end up as a stand-alone block and used as a cover for a stitching book as I’m not really happy with how it turned out. It was fun stitching it, of course, but I think it is a bit too pale to go with the rest of the blocks that I’ve done so far. I have an idea for a stitching book that I want to try and wanted a pieced block for the front cover of it, so perhaps that is what’s meant to be.

The back:
Lester with a little teddy bear:

Another block done of the Patchwork of the Crosses. I spent a few hours today fussy cutting fabric for printing and will have a lot more of the shapes printed on directional prints by the time the weekend is out.

The back of the block. I don’t know why, but the camera is not picking up the blue and purples in this block properly at all. I tried playing with it in Photoshop but cannot get the colours right.

Thursday was lovely. We had a real blast of summer weather, with temps in the 30C range. We also had a sure sign of summer heat — the first smog alert of the year. Today will be back to more normal temps in the 20C range.

A bit soft focus, but I love this picture of Lester.

Smudge, relaxing as only Smudge can in his kitty bed.

These blocks are completely and totally addictive. As soon as I finish one, I want to start playing with fabric placement for the next one. This is my third block:

From the back:

We’re finally getting some real summer heat, they say, today. We may even have a humidex reading of 31C. I can’t wait!! I think the kitties are tired from the changes in temperature — a frost alert Sunday night and then 31C on Thursday is pretty drastic! Smudge definitely knows how to relax.

As does Lester — with a little teddy bear friend.

Half the fun of making the Patchwork of the Crosses blocks is picking out the fabrics to use. These are the ones I’ve printed so far but there’s a stack of fabrics that I plan to cut today and get ready to print.

The third block is almost done. While I’m printing fabrics later today, I’ll stitch and hopefully get block 3 done and block 4 started. These are just a few of the fabrics I’ll cut and print today. Some will be fussy cut, some not. I find myself purposely looking or stripes and checks and other fabrics that lend themselves to fussy printing/cutting.

I’ve been asked to write up a pattern for the Butterfly Stars baby quilt. I’ve started to slowly work on that. I hope we got enough pictures of the quilt for the pattern.

Lester having a snooze. Monday seemed to be not very interesting for him as far as roof garden entertainment went.

Smudge, sound asleep beside Mr. Quilt Obsession.

The second Patchwork of the Crosses block is finished and I’m thrilled with it. I love playing with the various layouts and fabrics for these blocks. I think I could be happy making these blocks and variations of them forever!

This is the back of the block — they press perfectly every time. The fabrics for the third block are cut out and all that’s left is to pick out the layout for that block. Laying the pieces out for each block is almost as much fun as stitching them — seeing how the effect changes totally depending on the placement of the different fabrics and the various layouts is like playing with a kaleidoscope.

Smudge in one of his usual positions when I’m stitching at night. He drapes himself over my legs and rests his head on the arm of the sofa.

I’ve been waiting for the new Inklingo collection, Lucy Boston’s Patchwork of the Crosses, and had fabrics picked out and ready. It was released yesterday afternoon. I barely wanted to take time out to eat dinner — I am so fascinated by that quilt. The effects one can get with border stripes and other directional fabrics with this simple hexagon shape are amazing! This is the front of my first block. Each block will be surrounded by a creamy white plain hexagon as well as squares, just like the original.

And the back. Sometimes I find the backs of blocks as much fun to look at as the front.

Reading about Lucy Boston’s patchworks is fascinating. Two of my favourite sites to read about her online are here and here.

Lester in his favourite spot.