Colourful Nine Patches, Colourful Stars

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After making the squares in squares on Tuesday, I decided last night to make a few more of the 9-patch blocks set on point. They’re bright and cheerful and just what I needed after a few hours of working on the dreaded tax stuff. And the stack of finished blocks is slowly growing.

A couple more stars for the little hexagon quilt were made as well. There’s something about making a six-pointed star that I find irresistible. Possibly it’s because they always seem to go together so effortlessly. A few years ago I printed and printed the 1″ 60-degree diamonds on ’30s fabrics and solids. They’ve already been used to make one baby quilt and more will be used in the new hexagon quilt I’ve started, but that won’t even come close to making a dent in the number I’ve got printed.

That was one thing I learned early on with Inklingo. It really does pay off for me if I print lots of a shape that I know I like working with. One year I had the flu and wanted to stitch, but definitely didn’t have the energy to print or cut. So I opened up a box containing lots of shapes that I’d already printed and cut, and was able to stitch as many blocks as I wanted. Ever since then, I’ve tended to print extras of shapes. It’s also, for me, a fun way to design. I’ll grab a handful of shapes and play with them on my design book to see what I can come up with.

We have more work (hopefully, this is the end of it) to do on the taxes today. If nothing else, I’m going to start working with some form of a spreadsheet so I can keep track of everything and just be able to print off summaries at the end of the year.

Baxter was bored by the whole process and had a nap.

Square in a Square

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Four little 2.25″ blocks are all I have to show for yesterday’s stitching. I wasn’t happy with the corners of one of the pieced borders on Scrappy Star. I knew I was going to have to come up with a different idea. It will involve a little unstitching, but I know I’ll be much happier with the result.

Once I had decided on this idea I looked in the scraps container and, sure enough, I had just enough of the pink/green fabric for the four centre squares. I quickly ironed it to freezer paper, fed it through the printer and had my squares. A minute later and I had printed the 16 triangles needed to turn them into the squares in squares. Half an hour later and they were stitched.

A minute later, they were pressed.

Why so little stitching? Well, because we’ve hit that terrible time of year — tax time! A lot of organizing was going on here yesterday with more promised for today. Hopefully it will all be ready to go out the door by tonight. There will be some stitching tonight, no matter what, as I don’t feel like I’ve relaxed until some stitching has been done.

One of these years I’m going to get organized with a computer program so that this nightmare doesn’t repeat every year. Does anyone have a suggestion about a good program for keeping track of expenses/receipts that’s a Mac-friendly program and one doesn’t need to be a chartered accountant to understand?

As soon as the camera was turned on to take the photo of the little blocks, Baxter was posing.

Yet Another Pickled Lady

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A new Pickled Lady is ready to join the bevy of beauties. When I started putting the original Pickled Ladies together, I realized I wanted it to finish larger. So more florals were fussy cut/printed and more of the blocks have been and are being made as well as the partial blocks to square it up.

While I am still working on the red and white Feathered Star/Sunflower quilt, the Pickled Ladies are going to get equal time. As will Scrappy Star. In fact, Scrappy Star may need only a couple more evenings of work until it’s finished. So I may have three tops finished in relatively quick succession.

Pressing of the latest Pickled Lady took only a second and grading the seams took not much longer. This one is now ready to add to the group.

Baxter has completely taken over the blue and white quilt on the couch. I don’t think he could get more relaxed!

Cheerful Hexagon Blocks

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Close to half a dozen more of the little hexagon blocks were added to the group on the weekend. As each of these hexagons measures 2″, the quilt should grow fairly quickly. That said, for now it’s only weekend play stitching as I’m going back to work on the red and white piecing during the week.

We had a beautiful Easter weekend with mild temperatures and lots of sun. And, unfortunately, lots of allergens in the air. There’s a lot of sneezing going on in this household.

This week I’m hoping to go through my quilt books as I know there are a number that should go to new homes. They’re taking up a lot of shelf space and are books I know I won’t be looking at again. What do you do with quilt books which you longer want?

Then I’m hoping to attack, once again, my fabric and try to get it organized in a better fashion. I need to figure out a way of storing it that doesn’t involve large containers as they’re too heavy for my hands. One idea I’ve had is to empty a bookshelf or three and use them for the fabrics I most often turn to. That way they’d be out where I could see and easily access them. But that would also put fabric within reach of a certain kitty who just loves nothing better than to get a piece of fabric.

Saturday night I failed to put all the little hexagon blocks out of reach and Mr. Q.O. woke up Sunday morning to find two of them on the bedroom floor. There was no damage done and no teeth marks. Baxter just likes carting them around.

Mr. Q.O. captioned this one, “You woke me … for food?”

Tiny Drunkard’s Trail

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Not much got accomplished yesterday, although these little stacks of the pieces needed for more of the 2″ Drunkard’s Trail blocks are cut out and ready to stitch.

I did manage to make these three blocks.

Which will be added to these four blocks. This is going to be a really small quilt, no larger than 8″ x 12″ when it’s finished. And that’s the total of what I have to show for yesterday. I was wiped out from the allergies. Can’t remember a year when they’ve been this bad, but a friend suggested it may be due to our incredibly mild winter. I think she’s right.

Baxter’s not suffering from allergies. He’s interested in finding out if there are some more apps for cats.

Some Favourite Quilt Books

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Some of my favourite quilt books got taken off the shelf last night. Mr. Q.O. and I are both really feeling the allergy season starting and, while I did get some stitching done, last night was mostly a night for leafing through these books.

This little book, Quilts, A Beautiful History, is definitely one of my favourites and one which has inspired two of my quilts – Pink Ice and the pink and cream quilt.

When I first got the book, this page was looked at over and over again and eventually I made Pink Ice, which was inspired by the photo.

Ontario’s Heritage Quilts is a book I can never get enough of. I can read and re-read the narrative and look at the pictures for hours at a time.

This is just one of the many quilts in the book. It’s impossible to describe just how fabulous this book is.

Next up is the Two-Color Quilts book. I love looking through and seeing the various two-colour quilts, as making a series of two-colour quilts is one of my long-term goals.

Clearly I’m on a red and white kick, as this is the one I spent the most time looking at last night.

Then Art of the Needle from the Shelburne Museum. There are countless quilts in this book that are absolutely stunning.

This is one of the many quilts in the book that I can’t stop going back to and looking at.

Then comes the Jinny Beyer book, The Quilter’s Album of Patchwork Patterns, which I think is an absolute must-have for any quilter.

Turn to any page in that book and there’s inspiration plus just waiting.

So what are your favourite quilt books? Which ones do you turn to for inspiration?

Baxter was looking regal as he sat atop the couch watching.

Hexagon Pinwheels and More

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Part of play time on the weekend was adding the triangles to two of the pinwheels. I’m not sure whether I’ll add a plain 2″ hexagon in the centre of each set of six little blocks. Perhaps I’ll add some redwork on a 2″ hexagon. Whatever I decide, it’s going to be some time before this turns into anything.

I might do something like Emma’s Butterfly Stars, although I may ask Mr. Q.O. to draw some little creatures that I could use for stitcheries. Or I may just come up with a different setting altogether. For now, it’s a nice little project to which to add a block or two every week or so.

Monday was a lovely spring day. This is perfect weather to be anticipating baseball season beginning. We’re heading to a friend’s on Thursday to watch the Jays’ season opener. It seems like it has been a very long time since we’ve seen a baseball game.

Baxter found a new perch on the blue and white quilt that is draped over the back of the sofa. Now that he’s found it, that seems to be a favoured spot. I love how well his lynx tips show up in this photo.

Drunkard’s Trail Variations

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Ever since the Drunkard’s Trail collections came out, I wanted to play with the variations. This one was made with the 6″ collection. It seems massive in comparison to the 2″ blocks, which were the ones I first made.

Then this one, made with the 4″ collection.

Finally, this one made with the 3″ collection. Although made with the 3″ collection, it finishes at 6″ because I used one of the “extra” shapes as the large centre.

They all press beautifully and I’m grading every seam as I go. The blocks are all going to be mixed and matched in the final layout. For now, I’m just having fun making some of each variation in each size. It won’t be a large quilt. At best, I think it may be a small lap quilt.

I’ve decided that while I am trying to stick to the red and white quilt during the week, the weekends are play time. Of course, the operative word in that sentence is “trying”. I’m so easily distracted by other projects!

Baxter was crashed after some pretty hectic play time Sunday night.

Progress Report and a Question

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The last time I showed this box it was more or less stuffed full and that was even after three-quarters of the main body of the quilt was done. Now the box is empty enough I had to put another box in there to prop up the glassine envelopes holding the remaining blocks to be pieced for the border. So progress is being made!

After looking at the red and white quilt exhibit app, I started looking through one of my favourite quilt books and came across this. There are other red and white quilts in the book as well and they all stand out because of the fabulous contrast.

The book is never far from reach as I spend tons of time looking through it and admiring the amazing quilts in it.

Yesterday of course I spent altogether too much time playing with the iPad. Aside from spending loads of time looking through the red and white quilts on that app, I found myself looking at my and other blogs.

When I was looking at my blog I realized that certain elements are left out when viewed on a tablet, which has me thinking about yet another blog facelift so that my blog does appear the same on desktops, laptops and mobile devices. Which brings me to a question. If you have a tablet, do you use it to visit blogs?

Thanks to a comment left yesterday, Baxter has his very own app on the iPad – a game for a cat. He’s quite interested in watching it. Made us laugh watching him watching it!

Quilts and Technology

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Isn’t this a pretty floral? It’s decorator weight cotton, but I’m going to use it for the centre large diamond of a Jane Austen quilt. Ever since the Jane Austen Patchwork Inklingo collection came out, I’ve been thinking about making one and, as I was finishing another portion of the red and white border last night, I remembered I had this piece of fabric left over from the making of the side drapes in our living room. It will be perfect! Now I’ll just find some fabrics in my shabby stash that will play nicely and I’ll be ready to start it.

Yesterday we ran a few errands, and the weather was glorious. I can’t get over how green everything is looking so early.

One of the errands was to pick up this! I have wanted an iPad for ages and yesterday there was a fabulous sale which we took advantage of. The first thing I did once we got it home was to download the app for the Red and White Quilt show from last year. What a treat to see all those beautiful, magnificent quilts. I know it’s nothing like what it must have been to see them in person, but to have the chance to see them like this is a huge bonus.

And that’s where the title of today’s post came from – fabric for a quilt and the technology that enables me to see those beautiful quilts from last year’s exhibit.

Last weekend I picked up a cover for my eReader. They had many, many different covers available but there was something about this one that really appealed to me. I like the fact that now when I finish reading, it feels even more like a book as I close the cover.

Mr. Q.O.’s caption for this one is, “More toys for you?” Baxter was less than impressed with the sounds from the iPad. There is definitely something he sees out on the roof garden at night and, whatever it is, he absolutely does not like it. Last night he was growling at it. Mr. Q.O. couldn’t believe the noise he made and initially thought it was a motorcycle going by.