Scrappy Star Again

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Quiltobsession

After finishing the flannel top, I needed to do some hand piecing. Another round is added to scrappy star and it’s now 29 inches. I think it’s going to end up about twice the size it is now.

I’m glad I decided to press after each round as it only takes a few minutes. I can’t imagine leaving this whole thing to press until the end.

I’ve started hand quilting Ferris Wheel and am much happier with the look. It was worth the time it took to take out the machine quilting I had done.

Baxter has been very busy watching leaves flying by the window.

Flannel Top Finished

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Quiltobsession

This top practically put itself together. I can’t get over how fast it was to stitch. It finishes at 56 x 64. I’ll get the backing and binding ready this weekend. The batting should be here next week.

After seeing the quilt being put together over at Exuberant Color, I’m tempted to haul out my Kaffe fabrics and maybe make another double 4-patch quilt. And I’ll definitely make another flannel quilt, but perhaps a different pattern.

Baxter had a relaxing day. First we caught him in mid-yawn.

Then he had a snooze. He always has Cappy close by.

Something to Stitch, Something to Unstitch

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Quiltobsession

Remember this, the Ferris Wheel quilt? That’s the project that involved unstitching. I had quilted about a third of it by machine and then decided I wanted to quilt this one by hand. So I’ve spent a number of hours over the past couple of weeks taking out the machine quilting. Now I’m trying to decide how I want to quilt it.

For a change of pace, I’ve started stitching a cross-stitch project. It’s almost a quarter done already. This one is going to be a small Christmas biscornu.

Baxter did very well and we picked him up at 3:30 yesterday afternoon. I had to laugh at the post-surgery instructions. They stated we should keep him as quiet as possible. A rambunctious kitten who’s only 6 months old and showed absolutely no signs of being groggy from the anaesthetic we’re supposed to keep quiet? Within minutes of getting home, after sniffing around to make sure things were where he thought they should be, he was bounding around, getting toys out of the toy basket, jumping up on the windowsill to watch the leaves and that went on all afternoon and evening. We’re thrilled he came through the surgery so well and showed no after-effects. Here you can almost see the spot that was shaved for the IV on one front leg.

56 Blocks Done

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Quiltobsession

They’re all done. I am absolutely amazed at how quickly they’ve gone together. I hope putting the rows together and then putting the top together goes as fast. It would be fabulous to have this top done by the time the weekend is over.

Today, as Baxter will be ~~enjoying~~ enduring a day at the vet as it’s time for him to be fixed, I’ll take advantage of being able to lay the blocks out on the floor to figure out the placement and then start putting the rows together.

Over the next couple of weeks, my blogging schedule is going to be a bit sporadic as there are a number of things going on and my computer time is going to be limited.

Baxter was determined to get in on the act when we were getting ready to take the photo of the 56 blocks.

Lots of Cutting and A Little Stitching

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Quiltobsession

All the flannels were washed and ironed over the weekend and then the cutting began. Lots and lots of 2.5″ and 4.5″ strips for the double 4-patch block. I found a trick that makes rotary cutting much easier for me. I put a pine board beneath my cutting mat and it has made an enormous difference. I usually rotary cut on my ironing board as it is almost the right height for me. With the pine board underneath the cutting mat, it’s exactly the right height.

Once the strips were cut, I stitched a couple of the 2.5″ strips together and made two blocks just to see how they looked. They went together quicker than I had anticipated and press beautifully.

Working with flannel is fun! I didn’t need to pin at all as the flannel really does stick to itself quite nicely. I’ve started sewing the 2.5″ strips together and expect to get at least half the blocks I need for the quilts done today, if not more.

This is, I think, my favourite picture of Baxter so far. It’s a 3-for-1 shot. Baxter’s reflection can be seen in the window as well as on the marble windowsill.

Possible New Project

Posted on October 28, 2011 by Quiltobsession

A while ago, I received this gorgeous book “Art of the Needle” with 100 masterpiece quilts from the Shelburne Museum. The photography of the quilts is fabulous. I’ve spent hours pouring over it and am now daydreaming about another 2-colour quilt.

I’ve had this brown print in my stash for ages and am playing with the idea of making the two-colour quilt with it and a cream. Whether I’ll actually do so is another story as I’m not sure I’ll be able to stick with it. Brown isn’t a colour I gravitate to, although I do love the design on the fabric.

Baxter was at the vet yesterday afternoon for a check-up and his shots. I’m not sure, but think he was perhaps not too impressed with that whole experience and was trying to tell us so with this look.

Drunkard’s Path Variation in Rouenneries

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Quiltobsession

Finishing this top was an almost bittersweet moment, as I have loved every second of working with the gorgeous Rouenneries fabrics. It was hand pieced, other than adding the two borders. While I generally don’t make square quilts, this one finishes at 54″ square. It’s large enough to use as a throw. I can also imagine it as a large wall hanging.

I made it from 5 charm packs of Rouenneries plus two larger pieces of fabrics from that line for the borders and used the 3″ Inklingo Drunkard’s Path collection. I know Rouenneries Deux is coming out sometime in the future, and can’t wait. Working with these colours/designs was an absolute joy. I’m thinking that a star quilt in Rouenneries Deux may just be in my future.

This quilt was being worked on when I finished Chintz Circles. I knew I wanted to use the same binding fabric, so made enough binding then and it’s ready. The backing fabric I used for Chintz Circles will be used for this one too. All that’s left to get is the batting and then this one will be hand quilted. And I need to find a name for it.

The past few nights I’ve been working on hand quilting the whole cloth quilt, but everything is going to come to a standstill for a few days while I make a quilt from the flannel fabrics I showed last week. I’ve decided on a double 4-patch. It needs to be made quickly as it’s for a friend’s brother-in-law who has just been given a rather grim diagnosis/prognosis.

Baxter showing that he’s a real quilter’s cat – posing under the quilt on the temporary design wall, by the floor hoop.

The Pickled Ladies are Getting Together

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Quiltobsession

Three rows of the Pickled Ladies are now together. After the first two rows were joined I thought perhaps this needed to be a larger quilt than originally planned. After the third row was added, I completely changed my mind. Because of the number of triangles in each arc and the fact I used some metallic Oriental prints to fussy cut, this is a heavy piece already. In fact, as it is now it’s heavier than the X’s and O’s quilt. Decision made. It’s going to be a large wall hanging.

Initially I was thinking about a rich blue floral print for the border, but now I’m wondering if I should try to find a real Art Deco type print in keeping with my initial idea about these ladies. I’m calling this the Pickled Ladies quilt as I have visions of some very elegant, almost Audrey Hepburn-like, ladies in an upscale Art Deco bar.

I have been fascinated by the Breakfast at Tiffany’s piece being put together at Plays with Needles. Seeing a favourite movie being depicted with such amazing detail in an embroidery piece is a pure delight, as is her entire blog and well worth a visit.

Baxter was looking somewhat startled, perched on the loveseat.

X’s and O’s

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Quiltobsession

While we were out taking pictures of Twinkling Stars on the roof garden, we also took a few of the top I’ve named X’s and O’s. The name has everything to do with how I plan to quilt this one, with circles and X’s.

It was made using shapes from the Inklingo Orange Peel Deluxe collection and was pieced by hand with the exception of the black inner border. The centre of the top took just over 3 weeks to put together from the time I got the idea through to its completion. Adding the borders took a while as I ended up auditioning a couple of different versions before settling on the final.

When it’s time to quilt this, I’m going to get a silk batt. The binding will be the same black ’30s print as the inner border.

Baxter getting his nightly yogourt treat.

Twinkling Stars

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Quiltobsession

The top is done and is now in the queue waiting to be quilted. This one I’m going to quilt by hand with either a silk or wool batt. I’ve got some quilting ideas for the plain squares that will carry on the star theme of the quilt.

We took advantage of a sunny day on the weekend to take the photo out on the roof garden as it’s difficult to get a good shot indoors of a quilt that’s anything larger than a wall hanging. Twinkling Stars finishes at 57 x 72 inches and was made using shapes from the Inklingo Tumbler collection. This year’s baseball playoffs quilt top is done.

Last year’s baseball playoffs quilt is still waiting to be quilted.

Baxter had a very busy weekend chasing leaves as they flew by the windows and watching squirrels and birds.

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