I’ve been auditioning fabrics for the wild floral kaleidoscope stars on and off since I last showed them. Looking at the stars made me think about what the fabric had looked like before I started. So I looked back in … Continue reading
The weekend plan includes making some blocks using these fabrics. There’s an idea for a small quilt that’s begging to be made so last night I pulled some batik and hand-dyed fabrics that will be in the 12 blocks I plan on making. I’m planning to stitch them on the machine and am hoping that I can get all 12 done quickly and then put the little top together. There are a lot of tiny HSTs (half-inch ones, actually) in each block. I may decide to use a black fabric instead of the white.
My plans for the long weekend are almost all quilt-related. Along with the blocks mentioned above, there’s one quilt I want to get quilted (machine quilting), a top I want to finish and perhaps get basted, a top I want to baste and perhaps start the quilting of and a few design ideas I’m dying to play with.
While putting the fabrics out on the board to photograph, a little helper arrived to investigate.
Baxter seems to prefer to sleep with his front paws up around his ears. Makes us laugh every time.
Mr. Q.O. started picking out fabrics last night for sunflower blocks. So far these are the fabrics he likes, although the specific combinations aren’t settled on yet. These are going to be very vibrant sunflowers. There’s a stack of other fabrics that he’s still considering, so this group is bound to grow.
I’m getting ready to do some machine piecing this weekend, as well as some machine quilting. Yes, I said I’m going to do some machine piecing. I went through the Jinny Beyer Album of Patchwork Patterns and found a few blocks that will be quick (I hope) to make by machine.
Which brings me to the question. When I started to wind a couple of bobbins, this happened. It isn’t the first time that thread has wound on to a bobbin like this. Last spring when I went to Creativ Festival, I talked to one of the vendors in the Pfaff booth about it and she suggested that I hook the thread under the thread guide as it fed to the bobbin while winding. That clearly didn’t work for me. Does anybody have a solution to this? I have a Pfaff 1472.
Two Baxter photos today. A few minutes before this photo was taken, he was tearing around playing with toys, leaping on furniture and then, all of a sudden, he was sound asleep on the kitty scratcher which is also being used as something to chew. I don’t think it’s going to be long before it has to be replaced.
Earlier in the day, I got this shot of him in Mr. Q.O.’s computer chair.
Once I knew my idea for the Alabama Beauty blocks was going to work out as well as I hoped, it was time to get out the box in which I have the fabrics left over from the shabby chic king-sized quilt and from some of my Quilted Diamonds blocks. This weekend I’ll spend some time picking out more fabrics and get the templates printed on to them. I have no set plan, but will print the templates on however many fabrics I end up picking out from the box. Then when I start to piece those blocks in earnest, I’ll have lots of pieces cut out and ready from which to choose.
My preferred method seems to be having lots of choices all ready to use, so that I can change my mind at the last minute regarding what fabrics are in a block. That way I do end up with pieces left over but those left-over pieces often become part of something new or get incorporated into a quilt label. Planning the whole quilt top out to the last fabric isn’t something I do very often, it seems.
We have had a quite a drop in temperature with an overnight low last night in the range of -7C, although that’s not going to last much past today. It was quite windy on Thursday and, while Lester spent a little bit of time on the windowsill, it appears relaxing on the couch was the more appropriate thing to do.
Yesterday morning, Smudge decided that he wanted to spend some time in my desk chair. I think this is one of the best shots of him we’ve got.
Quilt Obsession 