Another five Harpsichord Quilt blocks are finished and pressed. First is the orange one that I posted on Friday – but now it’s pressed. And the seams are graded. A medium blue one and it’s my favourite of these five. … Continue reading
I got on a roll! And I’ve been sewing these little harpsichord blocks so much faster than I was when I initially began making them that it almost feels like a little assembly line, but if it’s an assembly line … Continue reading
Wednesday night I was so happy as I’d finished sewing the last group of triangles into arcs for the final six black and white New York Beauty blocks and could see the end coming of working with just black and … Continue reading
I’m back to piecing the border blocks for the Pickled Ladies top, but I had to take some time on the weekend to go through and pick out all my pink and green batiks, so I can dream about making … Continue reading
Wednesday evening I got the last round of petals added to the first Peony Block and then the centre circle. After a quick press and grading the seams it looked like this. Then last night I added the frame. Another … Continue reading
Adding round 2 went very, very quickly. If I stopped here and added the frame, it would be a 6″ block. But I’m not stopping at a mere 6″. I want big beautiful peony blocks so they’re going to … Continue reading
I was convinced I’d stick with it and get finished piecing the Pickled Ladies border, but I suppose it was inevitable that I’d get distracted – I’m blaming the opening of that box full of 6″ sunflowers! So a new project … Continue reading
Yesterday, I printed the last of the shapes I need for the pieced border of the Pickled Ladies top and, while I still have lots left to do on that, now I know what’s going to be next. And it’s … Continue reading
The centre of the Pickled Ladies top is completed, that is. There’s still more to come for this top. But now all the half pickled clams have been added and so the centre of the quilt top is done and I’m so excited that I can barely stand it!
There are bits at the edges that will get dealt with when the first of the two borders is attached. One of the two borders involves quite a bit of piecing, although I have that almost halfway done now. As long as I manage to stay away from distractions – which I know is next to impossible – I should have the top completed within a month.
Pickled Ladies is definitely my favourite of all the ones I’ve made. I would never have made it were it not for the Inklingo 6″ Clamshell Pickle collection. I can’t even begin to imagine tracing all the little triangles in the arcs but being able to print them made it oh, so achievable and having the templates for the half clamshells really made it easier to choose fabrics for the half pickled clamshells than it may appear. Choosing the fabrics for each clamshell was such fun – lots of fussy cutting/printing which, with a window template, was relatively easy. Making the arcs of the white and black tris went quickly, as it involved lots of continuous stitching. Adding the arcs to the clamshells was another favourite, curved piecing, and then putting the top together was nothing but lots and lots of curved piecing. So the centre of this top definitely had it all as far as I was concerned. Right now it’s approximately 42 x 48.
“Chillin’ ”
A rare moment was captured on the weekend. Baxter and Jake were almost touching as they guarded their favourite toys. Mr. Q.O. captioned this one “Playmates – for now.”
Yesterday was a lovely hint of the summer weather ahead. It was wonderful and warm and a bit humid and just felt fabulous to be outdoors. Absolutely no jackets or sweaters were required yesterday! And because it was so nice and dry and not windy, we were able to get some things photographed out on the roof garden.
One of those things was my Joseph’s Coat top. I’ve been dying to to get a half-decent photograph of this to show as I just love it. The grass out on the roof garden hasn’t been cut yet and was really holding the quilt top up off the ground quite well. It’s a big quilt by my standards – it’s approximately 70 x 74 (which is making me think I have to add some more to it as I really don’t like square quilts). It has a great mix of lots of my favourite shabby chic prints with some batiks and a variety of white on white background fabrics. When I picked it back up and realized I’d used the background fabric I had started it with in other projects, I decided that a variety of different white on white fabrics would not matter. Looking at it now, I’m glad I didn’t stress over that.
I started it way, way back in June 2011 (as can be seen on this post), when the Inklingo Joseph’s Coat collection was released. I’d work on it a bit here and there but, for the most part, it was on the back burner until this past winter when I got on a tear and kept going and going and going and printing more and more melons and background pieces. I just did not want to stop! Once I got into the rhythm of sewing it, it really became rather quick to stitch. So much so that now I’m contemplating a second one. The idea for that second one is really taking root in my imagination, so I would almost bet it’s a done deal that I’ll be doing just that relatively soon. For me, sewing Joseph’s Coat has it all – curved piecing and continuous sewing.
The daffodils are up in the roof garden flowerbeds and the hostas are just starting to send up their shoots. A few more lovely warm days and I bet things really take off.
“Technicolour Clams & Friends”
Jake was watching us out on the roof garden from his perch on the top of the kitty tree. Mr. Q.O. captioned this one, “Come home to devil cat.” The sky had become rather overcast and he had to use the flash to get this shot and – well, cats’ eyes and the flash don’t quite mix. I can’t wait until the window washers get to our windows and then we’ll have lovely clean windows again.
I took this photo of Baxter the other day – love that huge outstretched paw!
Quilt Obsession 