Sunrise Beginning

Posted on March 13, 2009 by Quiltobsession

The fabrics for the sunrise block have been picked out, the diamonds printed and some of them already cut. I can’t wait to get this block done! The quilt, which I’ve now started calling the rainbow quilt, is slowly coming together in my mind. The sunset and sunrise blocks will occupy two corners of the top. I haven’t got a definite plan for the other two corners yet, although I’m contemplating a small rainbow block for one of them using split diamonds.

The rainbow quilt has really taken hold of my imagination. Even when working I’m planning it. All I need to find is the right red and right yellow batiks for it. Guess a trip to Sew Sisters is in my future. Hardly what one could call a hardship!

Although this picture is a bit fuzzy, I couldn’t resist posting it. If you click on the picture to see the larger version, you’ll see that Smudge has his tongue sticking out just a bit.

It was Lester’s turn to curl up with a teddy.

I think spring is slowly getting here. The forecast looks like we’re gradually getting into warmer temperatures. What a relief after the winter we’ve had!

Have a great weekend.

A Rainbow in the Making

Posted on March 11, 2009 by Quiltobsession

The more I’ve looked at the sunset block I posted about on Monday, the more I’ve wanted to do another one denoting sunrise and one that will be a rainbow. The rainbow one will obviously end up much larger. I’m not sure if I will continue going around or if, at some point, I’ll go to star points and have a Lone Star of sorts.

I have this grouping of fabrics for the rainbow block. All I need to add is some yellow and, of course, some red. The fabrics needle like a batik, although they’re not batiks. I will probably be hauling these around with me whenever I go to a quilt shop, looking for just the right reds and yellows. But, in the meantime, I can get started printing my diamonds for the rainbow.

The continuing series of Lester on the windowsill. I don’t know if he’ll be there much today, though, as we’re supposed to have quite strong winds and torrential amounts of rain. The temperature is also supposed to drop quite a bit. I hope it doesn’t drop enough to cause icing on the roads and sidewalks after all that rain.

Sunset Block

Posted on March 9, 2009 by Quiltobsession

Play time this weekend meant I got to work on this. I think of a sunset when I look at it. I’m not sure where I’m going with it — perhaps I’ll surround it with a row or two of a purple. Perhaps I’ll end it here and make a few of these blocks for a wall hanging. All I know is that it was great fun to put this together with lots of continuous stitching. I used the diamonds from the Inklingo 6″ LeMoyne Star collection for this.

We had milder weather over the weekend. Although it rained and rained, it was milder. We had windows open and heat turned way down. The downside was a migraine that was one of the worse I’ve had in a long time. I was barely able to do anything on Saturday. Sunday was just the bruised head feeling.

Smudge knew what to do on a rainy weekend — curl up and be cozy and sleep.

Lester was exactly where I figured he’d be — on the windowsill. No entertainment out there for them yet, though — no birds or squirrels have been seen so far.

Odds and Ends

Posted on March 6, 2009 by Quiltobsession

Another Tropical Punch block finished, but not yet pressed. I have come to the conclusion that I much prefer working with batiks for these blocks over the other cottons that I have been using for some of the coloured fabrics. The pink fabric for the star in the centre of this block is not a batik and the difference was incredibly noticeable.

The centre of what will become a star of sorts using the diamonds I showed yesterday was started last night. The centre will be yellow and then I’m going to add all the oranges and then perhaps the pinks. I’ll decide once the oranges have all been added. This just may end up a small wall hanging or who knows?? I just know I want to play with adding more and more diamonds around the middle star and see where I end up.

Have you seen and/or worked with flannel batiks? I’ve read about them but not yet seen any. I find it hard to imagine what they’re like but am intrigued — very intrigued!

These are 8 half-yard cuts of flannels, but not flannel batiks. I have no idea what to do with them other than a simple lap quilt. As I don’t think flannel is going to be anywhere near as much fun to hand piece, I guess this will be a challenge to myself to use the machine. I love the colours and think it will be a wonderful lap quilt to have for next winter.

Yet another Smudge pose.

Lester on the windowsill. He’s getting ready for spring. They say that today we may hit 15C. What a wild swing in temperatures from Monday when we had wind chills in the -27C range. I hope this is truly the beginning of spring. We’ll have windows open and the heat turned down for sure!

A Little More Tropical Punch

Posted on March 5, 2009 by Quiltobsession

The third block has been started. Working with these colours is really hard to resist right now!

I have all these lovely diamonds cut out now in the orange/pink fabrics. Whether they’ll all turn into octagon stars or not is up in the air though. I’m thinking I’ll do 4 of the Tropical Punch blocks for a table runner. The rest of these diamonds and probably some others may become a Lone Star of sorts. Some browsing through the block dictionaries is probably something I’ll be doing.

The oven needed cleaning and this time we used only water and baking soda. It’s amazing! We have a self-cleaning oven but won’t use that feature as there have been quite a few articles about the fumes from that being toxic and possibly even fatal to kitties. I did a little research on the Internet and found a couple of methods for cleaning the oven using basic household items such as baking soda and water or just plain old table salt. They worked like a charm. No toxicity, no fumes. Just a nice clean oven that smells wonderful. The next thing I want to try is making my own furniture polish. I found one recipe using olive oil and lemon.

Yet another Smudge pose.

Same pose, different angle. See that eye watching? He holds his pose for ages while we take multiple pictures. Definitely not a camera shy cat.

And a close-up of Lester stretched out on the heat. I think he’ll be back on the windowsill this weekend. We’re supposed to have highs of 11 over the weekend. I can’t wait. Time to open the windows and turn the heat way down.

Planning a New Quilt

Posted on March 4, 2009 by Quiltobsession

Lucy Boston’s Patchwork of the Crosses is a quilt that I have loved ever since I saw a picture ages ago in an issue of Australian Patchwork & Quilting. There’s a wonderful article about Lucy Boston and her quilts here as well as some pictures. I’ve been setting aside fabrics for it for a while. So far, they include this grouping:

And this set of Seaside Rose fabrics. I know I’ll be adding some darker shabby chic fabrics when I start it, but I love these two groupings as a start.

There’s going to be an Inklingo collection just for the POTC sometime this year, I believe. Before it comes out, I want to get the fabrics I’ve picked out for the Jane Austen quilt all printed. I’m still debating whether to try stitching the centre of it by machine and hand piece the borders with all those wonderful little diamonds or to hand piece the whole thing. I’m tempted to hand piece it, as I enjoy that so much but I know there is no way I’ll machine piece the POTC and the goal is to finish both this year, so …

The baby quilt is slowly getting worked on. The ’30s prints in it are not prints I’m finding appealing at this point at all. It’s odd — I love them when I start something like this but they quickly lose their appeal altogether. I love the effect and this baby quilt will be exactly what I pictured, but I just wish it was finished!!

This picture is a classic Smudge pose. Had us laughing for sure. It’s a “find the kitty’s head” type of picture. 🙂

More Butterfly Stars

Posted on March 2, 2009 by Quiltobsession

Another row of butterfly hexagons has been added and almost all the stars necessary for the next row are ready to add. I love how this looks, but am looking forward to it being done. I’m hoping to add just one more row of stars and another of the hexagon butterflies, then the final row of stars and hopefully the piecing is done other than the setting pieces around the outside.

It was very cold all weekend with wind chill values of -25C or so. Funny how it seemed so unbearably cold after a few days of warmer temperatures. I think it’s time for winter to leave and some spring temperatures to start!

The cats, though, didn’t care. They had spots to curl up and stay warm. Smudge in a kitty bed. I think he has his nose tucked in between his front paws to keep it warm.

And Lester in the chair. Even he wasn’t hanging around on the windowsill this weekend. Too cold for him!

Tropical Punch & Laurel Burch

Posted on February 26, 2009 by Quiltobsession

I just couldn’t help myself! I had printed diamonds, squares and QST’s on a number of the fabrics for Tropical Punch on the weekend. They just kept calling to me. Right now working with those ’30s reproduction prints is not as enticing. I think it has a lot to do with wishing for warm weather. This will be the centre of the next octagon star.

I love the Laurel Burch fabrics and have quite a collection of them here. I look at them, fall in love with them all over again … but don’t think I can even begin to cut some of them up at all!! Some of these are small panels that will, I think, just get sandwiched and quilted. Others are larger pieces.

When I think about it, I can’t really remember seeing a quilt made from these glorious fabrics. I wonder how many of us have a collection of the Laurel Burch fabrics that we look at and love but haven’t put into quilts.

We didn’t pose this. Smudge seems to want to curl up with teddy bears. He’s not particular, it seems. Just about any teddy bear he can find will do just fine. Tonight he found two.

I love it when Lester curls up in his kitty bed like this. Sometimes he tucks his head right under and we have to look for a minute to find it.

Butterfly Stars

Posted on February 25, 2009 by Quiltobsession

The octagon star I posted about yesterday and Monday is going to be a quilt of whatever size, I have decided, that I can eke out of those fabrics. I think it will be called Tropical Punch.

Now that I’ve had my fun, it’s back to working on this baby quilt. I have another row of the butterfly hexagons to add which will hopefully take me to the halfway or more mark on this. I have decided against a border and will finish it with half hexagons in the white and then use a scrappy ’30s binding. I can’t wait to have this done so I can go back and play with both the Drunkard’s Spring Garden Path and the Tropical Punch blocks!

I love this look on Smudge’s face. I’m not sure quite what he’s trying to express, but it makes me laugh.

Lester sometimes sits on the windowsill and looks like he’s sleeping sitting up.

Octagon Star Block Finished

Posted on February 24, 2009 by Quiltobsession

I love how this block finished! The colours are exactly what I need at this time of year, and the block itself was an absolute joy to put together. I’m not sure how many blocks I’ll make but there will be at least a dozen of the fabrics like the ones in this block. It pressed like a dream too and sits as flat as can be.

These are the blues and purples I want to use for the second set. I’m thinking I may add a red as the neutral for this grouping, rather than a green. Not sure yet. I have lots of time to think about this as these blocks have to wait till I get the butterfly stars baby quilt done.

It really was fun to work on that block. On a day when we had yet another extreme cold alert, it was nice to be looking at fabrics that made me feel like there was some tropical warmth — somewhere!

Smudge looking — well, I’m not sure what he saw but he was incredibly alert!!

Lester, stretched out for a nap on the windowsill?? How can he possibly be comfortable lying on hard, cold marble? At least he has warm air blowing up on him but …

Quilt Obsession

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