Tumbler Block

Posted on July 31, 2009 by Quiltobsession

The latest Inklingo collection, for a 2″ tumbler and related shapes, was released yesterday. As soon as I saw the triangle shape in the collection, I knew I wanted to make this 6″ block. I have no idea if there’s a name for the block or not, but I absolutely love it and know I’ll make more of them.

The back of the block. You can see I wasn’t too uniform in pressing. I will have to press it again but not for at least a week. Picking up the iron last night set off pain that still hasn’t died down much. At this point, even picking up a glass of water is painful.

A Smudge photo that cracks me up. What a face!

And, of course, Lester on the windowsill.

Patchwork of the Crosses – Block 27, Inklingo Blogs

Posted on July 2, 2009 by Quiltobsession

This is, without a doubt, my favourite block of the week so far. There’s something about the fabric I used for the centre pieces that absolutely fascinates me. Wendy at Ivory Spring has suggested naming some of these blocks. I love that idea but haven’t a clue what I’d name this one! In some ways, the centre makes me think of butterfly wings.

The back:

I’m really excited about starting the Mary Wigham Sampler from Needleprint. As soon as my linen arrives, I’ll make the final decision on thread colours. Right now I’m leaning towards a monochrome effect but that could change. Terri at Purple and Paisley is going to be stitching too!

As of July 1 there are two new Inklingo-related blogs. One is Inklingo Sampler which will have a block every week that can be made using the various Inklingo collections.

The other? The other is Linda Franz’ new blog. Linda is the inventor of Inklingo and the author of the Quilted Diamonds books. Her blog is called All About Inklingo. She has a great sale on right now on one of the instructional DVD’s she has made.

Smudge in what appears to be his favourite place, the chair. He was playing a lot with the straw, the new favourite toy, but there’s no way we can get a picture that isn’t blurry as he’s moving very quickly!

Lester enjoyed some sun on the windowsill before the next big clouds moved in.

Patchwork of the Crosses – Block 20

Posted on June 22, 2009 by Quiltobsession

Block 20 — well, block 20 just had to have all these different stripes in it, all pink or with pink. I couldn’t resist putting these all together and love the effect!

The back:

What an incredible weekend — Saturday very damp and quite cool with temps only in the high teens. Sunday? Sunday was absolutely glorious with temps in the high 20’s and a humidex in the low 30’s (all Celsius). Hot, humid and sunny. Perfect weather for the first day of summer. I live for this hot humid weather every summer. My theory is we need it to thaw out after our winters. The best part? We’re supposed to have this lovely hot, humid weather most of the week.

The planters outside buildings are all a riot of colour. This is just one example outside a building across the street:

Saturday we were out for a while and when I saw these leaves with the raindrops on them, I had to take a picture. The colour of the leaves is incredibly vibrant.

Lester enjoying the windowsill:

Smudge also enjoying it. Check out the crossed paws. He makes me laugh with these poses!

Patchwork of the Crosses – Block 8

Posted on May 28, 2009 by Quiltobsession

Every time I finish one of these blocks, I have a new favourite. I made many false starts on this one after I had the centre done. What looked like a good match before stitching the shapes together really didn’t have the effect I was looking for so a fair bit of ripping out was done. I finally settled on this combination and am quite happy with it.

Some of the fabrics I’m using in these blocks are fabrics which were used in my scrappy Quilted Diamonds quilt. I got out the box of bits and pieces left over from that quilt on the weekend, looking for fabrics that would work for these blocks. Working with them again brings back some great memories of Quilted Diamonds meetings and taking the commuter train out to a quilt shop in Oakville. I got a lot of stitching done on those commuter train rides.

As usual, I’m showing the back as well:

Wednesday was a cloudy, rainy day as well as being rather chilly. Today we’re supposed to have thunderstorms along with a humidex reading of about 29C. Huge swing in a 24-hour span.

Smudge doesn’t much care — he’s content to have a comfy spot in which to curl up.

Yet another of the Monday photos of Lester on the windowsill.

Patchwork of the Crosses – Block 7

Posted on May 27, 2009 by Quiltobsession

This block is definitely not going to blend in with the others, but I couldn’t resist playing with these fabrics after Mr. Quilt Obsession picked them out for a block. Fussy printing/fussy cutting with Inklingo makes it really easy to get interesting effects.

The back:

This is another shot we got of Lester on Monday afternoon. Tuesday was pretty overcast and he wasn’t all that interested in looking out. But Monday? Monday he was very busy watching the birds.

Smudge, on the other hand, was relaxing Tuesday.

Patchwork of the Crosses

Posted on May 25, 2009 by Quiltobsession

This block may end up as a stand-alone block and used as a cover for a stitching book as I’m not really happy with how it turned out. It was fun stitching it, of course, but I think it is a bit too pale to go with the rest of the blocks that I’ve done so far. I have an idea for a stitching book that I want to try and wanted a pieced block for the front cover of it, so perhaps that is what’s meant to be.

The back:
Lester with a little teddy bear:

Patchwork of the Crosses Block 4

Posted on May 22, 2009 by Quiltobsession

Another block done of the Patchwork of the Crosses. I spent a few hours today fussy cutting fabric for printing and will have a lot more of the shapes printed on directional prints by the time the weekend is out.

The back of the block. I don’t know why, but the camera is not picking up the blue and purples in this block properly at all. I tried playing with it in Photoshop but cannot get the colours right.

Thursday was lovely. We had a real blast of summer weather, with temps in the 30C range. We also had a sure sign of summer heat — the first smog alert of the year. Today will be back to more normal temps in the 20C range.

A bit soft focus, but I love this picture of Lester.

Smudge, relaxing as only Smudge can in his kitty bed.

Patchwork of the Crosses Block 3

Posted on May 21, 2009 by Quiltobsession

These blocks are completely and totally addictive. As soon as I finish one, I want to start playing with fabric placement for the next one. This is my third block:

From the back:

We’re finally getting some real summer heat, they say, today. We may even have a humidex reading of 31C. I can’t wait!! I think the kitties are tired from the changes in temperature — a frost alert Sunday night and then 31C on Thursday is pretty drastic! Smudge definitely knows how to relax.

As does Lester — with a little teddy bear friend.

Choosing Fabrics

Posted on May 20, 2009 by Quiltobsession

Half the fun of making the Patchwork of the Crosses blocks is picking out the fabrics to use. These are the ones I’ve printed so far but there’s a stack of fabrics that I plan to cut today and get ready to print.

The third block is almost done. While I’m printing fabrics later today, I’ll stitch and hopefully get block 3 done and block 4 started. These are just a few of the fabrics I’ll cut and print today. Some will be fussy cut, some not. I find myself purposely looking or stripes and checks and other fabrics that lend themselves to fussy printing/cutting.

I’ve been asked to write up a pattern for the Butterfly Stars baby quilt. I’ve started to slowly work on that. I hope we got enough pictures of the quilt for the pattern.

Lester having a snooze. Monday seemed to be not very interesting for him as far as roof garden entertainment went.

Smudge, sound asleep beside Mr. Quilt Obsession.

Second POTC Block

Posted on May 19, 2009 by Quiltobsession

The second Patchwork of the Crosses block is finished and I’m thrilled with it. I love playing with the various layouts and fabrics for these blocks. I think I could be happy making these blocks and variations of them forever!

This is the back of the block — they press perfectly every time. The fabrics for the third block are cut out and all that’s left is to pick out the layout for that block. Laying the pieces out for each block is almost as much fun as stitching them — seeing how the effect changes totally depending on the placement of the different fabrics and the various layouts is like playing with a kaleidoscope.