New Patchwork of the Crosses Block

Posted on November 20, 2009 by Quiltobsession

When looking at the blocks still requiring the surrounding cream hexagons, there was one that really stood out and I knew it wasn’t going to fit in with the others in the quilt. So I picked out some fabrics for another block and have now finished this one:

The back:

For the next 16 days I’m taking care of Winnie, an adorable looking little cat, for friends who have gone away to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. She is, however, one cranky cat!! She hisses when you put her food down for her, hisses if you try to pat her, just hisses a lot! I’ve known Winnie ever since our friends got her, about 14 years ago, and she has always been like this. She was a barn cat so I guess she’s basically feral. They live three floors above us, which makes it easy to run up and take care of her but I feel rather badly that she doesn’t want any attention at all. She just wants her food and water and that’s about it. Maybe I can get her used to a little attention during this time. That’s what I’m hoping.

One thing’s for sure, she makes me very grateful for the lovely dispositions our two boys have!

Lester, gazing out the window:

And Smudge in a variation of the “where’s his head” pose:

Another POTC Block Framed

Posted on November 17, 2009 by Quiltobsession

As usual, I finish framing one of these blocks and it’s my current favourite. I’m amazed at how well the purple works with every one of these blocks so far.

The back:

Ever so slowly I’m responding to comments left over the last couple of weeks and trying to catch up reading and commenting on blogs. I can’t wait to have totally recovered from this wretched flu and have more energy.

Smudge curled up on one of the desk chairs:

And Lester sound asleep on the couch.

Another Small Star

Posted on November 16, 2009 by Quiltobsession

Now that I’ve got the idea of doing a small quilt with these blocks, another needed to be made. I’m thinking I’ll add some plain 4.5″ squares and then have a fair-sized teddy bear quilt.

The back:

And the first two together:

On the weekend, I got the remaining 259 cream hexagons printed that I need to finish adding the borders to the POTC blocks. Here’s about half of them cut and ready to stitch together.

Lester, studying Mr. Q.O.’s cryptic crossword:

And Smudge waiting for his nightly treat of some yogourt:

A Very Pink Patchwork of the Crosses Block

Posted on November 12, 2009 by Quiltobsession

A mostly pink block is now done. I wondered about the purple surrounding this one, but it works. I think purple is definitely my neutral for these blocks.

The back:

Mr. Q.O. saw his doctor Wednesday afternoon who, after listening to the symptoms, said we have classic H1N1 symptoms. After thinking that we were over the worst of it, Wednesday was a bit of a setback. The flu headache came back and the fatigue and weakness are definitely still evident. But, compared to many, we have had a very mild dose of it.

One thing’s for sure, I am very glad I had printed so many pieces for the various tops I’m working on. There is no way I could even think about precision cutting right now. But I can grab a spool of thread, a couple of needles and one of those little envelopes with the pieces for a block, and curl up on the couch and piece.

Smudge:

Lester curled up in one of the kitty beds.

Black & White POTC Block Framed

Posted on November 2, 2009 by Quiltobsession

I wasn’t sure this block was going to work with the cream hexagon frame. I’m happy I was wrong on that score. I love the look of this one.

The back:

My POTC blocks have all been made with the Inklingo 1″ long hexagon shape collection. Sunday a new Inklingo collection for these blocks was released with 1.5″ shapes. The first thing I did was print out the shapes on various sizes of paper to use as my window templates when choosing fabrics. I was amazed at the difference that .50″ makes. All the fabrics I had picked out, thinking they’d work for blocks using that size, were prints/stripes that were just too small. So back to the stash for me to find some larger prints and stripes.

The weekend plans went out the window as both of us have come down with some sort of mild flu-like illness. Picking up the iron feels like I’m trying to lift weights, so my plans for ironing fabric and printing all the Harpsichord Quilt pieces is on hold for a few more days. Now I am ever so glad I have that box full of pieces all ready to stitch with no prep work necessary, so I can just pick out an envelope and stitch.

It was incredibly windy Friday night and Saturday so the cats were very busy. There are very few leaves left on the trees on the roof garden now. Lester resting after a busy weekend of leaf watching:

Smudge completely crashed.

Patchwork of the Crosses – Another Framed

Posted on October 21, 2009 by Quiltobsession

As each block is framed, it becomes my favourite. It’s going to be hard to pick the centre block for the quilt when I get to that point. The centre of this one seems to vibrate.

The back:
One of the many Inklingo charm swaps we’ve had was of the 2.25″ equilateral triangles from Collection 3. I’m not altogether sure where I’m going with this, but I have a feeling that this is going to work up into a lap quilt that may well be a Christmas gift for someone. I have no real plan on colour placement with this other than alternating light and dark/medium, but that may change as I put together more of the triangles.

Smudge lounging on the love seat.

And Lester caught mid-yawn on the couch.

Preparing Patchwork of the Crosses Cream Frames

Posted on October 16, 2009 by Quiltobsession

Seeing the POTC blocks laid out renewed my determination to get my Patchwork of the Crosses top together before the year’s over. So I have been taking little stacks of these and …

… stitching together sets of 3 and then …

… creating the cream hexagon frames for the remaining blocks. Once the frames are made, it’s just lots and lots of lovely continuous stitching to add them to each block. Adding the purple squares after that takes next to no time.

This weekend is our Creativ Festival. We’re going today — yes, Mr. Q.O. enjoys going as well. Then we’re meeting friends for dinner. It will be a very nice day, even though the weather leaves much to be desired. Snow, they say?? Snow in October? I’ve definitely got to get started on that beach ball quilt and pretend it just isn’t happening!

Smudge doesn’t care. He’s curled up, nice and cozy and warm.

Lester, on the other hand, was on the windowsill today. Look how green everything still is! How on earth can it snow when it still looks like this? There are still flowers!

I’m pretty sure he was watching the squirrels. You can see how green everything still is in this photo and some of the flowers.

Patchwork of the Crosses – Partial Layout

Posted on October 14, 2009 by Quiltobsession

I tried to lay out more of the blocks but limited floor space and the threat of furry paws with claws helping made me leave it at this.

When all the blocks are framed and I’m ready to arrange them to stitch together, I think I’ll use the bed as a design wall — with the door shut so no kitties come to help. But I think this picture gives a pretty good idea how the top will look. It will be a set of 30 blocks, 5 by 6. There will be a 2″ square at the intersection of each set of 4 blocks. That is the one element I still haven’t decided on, although I’m leaning towards finding a really bright batik to put in there. Maybe an orange or a brilliant yellow.

This is, without doubt, one of my favourite shots of Smudge. I love the look on his face!

This one of Lester just melts my heart! He is such a big lovey of a cat.

Patchwork of the Crosses – Wisteria Purples Framed

Posted on October 12, 2009 by Quiltobsession

The very first POTC block I made and what is probably my favourite block was up next for framing with the cream hexagons and squares. The camera had trouble with the one of the purples in the block. The long hexagons that appear to be a blue purple are much more purple than they appear.

The back:
Enough of the blocks are framed now that I think we can get a somewhat decent shot of all the blocks laid out and an idea of how the quilt will look. There’s still lots of work to be done, but I’d love to get an idea of placement now and maybe start putting the rows together as I frame them. I’m starting to think about how this will be quilted but haven’t come up with any good ideas yet.

Smudge completely relaxed. He makes me laugh out loud when his paws are like that.

Lester hanging out on the sofa as well.

Patchwork of the Crosses – Preparation

Posted on October 1, 2009 by Quiltobsession

Printing of more purple squares and the cream long hexagons was done Wednesday.
Some of the cream hexagons have been cut and stitched together into sets of 3 while others are waiting to be stitched. I know I would never have decided to make this quilt if it weren’t so easy to print my pieces using Inklingo. Being able to stitch these with a simple running stitch is so much more enjoyable, for me, than English paper piecing would be and much faster.

I have started another sampler. This one is called Quaker Patchwork by Wiehenburg. Every one of the motifs makes me think about how I could duplicate them in a quilt. This one I’m stitching on 32-count Lugana and enjoying every minute of it!