Hexagon Frames

Posted on February 2, 2011 by Quiltobsession

It took a while, but the cream hexagon frames for the POTC blocks are all ready to be attached to the 10 blocks that are not yet finished. A little more printing of the setting pieces and I’ll have everything I need for the outer edges of the quilt top ready as well.

Now that I’ve got the frames made and ready to attach to the blocks, I’m really quite enthused about working on this quilt again. Stitching cream hexagons to one another endlessly was a real stumbling block for me. Now that this is done, I can almost imagine having the top finished by the spring.

As I type this at around midnight, the snow has just started to fall here although the wind hasn’t yet picked up. They say by morning we will have near blizzard conditions. I’ve taken enough migraine medication to take the edge off, but it’s not gone yet. I’m hoping once the storm is over, the headache will be gone.

Smudge spent much of Tuesday snoozing.

Lester seemed to be almost posing for the camera.

Endlessly Stitching

Posted on February 1, 2011 by Quiltobsession

… cream hexagons together, that is. When we took this photo last night, I had 48 left to join. By the time the evening was over, I had finished stitching them into sets of three. So now it’s solely a matter of adding 24 of them around each of the remaining POTC blocks. Getting the cream hexagons stitched was a big hurdle, and one that I could have avoided had I done them as I finished each block rather than left them all to the end. Lesson learned!

We have an enormous winter storm heading toward us. Light snow today but then tonight into Wednesday, a lot of snow and high winds. I’ve been battling a migraine since late yesterday, so the cream hexagon stitching was the perfect thing to work on — just lots and lots of straight stitching, no thinking involved!

Lester decided to curl up and have a snooze.

Smudge in an impossibly cute pose with a teddy bear!

Patchwork of the Crosses – Two Framed

Posted on September 8, 2009 by Quiltobsession

Two blocks are now complete as far as having the purple squares in each corner and on two sides. This gives an idea of how they’ll look joined, although these aren’t yet joined.

My wrist is really bothering me again but I have now been able to determine what aggravates it. Unfortunately, it’s related to work so I’m going to have to be very creative in figuring out a work-around.

We were at a friend’s home on Monday and Mr. Quilt Obsession took these shots of some of the flowers in their front garden. I have no idea what the flowers are, but love the colours and am thrilled with the shots the camera is getting. It’s a Canon PowerShot A470.

Another shot of Smudge awake.

And one of Lester just after I had brushed his ruff.

Patchwork of the Crosses — Block 18

Posted on June 17, 2009 by Quiltobsession

The little Patchwork of the Crosses lap quilt is going to be made of 25 blocks — I think. I’ve got an idea for a pieced border but won’t be sure about that until all the blocks are done. The centre of this little quilt is going to be a yellow/orange block.

This block went together really fast once I had picked the fabrics:

The back:
Lester on Tuesday afternoon, having a snooze on the windowsill. He was very busy a few minutes before this picture was taken watching a robin in the tree right in front of the window.

Smudge snoozing on the love seat. I keep trying to get a shot of him in action but he moves so fast that the pictures are just too blurry!

Patchwork of the Crosses — Block 17

Posted on June 16, 2009 by Quiltobsession

After looking at the photo taken outside of the 16 blocks, I realized that there are a couple that may need to be replaced as I think they may stand out a bit too much. I want to make this a 20 or 24-block quilt anyway, and have an idea for using the blocks that may be removed.

The other thing I realized is that there’s not much blue in the first 16 blocks. So I picked out the pieces for and made this block — with a little purple for good measure.

The back:

We have these plants in a couple of spots on the roof garden. The colour of the flowers is incredibly vibrant.

A close-up of one of the flowers on the plant.

Lester in his favourite spot on the windowsill Monday afternoon:

And Smudge resting. He has recently discovered that a straw is a great toy. It’s so funny watching him — those enormous paws hitting the straw and batting it around. He gets very intense about it and will play for ages. Other than his caterpillar toy, the straw seems to be the only toy he really enjoys playing with. Lester, on the other hand, will play with just about any of the kitty toys in the basket.

Patchwork of the Crosses — Outdoors

Posted on June 15, 2009 by Quiltobsession

The outside setting hexagons make a big difference, I think, to the effect I’m getting with the fabrics in these blocks. I’ve got one finished so far and 3 attached to another. Each block has 24 of these setting pieces attached and then they’re joined to one another with 1″ squares.

We took the blocks out to the roof garden on the weekend to see how they looked together in natural light — and without any kitty helpers. I think I’ll make another 4 or possibly 9 in these sorts of fabrics and then will probably have enough for a nice-sized lap quilt.

I’m definitely going to do a full-sized Patchwork of the Crosses, but want to do a lot more fussy cutting to get the same sort of effects Lucy Boston did. This is going to mean a hunt for stripes and directional prints, border prints and paisleys. I love the idea of doing it in predominantly purple fabrics, but am not completely sure about that yet.

Lester in his favourite spot — the windowsill. Look at the look on his face!

And, in a typical Smudge move, resting his eyes while keeping one paw on the kitty scratching post. He’s very possessive about his favourite things sometimes.

Patchwork of the Crosses – Block 16

Posted on June 12, 2009 by Quiltobsession

This block may be the last of the blocks I do with the fabrics I’ve picked out and printed so far. I’m really happy with them, but I’m not getting the same special effects that Lucy Boston did. Since getting the new Patchwork of the Crosses book by Linda Franz, I’ve been able to study the incredible photos of the original quilt and it’s been a real education! One has to look very hard to see the elongated hexagons in most of the original blocks. I’d like to duplicate that as much as I can, which will mean more stripes, more border prints and some paisleys.

The back:

I’m undecided at the moment about whether I’ll make these 16 blocks into a small quilt or if I’ll keep going and make it slightly larger for a lap quilt. Then I will need to start finding the right prints and paisleys to be able to make the blocks I’m envisioning.

I’m going to try to get a photo of all 16 blocks together today or this weekend.

Smudge on the windowsill the other day:

And, in the find the kitty head series, a photo of Lester:

Patchwork of the Crosses – Block 15

Posted on June 10, 2009 by Quiltobsession

Purple and mauve and lilac seem to be quite predominant in the first group of blocks I’ve done for this quilt. This block is no exception:

The back:

There were a couple of comments on yesterday’s block about it reminding one of a leaf or of the tree that was removed on the weekend. Those comments are giving me an idea about a small quilt with that block as the centre. I’ll have to play with some ideas for that on the weekend and see where it takes me.