Tag Archives: quilts

Another New York Beauty

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Of course I couldn’t resist making a second one! These are way too addictive to stitch to stop at just one! Or two. Or a dozen. I’m already planning on making this one a 16-block little quilt. At least. Maybe more. I will try to stop after a couple more, though, and get back to the red and white quilt. Try is the operative word there.

There are so many setting options with this block. I could put them side by side, like this.

Or on point, like this.

Or beside one another like this.

Or like this. However I decide to set them, this is going to be known as my Tiffany lamp quilt. My mother loved Tiffany lamps, as do I, and these blocks definitely remind me of the Tiffany lamp we had in our kitchen when I was growing up.

Yesterday morning the ideas were just flying through my mind with so many possibilities for this block!  I already know I’ll be making more than one quilt using these shapes, probably more than a few. My ideas book has almost a page full of notes on this one. I can’t get over how easy they are to put together. Loads of opportunities for continuous stitching and some wonderful curved piecing. This block has it all!

Baxter came to help when we were starting to take photos. Mr. Q.O. dubbed this one “The Critic”.

And this was his “official” first birthday portrait.

Whimsical Stitcheries

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This idea has been in the works for a week or so. Mr. Q.O. draws some fabulously fun creatures, so I asked if some could be drawn for the little hexagon quilt. So far he has drawn four or five and I’ve then traced them on to 2″ hexagons, which I had already printed and cut out. Three got stitched last night – a turtle, fish and frog. There are other fish and various other creatures who will show up periodically as I turn them into little 2″ embroidered hexagons.

The final layout of this is still far from decided, but I’m thinking it will be a small cot quilt when it’s done. It’s fun to do a few stitchery blocks from time to time.

We ran into a former neighbour who had some really exciting news. She has been accepted into the Nurse Practitioner Ph.D. program at Yale. Mr. Q.O. knew, before I said it, that I was going to decide she needs a lap quilt to take along with her to remind her of her time in Toronto. I think a fair amount of time is going to be spent on the weekend looking at possible design ideas.

Mr. Q.O. captioned this shot, “The Critic.” The minute we start setting up to take photos, Baxter’s right there.

Tiny Drunkard’s Trail

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Not much got accomplished yesterday, although these little stacks of the pieces needed for more of the 2″ Drunkard’s Trail blocks are cut out and ready to stitch.

I did manage to make these three blocks.

Which will be added to these four blocks. This is going to be a really small quilt, no larger than 8″ x 12″ when it’s finished. And that’s the total of what I have to show for yesterday. I was wiped out from the allergies. Can’t remember a year when they’ve been this bad, but a friend suggested it may be due to our incredibly mild winter. I think she’s right.

Baxter’s not suffering from allergies. He’s interested in finding out if there are some more apps for cats.

Some Favourite Quilt Books

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Some of my favourite quilt books got taken off the shelf last night. Mr. Q.O. and I are both really feeling the allergy season starting and, while I did get some stitching done, last night was mostly a night for leafing through these books.

This little book, Quilts, A Beautiful History, is definitely one of my favourites and one which has inspired two of my quilts – Pink Ice and the pink and cream quilt.

When I first got the book, this page was looked at over and over again and eventually I made Pink Ice, which was inspired by the photo.

Ontario’s Heritage Quilts is a book I can never get enough of. I can read and re-read the narrative and look at the pictures for hours at a time.

This is just one of the many quilts in the book. It’s impossible to describe just how fabulous this book is.

Next up is the Two-Color Quilts book. I love looking through and seeing the various two-colour quilts, as making a series of two-colour quilts is one of my long-term goals.

Clearly I’m on a red and white kick, as this is the one I spent the most time looking at last night.

Then Art of the Needle from the Shelburne Museum. There are countless quilts in this book that are absolutely stunning.

This is one of the many quilts in the book that I can’t stop going back to and looking at.

Then comes the Jinny Beyer book, The Quilter’s Album of Patchwork Patterns, which I think is an absolute must-have for any quilter.

Turn to any page in that book and there’s inspiration plus just waiting.

So what are your favourite quilt books? Which ones do you turn to for inspiration?

Baxter was looking regal as he sat atop the couch watching.

Drunkard’s Trail Variations

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Ever since the Drunkard’s Trail collections came out, I wanted to play with the variations. This one was made with the 6″ collection. It seems massive in comparison to the 2″ blocks, which were the ones I first made.

Then this one, made with the 4″ collection.

Finally, this one made with the 3″ collection. Although made with the 3″ collection, it finishes at 6″ because I used one of the “extra” shapes as the large centre.

They all press beautifully and I’m grading every seam as I go. The blocks are all going to be mixed and matched in the final layout. For now, I’m just having fun making some of each variation in each size. It won’t be a large quilt. At best, I think it may be a small lap quilt.

I’ve decided that while I am trying to stick to the red and white quilt during the week, the weekends are play time. Of course, the operative word in that sentence is “trying”. I’m so easily distracted by other projects!

Baxter was crashed after some pretty hectic play time Sunday night.

A Favourite Revisited

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While I continue working on the red and white quilt, I decided I’d revisit some of my favourites. This is actually right up there at the top of that list. Simple nine-patch blocks, yes, but there’s something about this quilt and this photograph of it, in particular, that I just love. The nine-patch blocks measure 3″ finished, made with squares I printed using Inklingo. It’s hand pieced and machine quilted and looking at it makes me realize that the simple quilts are just as beautiful to me as the more involved ones.

It was the focus of a teddy bear adventure in this post back in June of 2008. When I looked back in my archives to find it, I was shocked that it was almost four years ago. Assuming I don’t get distracted again, which is never a safe assumption with me, I may show a few other quilts from the past on the blog over the next couple of weeks.

It was really quite chilly here yesterday. I think today’s supposed to be a bit better and then Wednesday better yet again. Yesterday the heat was back on and the windows closed again for most of the day. Oh, how we were spoiled by that lovely taste of summer in the middle of March.

Baxter was looking very alert for his photograph on Monday afternoon.

Red and White Trimmings

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This is the pile after grading the seams on two of the red and white Feathered Star/Sunflower blocks. Two blocks left to go and then I can start putting the top together. It will probably take less time to stitch the blocks together than it has to grade the seams. If nothing else, this may be the final time I need to learn the lesson to grade seams as I make the blocks but it is worth the effort as the difference in weight is noticeable and the quilt will drape quite nicely. I put a nickel beside the pile of trimmings just to give it some perspective.

When I needed a break from the grading, I went looking in my stash for another candidate for kaleidoscope stars. This fabric has a relatively small repeat which would mean little fabric waste, but I have a feeling the stars would all end up looking alike. So back it goes to the stash to be used in something else.

Baxter had a very busy day on Tuesday. Kitty TV has started – a squirrel was seen out on the roof garden. So last night he was relaxing in “his” chair.

Possibilities for Kaleidoscope Stars

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So much fun was had making the kaleidoscope stars like this one that I couldn’t resist doing a little hunting in my stash for some other fabrics that might be likely candidates for interesting kaleidoscope stars.

This one is a definite possibility and will be easy to fussy cut/print for some more kaleidoscope stars.

This one has a larger repeat, but I think some really striking kaleidoscope stars might be the result. I don’t have a lot of it, but perhaps an interesting wallhanging can be made using kaleidoscope stars from it.

This is the fabric combination from yesterday’s post that I was 90 per cent sure I was going to select. It was interesting to read how many of you also felt the same way. So that’s another project waiting in the wings. I’m going to make one block using the two fabrics before I start on that project in earnest.

Last night I was working again on the red and white quilt. I’m really motivated to at least get the 12 blocks together this week. Then I’ll make a decision on whether a small stop border is added before the pieced border.

This picture of Baxter makes me laugh.  If you look closely, you can see that his tongue is sticking out just a bit.

Stars in Pink

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A few of these stars are made every once in a while. There are now 18 of them done, each measuring 6″ from tip to tip.

The box in which the pieces reside is almost empty. There are only 12 stars left to make and then I can free this box up for another project.

At the rate I’m going on a few of these smaller projects, I think there may be a flurry of finishes over the next while. Scrappy Star and the red and white Feathered Star/Sunflower quilt remain at the top of the list but sometimes it’s nice to work on a small project. A pink star wall hanging sounds like it might just fill the bill.

There’s an idea nagging away at me to make a quilt using a purple batik and … well, the and isn’t quite yet decided but that would mean another in the series of two-colour quilts I want to make. I may play with that this weekend for a bit to see if I have anything on hand that works as the other colour.

Today is a big day in the household. It’s Mr. Q.O.’s birthday. The birthday bears will have to come out to sing Happy Birthday to him.

It was incredibly mild here yesterday, definitely felt like spring. But very windy. Baxter was up on the windowsill repeatedly. Later on, he was resting up in his chair.

Gifted Blocks and a Gift of Orchids

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I’ve blogged about these blocks before that were given to me by a good friend, but now I feel I have enough experience with the sewing machine to set them together successfully. There are a stack of these blocks that will finish at 7.75″.

And a stack of these, which also finish at 7.75″. As well, I was given a lot of the fabric that was used to make them. I’m going to play with some setting ideas over the next few days. They were foundation pieced on muslin so it’s going to be a heavy quilt and one which I will have to figure out how to machine quilt.

Last night, Mr. Q.O. took the garbage down the hall and came back with a pot of orchids. One of our neighbours gave it to us. The instructions on its care seem rather odd to me. It says to water the plant by giving it 3 ice cubes once a week. Three ice cubes? I would have thought that would shock the poor plant. If any of you have grown orchids successfully and have some hints, please share. I’d love to keep this plant growing and hopefully flowering.

There are some buds on it that look very close to opening. I love the colour of the flowers. Such a wonderful pink, my favourite colour.

Baxter’s look says it all, “An orchid? Yummy!” We have it well out of his reach.