Tag Archives: quilts

Diamonds, Diamonds and More Diamonds

Posted on by

7

Not a lot of stitching has been done this week, although I now have enough diamonds joined into pairs to start the next round on the scrappy star top. As the scrappy star has grown, I’ve found it easier to put them together into pairs and then, once the placement is figured out, join the pairs into sets for each of the 8 segments.

It’s definitely looking like fall now.

This birch tree has now lost almost all its leaves.

This is a shot of Queen’s Park, a park near our building. Some of the trees still have their gorgeous fall colours.

Baxter was watching me stitch. We think this is his Morris look.

Scrappy Star Again

Posted on by

14

After finishing the flannel top, I needed to do some hand piecing.  Another round is added to scrappy star and it’s now 29 inches.  I think it’s going to end up about twice the size it is now.

I’m glad I decided to press after each round as it only takes a few minutes.  I can’t imagine leaving this whole thing to press until the end.

I’ve started hand quilting Ferris Wheel and am much happier with the look. It was worth the time it took to take out the machine quilting I had done.

Baxter has been very busy watching leaves flying by the window.

56 Blocks Done

Posted on by

8

They’re all done. I am absolutely amazed at how quickly they’ve gone together. I hope putting the rows together and then putting the top together goes as fast. It would be fabulous to have this top done by the time the weekend is over.

Today, as Baxter will be enjoying enduring a day at the vet as it’s time for him to be fixed, I’ll take advantage of being able to lay the blocks out on the floor to figure out the placement and then start putting the rows together.

Over the next couple of weeks, my blogging schedule is going to be a bit sporadic as there are a number of things going on and my computer time is going to be limited.

Baxter was determined to get in on the act when we were getting ready to take the photo of the 56 blocks.

Lots of Cutting and A Little Stitching

Posted on by

13

All the flannels were washed and ironed over the weekend and then the cutting began. Lots and lots of 2.5″ and 4.5″ strips for the double 4-patch block. I found a trick that makes rotary cutting much easier for me. I put a pine board beneath my cutting mat and it has made an enormous difference. I usually rotary cut on my ironing board as it is almost the right height for me. With the pine board underneath the cutting mat, it’s exactly the right height.

Once the strips were cut, I stitched a couple of the 2.5″ strips together and made two blocks just to see how they looked. They went together quicker than I had anticipated and press beautifully.

Working with flannel is fun! I didn’t need to pin at all as the flannel really does stick to itself quite nicely. I’ve started sewing the 2.5″ strips together and expect to get at least half the blocks I need for the quilts done today, if not more.

This is, I think, my favourite picture of Baxter so far. It’s a 3-for-1 shot. Baxter’s reflection can be seen in the window as well as on the marble windowsill.

What to Make With Flannel Fabrics?

Posted on by

20

These fabrics have been in my stash for ages and ages. I seem to bring them out every year just around this time and try to sort out what to do with them. They’re mostly FQs, with a few half yards and one piece that’s a couple of yards.

I’ve never really worked with flannel, so am rather at a loss as to what to make. I’ll definitely be piecing the quilt by machine and would like to be able to get a couple of lap quilts out of these fabrics. I’m thinking that perhaps a simple 9-patch, using 2″ or 3″ squares, might be one possibility but …

What would you make with these? Is it necessary to use a wider seam allowance than a quarter inch when working with flannels?

I have perhaps another hour or so until the pieced border for Twinkling Stars is done. Then it’s a matter of pressing the borders and sewing them on. I’m definitely on track to get this done, perhaps even before the second game of the World Series.

Baxter loves to lick/chew fabric so when we were setting up to take the pictures Tuesday night, he was eyeing the fabrics and doing this.

Earlier in the day, he had been showing his more elegant self posing as kitty in lace.

Ideas from Fabric

Posted on by

9

This group of 10 FQs is really calling to me. I haven’t quite figured out yet what I want to make with them, but I keep looking at them and trying to decide what would show them off to their best advantage.

Yesterday a friend asked me for some ideas for a quilt using a certain type of fabric and it got me thinking about those FQs again. All I need to do now is choose the right background fabric for them and then play. But that’s not happening until the Twinkling Stars top is finished and the Pickled Ladies top is well on its way to being finished.

I’m almost halfway through making the pieced border for Twinkling Stars and am well on the road to finishing it before the baseball is over. The little 9-patch blocks on point are going to end up in a quilt of their own as I completely changed my mind about the Twinkling Stars borders.

Baxter was relaxing after another busy day of watching out the window. The leaves are starting to fly by the windows as it has been a bit windy, and he’s quite busy during the day on the windowsill, going back and forth trying to get them.

Twinkling Stars Progress

Posted on by

19

The main part of the top is together. Now to make and add the borders and this year’s baseball playoffs quilt will be done. With any luck, it will be finished before the World Series is over.

This is a big milestone for me. While I hybrid pieced some of the blocks and totally hand pieced some others, the majority of the quilt was put together by machine. it’s given me a lot more confidence about machine piecing, which will come in handy for some quilts I want to make.

On Friday evening I got a call from the LQS and, after close to 6 months, the white on white fabric has finally come in. I’m thrilled as it means I can definitely finish off the Feathered Star/Sunflower quilt exactly as I wanted with the pieced border I had envisioned for it.

Baxter is still teething and, on the weekend, he lost (and we found) a baby tooth. Rather than put it in a little pillow for the kitty tooth fairy, Mr. Q.O. tossed it. I think Baxter deserves a new toy and plan to get him one from the kitty tooth fairy.

Colourful Little 9-Patches

Posted on by

8

Almost half of the 9-patch blocks i need for the Twinkling Stars quilt are done. With any luck, I’ll have them finished before the end of the weekend and then can get started putting the top together. I’m piecing them by hand, as that’s the perfect thing to stitch while watching baseball games, and they finish at 3 inches.

There were quite a few good ideas in the comments yesterday and I’ve followed up on all them. So far, no luck but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that one of the avenues I’m exploring will result in a find of the fabric.

Baxter was insistent on getting in the picture of the 9-patch blocks. He climbs up beneath the board on which the background fabric and blocks are laid out. We think he’s curled up under there, but then all of a sudden his head appears.

Later on, he had to go rest in the hallway.

Stars, Stars and More Stars

Posted on by

6

All 80 of the Twinkling Stars are made and ready to be stitched into the larger 15″ 9-patch blocks. My goal was to finish them before our long Thanksgiving weekend was over and I got it done!

Hybrid piecing worked out really well for me once I worked out this method of pinning the skinny triangles to the half tumblers. My previous attempts at machine stitching have usually resulted in seams that seem slightly distorted by the pinning.  So rather than pinning through matching points or crosshairs, I used a fine pin as though I was using a needle and thread. Checked the front and back of the seam and as long as my pin was right on the stitching line, I was off to the races. That’s how I reached my goal of finishing the stars. I don’t know how well that pinning idea would work on long seams, but for these skinny tris it worked like a charm for me.

Our Thanksgiving weekend was perfect – warm and sunny. The weather felt more like Labour Day weekend than Thanksgiving. So much so that people were out on the roof garden sunbathing. I’m hoping this is a sign that we’ll have a mild winter.

A few leaves have been dancing by the window and Baxter has been busy watching. Here he was resting up after a long afternoon of leaf chasing and bird and squirrel watching.

More and More Twinkling Stars

Posted on by

14

Much as I’ve wanted to steal time away from making the Twinkling Stars and work on something else, I’ve managed to stay on course and now have slightly under half the stars done. I’m hoping to finish them off by the end of this long weekend and then will only have the little 9-patches left to make before I can start putting the top together.

They’re hybrid pieced. I’m joining parts of the blocks by machine and then finishing it by hand piecing. I know the blocks can be totally made by machine, but I enjoy putting them together by hand and they’re relatively quick to stitch. For those who have asked, I’m using shapes from the Inklingo Tumbler Collection. It’s easy to get the long skinny tris perfect when one has the stitching lines and matching points.

This is our Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada and our weather sounds like it’s going to be much more like summer than fall, with humidex readings in the 30C range on Saturday and Sunday. Makes me wonder how many people will have barbecues for Thanksgiving rather than heat up their homes cooking turkeys.

Over the last few days, Baxter has spent more time on the windowsill than anywhere else. He has a tendency to wave one paw in the air, which we’ve dubbed his royal wave. Here I’m not sure what he waving at — perhaps a squirrel or bird.