I think working on the Pickled Ladies border has me thinking of nothing but borders. There are a couple of quilts that I’ve decided need something added in the way of a border. First is last year’s Inklingo mystery – … Continue reading
Borders
Tag Archives: X’s and O’s quilt
X’s and O’s
While we were out taking pictures of Twinkling Stars on the roof garden, we also took a few of the top I’ve named X’s and O’s. The name has everything to do with how I plan to quilt this one, with circles and X’s.
It was made using shapes from the Inklingo Orange Peel Deluxe collection and was pieced by hand with the exception of the black inner border. The centre of the top took just over 3 weeks to put together from the time I got the idea through to its completion. Adding the borders took a while as I ended up auditioning a couple of different versions before settling on the final.
When it’s time to quilt this, I’m going to get a silk batt. The binding will be the same black ’30s print as the inner border.
Baxter getting his nightly yogourt treat.
More Melons
All 52 melon blocks are made, so the X’s and O’s top should be finished relatively quickly. I am going to machine quilt it, know exactly how I want to quilt it and may get this one finished within another a couple of weeks. Making the melon blocks has me tempted to start another quilt using some melons and other shapes.
A while back, I joined the Bargain Lover’s Club at Sew Sisters and have been receiving 10 great FQs every month. This time? This time, when I opened the envelope, Mr. Q.O. said he wanted these fabrics. I keep threatening to get him piecing to help get all these designs I have in my notebook and in my head actually made. Maybe this grouping will do it.
Smudge likes to lounge by the water and food bowls. This was a shot we couldn’t resist taking.
Lester found himself a cozy spot to curl up and have a nap. It was cold again on Tuesday, but he’s showing more interest in getting up on the windowsill every day. Maybe that’s an indication that spring will be here sooner rather than later.
Half a Dozen Melons
I’m hooked. No question about it. Stitching these little blocks is nothing but fun. They’re a quick stitch and those perfect curves make me smile every time. I need around 40 of them for the border I’m planning but, at the rate they’re going together, it’s not going to take long. But ideas for a quilt made with just these blocks keep floating through my mind. It’s one of those blocks that I find irresistible.
Thursday was a great day. The pink and cream quilt top is finished. When I got up Thursday morning, I decided it was time. Sashings were cut, sewn to cornerstones and added to the blocks and then the final border was added. What I learned yesterday? That machine piecing isn’t that difficult. All the joining was done by machine, while the blocks themselves were hand pieced and I got it all put together without having to rip out any seams. The top finishes at around 60 x 70, and I am thrilled with it. Pictures when it’s quilted. I’ve already got the quilting planned for it.
Charlsey posted some pictures on her blog post here from our two days of stitching, talking and planning as well as some interesting people watching. There’s one shot of Charlsey’s Seven Sisters quilt and my X’s and O’s quilt that I love. The hotel lobby is rather beige and I think our quilts added some needed colour!
For some reason we got no new photos of the cats on Thursday. Things are definitely looking up — the two of them had one of their mock battles on Thursday evening, which they haven’t really done for a couple of months. This is one of my favourite photos and a rather rare shot of the two of them together that was taken a few months ago.
Melons
I’ve started putting together one of the elements for the borders of the X’s and O’s quilt. These little 4″ blocks go together so quickly that I don’t think it will take long at all to get this part of the border ready to put together.
The back of one of the little blocks.
We’re definitely going to have a couple of days of milder temperatures. If the forecast is correct, we may hit 50 on Friday! It looks like it will go back to the cold winter weather shortly after that, but what a treat to get a day that warm in February.
Lester continues to improve. Mr. Q.O. was taking pictures of the boys, focusing on their paws.
Smudge was showing off his paws while he slept.
X’s and O’s
My Improved 9-Patch quilt top which I’ve named X’s and O’s, and which was hand pieced in a few weeks. I started piecing it on August 9 and took the last stitch completing the main body of the top on September 1, 2010. The picture was taken on September 2, when the lawn on the roof garden was still green and there was no snow. Without borders it measures approximately 41 x 48″. One of the two borders I have planned for X’s and O’s will be pieced.
I used the Inklingo Orange Peel Deluxe collection to print all the shapes for this. Perfect stitching lines and matching points printed on the back of my fabrics made putting this together a breeze. Even though I knew it would go together easily as I had just finished the Chintz Circles quilt made with shapes from the same Inklingo collection, I was amazed at how quickly I finished stitching it. Once I got the idea for this quilt, I worked out a plan for my quilt using the design sheets and Monkey’s Cheat Sheet which are part of the Inklingo collection and filled out a cheat sheet, chose the fabrics and printed my shapes. All done in one evening. By the time two days had passed, I had all the 9-patches pieced and then it was just a matter of lots and lots of continuous stitching as I joined the melons to the 9-patches.
The biggest challenge for me with this quilt was keeping things in order. Once I had the 9-patch blocks pieced, I laid them out with the melons and rearranged until I was satisfied with the placement. Not having a design wall, I laid it out on the bed and we took photos. Although I kept the pieces for each row of the quilt in separate zip-lock bags, I printed one of the photos and that was my virtual design wall to which I referred constantly to ensure I hadn’t mixed anything up.
My plan is to print the shapes I need for the pieced border sometime within the next couple of weeks and hopefully have the pieced border ready within a week or so after that. I’ve already decided on the quilting design for the quilt, so I’m hoping to have this one done within a relatively short period of time.
We were lucky and didn’t get anywhere near the kind of storm they were predicting. It snowed for hours, no question, but we didn’t get the amount they had forecast. The migraine finally lifted Wednesday evening so now I’m just left with the bruised head feeling that always comes after and will get caught up on blogs and responding to comments today.
The cats found spots to snooze on Wednesday. Lester on the pink chair.
Smudge got his turn on the pink chair a bit later in the evening.
Quilt Obsession 