Saturday, September 25, 2010

Lollypop Trees

I'm finally posting the full picture of my Lollypop Trees quilt, (well, it will be a quilt once I get it quilted) the pattern designed by Kim McLean. I recently joined the blog, Glorious Applique, and posted it over there. If you've not been to that blog, you should visit - all applique projects by Kim McLean using some fabulous fabrics, not only by Kaffe but many other inspiring choices.The quilt is so large I could barely get it all in the picture and had to stand out in the foyer. I enjoyed every stitch taken. Btw, I think they have greatly improved the pattern from when I bought it 3 years ago. It was half a pattern and the circles were hand-drawn. My friend, Ille Waters, and I remedied that by making our tracing overlays and using Staedtler plastic circles for our templates.
Here are some close-ups for a better view. One of my favorites was the pastel block above.
If you want a long-term project with very easy applique, this is the one for you! So fun!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Flower Pots - Block 2

I finished my second block of Flower Pots by Kim McLean and have now moved on to a side border with a vase of flowers. I enjoy working with 'happy fabrics' that make me smile!

I thought today might be the first day of Fall but according to my calendar, we have to wait until the 23rd this year - not sure about that. When I was growing up it was always the 21st and now it varies. I enjoy the cool mornings that are great for walking in the neighborhood - here in the south that means 60 degrees, yet it is still in the nineties in the afternoon. I don't recall a summer staying so warm for so long. I'm ready for some cooler days! Happy Stitching!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Cool New Ruler

I just discovered this 'cool new ruler' last week. I'm a huge fan of Omnigrid/Omnigrip rulers anyway and I know sometimes though, you just have so many lines and markings that you have to check really close every cut you make to be sure you are on the correct line. It looks like this ruler just makes it simpler for some very popular cuts.The ruler is 5" x 25", for starters. There are lines for cutting 1 1/2" strips (Honey Buns), 2 1/2" strips (think jelly rolls of your own!!). As you can see in the above photos, one end has markings for a perfect 5" square, and also 4 1/2" square, with the diagonal lines drawn, too.
The opposite end has a 4" square plus the 5", for all the charm squares you want, 'dessert rolls' (the ruler says) layer cakes with the 10" markings, etc. I'm probably way behind the times on this but maybe it's new to you, too, and I wanted to share my cool find!!

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Flourishes

This quilt is called Flourishes and the pattern is by Piece O' Cake Designs. Sue Carrick made this quilt and I quilted it for her. I don't have a picture of the whole quilt but you can get an idea of what it looks like from these photos, or check out Scraps and Threadtales blog when she showed it at the guild meeting.
Sue chose some beautiful fabrics for this quilt, totally different than the pattern but definitely 'her colors'.
She made six blocks of applique instead of 12, so I filled the large batik blocks with feathers.
The continuous curve seemed to work well over all the squares and triangles on the edge.
Here's another close-up view of the feather designs.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Flower Pots

This is my first completed block of Flower Pots, another beautiful quilt designed by Kim McLean, using many Kaffe Fassett fabrics. I love the way all the colors interact even when you might not put them together on your own!! Fun and simple to do. This pattern is from Glorious Color, along with many others by Kim.