Diagonal Madness & More

 Diagonal Madness was begun over two years ago in a class with Kaffe Fassett. I eventually got the diagonals completed but it was set aside waiting for those 50+ nine patches in the border. So, this past week I finished the borders, sewed them on and quilted it!! Wahoo!

 Here are two close-ups of the quilting. I used a variegated thread since there were so many colors in the top and a pattern called banana swirls.

 Above is the back of the quilt. And now the binding is sewn and ready to be attached. It's nice to get another quilt of my own finished!

 Here is a quilt top that my mother-in-law began over ten years ago. I had taught her how to string piece on lightweight paper and even though her sewing skills had diminished with illness, she still loved to try new techniques. After she died I took the little plastic shoe box with the blocks she had finished and sewn together. I am going to finish this quilt for her with just a few more blocks being added.

There is a new blog I am a part of called String Thing Along. I will be posting more pictures of the progress of this quilt there. It's such a fun way to quilt with all those strings and scraps we have! Come join the fun and be a part of this blog!

 Here is my UFO project container. By UFO, it is really mostly leftover fabrics from other projects and it is now running over. The lid will hardly close which shows how long since I've played with my leftovers.

 This is inside the box!! I used to enjoy taking the leftover fabrics, add a few more and make charity quilts or smaller quilts with no rules. I hope to attack this box soon. There are so many fun projects that could be made if I will allow myself to play.

 And here is a recent tablecloth, yet unquilted. I went to a retreat in January and sewed this. I already had the strips cut so it was easy to sew and get the blocks made with a group of 50 quilters in the room. Now it is waiting to be quilted. I chose the fabric combination from a quilt I had on display in the fall. So, it'll be a few months before I'll need this one.

 And now for my house blocks!! Two are 3", one is 4", and two are 6". The six inch were much easier to make I must confess. It is fun picking the fabrics from the scrap pile. Hopefully there will be more or enough to make a small quilt before the year is out.

And now, another small project I had been putting off. I needed a little pillow behind my back at the computer. After months of just the pillow form with no cover, I got around to making a colorful pillow case. Now how hard was that?? A 30 minute project that I had delayed for months. Happy Quilting!!

One Week - Three Blocks!

These little house blocks are fun to make! As you can see, I have made a couple of sizes and expect to make more. The six inch blocks are quite simple after making the three inch. I plan to mix and match them in my quilt. Hey, at three a week - I could still make 156! 

The most fun part is not thinking too hard on the fabrics. Now you can see I did put up some brick fabric for a house and found a quilter for the window, but mostly I'm just grabbing scraps, quickly making decisions and sewing. Improvisational color selection. For more houses, go to Building Houses from Scraps.

What Was I Thinking?

So yesterday I drew up my House Block in EQ7, printed out four to a page for paper piecing and began sewing. Hmmm, this is a tiny block!! I may have to rethink this size. Possibly four inch or even five inch would work better for me. Cute, though!

New Projects for 2012

 The above Chelsea wall quilt is my first project for the new year. I pieced the background last year and that was as far as I got so this week I've been choosing my applique fabrics and getting them ready to sew. I finished my flower pots and did not have another project ready so my hands are itching to stitch!! This is from Kaffe Fassett's book, Quilts in the Sun.

 Simple Graces is a book I've looked at for a long time so I treated myself in December and purchased it. The cover quilt is my favorite but it has many beautiful patterns.

 This nine patch book by Lisa Bongean & Carole Charles could not be resisted as they had a 'new' way to sew those tiny nine patches. A neat trick I must say! These are miniature quilts, tiny tiny pieces - what was I thinking???

 The above book I received for Christmas. My children know I keep a running list of quilt books I want so I was excited when I received it. It is a great way to use scraps and strips of fabric you have already sewn and did not know what to do with. I've done that many times, plus I always save leftover pieces from quilt projects together so I might make a small quilt with the leftover fabrics. Now I have a huge plastic container waiting for this book. I used to make many charity quilts like that but it has not happened lately.

And, last is another quilt book I received for Christmas - again on my wish list! Totally different than the other but I enjoy trying different types of quilting. It is filled with interesting stories from the farmer's wives and it was cool when I began reading and the contest from which this quilt was born, took place in 1922 - the year that both my parents were born. It made it rather special to connect with that date!

So, looking forward to lots of fun and varied projects in 2012. I've also signed up to work on the little 3" house blocks from Building Houses from Scraps.

Happy Stitching in 2012 and I hope to be able to show some progress with my quilting soon!