When You Just Start Cutting...

This is the Quilts for Survivors WIP that generated all of the blue HSTs in one of the blocks in my last post. It's been on my wall for a few weeks and was going swimmingly. Until I looked at the pattern again. Ugh.

Just to back it up a bit, I've been trying to find a pattern that I could use for these two prints, blue and white versions of the same print. Several times I thought I'd found it only to back away from each idea. 

Then I remembered this photo that I'd found on Pinterest (no pattern that I could find). I'd saved it to remind me to try making a runner similar to this for the Holly Bazaar. I had a large piece of a medium blue that I could use for the corners so before I changed my mind again I found coordinating blues, yellows and and a bit of green and started to cut.

The block is very straightforward - just a square with two sew and flip corners placed on point.

In no particular order they started to go up on the wall and the more that I made the more I liked it.

As it grew I started thinking about setting triangles and what to do there because I was running low on the blue. Then I looked at the pattern again.

There are no setting triangles to speak of. The edge blocks should only have a blue triangle on one corner leaving a relatively small setting triangle to give you a straight edge. Similarly, the top and bottom edges appear to be blocks cut in half horizontally (haven't done a test of that yet). 

Soooo, Jack and I have started spending a little time together, ripping things out to make it work. So far, so good. It's the blue that I will need for a border that could be an issue.

For the time being I'll focus on getting four straight sides. If the quilting gods are on my side there might just be enough blue for a border!....M

Big Blocks

On Friday, our church quilters took another Quilts for Survivors quilt off the frames. It's ready to be bound and I will share it with you soon. We're also making great strides in our fundraising efforts to help cover the cost of boxes to ship finished quilts to individual survivors and it looks like we will reach our goal tomorrow, so I've been busy putting together a small bundle of 16" blocks to display alongside the quilt top that we will be showing.

I started with Intertwined. It looks more complicated than it is - it's just four of the same 8" block rotated in different directions and comes together quite quickly. I made two like this and a third with a tulip floral and turquoise corners that you can sort of see peeking out in the image above. I had thought that the turquoise would end up being the square that runs through the centre of the block but I liked the look of the floral square.

Then I spied a pile of HSTs cut from another QFS quilt top that is in progress so I trimmed them up and did a basic 25-block layout bordered with green. There are enough HSTs left for at least two more blocks but only one made it to the finish line for tomorrow. I'll share a little bit more about this one in a future post.

Wanting to have a little variety, I moved on. I believe that this one is called Potato Chips. It's one of those blocks where just about anything goes and proved to be a great way to use up some leftover 2.5" strips from other projects. There are 32  2.5" x 4.5" rectangles in the block so I cut a few additional 'chips' leaving me with only one or two duplicates.

And I just couldn't help myself - I had to make a star or two. 

Make that four. I love these Sawtooth Stars. There are lots of possibilities with this one. You could make them all the same, make positive and negative versions using only two fabrics, make them all different - you get the idea. I landed on two coordinated stars and love the look. 

It's interesting. I have been trying to use up that soft green because it didn't seem to play well with other fabrics, but I am loving it with that gold/red floral. Now I'm wondering if I need a few for me!

And finally, just to clean up some of the mess that will still surrounding my machine, I whipped up one last Potato Chips block. 

It was a full agenda but a great way to spend a rather cool and dreary day....M

Happy Victoria Day Weekend!

After waiting yesterday for the rain that didn't come, we set up our deck furniture today and proceeded to enjoy much of our day out under the awning. It's been a glorious holiday weekend so far with more great summer-like weather promised for tomorrow, the perfect time to pull out one of my 'from here to eternity' hand stitching projects.

Anna Levens has been dormant since late last summer so hopefully a few newly basted hexies will give her a little boost.

And what's not to love about using thread that comes on a spool of that gorgeous coral colour??? It came to me via Roberta, who occasionally tucks little surprises into my quilts when she returns them to me so it was time to try it out.

It's by Presencia and is really lovely to work with - very buttery. Thank you Roberta!

Before long, the beginnings of a hexie string begins to emerge. A good day all round. 

If you are celebrating Victoria Day this weekend I hope that it includes lots of down time...M

Christmas Already?

Despite getting ready to enjoy the May long weekend, the official start to our summer, I've also been at work on a little Christmas project that's been lingering in the bins.

Several years ago now, Jane wondered if I would like five Christmas stocking panels which had been sitting in her stash to make up for the Holly Bazaar. Not wanting them to go to waste, I said 'yes' and so instead of sitting on her shelves they have since spent more time sitting in mine. 

There are four different patterns centred on a birdhouse theme with only one duplicate in the bunch.

While digging for something else (as usual) I pulled them out a few weeks ago and asked Roberta to quilt them for me; she used the fun Moulin Rouge panto. She also quilted a panel of fabric large enough for me to cut five stocking backs out of, using the same holly and ribbon fabric front and back. It's a little tough to see the full quilting pattern on the dark green but you get a good sense of it where the batting shows.

I've got them all trimmed up now and will turn my attention to what to bind them with. Maybe the holly, or maybe a wee gingham? Time to play with a few options....M

Art in the Pews

Whew! It's been a busy couple of weeks! Last weekend our church hosted Art in the Pews where we invited artisans of all stripes to share their work, and it was a huge success. It is a beautiful space and when it was filled to the brim with all of that creativity it looking amazing.

I wasn't quite sure how they would do it, but the pews showcased everything from painting, to wooden toys, to hooked rugs and photography. 

Oh, and quilts of course. Lots of lovely quilts.

I was in charge to the High Tea that was served down in the hall so I only had time to run through the exhibit (I literally ran!) snapping pics as I went. It was a feast for the eyes. It think that this green quilt was all of the provincial flowers.

Helgard, one of our quilters, is also a potter and she's been talking about these Critter Cups that she makes, so I was happy that I found them. She inserts little creatures at the bottom of the mug that emerge as the cup is emptied. How fun is that? She gets lots of interesting special requests.

Betty, Jane, Linda, Anne and Roberta all submitted items for the show, mostly quilts but painting, circus art and hand made pincushions too. Unfortunately, I missed most everything but the quilts. 

This is Betty's gorgeous Farmer's Wife. She had a fellow very interested in buying it but she couldn't part with it.

Roberta brought four or five quilts, if memory serves me correctly. This one is Eventide and I believe that it was a Miss Rosey pattern. You can see that every item had a tent card with at bit of info about the item and whether or not it was for sale (it didn't have to be) and it turns out that several artisans sold items, so they were happy about that. Roberta sold one of hers too.

I submitted Diamond Dust (on the right hand side in the second pew with the mauve floral border) and Little Trees. I don't know who submitted the one to the left of it with the deep blue background, but I love it - it looks like cross stitch from a distance. If I'm not mistaken, the one at the front of this image is a Lori Holt pattern.

After admiring all of that creativity our guests were invited downstairs to enjoy afternoon tea and it too was a great success.

I mean, really, who doesn't love to sit in to a plate of fancy sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and delicate sweets? It was the perfect excuse for all of the gals to dust off their China for the day. A quartet played in the background as the hall filled with chatter.

Early Saturday morning I snapped this photo before the lights came up and the aprons were donned. It didn't take long for the place to fill with the sound of friends sharing a spot of tea. Hats off the Jean who is another one of our quilters. It was her idea to host the event and she did a marvelous job of pulling it off....M