A Change And A Rest

My machine is still not back from the shop (I think the technician was called away) so it has forced me to back away from the machine and focus more on hand stitching, which isn't a bad thing at all as it is so relaxing and flexible - you can pick it up anywhere. So I have. I've done up a new set of pinwheels with each blade a different colour and I really like them - a lovely, random riot of colour.






And, after some excellent art direction from a few friends I've decided to stick with my initial instinct and sew a band of these for the border square to the centre rather than on the point - it creates a little more interest instead of having all of the blocks on the point.





I've placed a few near the existing blocks - just remember that there will also still be a narrow green band incorporated into the border as well.










Lots more triangles paired up and ready to sew.

More Candied Hexagons

I've also put together another half dozen hexagons for Candied Hexagons. Several have fussy cut centres and I think that they came out really nicely. This one should go together quite quickly when all of the blocks are done - one of these days they will be laid out to see how they look together and figure out how many more I need to make - the current count is 66 blocks.




And I have this sneaking suspicion that my new Flying Geese ruler will get lots of use down the road - check out this beauty on Sherri's blog!...M

Just When You Think That You Know What You're Doing

I've been mulling around the next steps for my Spring Garden quilt to figure out how to finish it off and doing lots and lots of doodling to help me visualize potential options. I want to keep it light and airy and fun, especially since the backing is going to be such a light and fun print, so I've landed on doing pinwheels. It just seemed like the right block to compliment the three that I've got in the quilt so far.

So, I'll sew a narrow border in green, probably less than an inch wide, around what I've got so far, a wider white band, and then incorporate blue and white pinwheels in the prints that I showed you earlier, along with a few more to continue the scrappy theme. Then there will be another white band and I'll bind it with green again. Or so I thought.

I made up a few pinwheels to see how they translated from the sketch to the quilt itself and then started second guessing myself. Maybe instead of each pinwheel being the same colour I should toss it up a bit more and make each blade of the pinwheel a different colour so that the border is blue & white but less rigid?

This is what they'll look like against the quilt...and they will sit approximately this distance from the existing blocks, maybe a little further. What's not included here is the narrow green border that will go next to the centre blocks.

Or what about putting the blocks on point to reflect the blocks in the middle of the quilt? I quite like the look of it because you get more of a sense of the pinwheels spinning, but it will mean more work adding the set-in corners than just sewing a band of blocks square to the edge.

So, I'm further ahead but still have some thinking to do. Your thoughts?...M

Come Fly With Me

Patience is a virtue, or so they say, and one that I've spent a lot of time practicing since January. Just after Christmas my Flying Geese ruler arrived and I've been dying to try it out but I knew that if I did that off I'd go on a tangent that wouldn't do much for the current works in progress, so I sat on it (not literally!). Now that I've got a big project finished I decided that I deserved a treat and dusted it off to try.













On this - Fly Away Home. It's from the December 2008 edition of American Patchwork and Quilting and is the only time that I've ever sent away for a kit that I liked in a magazine. The deal maker was the fact that the fabric selection was from Fig Tree (did I mention that I LOVE her fabrics?).





So last week I prewashed all the fabrics that have been patiently waiting in my basket, along with a bundle of red & green fat quarters that I got for Christmas, and dug in.







I'm not really a gadget girl, I prefer the traditional quilting methods, but what I liked about this ruler was the fact that the thinking on the dimensions is all done for a variety of sizes of geese and there is no waste. There are lot of rulers out there but there always seemed to be lots of trimmings to get to the final block. Call me cheap but I liked the fact that everything that is cut is used. And the fact that you have 4 geese after each unit is sewn and cut is great. If you take a look at the instructions that are in the first photo you can see how they come together.

Here's the results after a couple of hours of playing...

When I bought the kit the fabric quantity was for a lap quilt and I want to make it larger, which is why I added the extra fat quarters, but I think I still need to source extra for the border. This is the first, and larger of two pieces that I have...

and this is the second. I really like this one but since these patterns have been out for a few years now I'm not sure how much luck I will have. And I don't know the name of them so my work is just beginning on that front. Anyway, lots of fun and I'm now considering making the border on my Spring Garden blue and white flying geese. More doodling to do before that decision is made though....M

Changing Gears

It looks innocent enough, doesn't it? Just a simple square within a square.









Well, about a year ago I was dying to try making this block - no big plans for it, just wanted to try it (almost sounds like how an addiction starts, doesn't it?). Well, one thing led to another and before you know it I was planning a quilt top around it. And now with Martha's Star finished it was the first thing that I picked up when I went back to the WIP chair to see what was next on my list.








I wanted a mix of blocks and lots of white to show off the cheery prints. 9-patches form the centre, they are bordered by 4-patch blocks in a lighter palette...

and then it's all contained by the square-in-a-square blocks. I think I'll call it Spring Garden. My quandary is in what to do next.

I have this airy alphabet print for the backing (another great sale - I never pay full price for my backings) and thought that a variety of green 2" blocks on the point with white spacers would work, picking up the green in the print, but it just looked like an argyle - too heavy and not what I wanted.




Now I'm thinking that I'd like to incorporate a picot edge with a number of blue prints to make it a little playful - the bottom polka dot print is an old sun dress - remember those Betty? Not sure if it will be right against this panel or with a bit of a white spacer. Or maybe as the outside edge. Still a little planning to do but that's part of the fun, isn't it? All suggestions welcome!



But it won't be sewn together in the next day or two because after the workout that my machine got recently I've sent it to the 'spa' for a tune up. I've noticed that the knob to drop my feed dogs is stuck too so maybe they can loosen that up. All of which means that it's back to hand sewing and a little cutting for the next few days, or maybe cleaning up my table - a nice change of pace...M