One-third done!

I enjoyed quilting on the middle third of my Cornucopia of Thanks quilt last week.  Today I pin-basted the other two pieces and started on one of them.  After they are all together, I will add bright borders to the sides and then all around using the black dotted sashing fabric.

I love the way it's working out so far.  I am using Hobbs' 80-20 batting which I don't like as much as Quilter's Dream or Warm and Natural.  You have to quilt more closely - 3.5" as opposed to 10" - but that makes me be a little more creative in filling the spaces.  I mostly stitch in the ditch, but in a few places I used decorative thread and, in others, I stippled.

Quilting away

I have been quilting the first third of my Cornucopia of Thanks quilt all week.  It's really a sampler with 12" blocks and somewhat unusual 6" sashing which sets the quilt apart.  Here's one of the blocks with the sashing.  I have done the blocks but now I'm trying to figure out how to quilt the sashing.  I have been using a very light gray on the blocks, with accents of multicolored thread.  I think I'll use black on the black sashing parts.  It's a very busy quilt, but I am loving the way it's turning out.

Woven Strips

I signed up for the "strip club" at A Quilter's Garden, beginning in December.  Every month, for $10, we receive a batch of 2.5" strips from a particular line or type of fabric.  The January batch was super bright, and the February one had a bunch of solids and blenders.  Together with white, they made a very cute baby quilt!

I got the pattern from the Moda Bake Shop which has loads of ideas for fast, easy projects.  I quilted it on a diagonal grid and used scrap strips for the cheerful binding.  The back is a cozy flannel.

More Dutchwoman's Puzzle blocks

I just finished a little quilt and plan to put it on my etsy shop, but I wanted to show some of the blocks I've made for the Around the World swap I've joined.  All of the blocks are my Dutchwoman's Puzzle, but each uses fabric chosen by the owner of the block.  Here are blocks I've just sent to Cindy, Linda, Carol, and Pat.

It's fun to see how they turn out since I'm using the "fast flying geese" method.  Cindy's, bottom right, had me worried, but all of the pictures turned out just right using this method.  I am quickly getting better at flying geese in general, and maybe someday I'll even be confident!

Going around the world!

As I mentioned a few posts ago, this year I'm participating in an "Around the World" block swap, based on The Cross-Country Quilters by Jennifer Chiaverini.  Others' fat quarters have been pouring in, and I've arranged the envelopes in order of arrival.  I'll be making each person a Dutchman's Puzzle block with her fat quarter and two other fabrics from my stash.  Here is Debbie's:

 

I love her red floral fabric and, judging from photos of blocks made by others in the group, it will be a beautiful quilt.

Today I received a Patience Corners block made with my fabric from Pat.  I made a Dutchman's Puzzle block myself with the fabric, so here they are:

 

I love the way Pat fussy cut the butterflies.  It's going to be a lovely quilt!  I have enough of the multicolored wing fabric for sashing or borders.  I'll have to wait and see how the rest of the blocks look first.  And they aren't all due until August so it will be a while before this quilt is done.

My oldest UFO

I made this little (4 x 6" at most) landscape in a class with Jo Diggs many years ago.  And, while I thought about it a lot, I never knew what to do with it.  I got it out a few days ago and think I will finish it for Ami Simms' Alzheimer's Quilt Initiative.   The state quilt guild will be participating and having show and tell at its May meeting.  I plan to put a thin border around it (perhaps a dark blue) and then another, wider border, before handquilting it.  I should be able to finish in time!

Calico Co. Challenge 2013

This Cake Stand was actually my first finished UFO of the new year.  It's a hotpad made with my two guild challenge fabrics - the brown/blue check and the very pale yellow.  We could add two more fabrics, so I added muslin and that brighter yellow.  I am thinking of adding an appliqued flower since the yellows contrast fairly sharply.  It's not due until our February meeting, but I may not go, so I plan to take it to Saturday's meeting.  I'll be curious to see what the other folks make with theirs.

Purple Dresden Plate

Here's the first block of a long-term project for the year.  Blogger appears to have changed how we can upload photos so I had a Dickens of a time uploading this photo.  I had to post it first to Google+ because I just couldn't add it to my blog album. 

At any rate, I have four more blocks to applique and a bunch more blades to sew together.  It's not making my purple box get much smaller, but I am enjoying it nonetheless.  The blocks are 16" finished, and I plan to stagger them so that when I put them together without sashing, it looks a bit wholecloth.  We'll see how things develop!

Block lotto

I have been participating in a block lottery with an online group for several months.  Each of us makes up to four 12" blocks in the month's color scheme, and for every block we make, we get a chance to win.  Angela in Illinois has her young son draw the winner, and this time it was me!  I should be receiving blocks similar to this from far and near very soon.

All of the blocks in this block lotto are white, black and a bright color.  December's bright was blue, and I have plenty of blues to add.  Can't wait for the blocks to arrive!  Meanwhile, yesterday I made two white, black, and orange blocks for January's lotto. 

First/last quilt of the years

I read an article in Quilters Newsletter late last year (2012!) about a quilter who saved all her trial and orphan blocks and put them together into a memory quilt.  Despite all my efforts to the contrary (potholders, mostly), I had a box full of loose blocks and other things.  So I put them together as a memory quilt at the end of the year.  The center has that "L'il Twister" piece, and, amazingly, I had just enough scrappy log cabin blocks to border it.  There are actually blocks that I made a few years ago, including at least one from my Dear Jane phase.  I added scrappy borders to the blocks to get them all 12".  This was a fun memento to make! 

The back has blocks from a Friendship Block swap this past year.

I received these 15 blocks from the others in the group, which this year is working on an "Around the World" swap.  I'll be talking more about that swap as the year moves on.  At any rate, I quilted the center of "Memories, 2012" on a grid and then did the bigger blocks around the outside individually.  It ended up about 80" x 80" so was a lot to wiggle around in my machine.  Still, any practice I get machine quilting is all to the good.