Showing off

Following requests to show the whole quilt I have a mini show for you.  Here is a quilt I have partially shown in a previous blog.  I first saw it in a class with Kim McLean.

I have also been asked to show the spiderweb quilt.  Even though it is not quilted, here it is with the edges pinned, so that you can see the backing.

I have included another quilt finished in 2009.  Since this blog is intended primarily as a quilt diary, I would like to document all my quilts eventually.  We are going to Adelaide this weekend, and I am giving our hosts a quilt, both as a thankyou and as a house warming.  So this quilt is leaving home.

Finally, I have been working on a small cot quilt for a friend who is expecting her first child in November.  Since I have a bundle of fat quarters from "Sweet" by Urban Chicks for Moda, I thought  might use them.  No one knows the gender of the baby so I am hoping the quilt is not gender specific.

See you when I get back from Adelaide.

In the Hoop

At last! I decided not to blog until I had the spiderweb quilt basted and ready to quilt.

Now I have two quilts demanding quilting attention.  Nevertheless, it feels good to have this top finished.  I wouldn't have been able to do it without the help of my friend, Janet, who gave me two "Regency Dandy" fabrics I didn't have.  Thank you Janet.

One of the things I enjoy most about finishing a quilt top is putting the fabrics I have used back in general circulation.  Until the top is complete, the fabric stays in quarantine so that I don't accidentally use a piece that I later need.

Thirties fabrics are not my favourites and if you asked me a few years ago, I would have shown no interest in them.  Well, I have learned "never say never".  With few exceptions, the actual patterns still don't speak to me, but the colours of the thirties fabrics work together in a scrap quilt to create a happy, bright effect.  I'll be using more of them, which is a good thing since I have quite a few unused 1.5" strips left over.

2 steps forward, 1 step back

This post is dedicated to Chris who happily gives good advice.

Here is a project I am currently working on.  in other words, I started it in 2010.

It is from  the book  "Material Obsession 2", which if you haven't seen it is worth a close look if not a purchase.  I find it inspirational.  Instead of funky, I chose to work with 30s fabric and a range called Regency Dandy.  I was merrily tootling along but aware that something wasn't quite right.  Yesterday it hit me.  It is a quilt of medium to light value and the large dark stars  and corner pieces had to go.  Easier said than done, especially as this is foundation pieced.

At this point, my blocks would have progressed from the work table to the cupboard and become next year's UFO (WIP if you like euphemisms).  However, I stuck to it, in spite of spending 2 hours looking for a piece of fabric that had inadvertently fallen into a drawer (does that sound familiar? or is it only me?).

 After a weekend of snatched sewing, I am back to where I started,  plus one block.

It is intended to be 9 blocks (the MO2 quilt is 16) and that will do me.  And because I am starting to like big stitches, I will use Perle 8 again for this quilt.  Black? or have I just not learned my lesson.  Should I be going with a medium or light?