I've been gone from the world of blogging and checking up on my favorite blogs. I'd like to say I was distracted, which it true, but it is mostly because I have been too lazy for blogging and busy doing otherwise. I even thought about discontinuing this, but I have met some lovely people through blogging and I like the idea of having a space to talk about pretty, creative things.
Speaking of pretty things, I finished up the front and the back of Catherine's Dresden Quilt. I ordered thread for the quilting but haven't managed to make an appointment at the long-arm studio or get to Jo-Ann's for the batting. Honestly, I would rather have a root canal than go to Jo-Ann's this close to Christmas. I'll toughen up and head over there sometime this week with a coupon and a devil may care attitude. (Last year at Christmas, I went to Jo-Ann's wearing inappropriately high heels. The floors were wet and I fell down and slid into a display of wrapping paper containers. It was like people bowling and I was left with a 7/10 split. I am slightly afraid there is a video of me floating around the Jo-Ann world. But, I digress….)
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| The final, pretty blocks. |
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| She really is the worst helper ever. |
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| Centers! |
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| All the blocks all put together. |
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| The pretty front |
I originally laid out the blocks in a 4 x 4 square. It looked busy but it also looked too small and I thought that I would have to make 4 more blocks to make it less square and a little longer. I just couldn't do it. I'm a little over Dresden's for the moment. And, as you can see above, I had a cat on the materials. The situation called for special action. I decided to stagger the rows instead of adding more blocks. I think this worked better because it was getting a little busy and now there is some nice negative space. I used the remaining fabrics to make up the back of the quilt. I'll share a picture when it is all bound.
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| November South Sound Modern Quilt Guild Block of the Month. |
This was a scrappy little endeavor. I have difficulty doing improve quilting - everything tends to look like a log cabin. This was probably my best effort so far and I have to thank the original creator of the block as well as the lovely guild member who wrote up the instructions.
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| My next project |
I've had this Christmas fabric for two years now and have not played with it. Since we are getting close to the holiday, I thought I would give it a try. Of course, this won't be done for quite awhile and I don't know how much fun it will be to play with in March but the point is I tried. I tried to make a quilt for Christmas. (Not very hard.)
I've started the cutting. I got the pattern off Pinterest and it consists of two blocks. One block is a 6.5 x 6.5 square of the patterned fabric, the second is a white block with 2.5 x 2.5 patterned square off-center. It will be a good way to display the pattern and should be relatively simple to put together. I like the idea of doing something complex, then a simple quilt to have a quick finish. And, yes, for me a quick finish is two months.
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| Awesome Guild Swap |
Finally, I would be remiss without sharing this. My Guild partner made all these items out of the fabric I gave to her. I didn't give her any instructions, just told her to do what she wanted because I was curious what she could come up with. As you can see, she did an amazing job and I am so incredibly happy. The embroidery hoop is a gadget holder. If you've seen my kitchen table, you will agree I could use this. It's up on the wall by my sewing machine and I love it. I also got two mug rugs and a little pincushion ring. It was all so awesome and I was very, very happy.
I have a couple of finishes to share and I will have to take some pictures of them. The Spinster quilt is bound and hung on the wall. I realized that I haven't shared the final picture so I will have to take one. And, I finished the pretty flower quilt I started a few months ago. All is well here and I can't wait to get caught up on my blog reading. Hope everyone is doing well.
