I really like this quilt top, but then I like all of the quilt tops I have made with these neutral color batiks. This one is 55.5" x 72".  The next one which will use the rest of the blocks will be larger. Here are 3 of the others made with most of the same fabrics and a few different in each quilt.  Unfortunately the lighting on the one on the right is bad and I sold it so I can't take another photo. I mowed grass for a half hour and then went to the garden center and got some plants so I didn't get anything else cut to sew last night.  I just continued with the ..read more

I sorted the 174 blocks into matching blocks and couldn't find 63 different ones so there are a few duplicates in this layout.  After I took this photo I sewed the top together but didn't finish until almost 11 p.m. last night so I'll get it pressed some time today and post it tomorrow. We were in the freeze warning area last night so I'm hoping the Redbud blossoms can withstand the cold.  It usually gets the coldest around 4 a.m.   ..read more

I made these neutral color 16 patch blocks in 2018 and there are 174 of them.  I had been trying to decide if I should make one almost king size quilt or 2 smaller quilts.  I did some figuring (for about an hour) last night and decided on one quilt 72" x 96" and another one 56" x 72".  There will be 3 blocks left over.  Now I can start playing with layouts.  I think I'll start with the smaller one because it will fit on my design wall on the mail level. This is a quilt top I made in early 2018 with a lot of the same fabrics.  I made at least one more quilt top ..read more

I like to keep busy with fabric whether I have a project or not.  I have 2 project boxes full of Marcia Derse scraps and I keep looking at them and they don't look inspiring in the mess in the box.  I decided to loosely sort the strips by several lengths and slip them into plastic bags.  The odd shaped pieces will go in another bag. Then if I decide to make blocks similar to this mock up, I will have an easier time selecting the strips.  Sorting is an easy job while watching TV. There were a lot of pieced sections left over from other projects and from previous pla ..read more

There are more little 1.5" batik squares to make more 9 patches but I decided to play a little with layouts.  Edge to edge isn't very spectacular.  Since the blocks will finish at 3", this would only be 12" x 18", about the size of a placemat. Spacing the blocks out with plain blocks between would stretch this to 18" x 24". With the blocks on point they measure about 4.25" across so this would be about 21.5" square.  After sewing 400 of the 4.5" 9 patches I'm not very anxious to sew a lot of these little blocks. I may sew a few more of them and then save t ..read more

I went through all of the piles of 1.5" squares and matched 5 dark/4 light for another batch of blocks.  In some there are 5 of the same fabric or 2 similar fabrics and others are 5 different fabrics that look good together.  The same is true of the groups of 4. We had storm warnings last night which turned into nothing in my area so I sewed blocks.  This is 23 blocks, 8 of which were made the day before yesterday.  I haven't turned on the iron yet to press them. The Redbud trees are pinking up quickly with all of the 70's and 80's the last few days.  Now w ..read more

Brown Bear Paw is finished.  I made the decision to use the border fabric for the binding and it is all finished by machine.  It is 68" x 82". This will be a raffle quilt to raise money for Prader-Willi syndrome  which my youngest granddaughter's first child was born with.  It is very rare and most of us had never heard of it.  She is organizing a fund raising walk in mid-May and is including several raffles. Here is the spectacular back.  Having a stash is so wonderful.  I had all 3 of these fabrics, no shopping required. Cable crashed last ni ..read more

I didn't have anything lined up to sew last night so I sorted 1.5" batik squares instead.  I sorted into colors and into light value.  Then I went through the light squares and pulled all of the ones that had at least 4 alike or 4 similar.  I have over 30 light groups ready now to pair with 5 darker squares for 3" finished 9 patches.  This will be TV night sewing. I was going through a closet to find my father-in-law's slides to give to my son.  In there was a box of nostalgia.  In the 1940s and early 50s we got award certificates for certain things.  I h ..read more

It made sense to go with 16 blocks instead of 15 to use up as many of the die cut pieces as possible.  It ended up at 39.5" square.  Square quilts are nice floor mats for little ones or this could be a wall hanging for someone who likes graphic designs on the wall.  Meanwhile the best part is that I emptied the box that held these pieces in an area that I am reorganizing.   Last October I bought a sad looking Flare Hydrangea on sale for $8.50.  I planted it right away and hoped for the best.  It has new growth on it so I guess it had a good root system. T ..read more

Yesterday afternoon I trimmed the next quilt to finish. Here is a peek at the back.  I had quite a bit of the border fabric left to use for a backing but not quite enough.  I had 2 other prints that looked good with it.  My longarm quilter pieced this backing for me because I didn't have it ready for her when she dropped of my Charley quilt. This close shot shows the center fabric better. I haven't decided on binding yet.  There is enough of the border fabric to use but I also have enough of the sashing fabric to use for binding.  Both look good so I j ..read more