Thursday, August 29, 2013

Summer Swap

You may have heard that Janet of Rogue Quilter and I swapped blocks this summer. It was an absolute pleasure and I can't wait to swap blocks with her again. During each of the summer months - June, July and August - we each made eight - 6 1/2" churn dash blocks. Each block had a twin. One we kept and the other was sent for the exchange. It was so much fun waiting to see what Janet had put together. Here is what I plan to do with my blocks-

I need to make at least one more block and will probably make six more for a 5 x 6 setting. The setting squares are not solid but this Judie Rothermel fabric - Pine Tree Lodge-

I took most these photos yesterday and it was raining or overcast all day long. Today, the sun keeps peaking out. I'd give the photography another try, but to tell you the truth the floor wasn't all that clean yesterday and I haven't gotten around to cleaning it! You try keeping floors clean with three dogs during a rainy stretch. ; c )

With the last swap we had a fabric repeat. What are the chances of that?!?!

Here are the goodies Janet sent along each month. Her home made soap smells divine! I'm so excited about getting one of her pineapple ornaments. Truly tiny! And I love my new pin cushion. I don't know how she got it stuffed so tightly and no evidence of where she stitched it up after filling it. It's already been put to use!

Here are some other treats that have come my way this month-

from Doniene of Now it's just quilts!

 from Meriyln of Quilt Minstrel

Thanks you all! - it is always fun to get quilty things in the mail!!!!

I have made some progress on Abigail's quilt (see my previous post) and hope to have it finished next week. I've also been making hexie flowers and thinking about the applique border I will have to tackle when I finish the hexie flowers. Believe it or not, I often make bed size quilts with no particular bed in mind. No surprise that they never exactly fit any bed in my house! This time I will check and recheck to make sure this hexie quilt fits our queen bed. Or maybe I'll make it fit the double bed that will be in the guest room in my dream farmhouse - see my problem? I still have plenty of stitching to do before I make the final decision.

I finally started stitching flowers together and can imagine the skill it will take to stitch multiples together. Yikes!

These amaryllis belladonna flowers pop up in our backyard every summer. 

This weekend is Labor Day here in the states. Our only plans are to go to crab night at our community pool. I'm already seeing signs of fall. I'm ready for cool breezes, softer hues of nature and the crunch of leaves beneath my feet. Love the change of seasons!

So long for now! Off to clean some floors!

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Little 9-patch for Abigail

I'm putting together a quilt for my great niece, Abigail, who is almost 6 months old. I was having fun putting together little 9-patches for my crabapple quilt so I decided to pair some up with hourglass blocks. I've seen quilts at shows and online with hourglass blocks framing an alternate block and was looking forward to doing the same some day so this was a perfect opportunity. I tend to like blocks on point but I like the straight set in this case since the hourglass blocks give the on point effect.

straight set

on point

A straight set is also easier to piece together. My blocks will finish at 3 inches. I'm aiming for a 36" x 51" quilt so I've got a good many more blocks to make.

My DH started working from home this week. This will take some getting used to!