Zigzag

Zigzags, and streak of lightening quilts are on my (very long) favorites list.  When I saw Sujata's http://therootconnection.blogspot.com/ zigzag, I just couldn't get it out of my mind - oh, the possibilities!  The plan for these blocks, that I just completed today, are to add a border and use it as a backing.  Vicki has been making pieced backs for some time, and, it is such a smart idea (2 for1!), that it was time to try my hand at it.  This pattern would work in any combination of fabrics, and there are many examples on other blogs.  Wouldn't it make a great Halloween quilt?  It just makes me want to start another!

Quick Post

Happy New Year to all of you! So far, it has been a good one for me. I have spent more time in the sewing room, and have my finished blocks to share. There is a narrow strip, one row, to be added to the left, and top side to finish the design. They are sewn, but don't fit on the design wall. I sewed these in four patchs, and still need to complete the top, of course. Now that it safe and secure on the design wall, I think I'll take a short break from it to start Lori's Doll Quilt Along!

Christmas Cheer!

Here are a few projects from Christmas' past.

The poinsettia felted wool pincushion was a gift from a sewing buddy.

This tree was my fabric rendition of a paper foldout made by my daughter, Amy in first grade. I traced around it onto the green fabric, and placed the decorations where she had. Her ornaments were of paper, and her garland was drawn on. I embroidered the garland, and used buttons and little fabric berries.

Poor Frosty hasn't found a home here for the past few years. I just get him out and look at him!

I've made a bit of progress on my Irish Chain, but not much!

Ta and Da

Next weekend Jan and I are having a sew-in at my house.  We've got plenty of firewood and good movies, but we were missing a design wall.  So, after a trip to Jo-Ann's for batting (50% off coupon - Woo Hoo) and the big-box store for insulation board, we now have two 4x8 walls hanging down my hall!  As my hubby says, 'Ta and Da!'  What a treat - hoping I'm motivated to finish some projects that have been languishing in boxes (like the two in the pic at right).

Jan and I took a trip to the quilter's yesterday for drop-off/pick-up.  We stopped at two great IL quilt shops - Quilt Merchant in Winfield and Prairie Stitches in Oswego.  Prairie Stitches is a featured shop in the current Quilt Sampler.  Their quilt is on the cover - what a beauty in person! 

Docia from Quilt Merchant graciously allowed the following pics to share on the blog:  

Halloween fun

New BOM

Geoff's Mom Pattern Co - The Storyteller

Jan and I both loved this doll quilt - looks old, but is new

Never say never!  Over lunch I mentioned to Jan that I don't buy fabric for a particular project - always adding to stash.  Within an hour, I added a new project and purchased 4 yds of the following Jo Morton fabric for background.  Stay tuned!

Progress Report/Birthday Blocks for Bev

Well, as expected, I just couldn't strip piece these light blues for the irish chain. It may not take much longer to piece as individual squares, and will probably follow the piecing plan from the Atkinson pattern. This is just a preview to see if I liked how it was looking, and you can see the odd choice for the chain. The colors here are quite accurate, so don't blame your computer! It is a browney-green, and I quite like the unexpected look of it, and am ready to start sewing!

These are birthday blocks for our quilting buddy Bev. You may remember that we piece blocks for each other when a birthday ends in zero. This will be the last time that we make blocks since we all have received them - with ages ranging from 40 to 60! This time Pat chose this block for Bev, and asked that we use three fabrics per block, including a lightish background. We all like reproduction fabrics, and Bev is partial to florals so they were added into the mix.

Indianapolis Amish/Design Wall

Only two quilts to share today, but lots of detail shots because these photos came out so well. You can really see the luschious, deep saturated color.

An Amish star quilt...

Oh, I loved this one!

I had a notion to make a new quilt for my back porch. Most of the 3 inch 9 patchs were already made, so this is going fairly quickly. The sashing will probably be a gray - a secondary mourning type. Initially the plan was for black, but the blocks keep telling me "no!".

Some of the blues began life as bricks for the Texas Braid quilt. The leftovers from that will be around for years!

I'm not sure if I'll use half blocks around the edges, or introduce another fabric for triangles to finish the design. If it ends up being half blocks, I may just make full blocks and chop them off. This is supposed to be easy-breezey, so we'll see if I have the nerve to do it!

Finally...

There hasn't been much sewing time since returning from our fabulous trip. Sometimes quilting/sewing takes a back seat to reading, especially when it's on the back porch. My sewing room is upstairs and there's no AC up there. I really should be spending more time there because it's just going to get hotter!

I've managed a little progress on Bonnie Hunter's String Spiderweb pattern. The upper left shows sections sewn into two "blocks". The shrinkage is generally amazing to me. The "star" has become more prominent, and I'm not thrilled with that. Maybe it's just the surprise of seeing it draw up.

This is going to have to be a full size quilt for maximum impact, don't you think? It really was in the plan all along, but I really would like to make some smaller quilts; it just doesn't seem to happen!

What's a Girl to Do?

When Bonnie Hunter comes to your guild, you sign up and take both classes that are offered, right? I wasn't UFO shopping, but just couldn't resist. Bonnie came to the guild, and was a really fun, and interesting speaker. Her quilts are so beautiful in person. Photos just don't do them justice. She brought 100 lbs. of quilts to show! After the meeting, she taught her String Spiderweb. You can see my meager start in the photo. We had to shorten the class length due to a very scary incident at the meeting. Bonnie wrote about it on her blog. Our class, therefore, ended up being just a couple of hours. I know, I know, I could have finished more than this in two hours time, but I'm pokey.
The next day was a full day class for the Pioneer Braid. This was really fun to do, too. I was a bit afraid of it at first because it seemed as if it would be hard to keep square, but there is no problem at all. I find that the unusual pieces of fabric in my collection look great in this. You know, the multi-colored fabrics, or kinda strange? If you find that you have an abundance of "who snuck this into my stash" fabrics, then you may consider this pattern. I think it's going to turn out dandy. I auditioned different colors for the square. Bonnie recommends red solid. Well, I tried poison green, black, brick red, and they just didn't work. I ended up with this red with a strong black polka dot. Sometimes nothing works but red. It just does things that no other color can quite do.

Recently, I bought this from Fat Quarter Quilt Shop. It was my first order with them, and I was very pleased with the way they do business. Really fast shipping, and nice packaging. Highly recommended! I just love this pattern, and will be shopping the stash soon to start this one!

Border Disputes

Year before last the local quilt store, Needle and Thread, sold six inch pink and brown sampler blocks - one each week. I signed up because I'd always wanted to make a pink and brown quilt. Well, by the end of the year, I'd had my fill of pink and brown. Recently, I thought I would play with them on the design wall, and this is the result. This was the layout that I'd had in mind all along. It didn't use all of the blocks, but there are just a few leftovers. The question now is, do I put a narrow brown border on (of which, you can see a short strip of), and call it finished? I tend to think that is all that it needs, but I'm not certain.

Which brings me to this little top, from Lori's Cheddar Cheese and Crackers pattern. I see that nobody else put a border on their version. Now, generally, I really don't think quilts need borders. Lots of old quilts just went out to the edge, and that was that, which I like. But, on this one, I'm thinking of a very narrow border, probably brown (my go-to color), and then another of cheddar. It would have to be a different cheddar, because this was all used up except for some crumbs. Decisions, decisions!

Btw, just ignore the little bits underneath - the design wall is quite crowded with projects. But, that's a good thing!

Making a Little Progress

The pieces and parts for my Jewel Box top are all sewn and squared up. I think most quilters love containers of various types. I am sure that you are all envious of these lettuce boxes that hold my four patchs and hst. They can be recycled later, but they proved to be the right size for these. There are also box lids full of strips for a log cabin in my sewing room. Pretty fancy stuff. This week has been quite busy, but I did manage to make a few blocks. There is not much on the schedule tomorrow, and the beautiful, but short, Indian summer we have had the last couple of days will be turning to rain, so it should be a good sewing day. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this will grow...

Colorado

You saw the start of this quilt last week. I'm about half done with the Colorado blocks. They piece up quickly - 8 hst and 4 flying geese. I'm using a quick piece method for both units. The hst method yields 8 units from one set of 5" squares - lots less cutting, too. I chain piece 5 blocks at a time. I'm sewing the alternate constant block to the right side of the pieced block as I go.

I'm planning on a pieced rick-rack border to transition from the pieced center to the outer border. I had enough of the alternate fabric to do a 4 patch checkerboard, but now that I've changed to the rick-rack border, I'll have to pick another fabric from stash. The blue strip is auditioning for the rick-rack band. The brown strip is a definite for the rick-rack/outer border.

I think I like this rick-rack combo better. If I'm going to all the trouble of sewing hundreds of qst, I want the border to stand out.

It's not a good idea to research border options in antique quilt books - I've added at least two quilts to the 'list'!

Project Du Jour

I just love this block - Colorado. It's simple, but packs alot of personality - perky! I started these last Fall, but hadn't looked at them in awhile. The background is an old Lowell Collection. The block finishes at 6". This project has moved to the top because I found a great fabric (below) for the common alternate block. I picked this fabric up as 'stash addition', but I love it with these pieced blocks. So, this is my Project Du Jour.

Introduction

This being the first post of a tandem blog, I will introduce myself. I'm Jan, and I am a lover of antique quilts, and a maker of antique quilt reproductions. We are both blogging novices, and Vicki is tutoring me on posting. Bear with me as I find my way. These are pieces from my design wall:

This is a leftover from a Beaver Island Retreat with Gwen Martson. The theme that year was "Applique". My project was a four-block Eagle quilt that was started in a previous retreat. This was the center cutout from that piece. It is on my design wall to try to decide how to quilt it. Stop back in the future to see the Eagle top. It still needs a sawtooth border, so don't hold your breath!

Here are a couple more recent projects. The first is based on a quilt I saw years ago at Quilts Plus in Indianapolis. The name is Jewel Box, and this is just my sample blocks. It finishes to 4 inches.

This is my Double 4 Patch, in progress. This will probably be a crib size quilt. I am always saying that I just want to make crib and doll quilts, but somehow they mostly end up large.