Quilt Portrait

     When I got up this morning it was cloudy; so I thought it would be a good time to take photos of my Missing Monkeys quilt.

     I did some piecing on the back of this one.

     Last night it was mt turn to host my sewing group. While they were over I cut apart the blocks for this quilt.

I started this quilt last winter, so, I better remind you what is happening here. I make a set of strips from one color family, a set of strips from another color family. I place them with right sides side together, so that one set of strips is running perpendicular to the other set. Then, I sew all around the outer edge.




     Here is a whole group of them pinned and ready to sew from a retreat I went on last spring.

     Once you sew around the outer edge, 2 diagonal cuts are made from corner to corner.

   
     This will yield 4 blocks. All that is needed is to press the center seam, and square up. You can set these in any log cabin/HST configuration.

     I hope I can get these on the design wall soon, but first I have some T shirts that need to be cut and stabilized.
   
     So that is what I am up to.  Hope you are having some fun. Thanks for stopping by!

Shopping

     I had a lovely time at the Mountain Laurel Quilter's Guild. They are such a hospitable group of ladies. And, boy do they ever have a lot going on!

     When I got home, I had a rug to get finished, a newsletter to get typed up, and after that....shopping!

    I needed to get a binding for the Ohio Star Quilt so I can get it made while that quilt is being quilted.

 

      I bought this because I am planning to make a gift for someone, and I thought it would be a good constant fabric to tie it together. It's a good thing I got some extra, since look how well it goes with this!

 

      I didn't even think of that until I got home.  And... I did splurge a little. The main mission was to get some stabilizer for the T shirt quilt I have to make. 

    That red was on sale. I am collecting reds and purples for a quilt, and some back and whites for another. No excuse for that other fabric.

     Last night Mary invited me over to sew, and I worked on getting the sleeve on this quilt. I am 3/4 done. I hand stitched the binding when I was getting ready to go to the Mountain Laurel Guild earlier in the week. So this quilt will be ready for it's portrait soon.

     Now I am in the process of putting another rug on the loom, and getting ready for my bee group to come over Tuesday. The person whose turn it is to host has to cook dinner, so I am planning....

     That is what I have been up to. Thanks for stopping by!

At Last!

     Finally, all of the blocks are finished, and I have it up on the design wall. I couldn't get the whole quilt in the photo, but I did the best I could. Sorry for the hot spots from the window. It has been a long time since there has been much sun coming in the window around here. It has been so soggy lately that I expect to mildew any minute.

    
     Just a reminder, this is the quilt that I am trying to recreate:

     Fortunately, I still had quite a few of the same fabrics, but I did have to add a few to replace those that I had run out of. The light in this picture is different since, this one was taken outside.

     One thing that slowed me done a bit: since my last post, I got a call from someone who wanted a T shirt quilt for a gift, and I had to make a couple of drawings, and look for fabric, etc. for her. I am reluctant to talk about it in much detail here since it is supposed to be a surprise for some one.  

     Since my last post I have sent supply lists to A Scarlet Thread in Mcdonough GA, for the 3 classes I will be teaching there this fall.

     I am also pulling together my quilts for a guild program that I will be doing for the Mountain Laurel Quilters' Guild in Clarkesville, GA next Tuesday.

     We had a ice cream social at our Community Garden last night. This was a neat idea we had done in previous years. The garden supplies vanilla ice cream, bowls, and spoons, and everyone brings their favorite ice cream topping. Fun! And it was great seeing the other gardeners. We are a small group at this point, but so much fun to be with. And, hallelujah! It didn't rain!

     I hope all is going well in your world. I plan to get those blocks sewn together before the day is over. Do you think I can do it? I hope so. Thanks for stopping by!



    

The Bottom of the Box Again

     All of my Ohio Star blocks now look like this:

     Only 2 more seams to go and most of the blocks will be finished. I will choose 20 blocks and add another set of points to them making them 12" blocks. Then I will be ready to put this baby up on the design wall.

     Yesterday, a friend of mine did some stash cleansing and game me 2 bags of fabric. What a treat! No matter how old that fabric is, it's new to me. What fun. Thanks Karen! Here are a few of my favorites:

   While I was there I fell in love with a couple of prints that I just had to buy.  These came from Harmony Art at honeybegood.com  

      I just wanted the ginkgo leaf print for my reds. I thought it was unusual that green was so prominent with the strong red background.
      I just couldn't resist the green print. I have wanted to make a green quilt for awhile now. I think this has been exacerbated by seeing all of the greens this spring. I have also looking for another print that I could fussy cut and build around like I did with my Missing Monkeys quilt.

 

      

     I was looking for something with more colors in it, but it might be fun to combine this idea with the green quilt idea. So, I am seriously considering fussy cutting these motifs. I tried some of my green print with it.

     

      Then, I added some batiks.

     
      I tried some blues with it to see if this is going to be my spring tree and sky quilt, but I don't think so. I think the greens in this focus fabric is not bright enough for that. It will be awhile before I start this; I think. I am a long way from deciding just which fabrics I want to put with this.

      I hope that you all have a safe and fun 4th of July holiday. We are expecting rain here, so I imagine I will spend the day sewing and weaving. Hopefully, I will be putting some of that Ohio Star quilt up on the design wall. The forecast is so bad that our City Council has already moved our fireworks celebration to the 6th. So, I told the guests I had invited to watch them, not to come until Saturday. 

     Thanks for stopping by!