New Years Eve -- News Flash!!!

Eureka!!  Happy little dance! No...happy BIG dance!!! My 'missing' Roll Roll Cotton Boll has been found!  You have no idea how relieved I am.

All my readers in blogland and online groups all knew it was only a matter of time before it stopped playing 'hide and seek' and jumped out to where I could find it.  Tonight, after a concerted "Please Lord!!  I REALLY want to find that quilt.  YOU know where it is.  Can you please tell ME???"

I realized that there was one packing box I had not checked in our upstairs landing (on the same floor as my sewing room).  I was thrilled when the box on top was moved to reveal these sweet words:  "Sewing Room".  Heart beats a little faster.

Open the box...oh goodie!  oh goodie!  There it is!  Exactly how I remember leaving it.  What a wonderful gift to close out 2011.  Thank you my dear Lord who cares about the small things that concern us and make us fret.  You are SO good!

Here she is:

exactly as I remember putting you away.  What a HUGE sigh of relief.  I was so worried that somehow it had gotten given away to Value Village in one of our trips to get rid of stuff.

OK...now I can relax and let 2012 happen.  Party on people!

And I shall party on with Orca Bay Step 4 and onwards tonight.  Here's a photo of my Step 4 string triangles:

66 out of 128 done.  I'm only halfway??  Oh well...soldier on I shall and get these babies finished.  The colours in my photo taken by my blackberry make them look more brown but they are actually gold through to rusty red.  I'm very happy with how they play with my aquas and black/whites:

OK...back to my sewing room I go.  I just couldn't keep the good news to myself!

Happy little quilting dance!
Mavis

Orca Bay Progress Report & a Finish!

I'm stuck on step 5 of the Orca Bay mystery quilt on Quiltville's blog here.  Maybe I should recount my foundation papers because the pile doesn't seem to be getting any smaller.  I had a great sewing day with my friend Terry yesterday.  We ended at about 4:30 pm, just about the time our realtor called to say there was a showing request for the next morning (today!).

I looked around at 'quilting central' in my sewing room, and knew we had a lot of work to do to get the house ready to show.  So, long story short, my step 5 is still in progress.  I'm loving the colours of my rusty red triangle strings.

I have done nothing on Step 6 or 7 and am hoping to get caught up before the big New Years Day reveal!  Wish me luck...

But here's something I did manage to finish this week during my vacation days:

This is one of the quilt tops I finished at my November retreat.  And this was my first bigger quilt done on my B-Line frame with my Janome 6500.  Not a bad job but definitely still in the 'practice' category.  But the important thing is that my daughter LOVES the quilt.  It's got a minky type backing on it which was a challenge in itself but that's what my daughter wanted, so minky it was.  And batting too.  Yup...quilt top + batting + minky.  It's a heavy quilt that will be sure to keep her warm.

I better catch some sleep if I hope to get those triangles done tomorrow.  It's been a long day.

Until next time,
Mavis

There's a monkey in my house!

But it's all good because I created him!  I made a jelly roll races quilt and it looked kind of 'jungle like' and I really thought it needed a critter...a monkey in fact.

so, the monkey is now affixed to the quilt top.  Next step is to stitch him down (I did fusible applique) and then quilt it.  I am hoping to deliver this quilt to my grand-nephew on Boxing Day so I have a ways to go between now and then.  But it's so fun, don't you think?

Until next time,
Mavis

Orca Bay - Step 3 Done!!!

I'm elated!  I'm excited!  And I'm exhausted!  But all 350 half-square triangles in blacks and neutrals are done, de-papered, pressed and grouped in 10s.  I'm so excited.  I'm always one of the last ones to finish Bonnie Hunter mystery quilts.  But we're on step 3 and I'm all caught up and it's only Saturday.  I have almost a whole week until the next clue!  \o/   Yay!

But never fear...I have a ton of quilts to work on.  Check out my UFO page and you'll see what I mean.  I'm about to load up a quilt for my daughter onto my quilting frame and do some machine quilting.  I have a 'new to me' B-Line quilt frame, which together with my Janome 6500, is going to be a much more efficient way to get through some of these quilt tops.  I'm pretty excited.


Here is a picture of all my black & white blocks playing so nicely together:

and the Step 2 aqua string blocks, all done!

I'm LOVING these colours!  The only colours that haven't been used yet are the reds.  I can hardly wait to see where we go next with this mystery.

Time to clean up my sewing space a bit. And tuck these little beauties away safe and sound.  And I'm going to try again to find my Roll Roll Cotton Boll missing quilt.  It may be time to clean out a closet or two.  It may have been tucked away in my bedroom closet when staging the house for sale.  It's still bugging me that I haven't found it.  Come out, come out, wherever you are!!!

Until next time,

Mavis

Be Kind to Myself Day!!!

It's Friday morning.  There is a new clue online for the Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt, "Orca Bay".  I have the day off and got to sew some blocks on the same day as the clue was released.  This is a first for me since I'm a Mon to Fri 9-5 girl.

Every two weeks I have an appointment for an enzyme infusion which means I am hooked up to an IV for about 2 hours every second Friday.  In the interest in spreading the word about orphan diseases and funding for them outside the normal provincial medical plans, I am providing some links:
www.fabry.org
http://www.rarediseases.org/

Fabry Disease is one of the many orphan diseases that needs some air-time.  Our story of a quick diagnosis is as rare as the disease itself.  Help spread the word in the hopes of early diagnosis for those yet unaware that they have it or other orphan diseases.  More info is available on both of these websites.  But back to today...

Today is infusion day for me. I have to be there at 12:45.  This morning, I decided to do something kind to myself...something special...

There is a new bistro in our neighbourhood called Cherries Breakfast Bistro.  I decided to pop down there this morning and check it out.  Wow!  I looked at the menu and saw that they do an all day breakfast and chose the Florentine Eggs Benny.  Yummo!

 

It was every bit as good as it looks.  I shared some bites with my DH.  I would have bought him one too but he was supposed to be gone by the time I got home.  He's off to the mainland to play with his band at 2 gigs.  What does this mean?  SEWING time for me...guilt free!

So now, that breakfast is taken care of, I'm off to the sewing machine to get in some play time before my infusion.  Then, because of the Benadryl they give me, it will be a nap this afternoon and then probably some more sewing this evening.

Oh yes, and I will either take my kindle or some hand sewing to the infusion to help pass the time in the chair.  I'm reading this 

and it's a great read.   I also have some hand applique that I could take if I could get a kit together in short order.  But then again, I would really love to spend this morning sewing on step 3 rather than gathering a project together.

So, off I go now to do some sewing.  I'll post some pictures later tonight after some progress and that wonderful afternoon nap.

Until then,

Mavis

Orca Bay Mystery Quilt progress report

I am loving this mystery so far.  All of my 224 hourglass blocks are done and I'm just over half way through the itty bitty aqua string blocks. I think I'm up to 40 something.

Here's a sneak peak so far:

Aren't they the cutest?  The photo makes them look big but they are dainty 3.5" squares.  I haven't removed the paper backing yet.  That will be a future task during TV time.

And I'm taking the day off tomorrow.  I have an appointment in the afternoon but thought I would indulge myself with some sewing on Clue 3 in the morning.  I'm pretty excited about it.  So far I've used my black, my neutrals (for the hourglass blocks) and my aquas (for the strings).  That leaves the rusty reds who haven't yet had a chance to play.  Maybe their turn is tomorrow.  Morning will tell for sure.  :o)

In the meantime, I'm so cozy under my blankie with my dear doggy (we're both cold this evening) and I'm not sure I have the energy to finish my step 2 string blocks tonight.  I'm happy to camp out on the couch with the remote and some TV time.  X-factor is on tonight and we're down to the final 5 tonight.  That might be enough excitement for me tonight.

Until tomorrow when I check here for step 3... after drinking some of this:

 and then some more string blocks or just forging ahead with step 3.  I'll see how I feel in the morning.

Until then, happy sewing!
Mavis

Orca Bay - Step 1 progress

I can't resist it when Bonnie Hunter hosts a mystery quilt.  I've done a lot of mystery quilts and have been disappointed more than once...but NEVER with our dear Bonnie's mystery quilts at Quiltville.  I know I can trust her designs and her colour choices, so I leap in without reserve.

I had to delay my start by one week because as the first clue arrived on Friday Nov. 18th and other ladies (and quilting gents) raced out of the gate, I was busy cleaning my house for yet another open house.  Our house is for sale...still  But my enthusiasm did not wane.  Yesterday I started on the hourglass units in step 1 of the Orca Bay mystery.  I'm almost half done.  Here are some of my units.  I'm way past this point but this will show you my colour way:

I am using Triangulations 2.0 for these units and while I had a bit of a bad start with a page scaling printing error, we're cookin' with gas now and I've got a basket of the last half ready to sew together tonight to make up the total needed:  224!!

Then I'm on to the string units of step 2.  You can't see the fabric in my photo but my strings will be aqua.  Based on what I've seen from others' photos, I'm gonna love these little babies.  3.5" string blocks.  How cute!!  I am loving this mystery so far, but am not surprised in the least about that.

Bonnie is the absolute best mystery quilt designer and host.  Are we having fun yet??!!  Oh yes, we are!

Until next time,
Mavis

My First Quilt...

Bonnie Hunter is sharing her first quilt on her blog post here with some great stories and picture from her childhood.

My first sewing memories were from a home economics class.  I didn't exactly take to it like a fish to water but successfully finished the required projects.  My first machine was a Kenmore.  I must have liked sewing though because I made lots of my own clothes as a young woman.  And I made lots of PJs and clothes for my two kids as well.

I had a neighbour at our last house/neighbourhood who was a quilter.  She was offering some ladies in our neighbourhood free quilting lessons.  She provided the pattern so I just had to follow the shopping/supply list and tools and then show up.  This was my first experience with a rotary cutter and mat, with contrasting fabrics that weren't all matchy, matchy.  Plaids with polka dots...really?  Anyway, we had a couple of lessons with Lisa and then I managed to finish the quilt by myself.

And here is my first quilt:

Stitched in the ditch for quilting and a machine sewn binding which did not wrap around.  I actually entered it into the Saanich Fair for 'my first quilt category' and won second prize.  I was astonished!

Anyway, this quilt was made for my son, now 20,  and it's an almost twin size  I still have this quilt.

Until next time,
Mavis

Baby Quilt finished!!

Yay! I started this quilt last June at Quilting in the Trees, the Victoria Quilters' Guild annual summer retreat at Pearson College in Metchosin, BC. The class was taught by Arlene McKenzie and Kelly English and was entitled "Daystripper". I did two. Well...I actually did one, that's finished. The first one, complete with directional boo boos and a Plan B implementation is still in the UFO box.

But I digress. Here is my Baby Blue Daystripper now completed and ready to deliver to Baby Colton:

Me relaxing and finishing the binding

Ta da!!

The partially pieced back.  My family collectively thought it was just plain weird.

Closeup of the quilting.  This is the one where I had needle troubles and skipping stitches.  Solved with a Titanium needle.

Another closeup after machine washing and that lovely crinkled look

It's not perfect and I was really disappointed with the skipped stitches but finished is better than perfect and it is on its way to its forever home.  I hope Colton and his family like it.

The other boo boo daystipper is as I said still in the UFO box but now that I've got my new to me B-Line Quilting Frame almost set up, it too will be a finished quilt soon!

But tonight I'm pooped so it won't be finished before the weekend.  So much still to do to finish setting up the leaders on my new frame.  My DH has been so wonderful, even to the point of buying me some velcro strips to keep the bars secure on the table and some masking tape for the leaders.  The plan tonight was to head out to Fabricland to find some fabric for the leaders, but I'm just too pooped.  Last night was a bookkeeping night and I had busy brain and couldn't calm myself down to slumber mode until well past midnight.  That's way too late for a working woman.  So, tonight it will be rest.  Maybe there's a great TV program on.  It's stormy and wet outside.  There's no place I'd rather be than home, snuggled under a warm duvet + quilt.

Until next time, stay warm and keep quilting! 

Oh yes...and happy Thanksgiving to my American friends.

Mavis

Retreat report...

My satellite group, "Hearts and Hands Quilters" arrived back home on Monday afternoon.  The drive back from the Cowichan Valley was beautiful with extraordinary fall colours lining the highway home.  Soon snow will be here amongst us and a new landscape will be ready for our enjoyment.

I am going to experiment with a slideshow in my blog post because there were a ton of pictures and it would be easier that way.



Some of the highlights:
Nov 11 at 11:11 a.m. - Thread passed from person to person (we are all joined by a common thread) and we observed our minute of silence.  It was also Heather's birthday so we also enjoyed some Mimosas and cupcakes from Oo La La cupcakery in celebration of Heather's birthday.

Some of us went for walks throughout the weekend down to the lakefront.  The colours were amazing and the fresh air and exercise were welcome after our sit-and-sew times and all the feasting that happens during our retreat.  The Honeymoon Bay chef is beyond amazing.  Our three meals a day plus snacks and daily happy hour made for a b-line to my scale when I came home.  Oh dear.  Well fruit for the breakfast the next couple of days and back to portion control and daily routines.

I finished three quilt tops during the four days and the photos, while in the picture album above, are set out here as well just because I'm so darn proud of my accomplishments!

Carolina Christmas

First across the UFO finish line....Carolina Christmas!!!!  Yay!!!  It is a Bonnie Hunter mystery from about 2 years (?) ago I think.  I was going to quilt-as-you-go but I just wasn't happy with it.  So, my friend Pam and I reverse stitched the 6 or so blocks that had been quilted and I was way happier after that was done and I was on a clear path to my traditional piece then quilt existence.

Next was a quilt kit of layer cakes plus 2 borders that I received from my friend Terry for my birthday.  I did a slice and dice (take the 10" squares, slice off at 3 1/2", shuffle and re-piece, then slice at 5" the other way and then reshuffle.  It doesn't take long, evidenced by the fact that I did this one in one day:

Slice & Dice

And LASTLY....I took apart a mystery quilt that I did at the last Quilting in the Trees at Pearson College in June, 2011.  I love the pattern but didn't think it worked well with my fabrics at all.  It seemed to be a modern pattern but I was using traditional fabrics.  I should really show you the before:

And the new version:

(now this one makes me happy!)

Much better!  I made string blocks out of lemon yellow to surround the blocks.  I took the original kaleidoscope blocks and surrounded them with a darker yellow border with navy blue cornerstones.  I then repeated the navy blue inner border with a dark yellow flange and then the floral border that made up the kaleidoscope blocks.  I'm so happy with this quilt now.  I'm glad I persevered and reinvented.  Sometimes I think it's too easy to toss something in the garbage because it didn't turn out like we hoped.  I decided there was a quilt there somewhere and I'm glad I found it!

Enjoy the photos.  We will be back next November.  Until then, I need to continue the momentum of getting some UFOs done.  Now that I've got a quilt frame, I need to get it set up and start turning some of these flimsies into finished quilts.

Until next time, happy quilting!

Mavis

Retreat Time !!!

3 work days until my November quilting retreat with my "Hearts and Hands" Satellite Group.  After our lunch at The Dog House in Duncan, we are checking in at the Honeymoon Bay Retreat Centre in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island on Thursday, November 10th (http://www.honeymoonbayretreat.com/index.html)

and will return home on Monday.  That's 3 full days of sewing plus Thursday afternoon on our arrival and Monday morning before we head home.

Here are some pictures from last year:

By the time we arrive the place is decked out with Christmas decorations.  This is a gathering place where we play our quilt bingo, fellowship around the fire with hand sewing, or watch for bears out the back window.

It's a time to help friends with their quilting challenges...or simply stand back and admire their work.  Love the colours in Kelli's quilt pictured here  We have a wonderful room (former gymnasium) to work in with lots of bright lights, plenty of wall space for design walls, and easy access to washrooms, coffee and snacks.  Sounds perfect, wouldn't you agree?

Here's me sewing on last year's UFO project.  What I love about having a retreat in November is the chance to finish off quilts for Christmas gifts.  This one was finished in time to give to my pastor and his wife for Christmas 2010.  What a good feeling of accomplishment!

and here is the finished quilt:

This year's UFOs that will hopefully be completed:

Roll Roll Cotton Boll - Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt from last year.  All the blocks are finished, but I need to piece the top and then work on the pieced border.  BUT I have to find it first!  I think it might have found its way into a packing box in the garage when I was packing up my sewing room for staging the house for sale.  I know it's somewhere!  I have 3 days to find it.

And this...

This is a baby quilt for my grand-nephew Quinn.  I need to applique a monkey on it and then finish it off.  I'll be happy if I can get the applique done on the retreat.

and lastly, my Carolina Christmas (also a Bonnie Hunter Mystery UFO).  I am doing 'quilt as you go' on all of these quilt blocks with different Christmas fabrics on the back.  I have to finish cutting the wool batting for the squares.  It will be the bulkiest kit I take with me but I would really love to finish this quilt for our bed this Christmas.

These blocks will have plain cream sashing in between for the 'quilt as you go' joining technique.

And, here is a sample picture of the gourmet dinners (and lunches) we enjoy...

I think I'll have a fun-filled time, don't you??  I'll post pictures when I'm back.

Until then,
Mavis

Aha moment and a 'new to me' aquisition today

So, I figured out the source of my frustration yesterday with thread breaking and stitches skipping all over the place on a baby quilt I was free motion quilting on.

It was this:

Every time my thread broke, there was a gummy residue on the needle that I had to pull off.  It reminded me of the glue that's on the back of the Avery labels.  Maddening I say!  Steer clear of this stuff.  I don't remember anything similar happening with 505 spray.  Anyway, it's now in the garbage.  I should really take it back to Fabricland because it wasn't cheap and I only used it this once on a baby quilt. But I have no idea where the receipt is...so my loss.  Good riddance!

Here is a picture of some skipped stitches.  Feel my pain?  This was happening every 4 inches or so.  It gave me an Excedrin headache so I finally quit for the day.

On a good note though...


I won't EVER have to use basting spray again because there is a new piece of furniture in my sewing room...new to me that is.  I am the happy owner of the B-Line Original Quilt Frame (from www.tobequilting.com).  I love what the Internet has done for bargain hunters who can connect with those with bargains for sale. I connected with a quilter who lives very close to me who was selling her second quilt frame.  She bought one with a friend and then when that friend died, she willed her quilting stash and equipment to this lady.  She decided to sell one and I was the lucky recipient.

It's not put together yet but in the next few days I expect I'll be loading it up with a quilt top and moving one or two of my UFOs to the IFFI (I finally finished it) pile.  So excited to get started.  I will need some help from DH to get it set up.  In fact, he'll be doing the majority of the work and I'll be helping him.  I can hardly believe I have a quilt frame now.  I've been wanting a long arm for a very long time.  This will be a good way to ease into it.

Until then, I will have to struggle through the problem quilt because I can't wash the  spray out of the quilt until it's quilted.  I always wash them before giving them away because there are so many people with sensitivity to chemicals that I want to make sure they are as pure as can be before landing on a darling little baby.

On my horizon is the promise of more machine quilting.  I can hardly wait.

Until next time,
Mavis

Frustration!! Where is my happy place anyway??

I started machine quilting on a baby quilt for a special baby today.  I started stitching in the ditch on the blocks vertically and then the plan was to start free-motion quilting on the resulting columns (Janome 6500).  I used a thicker Aurifil thread (don't know the number) on the stitch in the ditch portion and no problemo.  Tried to free motion with the same thread, not happening.  Switched to some Connecting Threads thread in the same colour in the hope that the problem would be solved.  Skipped stitches everywhere and temptation for swear words on the rise.

Off to Fabricland to buy some Gutterman thread in the same colour to see if that solves the problem.  Some advil and red wine to deal with the anxiety.  Haven't stitched anymore yet.  But the headache is gone and I've actually laughed at least once in the last half hour.  Good sign.

My happy place was not so happy today.  Hoping for some victory later.  And I'm going to look at a B-Line frame tomorrow, second hand.  That would be nice as one of my pet peeves is the pin basting that still results in puckers on the back of the quilt.  I'm SO done with that!  I'm hoping that the frame will be suitable.  We'll see tomorrow!!  Pretty excited!

Until next time,
Mavis

My first experience as a pattern tester and Penelope Garcia...

I had a chance to test a pattern created by Deborah Cohen to be published by Arbee Designs.  Watch for this pattern folks!  It's adorable and was very fun to make.

Giraffe at Kilimanjaro

Pardon my toes in the picture.  I had trouble cropping this photo!

I haven't followed the pattern exactly.  I evened out the borders which were odd sizes and added the green piano key border because I wanted to make the quilt bigger...big enough to give away as a baby quilt without feeling cheap!

I have yet to sandwich and quilt it.  In fact, I'm VERY behind on sandwiching and quilting a lot of quilts so I think I should sign off and hit my studio for some sewing time before my birthday party tonight.

I also have to sew a zipper into my costume.  I love theme parties and decided that for this birthday we would do a theme "Penelope Garcia and Friends" - in costume of course.  I am going as Penelope.  For those who don't know, Penelope Garcia is one of the characters on Criminal Minds, the show about the FBI profilers.  Penelope is totally opposite to my personality (I'm more an Emily Prentice character in real life) but it's fun to have an alter ego for a night. This is her:

I'm excited to see what other costumes show up!  Pictures may show up here tomorrow.

Until next time!

Penelope...um...I mean Mavis

A new experience...

I've heard about people who see colours when they hear music.  I don't pretend to understand how that works.  I would think that it would be an amazing experience though.

But here's what happened to me last night.  I'd love to know if something similar has happened to you.  We were watching the end of a movie.  I was laying down with eyes closed (because I am fighting a cold).  The credits were rolling and the song playing was by Sting, called "Not the shape of my heart".  It's a hauntingly beautiful melody.  As I said, my eyes were closed and I was just listening to the song.  Suddenly as I heard the music and Sting moved from chorus to bridge and toward the end, I could see patterns!  It was like an art quilt with swirls and definitely some colours but the shapes were the important thing and it was fluid and moving and had 'grout' like stained glass windows dividing the different sections.  Oh how I wish I could put it into fabric! 

I told my husband about he and he got me a piece of paper and a pencil to see if I could draw what I could still see in my mind's eye.  As I tried to put the pencil to paper the image faded.  I would try drawing but it just wasn't what I saw in my mind's eye.

Oh well...I guess it was a gift to be enjoyed in that moment.  But I'm curious...has this ever happened to any of my fellow quilters?

Hole in One!!

I had the privilege of attending a class taught by Bettye Sheppard yesterday.  Her pattern was called Hole in One.  It's a four-patch posie style design, a sort of stack'n'whack style quilt but done in squares which is much easier.

Here's some photos of the pattern and my quilt under construction:

I love my fabric!

After ripping our fabric to find true grain we looked for repeats and sliced strips!

Sub cut into 3.5" squares (strip set is 4 deep identical)

Stacks of four squares ready for twirling into kaleidoscopes

Sample block

 

Making progress

All 48 blocks done.

What I noticed from the first block is that they remind me of Italian tiles.  I love it!

I will likely set my blocks 6 rows and 8 rows.  There is still the sashing to be added and the corner blocks.  I've not yet decided on my sashing fabrics.  The ones I initially chose may not do the quilt justice and I want it to really pop!

Not yet sure how I will finish this quilt.  Stay tuned for future posts!

It is a quick and easy quilt.  All the blocks were done in class between 10 am and 4 pm without breaking a sweat.  And there was plenty of gab time with the girls, and lunchtime when we sat and enjoyed some of Bettye's life stories.  If you ever get a chance to take one of Bettye's classes, do.  She's a great teacher!!

Until next time,
Mavis

Impromptu Quilt Show & Sale

Before summer leaves us and before our house is sold, I've always wanted to do a quilt show on our farm.  I've decided to do a small, impromptu Quilt Show & Sale this Saturday, Sept. 3, from 3 pm til 5 pm.   I hope to be able to upload some pictures but if you're in Victoria this weekend, why not drop around and say hi and view my quilts in a lovely garden setting.

Hope to see you there.

Mavis

Jelly Roll Toss quick quilt - tutorial

Ingredients:  1 jelly roll (I used a Moda jelly roll that had 3 repeats of each fabric in it).

First I divided the jelly roll into three piles with one of each fabric in each pile.

Next, about 4 at a time, I line up the 4 strips and cut off the selvage.

Now cut 5 2 1/2" squares from the end.

Straighten up the remainder of the strip set and do a random cut of the stack (vertical) into 2 remaining strips.  NOTE:  If you are a `matchy-matchy`quilter, the random cut of the stack may not appeal to you because when you get the strips in rows, not everything will line up.  If that`s important to you then you will want to measure out your staggered cuts by an amount divisible by 2 1/2".

When you have done this to the whole jelly roll, toss the 2 1/2" squares into a box, basket or bag to randomize them.  Stack the remaining sliced jelly rolls into two piles in the same order.

Sew the 2 1/2" squares into sets of 5 2 1/2" squares.  Press seams in one direction and set them aside.  When all of the 2 1/2" squares have been sewn into units of 5 per unit, take one 5 square unit and sew match them with a set of remaining strips with the remaining strips on either side of the 5 square units.   Here they are in a pile ready for pressing:

Now comes the layout.  Try to liberate your thinking and not force yourself to be matchy matchy and just enjoy the colour flow and balance.  Here`s what mine looks like almost done:

This quilt is too big for a baby quilt so I may just add some nice dark brown borders and call it a twin!  Or maybe a girl quilt for a girl`s toddler bed...you know, a big girl bed!  Anyway, I have started praying about who this one is for and it is yet unknown.  We`ll see!

Until next time,

Mavis

PS - Warning!  The jelly rolls must not be cut properly on the grain.  The quilt top bows.  When I tried to square it up it was off by about 4 inches (determined by folding it in half as you would fabric that has been washed and going with the natural grain).  I was most disappointed.  So, since it was too big for a baby quilt and not behaving, I chopped it into 2 to make 2 baby quilts.

A new quilt pattern is born

It is BC Day today so this means a long weekend.  The weather is glorious.  My DH was at a music festival with his band on the mainland so this meant some guilt-free quilting time for me!

Friday night I was playing in EQ7 and drew this pattern:

 I'm calling the pattern "Around the Block" and my version will be called "Coffee Shop Around the Block" because I am using coffee fabrics.

Here are some pictures of the quilt in 'cloth' which will become the sample to go to a store that will carry the pattern:

Focus fabric in the middle of the square framed! 

Now the strata units frame the first frame.  I don't like the corners though.  It doesn't work.  Idea!  Turquoise cornerstones!  Then some unsewing.  Yes, that's better.  I don't think I snapped a picture of the 'fixed' block but here's the rows all together.  Likin' it!

Now to construct the sashing:

And create the sashing rows before assembling the quilt:

Now to put the rows together and audition the border:

Much better than the first fabric which was just too busy.  Yes, I like the neutral.  It picks up the light fabrics in the strata units.

Now the finale:

I like it!  Now to quilt it, then create the instructions, drawings and staged photo before packaging it up for sale.


It was a fun experience to cram a quilt design and construction into the same weekend.

Until next time my quilty friends!
Mavis