New projects

I've been busy cutting pieces for two new quilts,so I don't have much to show for it yet. I usually cut on the kitchen counter, since it's a perfect height for me and I can walk around three sides for easy cutting. But I used my extra table by my machine to cut the other day and Conrad was living dangerously! It is handy to have an extra table for the inspector!

 Luckily he doesn't get up on the kitchen counter much, though Smokey does like to watch me cut occasionally. I have started sewing one of them together. It's a very scrappy tessellation type quilt, so I'm excited to get it finished. I am going to use the other new design for a mystery quilt, so I will start it after I'm finished with this one.

 I bought myself a present during Cut Up and Quilt's 12 Days of Christmas sales...it's the Gypsy Sit Upon...which is supposed to help with back issues when sewing. I have a pretty good system at home, so not sure I need it there, but thought it would be good for sewing elsewhere. It's kind of like sitting on one of those large exercise balls, there's a balance issue. I will be sewing away from home today, so I'm taking it with so I can test it out.

 Maybe he's guarding the quilt????

After Christmas....

 It's been a busy few days since Christmas. I went shopping the day after Christmas with my mom and sisters. I didn't buy much, mainly went for the chit chat and lunch! They found the bargains they were looking for, so it was successful. 

 I had finished the quilting on the two smaller quilts on Tuesday, so I took them along to bind on Friday when I went to sew with the Tuesday ladies (they switched days last week!) 

I had some concerns about the white border, so auditioned a few bindings with it so I could decide if I should keep it or not. I liked this tye-dyed fabric for the binding, so it stayed! 

 The black and white is the backing fabric I used for the blended colorplay quilt...

 and this deep blue print is what I used on Rock Candy. I decided on the background green for the binding on it.

I'm glad I went with the multicolored binding, it seems to bring out the colors in the quilt as well as giving it a finished look.

 After I finished these I cut out a new mystery quilt that I want to start work on soon. I have been working on the cutting of a new tessellation quilt as well this week, and started sewing it together yesterday. I love tessellation quilts and this one is shaping up to be pretty interesting. I'm using lots of bright colors, so I dug through the stash for some of the fabric, but had to buy some new as well. I really enjoy these days off that I can sew all day! Are you getting any sewing done in the aftermath of Christmas?

Merry Christmas!

Have a wonderful Christmas and enjoy the holiday season!

Blended colorplay

I finished sewing the blended colorplay squares together Sunday and decided that I wanted this one to have a border. I liked the way it looked framed by my design wall, so I opted for a white border. I thought that might keep the clean image of the colors. Now that it's on, I'm not sure I like it. 

 Maybe it's too wide, maybe it's just too white! I don't know. But I decided to quilt it and figure it out afterwards. I can always cut it down or cut it off. Maybe an inch would look better...

 It seems quicker in the long run to sew two smaller quilts together and quilt them at the same time. So I sewed this one and the Rock Candy together, with a strip of fabric in between. I also sewed the two backing fabrics together...just forgot to take a picture.I had to add a piece to lengthen Rock Candy a bit since it wasn't quite as wide as the other quilt.

 I'm using a meandering quilting pattern on both. I got a few passes quilted yesterday and hope to get them finished today.

 My daughters are coming over tonight to spend Christmas Eve and we will go to my family's celebration tomorrow. Have a wonderful Christmas Eve!

Anybody for a little Rock Candy?

 I finished my Christmas shopping on Saturday, so I spent Sunday sewing. I had cut a bunch of 3 1/2" diamonds during my demo on the Sidekick Ruler a few weeks ago, so I played with them for awhile. I had used some fabrics from my stash, and wanted to try a different pattern of color.

 Once I figured out how I wanted to place the colors, it went quickly!

I decided to make this one square, so I had to figure out what size to cut the triangles to make it work.

 I added a border to the remaining 2 sides to make it square. Now I have a model of 3 of the 4 sizes you can make Rock Candy using the Sidekick Ruler. I'm not sure I will make one using the 1 1/2" size. It's tempting, but I want to move on to new projects so I'm not sure if I will.

 I also finished sewing the colorplay quilt together.I want to put a border on it, and don't have anything that will work, so I may have to go shopping later. Oh darn!

Random Sampler pix

I haven't been sewing this week, about the only quilty thing I've done is teach Tuesday night's Sampler class. I haven't downloaded the pictures yet, bur here are some from last week's Sampler Pick night. These ladies are all making a different sampler, so it's fun to see what each one is making every week. 

 My sister and her husband went to my hometown last night where they will stay the rest of the time they are here. I will get to see them again as we have a lot of family activities while they are here. We are planning a sewing day for one...which I always love as my sisters that don't really sew get into the spirit!

Today is my last day at school before our winter break....I am looking forward to some sewing and relaxing time, though I do have some shopping to do as well!

Busy week...and visitors...

My sister and her husband arrived Tuesday night so let the Christmas festivities begin! They spent yesterday shopping with my daughter and we had a great evening last night catching up. They will be heading to my folk's house tonight and I will have see them again throughout their stay, but it's nice to have them all to myself for a couple of days.

I spent some time the other day putting the three sections of the colorplay quilt together on the design wall. I think I am ready to sew it together. I have 2 days of school left and then 2 weeks of winter break. I'm looking forward to some time to celebrate the holidays with family and sew!

More squares

 I spent some time playing with squares the other day. I paired up 2 opposites on the colorwheel and then put them together starting at opposite ends with the darkest and working my way across to light. So the darkest blues are in line with the lightest oranges, and the darkest oranges are in line with the lightest blues. I like the effect, but can see that though my blues fade very well, I don't have very many light oranges.

 I did the same thing with red and green...

and purple and yellow. Some of my darker yellows were goldish and some verge on orangey. I did some rearranging after these pictures, found a few more lights and like them better.

 I decided that if I wanted them in one quilt, they needed to be narrower and longer, so I rearranged them in 12 rows of 6 (they were 10 rows of 7 before).

 Now to get them sewn together!

Baby Owen's Quilt

My daughter and I went to my hometown Friday night, so it was the perfect chance to give my great nephew Owen his new quilt. He seemed to enjoy it!

 So did his brother, Emerson. We were celebrating his birthday as well as my mom's. I forgot to take a picture of her with so many photogenic boys around, but she had fun too.

 Emerson loves music, and loved his new mini piano!

 Yea, he's really photogenic and full of energy...one of the pics I took of him was just a blur.

Owen is growing so much, hard to believe he is a month old already!

 I've been spending a lot of time cleaning and getting my house ready for my sister's visit. She arrives on Tuesday night. They will stay at my house for a couple of days, and then head to my folk's house for the rest of their stay here. I will be back and forth to Earling a few times during her stay so I will see her again...we are planning a sewing day so she can continue work on her quilt.

I'd better get busy and finish cleaning! Happy Sunday!

Starflower Cascade class

The Starflower Cascade class went well on Saturday. The color choices were awesome! I can't wait to see them finished.

I spent all day yesterday cleaning. I don't know about you, but I tend to clean the main floor more often, but the upstairs where the bedrooms are doesn't get it as much. I guess out of sight -out of mind. So I spent some time cleaning up there. I am not finished, but two rooms and the hallway look good! I will have to move some stuff out of the spare bedroom before my sister and husband come next week....things pile up in there, mostly quilts.

My sister and her husband live in British Columbia and will be here for about a month over the holidays. Most of that time they will stay with my parents but they always spend a few days here first.We always have  family get-togethers while she is here, but it's nice to have some time alone with them too.

I'm off to brave the cold windchills this morning...hope you can stay inside and stay warm today!

Colorwheel Stash quilt finished

I spent some time thinking about the binding for this little quilt and decided to use several different batik fabrics to blend with the colors on the quilt.

I haven't done any more with the smaller colorwash quilt yet...I have it hanging on my design wall and keep looking at it as I walk past. It still needs something but I have to determine what! I also need to do some heavy duty cleaning this weekend in preparation for my sister's visit in a few weeks.

I am teaching the Starflower Cascade quilt at Cut Up and Quilt today. It's always fun to go out there and see what new fabrics they have gotten in since I was last there!