improv top

The improv top is coming together. I am thinking about calling it "There's always two sides..." Just because...

It was intended as a lap quilt, a gift for somebody who will be 40 next year. So there is 40 strips or candles lined up. Then I decided to add the solid squares. And at some point I figured out it was the new wall quilt for the dining room I had been wanting for a long time. All that pretty aqua and a bit of sunny yellow:

I am going to add some white both to the top and bottom to complete the design and make it a good length for the wall. The finished size will be 60" * 85". All the white will look nice quilted with straight lines, something like this.

There is still enough time to make the gift. I have a finished quilt top that might work. Or I could go back to one of the two patterns that was a mixed inspiration for this improv top. I like them both...

wip's and a new start

I am making progress on my Kaffe Fassett Diagonal Madness Quilt. The center is sewn together and the 9 patches are ready to be sewed into borders:

The Heather Ross hexagons are progressing steadily:

And over the weekend I have had a chance to play with a new quilt top:

These have been "maturing" in my stash for some time, now: a bit of Amy Butler, Ana Maria Horner and Heather Bailey. I have been looking for a pattern to showcase them, and considering at least three different options (two of them are patterns I have purcased).

Back and forth and all over again.

Do you sometimes think that your fabric is so pretty and precious that you hesitate cutting into it? I was feeling a bit paralyzed about these fabrics, and it was starting to annoy me a bit. Quilting is supposed to be fun, isn't it? I wanted to make something, and I decided to just do it. Design as you go.

I made a sketch of a design and choose fabrics ranging from dark to light within my palette. First I cut 6" strips across the with of fabric. Then I divided the fabrics in two groups. The big patterned was subcut into 4.5" + 1.5". The other fabrics were cut into 2.5" + 2.5" + 1.0".

I put the batting up on my wall and started playing.

Next step i "randomly" cut the bold pattern strings into shorter pieces, then organized the strips into 4 groups on the batting. Playing with design and contrast. Playing with asymmetry. It was fun and liberating.

After a bit of playing, I was happy with the layout. And had a lot of 2.5" strips left over... Well, thats a home made jelly roll to be used for my next design, right?

Next day I started sewing the strips. Going with my first layout. Making a few adjustments. It felt good to go with my instincts....

Here is a little peek:

Love the colors! Thinking about the next step of the design...

Have a good week, and dream some quilty dreams, too!

more hex love

Making some more of the 1" Heather Ross hexagons. Enjoying and playing with the fun prints.

Not sure how this will end up, yet...

And then some bigger hexagons: 2" this time. I used my charm pack of "1974" by Urban Chicks, and added some more from "Hello Betty" by Cloe's Closet. The 5" charms go well with these 2" paper foundations. Happy to find a good use for some of my charm packs!

Right now I am hand-quilting, using the narrow tape as guidelines for the stitches. This will be a small table-topper.

They are a bit addictive, these hexagons. I found a very good post with lots of resources an tips on how to do hexagons at The Sometimes Crafter's blog. It is well wort a visit!

Have fun sewing...

we're ready

Trick or treat ???

Well, lucky me - I got the treat!!!

Lisa from Upstatelisa had a 3ooth post giveaway. I have admired her wonky houses for a long time. Can you believe it? I won, and received this little beauty, today , on Halloween. How about that for a treat?

Wish you all luck tonight, and hope you all have some scary guest coming. I think we're ready...

hex love

Love Lightening bugs and other mysteries by Heather Ross ...

Love paper piecing ...

Love hexagons ...

Love orange ...
Love a little and portable project ...

Love the difference in texture; the poplin, the flannel and the cotton/ linen blend ...

But do i love EQ6 ?

No, no, no - it's a struggle for me!

I managed to make this layout - believe me finding the hexagon layout was not easy.

I did not manage to print the hexagons on paper to cut into templates, and to be honest, that is quite a frustration...

Anybody out there who would have succeded printing hexagon templates (more than one) from EQ6?

Maybe its me, maybe I'm hexed...

a start

This is a section of what is up on my "design wall" (batting) today.

Attending Kaffe Fassett's lecture Concentrate on Color, a month ago, I had the pleasure of both seeing and touching this very pretty Diagonal Madness Quilt:

I just fell in love right there...

When I received his book Country Garden Quilts, a week later, I stumbled across the design again. What can a girl do?

After digging through my stash, doing some additional fabric shopping, washing and cutting the fabric, I was ready to trow myself into the madness...

Love the craziness and colors. So far, so good....

Have a great weekend!

a finish

An old ufo (unfinished object) has been transformed into a little quilt: sweet pastel 36" * 45". It has wool batting (a first for me) and is hand-quilted. I have played around with several layouts of these blocks, but ended up with this checkerboard...

Lovely Kaffe Fassett prints and shot cottons.

One down, shrinking list of ufo's.

What's next?