winter blues

A little swap with Clare made these pretty "Blueberry Fool" blocks appear in my mailbox last week. Lots of lovely blue.

It has been a long winter. The snow is still around. (coldest, longest winter in 30 years in these necks of the wood). Feeling a bit of winter blues...

So I started playing, improv style.

Shaping a medallion.

Adding some letters - lyrics from an old song favorite by Anne Grete Preus:

lav sol (the sun is low)

høy himmel (the sky is high)

Adding the star.

The letters are 7" high. The full top is about 30" * 60":

I had a lot of fun, Clare. Practicing for my Lazy Gal Liberated Amish 2010 Get Together quilt.

Happy sharing, swapping, sewing and playing...

; )

pink peonies

I have blogged about this quilt earlier. And now it's finished - my Pink Peonies is up on my bedroom wall as my indoor summer garden. The first picture show how it is hung in the curtain slider solution with clips, real easy - no hanging sleeve.

I quilted this on machine in straight rows, 1.5" apart, with stitch length 4.5. It is 27" by 60" with a bleached, white cotton batting. Very happy with how it turned out.

Hope you all have some pretty flowers to look at, indoor or outdoor...

wonky owls

I finished quilting and binding my Wonky Owls.

I tried something new with the quilting. First, I went quite random with straight lines, and then I added lines along the block outline. I like this mixed result! In the end, I turned the quilt and made more random straight lines, to make sure there wasn't any big open areas left over.

This little quilt is about 30" x 32", machine quilted with cotton batting.

do you twitter?

I have had some fun making these improv wonly log cabin blocks. Love the bird fabric! And I used both solids and a linen/cotton blend. The blend is soft and a bit more tricky to sew, but I love the feel of it. Maybe you can tell, but I have to admit I love the turquise color! I also think the blocks ended up a bit brighter than I was aiming for...

I might put them together as a square, or a row - haven't decided yet.

Wish you all a nice weekend

; )

improv top

Good morning - sunshine ...

Come on ...

Hurry up!

Some know how to enjoy an indoor garden. And some can't wait to get outside to the real thing...

I have started making improv blocks. My first attempt is these simple box in a box squares. I wanted to make an indoor garden, and looked trough my scraps and stash for big flower prints and fussy cut them into rectangles of different shapes. Arranging them on my design wall quilt, I wasn't happy until I made them square. I centered them and lined them up i 9 inch blocks. The solid is a Kona Snow. This top is now 27" by 72" and will be a wallhanging: "Peonies".

The quilt is inspired by this beauty.

Next on my list is to try some improv wonky log cabins. But for now, I'll just enjoy some of the beautiful sunny Sunday ; )

Enjoy your weekend...

new fabric and a shy friend

I have been prewashing some fabric. Lots of pink and orange... Lovely colors. Thinking about a new quilt. I want to make some wonky log cabins in a project improv fashion. These big scale patterns would also look good in a strippy top. Maybe both?

And then we had a visitor in our hedge today. A bit quiet and shy, not really saying so much... The cats left him all alone. I guess they knew better than to mess with him.

Happy sewing, everyone...

project improv tops

Isn't this great? Jacquie has put together most of the project improv blocks into 17 tops and posted pictures on the flicr page. And I'm in with one block in this one! (The one kind of in the middle with the cat in center.)

It's so great to see the joint effort coming together. And I still can't understand how one person even with a bit of help, can pull it all off. Jacquie, you are amazing!!!!!!!!

If you take the time to look at the photo set you'll see lots of playful and colorful quilttops. I love both the orange/pink and the aqua/red colorways. So that's a though decision to make... Haven't really started on my own wonky improv blocks yet, and these pictures are a big inspiration....

Some clever quilters have already put together their project improv blocks..... Very pretty....