Crazy beach ball block

A while back I made a scrappy crazy beach ball block.  I am not sure if this is it's official name, but that is what I have called it.  I saw this block numerous times in various places and books.  I wanted to see how difficult it would be to make it.  The scrappy part is easy, as I sew the scraps on a foundation and trim it to the desired shape.  The curves are a bit more tricky, but manageable.

These are the small scraps from my Aunt Alice's stash.  She used these novelty fabrics to make special photo album covers for the children in the family.  My daughter was fortunate to get one gifted to her.  The fabrics themselves are smaller pieces with not enough of one theme to make a whole quilt.  So, I thought to mix them all up together on the beach ball block.  It turns out to be somewhat of an I spy block, because you can see different animals or shapes in each of the strips.

I plan to use the light blue as the background, as there was a good sized chunk of it available.  In each block I want to use some red, to tie it all together.  I think it will turn out nice.  I think my aunt would be happy to know that her fabric is being used for a charity quilt.  She was always a giving person with a heart of gold.  We all miss her.

I was brought back to this block that I made when I read one of Bonnie's blogs.  She ended her blog with this quote (she gives permission to share her quote to whomever we wish).  I like the quote and the quilt that she pinned it to.  This is what the beach ball block will look like assembled into a quilt, just with different colours.

Just the other day I came across this picture too.  This one is newer with white fabric for the background.  Even though the fabrics are different, with a multitude of colours and styles, when put together, it seems to all go together to make up into a gorgeous quilt.  

I can't wait to get working on this quilt.  For now I sit tight and dream, as I work on my list of twelve that turned into eighteen...................wait.................wait...............I think I just found a loop hole, or an excuse if you will.......to work on this quilt now!!!  The quote goes.....Don't be pushed by you problems...."Be lead by your dreams"....  What do you think?  Does it work? Is it a good enough excuse?

I will have to think on it......but don't be surprised either way.  It usually doesn't take me much to come up with excuses and get distracted!  My daughter/my starting new quilts warden can attest to it ;) lol

Starting back up on the spools

Do you remember these spools?  They were my leader/ender while working on other projects.

I had over the coarse of time made these, on and off.  I finally got to a point that I thought I had enough.  My design wall was full.  I enjoyed making these.

I needed my design wall for something, so took them down until a time that I would have a chance to organize them and start the assembly.  Well, that time has come.

One day during my holidays last week, I took all the blocks down to the basement and laid them all out on the carpet.  The basement is the only space big enough for these types of tasks and puppy free.

Now I have the blocks all sorted, labeled and ready to sew.  I keep the organized blocks in a divided box to keep them in order while I sew.  This also helps if I need to put it aside for a bit, this way I will not loose my places.

Not shown here, on the wall, the first roll is almost complete.  This quilt is on my list of twelve and has been moved up to my main work, with the sixteen patch pinwheel quilt as the leader/ender.

Enjoy your at everyone!

Out shopping with some of my quilting bee buddy's

Last week Tuesday a few of us quilting bee ladies went on a car ride to visit a couple of quilt shops. It was my turn to organize the outing.  I was so nervous that the places I chose would not be what the ladies were expecting.  I knew of the one quilt shop, but the place we went for lunch and the second shop were a mystery to me too.

I think the outing turned out nice.  For the first place I took the ladies to Waterford, Ont., for a visit to Quilt Junction.  I've written about Quilt Junction in previous posts, as I go there once or twice per year. It's a small converted train station by the river.  Quaint little place with a lot of new and old collections. 

These three fabrics are what I got there.  Two of the fabrics are reproduction civil war fabrics and the last one is part of a newer line.  I also purchased the magazine below.  I don't often get this magazine as it is not readily available here and when it is, it is expensive.  I can't forget that I also picked up some embroidery floss for when I start the Crazy quilt block, which is not shown here.

On the way back home and after lunch, we stopped to visit the Feathering Quilt Shop, which is in Dundas, Ont.  This was a first visit there for all of us.  It was a small shop that used all the available space to the maximum.  There was a conference table set up with sewing machines for class work in the one corner. The cutting board and cash register in the centre of the shop and the rest was dedicated to material and displays.

These are the few pieces of fabric I purchased from the sale rack. They are part of the sock monkey collection.  They will make a cute baby boy quilt.

Overall the weather was nice, there was no traffic to speak of, we were all in good company and we had a nice time.  It was a pleasant break during my vacations, to get me out of doing my renovations.

February versus March (March/2016)

I thought I would do another design wall status.   This one is for February versus March.

If you will recall for the month of February I was more or less putting things together, quilting and binding, that I didn't really need to use my design wall.  My daughter was motivated to do some sewing and took up the design wall.  

Above is a portion of her Fair and Square quilt, a pattern from one of Bonnie Hunter's books.  Since, she finished all the blocks with the green centres and all the scrappy stripe blocks.  The top centre is completely assembled.  She has since put it away for now as she contemplates what she wants to do for the borders.

Now above we have the picture of my design wall as it stands for March.  My daughter was still very motivated to continue sewing, especially because she had some free time during the March break.  She started doing some more assembly on her Remember Me quilt.  She has completed quite a bit of this quilt.  She now has the bottom 2/3 of the quilt assembled and blocks sewn together.  She only has the top three rows to do.  It is looking fantastic.  For this quilt she chose to use warm colours that resemble the civil war era.  Some of the fabrics are civil war reproductions and some of them just have the feel.

At the bottom of the design wall, I have a few more pineapple blocks done, along the border.  You may have also noticed the Midnight flight runway quilt was removed from the design wall and per previous post it has already been quilted.  I am in the process of tacking the binding down by hand.

I am really itching to get back to my floret quilt, that I see at the top of the design wall, but that needs to wait until I have some other handwork done first.  The floret quilt is not one on my list of twelve, so it has to sit a bit longer.  I told myself that once I get a few more things done from my list of twelve, I will give myself permission to take a break and work on the florets.  Right now though there are just too many handwork projects to be done from the list, not to mention the binding from all the other quilts on the list as they get completed.

Until that time, I keep dreaming of my floret quilt and of many others I want to start.  Putting restrictions on what I can work on has defiantly been productive, but I am starting to feel held back from my creativity.  I will have to do some balancing, to get a bit of both in there.  To balance the must dos with the want to dos.

Pictures of the finished Midnight flight quilt

The Midnight flight quilt is done, washed and delivered to the recipients.

This quilt was fun to make.  The more I made of it the more I wanted to keep it for myself.  My daughter and I are both sad to see this one go, but I am sure my niece and her family will enjoy it.

This pattern is from one of Bonnie Hunter's books, called More Adventure with Leaders and Enders.  The only alteration that I made was the border.  Bonnie's border is, as usual very beautiful, but also labour intensive.  As I needed to get this one done soon, I opted for a more simple border.

Here are two close up pictures.  The one above shows the variety of neutrals and dark blues that I used.  The only constant is the light blue and green chain going across the quilt.  You can also see the backing fabric I used, which is tone on tone navy blue, and the binding, which is a batik mix of the same blue and green of the chain on the front of the quilt.

Happy Easter Monday everyone.

Pictures of my completed Log Cabin quilt

I finally had a chance to bring my large log cabin quilt to the laundry mat to wash it.  It's a large queen sized quilt, almost king sized.   I laid the blocks out in a barn raising setting.  I really like how this quilt turned out.  

This one is for me.  I don't have many of my own.  The log cabin quilt has got to be one of my favourites.  I like them in any layout.  I just love the variety of fabrics used in each block.  I enjoyed making this so much that I already started making another one, but this new one is only 3 1/2" blocks and each log is less than 1/2".

Not sure if anyone recalls that this is the quilt, that the top was finished a while ago, but I never got around to quilting it.  When I decided to actually quilt it, I came to the realization that I didn't like the borders on the quilt.  One simple thing was holding me back from finishing the quilt.  So, I removed the borders and replaced them with something that I like better.

Here is a close up of the centre squares showing the quilting.  The dark logs are quilted with 1/4" echo along the inner edge of each log.  The light side has a flower and leaf vine that continues along the light band.  Up close you can also see all the different varieties of fabric used.

This next picture is of the backing.  It shows a bit better the quilting designs.  The flower design is a stencil.  The flowers are imperfect, as they are freehand/free motion quilting.  I like the imperfections. I also like the simplicity if the vine design.  This was an easy one to do and I would use it again.

Here is the border quilting.  This was a stencil that resembles waves.  This too was an easy design to quilt and easy to merge together, no matter how big the border measures.

Today we are heading to my Mom's for Easter dinner.  I am going to give my niece and her family the Midnight flight quilt, so stay tuned for tomorrow's post for that quilt.

Pictures of the completed Jean quilt

I am completely done the Jean quilt!!!  That was fairly quick.  Other than a short delay, only because I was distracted with other things going on around here.  The binding is on and the quilt is looking good.  I think a teen or pre teen will like this quilt.

Here is a close-up of the quilting.  I used the red thread to match the sashing.  I went with simple lines this time.  I felt the jean material and the simple blocks called for it.

We have a picture of the backing for the quilt (Fabric donated by a previous quilting bee member).

I would like to thank everyone who contributed to this quilt.  The jeans came from my spouse, myself, some friends at work and my friend Carol's family.  The thread came from a person that used to professionally make drapes.  The batting also comes from my friend Carol.  The red sashing/binding is a purchase of 1 meter and the backing fabric comes from a previous quilting bee member Flo, who passed away.

This was an inexpensive quilt to make and something that was quick and easy. The fun part of it was that it used up stuff that people just had around the house.  I was able to use up things that others were decluttering instead of it going into the landfill.  The best part is that it will go to someone who really needs a hug.  Thank you everyone for your contributions.

**Progress on my top 12 list (which turned out to be 18 instead)**   

Work in progress:  

3. Quilting - Lise's hexagon quilt (family)..........basted and waiting for quilting

4. Quilting - Navy blue & cream quilt (my own)

5. Binding - Midnight flight runway quilt (charity)..........two side of the binding are done

7. Main work - Spools quilt (my own)..........this is my next main work

8. Main work - Mel's romance & roses quilt (family)
9. Leader/Ender - 16-patch pinwheel quilt (my own)..........waiting for some main work
10. Handwork - Reconstructed Dresden plate quilt (my own)...........moved to handwork section

11. Handwork - Lise's Dresden plate quilt (family)..........basting the last two blocks of five blocks

12. Handwork - Machine wall hanging (my own)

13. Paper piece - Pineapple quilt (my own)..........taking a short break

Total number of quilts completed - 8
Total number of quilts left to be completed - 10

Completed quilts:
1. Quilted Flo's hexagon quilt (commissioned) 

14. Sabryna's 16-patch pinwheel quilt (family)

16. Reversable crazy quilt & matching doll quilt (charity)

15. Log cabin quilt (my own)
18. Small wonders quilt (charity)
17. Scrappy stripes quilt (charity)

2. Michelle's midnight flight quilt (family). 

6. Jean material quilt (charity)