Stashmaster

Weekend challenge

I worked with my sister-in-law Jan at the quilt shop on Thursday and mentioned to her that I hoped to get 2 quilt backs ready this weekend to mail to our Idaho longarm quilter.  She said she had a quilt she wanted to send and asked if she could include it in the box with mine, so that gave us both a deadline.

I'd planned the entire weekend to work on them, but ended up not getting into my sewing room at all on Saturday.   I woke up Sunday morning to get an early start and immediately ran into a snag.   I discovered the leftover pieces of Chez Moi I was planning to connect for my Granny Squares quilt back were not going to be large enough - not by a long shot.  So what's a girl to do?  I hopped online and searched for an extra wide quilt back that would coordinate.  Good luck.  I ended up with something resembling Aunt Grace that looked vaguely like it would work with a granny square theme and hope it arrives quickly.

Next up was piecing the back of the Cinnamon Stars sampler.  I had two blocks that didn't make the cut for the front of the quilt, but weren't quite pretty enough for pillows and thought it would be fun to use on the back and pieced in the center is the label I made.  I decided to name this quilt Imaginary Friend, as the project was inspired by and I was spurred on to finish it by my no-longer-imaginary friend, Nicole.   Here's a little peek at the back.

I also had time to finish the 9-patches for my Drumbeat/Cupcake quilt from our Carrie Nelson class at the Buggy Barn this August, which Nicole is also working on in a different color combo.  I'm sticking with the blue/caramel combination from the kit for my hourglass blocks.  I'm a blue girl, what can I say?   I have 118 9-patches completed and all the cutting for the hourglass and border pieces is also finished.  Now some serious chain piecing will commence.  Here is the incredible mess on my sewing table.

I also worked on the hand-stitching binding of my orange version of Zuzu's Petals (Nicole suggested the name Kowabunga because of the wild surfboard fabric on the border and - DUDE! - it's perfect!).  I have just one side left and I hope to be able to finish one other quilt's binding before our guild retreat November 7-11.   Oh, did I mention - WE GOT IN!  I just got the email yesterday and I'm so excited!   Space is limited and the retreats are hugely popular, so we're always on pins and needles after we send our registrations until we get the official word.  Now to figure out a project and get the preparation work done - there's not much time!

I've also started a THIRD part-time job (yes, my sanity is in question at this point) and the scope of it seems much bigger than what I originally agreed to, so my sewing time is going to be severely limited until the end of this year at least.  I'll just have to make time because sewing is what makes me truly happy.

Sampler flimsy!

Getting the borders on was quite the struggle and I may have taken a few shortcuts ( my longarm quilter will probably be tearing her hair out with this one) but - it's done, I love it and now on to the next project!

Sashing Decision

I was so "done" with my sampler quilt that I thought I'd just put it away and decide about the sashing later, but since it was still up on my design wall last night, I began to experiment.  The fabric I was sure was going to look great was a small olive green print, shown in the first picture.  Frankly, it just looked blah to me next to the blocks.

So I tried the other fabric that I had sufficient quantities of, and I really like this one.  The light fabric really makes the darker blocks float, and I think this will look great.  What do you think?

A funny thing happened with my cornerstones.  I originally thought I'd use a darker solid woven olive green print, but then thought this plum/brown would look better.  I had less than a quarter yard, and then one other small strip left over from the blocks.  I needed to cut 25 3-1/2" squares.  I was able to cut 24.  I searched frantically through my leftover yardage and my small scraps and did not find one single leftover piece of the print.  Wouldn't you know it?  As my mind raced to think if I had seen it in some online shop, I remembered I had a charm pack of the Cinnamon Stars fabrics and - YES - I had one 5" square of the print I needed.  Serendipity?  I think so!!!!

Sampler Blocks - finished!

Oh I love a 3-day weekend - that extra day to finish projects was just the ticket for me this weekend!  Sister's Choice Nicole and I decided to ramp up and finish our Sampler Challenge and we both completed our blocks this weekend!  Here are my final four, followed by a photo of all 16 together.

The blocks got more challenging as the project progressed - it was harder to randomize the colors and I hope that I ended up with a good mix of the fabrics.  There will be a 3-1/2 inch sashing and cornerstones, but I haven't decided which of the Cinnamon Stars fabrics I will use for sashing - I have a couple of choices and will audition them a little later.  I also haven't decided if I will add a border to frame the quilt - the version I made does not have a border, but I may add one.

I'm really happy to finish this and cross one off my "to-do" list!

This one's for you, Kim

When I listed my ongoing projects yesterday, Kim suggested showing a picture of all my Cinnamon Stars sampler blocks together.  Since I already had them on my design wall hoping to spark some inspiration, I snapped a photo last night.  I realized I'm further along than I thought - only 4 more blocks until I'm finished!  There will be sashing and cornerstones to separate these blocks and I'm sure they will be arranged differently, but here they be.   :)

Sampler Challenge, Blocks 5 and 6

My partner in crime, Nicole (Sister's Choice Quilts) suggested we pick up the pace of our sampler challenge and begin posting 2 blocks at a time.  This quilt should therefore be finished in no time!  These are blocks 5 and 6, so we are officially halfway there!  I'm using Moda's Cinnamon Stars fabrics, and found that light floral background in the block pictured on the left just last week at a local quilt shop.  It's really fun to come across these older fabrics in the most unexpected places.

Sampler Alternate Block #4

While I was on a roll with the sampler blocks, I whipped up my final alternate block. Look - blue and red together! I still need to work on mixing up the color combinations, but I'm really pleased with the way this one turned out. I apologize that the photo is a little blurry. I found if I used the flash, the colors weren't true, so this shows true colors, but it's blurry. Sorry!

Sampler Challenge, Block 4

This is the fourth block in our Sampler Challenge with those fabulous Fig Tree Cinnamon Stars fabrics. This is one of my favorites blocks so far, I must say. I love the green and cream stripe, and it has a beautiful brushed texture. Be sure and pop over to Sister's Choice Quilts and see the beautiful block Nicole made this week.

Now that I've gotten a few more of the blocks made, I can see that I need to work on varying the colors for the remaining blocks. I seem to always fall back on pairing the brown with blue and the green with red. Time to mix it up!

Sampler Alternate Block

This is the third alternate block for the Country Gatherings Sampler that Nicole of Sister's Choice Quilts and I are both working on. Nicole's version of the quilt has 12 blocks, and mine has 4 additional blocks. This block, however, is not in the sampler book. It's one I found in Judy Hopkin's Once More Around the Block book. The block is called Rolling Pinwheel.

I've made a couple of additional alternate blocks that I have rejected, feeling they didn't fit with the rest of my blocks, but they will probably make it into a tablerunner or onto the back of this quilt.

Please visit again on Monday when Nicole and I will both reveal Block 4 of our challenge, and give you a sneak peek of all the blocks together.

Sampler Challenge, Block 3

Here's the third block in our challenge quilt.  I am using the Cinnamon Stars fabric from Moda, designed by Fig Tree Quilts - one of my favorite designers.  I really like using the dark as the background and the lighter fabrics as the accents, and will likely end up doing the majority of my blocks this way.  Pop on over to my friend Nicole's blog to see her block, too!