Quilt Top Finish

I have the borders on the Friends and Companions Sew A Long quilt that I constructed over the summer.  Congratulations to all of you who have also worked on this quilt.  Having the blocks revealed once a week was just the right pace for me and if I got behind a week it was easy to catch up.  I did find it a challenge to get all the alternating blocks done in quick order, but still there was enough time to catch up.  My biggest challenge was to get to the quilt shop and buy fabric for the borders and triangles.  Most sane people would buy all their fabrics at once, but I tend to buy what I need for the next step and then come back and purchase the next step.  Fortunately I am flexible and my favorite quilt shop has a great inventory of Civil War fabrics so I am seldom without options.

Here is the big reveal.

 Finalizing Layout of the Blocks

 Center Sewn Together

 Borders On!!!!!

Cute Border Fabric!!

Thanks for sharing this process with me and offering your words of advice and encouragement.  It always helps me get to the finish line a little faster.

I am linking to Judy's blog today.

Designing Monday

Goodness!  October is flying by like all the other months.  It is so chilly here.  We have had frost and we still have plants out, so it is time to get busy.

Quilting has taken a back seat to trimming bushes and all that other yard stuff that has to be done this time of year.  I made a trip to the quilt store last week and found fabric for the filler blocks for the Companions and Friends Sew A Long.  So this week I made those blocks and cut the setting triangles so here you can have a look.

I ran out of room on my design wall and every time I tried to put the triangles on the right side they fell off, but hopefully you get the idea.  I put all this up last night in my dark sewing room and didn't get a good look at it until I saw this photo.  I definitely need to move that orange swastika out of the middle.  Yikes!  There are two borders to add and I only have fabric for one, so that might dictate another trip to the quilt shop.  Darn!  

Have a great week and don't forget to stop over at Judy's blog to see more beautiful designs.

Designing Monday

I have been way too busy to sew or blog lately.  I have been on a reading jag and did some traveling and a little yard work/ gardening.  Now I am trying to get caught up on the Friends and Companions Sew A Long.  Here is the only quilt type sewing I have done lately ( lots of mending, though):

Saturday I went to the Farmer's Market and got this haul.

Healthy veggies

My favorite - okra

Yummy plums and Honey Crisp apples

Our tomatoes were really late this year and my plant is still full of green ones.

Our grapes really produced for the first time this year.  We got a handful of purple ones and big bowlfuls of green ones.

We ate some of the green ones, but tired of them quickly, so I bought a steam juicer.  What a fun toy!  The juice was flavorful, but still not what I wanted, so then I made a big batch of jelly.  It still hasn't set up yet after 3 days, so that may be all that it does.  Haven't tried it yet. But it has nearly a full bag of sugar in it, so it can't be too bad, can it?

If you haven't seen the photos of Quilt Expo, take time to scroll thru my last two or three posts.

Then hop on over to Judy's blog to see more beautiful quilts.

Another Block on the Wall

When my son played soccer in high school, the players made mix tapes and gave them to the people working in the announcer's booth and they played the music over the PA system while the boys warmed up.  One of the favorites was always Another Brick in the Wall.  When I took a photo of my blocks to post today, that song popped in my head.  Seems like the sew alongs I'm doing are just that Another Block on the Wall.  I am getting anxious to get them set together and see some finished progress.

Here is the latest block for the Friends & Companions Sew Along that was published last Friday.  This is 4 baskets turned to the center.  I like this block a lot.

Here are all my blocks together.  The blocks come out once a week and that moves them along.  The blocks are pretty and go together pretty quickly.

Wow!  That light blue really stands out, doesn't it?  I guess I will have to use a little more in another block to spread out the impact.

Less than 24 hours until I go to Quilt Expo in Madison.  Gas tank is full, water is chilling in the fridge, camera battery is charging.  I'm almost ready.  Stay tuned for some great photos.

Designing Monday

I have managed to get some sewing done in the last couple of weeks.  First of all I have finished two quilt tops that I started a long time ago.  I won a little bag of Thangles patterns and fabric kits (20 blocks total) in a Chinese Auction at a guild meeting in 2012.  I made the 20 blocks over the next couple of months and then decided to make 4 more using the scraps and added some background fabric from stash.  I drew up a simple layout that fit the requirements from our guild for soldier quilts.  Then I put it all away.  Somewhere along the line I bought some gold fabric for sashing and later some patterned fabric for borders and backing.

I pulled it all out again a few weeks ago and bought some more backing fabric at the Primitive Gatherings warehouse sale and then got busy and sewed the tops together.  It took a lot of figuring with my calculator to get everything to work out.  Plus a few extra seams in the sashing.  Anyway I now have two finished tops and soon two finished backings to go with.  These will be turned in next month to the guild for soldier quilts.  Nothing fancy, but still a nice gift, I hope.

I am doing the Companions & Friends Sew Along and got two blocks done this week.  The last block was measured in 1/8's and 1/16's.  Yikes.  Measuring was not hard, but squaring up blocks with no 1/32" marks on the ruler was a bit frustrating.  And besides who can see that well anyway?

I saw a house in the want ads last Sunday that was reduced to $1.9MM and has 26,000 sq. ft.  I had to  do a drive by to see this and took a photo to share.  It is now in foreclosure and unfinished on the inside.  If you decide to buy it, invite me over so I can see the inside.  Okay?

Enjoy some great designs over at Judy's blog.