Another one Done

I find it every interesting that working on getting a UFO finished really motivates me to sew a lot more. Even when I don't like the one I'm working on. I hope this one gets to the party on time. I'll send it out tomorrow. I thought I'd already had it quilted...oops, so got it done today.I finished the top sometime last year. I can't find the post now, but it was in the middle of the year. I like the way these types of labels look. Easy to make and personal.

9-Patch Swap...Done!

I woke up yesterday morning and knew how to finish quilting this quilt. The top has been done since October 13, so it's waited 7 months to be finished. I had most of it quilted and didn't know what to do in the 9-patches. I ended up just quilting around the center square. It's simple and I like the way it looks. Now to send this off to my niece. I hope she likes it.

I'm going to try to get a couple of charity quilts quilted, then the QOV top quilted. If I am diligent I may have all three done by next week.

Wish me luck.

Disappearing Nine Patch Top Done

 

Here is the top. I like it. I think I'm going to use two layers of flannel to finish it up. I'll have to buy some flannel though, don't have any to use. It's kind of unusual for a baby quilt, but my niece specifically said she is not a pastel kind of girl. This is about as far from pastels as you can get!

I guess this will count as my design wall post as well. If you want to see what more people are doing, check out Judy's blog.

Final Layout

I wasn't too happy with the blocks when they were all next to each other, too much color smooshed together. I decided to try a different layout. I like this one better, but I'm still not positive that it's great.

I think I need to play with the 9-patch blocks to see if I want them turned all the same direction, like here, or if I want them turned different directions. I need to add the two blocks in the lower right corner, and then the 3 more blocks that go across the bottom.

On another note, I made bread today. It was so easy! I have a Kitchen Aide mixer and had never used it to knead bread. I threw all the ingredients in the mixer bowl, turned on the mixer with the dough hook, and let it go for 10 minutes. I left it in the bowl to rise, and when it was time to punch it down, I just put the dough hook back in and ran it for about 10 seconds.
I shaped it and put it in the dutch oven to rise again, then cooked it right in the to Dutch oven. YUM!

Disappearing 9-Patch Blocks

Here are some of the 9-patch blocks cut up and arranged on the design wall. There is not as much contrast with the smaller squares as I hoped there would be, but I'll keep making them. I may end up grouping the turtle fabric (greens, pinks and purples) in some manner after I have all of the blocks sewn and cut. I'm thinking it might be pretty cool to have some kind of pattern with those blocks, since the colors change so radically. I got a few more done tonight, and maybe some more tomorrow morning...maybe even just one more.

I am convinced

I got suggestions that I make the disappearing 9 patch, and I was skeptical, and then found fabrics in my stash that I think will be wonderful. I dyed the purple just before Christmas, and the other two have been in my stash for years. I will use the purple like a background (in the middle positions on each side of the 9-patch) and the leaf print will be the center, so will become the smaller accent blocks. The turtle print will stay larger, so will be the focus. Shouldn't take too long, so I'll probably have something to show by tomorrow.

It's only 7:30, so I might have something tonight.

Thanks for the suggestion!

Disappearing 9-Patch swap top done

I decided on a simple white border and I'll make the binding a scrappy one from the left-over aqua fabric I have. I didn't have enough to make a border, but I think it will be a nice touch as the binding. I don't know what backing I'm going to use, I think a fleece (but not sure what color) but this time a fabric binding instead of self-binding.

I like it more than I thought I would when I first got the blocks in the mail. I don't have a recipient yet, but I'll figure something out...or should I say someone.

Disappearing 9-Patch layout

Here is the layout I'm going to use. I will use white sashing, but I don't know if I'm going to use cornerstones. I have red and aqua both. If I had a red-aqua print I would probably use it. I'll have to do some shopping!

Happy Thanksgiving!

What's on My Design Wall 11-16

I didn't realize it's been a week since I last posted. The quilt above is from a swap I entered. Red and aqua. There were more blocks with red centers than aqua, so the bottom left corner isn't quite right. I still have some fabric left over from the blocks I did, so I might make a couple more to fit in the top. I don't know if I'm going to leave it this way, or maybe add some white sashing between the larger blocks. This is just the first layout that came out.

I also have this one up (well, my wall is small, so it was actually on top of the disappearing 9-patch). I've finished the top, now I need to figure out how I am going to quilt it, and who it is going to go to. It was fun to do, and not nearly as difficult as I imagined it would be.

What's up...

I feel a great sense of accomplishment. I just finished publishing a website I've been working on. The pain of that is the interface for every web host is different, so you have to figure out how they set it up that is different from the last web host you used.

YIPPEE!

Now, I'm working on making more 12 1/2" 9-patch blocks to be cut up for the swap I am in. I find it kind of boring, but I'll move on anyway.

Disappearing 9-Patch Fabrics

Here is a sample of the fabrics I've used for the disappearing 9-patch swap I've joined. I'll be sending these off to be mixed in with the others' blocks, and get new ones back. It will be fun to see what I get, and how they will all go together.

Two more tops quilted

Two more tops quilted. I've decided that I will work on getting as many tops as I can finished. Both of these have fleece backings. The greek keys top is meant to be a quilt of valor. It is 54 x 69. Not huge, but I think it will be a fine size. My only problem now, it to figure out how to attach a label to it. I didn't think of that before I put the fleece on the back.

The disapperaing 9-patch is much smaller. It is only 36x48, but a nice size for a baby blanket. I don't have a specific recipient in mind, but I'm sure there is someone in my future with a baby. I just gave away the 4-patch posy baby quilt I finished a while ago, so there is always another baby that will need a quilt.

The quilting on both is very simple. I just did concentric "rings" of quilting following the blocks on the greek keys. The baby blanket just has straight lines at varying intervals. Nothing hard...and I used the walking foot on both, so that made it even easier.