Moving along

 Hopscotch top finished up---what I had been working on at the Tuesday sew-in.

Then I moved on to the revised Debby Kratovil Chantal quilt that I wrote about back in THIS POST a few months back.  It is originally designed as a square quilt featuring fabrics from Blank Quilting.  If you like square quilts, you can find the original pattern on the Quilter by Design site HERE along with others from Ms. Kratovil. 

The pieces are large so the assembly is minimal---mine will finish at 7.5 inches to get the size I need for a WTIL quilt in an on-point set.  The diagonal of the blocks always adds a little bit more to the length and width of a quilt.  I cut the background colors over sized so that I will not have to add another border, floating the design.  Using one of the charts for setting triangles I just go about 2 inches bigger than my block actually finishes.  Here is one such reference chart from Bethany Reynolds website.  I keep a copy from Fons and  Porter's Quilters Complete Guide right in easy reach hanging off the sewing room pegboard along with some other often used information.

Then when it comes to piecing I use a picture of my quilt and fold it to isolate a row at a time to keep me on track.  I do this particularly with on point sets but sometimes it helps in standard piecing as well.

This should not take long to put together but I can finish up at the sew dates if I don't get it done by time to pack up this evening.   I have a couple of things pulled for the retreat so I can go one of two directions depending-----"boring" strip sets to sub-cut for a Eleanor Burn's re-sized Twin Sisters or 12 inch sampler blocks  from a class I used to teach at Hancock Fabrics.   

 I still need to make something "snacky" to take with me and take care a few other things here at home.  We'll see how far I get!

And sew it goes---------

WIP Weds

 Me, working on my current WIP.  Cindy had just finished the joining rows on her 2nd top of the day and I was trying to get the last pieced border on my Hopscotch top before we left for my house.  LOL, she tried twice to get my picture but I kept looking back at my work.

Today I just need to add a 3 1/2 inch border of that same rust print all around and then this puppy will be done!

I'll post a few more pictures later in the week but here is Aline with a top she had recently completed from leftover bits of batiks and such.  It will be large enough for taller person so that is always good.

I've got some batting bits to stitch onto an existing piece that I had already prepped before we can pin it up.   Cindy had brought some fabric to share with the Belles, some large enough for backing---there was a perfect neutral toned piece among the selections.  Woohoo!  Love it when a "plan" comes together!

 And here is my pal Cindy with her first completed quilt top.  Cindy is more a hand piecer than a machine piecer but she had her little featherweight just a hummin'.   In fact, she is even teaching hand piecing with some applique at a Joann's near her home in Mt. Juliet (TN)

 I was intrigued with her method of chain piecing her rows---maybe how Eleanor Burns does it but I never try??   It worked for her, that is all that matters.  Cute water melon print!   There was a piece of shamrocks on white that may well work for backing this.

Here is the 2nd one---with Scottie dogs on the pink background. Actually it is a bit longer but folded over.  Cindy pointed out that this was the same print I have in my scrappy bargello quilt but mine has a blue background.   She noticed it as she pulled up the quilt on my bed.

I had found a black print with pink and red words on it that should be perfect for this.  We'll get them pinned and I'll quilt them up for the kids.

This is some of the fabric that Cindy brought that I  kept to use at home.  The top fabric is a good match  for a grouping I have but am not quite sure what I will do with yet---some Marilyn had given me.  I am pretty sure that the two under it will go with another project that is missing a "bridger" piece.

The one of the very bottom will be perfect for the Belles "miles of black" challenge.  I know what I want to do there but just need the light background piece for a three color quilt.  There is may be enough for another quilt or even the backing.

More later----I have a 3rd border to put on!  Then move on to another that I can finish up at the retreat days on Friday and Saturday.  (I'm day tripping for that one)   I just about left the car packed up, LOL.

Design Wall Monday---10-22-12 edition

 I declared my part of the great fall clean up detail done after the kitchen floor was mopped.    Then I decided I was going to sew anyway and vacuum it up again if I made too big of a mess.  After all, my friend Cindy knows I sew.  Threads happen!

My design wall shows where I left off last night.  Notice that I did clear it off a good bit and filed the display pieces away for the most part?   I can drag them back again when I'm ready to sew on Christmas stuff.

I got the 12 block assembled for my Hopscotch pattern and moved on to the pieced sashing last evening taking into account that this is directional print.  This pattern is from my fav designer Terry Atkinson but is no longer shown on her website.  You can still get copies if you search them out, however sometimes in the secondary market on ebay.  The link goes to Virginia Quilter who has a good representational group of Atkinson Designs.   I know Norma found a mother lode of her patterns at a different site but I cannot find the link at the moment.   My design wall shows where I left off last night.

This bunch is pinned and ready to feed into the machine.  I don't know how much more of this I will do today.  I had planned to work on it at the sew-in day on Tuesday but I also have two other kits pulled should I exceed my expectations.  There is a small pieced square border so I know I will have to make a few more strip sets for that deal.   Borders, period, are not my favorite part of the deal to begin with but I'll keep plugging till the top gets done sometime this week.  A long time kit will be completed to something usable for a young person which is the most important part.  OR it could be a comfort quilt for Friendship Quilters as well.   Think that peach looks too girly so it is not as unisex as I had hoped?

And sew it goes---------

WIP Monday

Today, overall has been a fairly laid back day.  PJ day literally for far longer than I should admit to.   I didn't have anywhere I needed to go.  No one was dropping by.

Oh, the laundry got done.  Files and pictures got organized a bit better.  Norma, Cher and Pat were in and out to keep me company in chat.   My mom called to tell me about their recent trip to Denver-----my oldest nephew Blake was married this weekend to a lovely girl named Julia!!  Woohoo there.  I switched out some of the summer clothes for the fall/winter wardrobe.  I fixed some Chicken Gnocchi soup to take to Belles tomorrow for an impromptu potluck with our sewing project day.  I packed up my stuff to take to Belles tomorrow.  Eventually I finally got dressed but only because I needed to go out to use the grill for supper.  We enjoyed watching the Cardinal-National game too.

Still , no sewing till 7 p.m. and even then I only did a pile of  half square triangles for 12 blocks of the Hopscotch quilt I talked about yesterday.  I had done the strip set sections last evening.

This is sorta where I am headed with the quilt though the red color you see is actually a rust fabric.  This is an old kit I had prepared who even remembers when. The fabrics are probably a little dated by 2010's standards but hey, that stuff needs to be used too.  I hope that it will make a nice lap sized quilt for someone.   This is a Terry Atkinson pattern but I had drawn it up in EQ5 some time back because I knew I was going to have to swap out my own fabrics in place of the tans, reds, greens that she lists in the cutting directions.  It is always better for me to see what I am working towards visually then read the pattern notes in that case.  There are really just 12 blocks in this thing but the pieced sashing gives the appearance of an alternate block. much like my previous Atkinson Designs Daisy Chain does. 

And sew it goes------

THX for stopping by!