Design wall 5/31

Today I am hiding out in my sewing room. It is a quiet refuge in a house full of college kids. My son decided it would be fun to host the annual Memorial Day gathering of his friends. We have a large yard with a pool and a good grill and can easily accommodate a crowd. But the weather is not cooperating. Strong thunderstorms hit this morning, knocking out our power. Fortunately, the power company had it restored around noon. Not that it would have stopped this gang of kids. It has been raining on and off all afternoon, so the kids are all inside my house, broken down into small groups playing cards, board games and video games. I am debating border additions to my lantern quilt top. I would like to make it larger without purchasing extra fabric. This is what I am considering for now. I'm just not sure I like it.

The background fabric would continue behind the zigzag, so that it will keep it's straight edges. To see what others are working on check out Judy's blog.

...and the living is easy

Kick back in a comfy chair on your deck and enjoy your holiday weekend. It is the unofficial start of summer here and the weather is gorgeous! My most recent project is inspired by an episode of Quilt in a Day, featuring projects from the Egg Basket Quilts book . It was soooooooo quick and easy.

Design wall May 24

I am settling on a plain border for this one due to a lack of extra fabrics. This top is only half the size it was intended to be. There was some confusion in the cutting instructions and I cut half of my blocks incorrectly. So, I decided to salvage the project as best I could by making two smaller quilts. This one has the blocks cut the correct size. I plan to start making the rest of the blocks, slightly smaller, today.


Edited: Here are the completed blocks. They spin in the opposite direction, giving this quilt a totally different look. :)

Check out Patchwork Times for more design wall links.

The another update from the sew in

This is what I got done from last night's sew-in. The lantern blocks are stitched into rows and the border blocks are done. I'm trying to decide if I want to add the tassels as the pattern suggests or just omit them. If I leave them off, then I will need to remove some of the background from the bottom to even things out. I am also considering adding some extra borders to make this bigger. I have a bit of extra fabric to work with, but I'm not sure there is enough. I think that will be a good project for tomorrow.

Progress Report

Here's where I'm at with my quilt tonight. The lanterns are taking shape and I'm working on the flying geese units for the border. I still need to play with the arrangement of the lanterns a bit before I stitch them together. Back to the sewing room for me. :)

It's time for another Friday night sew-in

I have been cutting all afternoon so that I can actually sew during tonight's sew-in. It has been a few months since I have been able to participate, and I can't wait to get stitching. I'm going to be making a version of this. It is a free pattern by Monica of Happy Zombie. The pattern features her new fabric line which doesn't hit stores until June or July. So I will be using a collection of Asian prints from my stash. I think these will look cute as lanterns.

DWM May 10

Not much progress to report this week. I struggled with the side triangles on the hexagon quilt and finally settled on this. I don't think I got the sizing quite right, but I am afraid to rip them off again for fear of stretching the edges and making things worse. It is not as flat as I would like on the edges, but I think I can make it work. This is as far as the instructions go for this pattern, so I need to play around with some border ideas this week.

The baby robins in the nest outside my sewing room are getting bigger. I am enjoying watching their progress. And mama robin is keeping her eyes on us all from a nearby fence.

Check out Judy L.'s blog for more Design Wall Monday fun.

Design wall Monday- May 3,2010

This is what is on my wall today. My hexagon blocks are stitched together and I am in the process of figuring out the sizing for the side and corner setting triangles. The pattern I am following is a bit confusing on this. I like how it's looking though.
For more design wall delights, check out the Patchwork Times blog.

In bloom...a bit early!

Usually, my lilacs are just blooming for Mother's Day. I have a tradition of making a couple bouquets of lilacs each year- one for me, and one for my mom. I like to add in some snowball flowers for an accent. But this year, my lilacs are blooming early. Aren't they gorgeous?

I seem to have caught a butterfly in this first photo. It's upper right.

These are the snowballs next to my lilacs. They are already opening and turning white. Usually they are about an inch in diameter and bright green at Mother's day. These are close to three inches.

A few blooms next to the shed.

Not a great picture, but this is a baby robin in the nest. Didn't dare get too close. Momma robin might not appreciate that. I hope you are enjoying springtime as much as I am.