Paintbox Quilt-a-Long Top Finished!

I finally put together my quilt-a-long top!

I have to admit I am not crazy about the grey I chose for the sashing, but by the time I realized it, it was too late and I had already cut up 3 yards of fabric.  Alas.  I am sure that I can give it away to a friend of mine who will appreciate it.

Another shot of the whole thing.

I haven't really been home lately as I was in Iowa (my husband was teaching dance there) and then I was in Texas for work.  I'm starting to think that I may need to take up some handwork, as at least that is portable.  Do you have a favorite type of handwork? English paper piecing? Applique (I was thinking about one of these)? Hand quilting? Hand piecing (I saw this and thought it was gorgeous!)?

I'd love to dip my  toe into the handwork pool but I don't want to try something that will quickly leave me discouraged.

Quick baby quilt is done!

I finally had some time after all the Easter busy-ness to finish this quilt.

I ended up quilting in random straight lines, inspired by Kate and Jacquie.

I really love it. It was so fast and easy too. But it needs to go off to a little baby girl in Seattle.

A quick shot of the backing and binding.

For those of you who may wonder why my Easter was so busy, I'll just leave it at this: we had 7 people total for dinner (not too many) and we had this for dessert (in addition to the other courses):

 My husband and I don't mess around when it comes to food! :) It's a chocolate and hazelnut souffle--individual ones for guests. There's no flour, so it was safe for my gluten-free friend.  And incredibly delicious too. We had some leftover mixture so we baked a "leftover" one last night.  Yum!

More Bee Blocks

My Hip 2 Bee Square ladies have really come through this month. Here are some blocks I've received so far:

These are all from Becca. I really love them! Especially the flying geese hiding out in the block. Fabulous.

Here's one from Corey. I love the denim bit--it reminds me of the fabulous work clothes quilts from Gee's Bend.

These are from sweetposie. I really love the Japanese prints she's added here.

Kerry sent these along. Very nice. I think it will be good to have some smaller, "filler" blocks like this when I am trying to get them all together!



These are from Kim. They have a lovely flannel that I just love to touch.  The whole quilt is going to have so many interesting textures in it!




These blocks are from Nicole. She added a lovely red damask to the blocks, and was even kind enough to send some extra. I may use it when putting everything together.

There's more coming, but I am starting to wonder what I got myself into! It is going to be a bit of a challenge to put everything together, but like I said before, I'll be posting process pictures as I try to figure it out.

Slow and Steady...

I'm slowing making progress on putting together my paintbox quilt. Here are the blocks before I sewed them into rows.

I probably won't be able to put the top together before next week because as you may know, this weekend is Easter. My friend is becoming Catholic on Saturday night (which is a very long service), and I am singing in the choir Sunday morning. And of course, I am hosting Easter dinner as well. Whew! So there will be very little sewing this weekend. Happy Easter everyone, or Passover if you prefer, or just have a nice weekend if you are none of the above. :)

Quick liberated baby quilt

When I got back from my trip, I had a nice package of solids awaiting me.

Some are for the paintbox quilt, and others were just because I am trying to increase the number of solids in my stash.  I've been meaning to make a baby quilt for my friend B, but the paintbox quilt took over. Well, she had a lovely baby girl E on Friday, so I realized I had better get cracking! I was fiddling with some fabrics, thinking I would do a disappearing nine patch quilt, but I couldn't find enough fabrics to get excited about. The solids were calling my name! So I cut a bunch of 13" strips with varying sizes, each with a wide end and a narrow end (no measuring).  I sewed them all together and then squared up to 12.5".  The nine squares were done yesterday and then I sewed the top together at the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild meeting.

You can't tell from the photo here, but the borders are a light gray and the light color in the quilt itself is actually a powder blue.  All are Kona solids.  I don't have the names with me at the moment, but you wouldn't want to make exactly the same quilt as me, would you? 

I came home and basted it and now I just need to quilt it.

It was super quick and easy.  I recommend you try it if you want to make something quick, easy, and modern for that baby shower that is next week. :)

Hip 2 Bee Square--my month!

I am so glad that March is my month for the Hip 2 Bee Square bee.
I asked for a block (or blocks) that are any size, as long as they are rectangle or square. I wanted them to be in a Gee's Bend style. If you aren't familiar with Gee's Bend, go to Google Images and search for Gee's Bend.

Also, I asked that everyone add a piece of fabric from their scrap bin, or an old shirt, an old sheet, curtains, whatever. It doesn't matter if it is not cotton. I really wanted to get the feel of their quilts, which were made with whatever they had, not just nice quilter's cotton. 

It means now I get to sit back and relax and wait for my blocks to come in. Here are some lovely blocks from Keira and Debbie.  I really love how they've incorporated other fabrics into the block.

Keira said her muslin (in the housetop block) has traveled with her family and is at least 10 years old.  And Debbie added the beautiful blue corduroy to her blocks.  I really love hearing the stories of the fabric that goes into the blocks--it gives the whole quilt such a beautiful meaning.

It'll definitely be a challenge to get all the multi-size blocks to fit together, but I think it will also be a chance to bring coherence to the quilt. I'm thinking that if I use similar colored scraps to put all the blocks together it will make it "fit".  We'll see once I get all of the blocks back. I will probably be posting lots of different arrangements and asking for advice.

Quilt a Long Blocks Finished!

Last weekend I went on a cutting craze to finish the paintbox blocks.  Here is the stack after all the cutting:

Then I finished them up Monday and Tuesday.

Some yellow ones:

Some turquoise ones:

And finally, some green ones.

I still haven't started laying them out, or deciding what color sashing to use. I know a lot of modern quilters like white backgrounds or white sashing, but I just can't bring myself to do it. White gets dingy too fast, even when you wash often.  I make all my quilts to be used, and I can't say that I am the most "clean" person. This is not to say that I am dirty, I just spill things a lot and am somewhat of a klutz. So anything white is basically screaming to get stained in my house. This is all being said when there are no kids in the house (I don't have children). If I did have children, I'd stay away from white even moreso.  I really don't understand how folks can make baby quilts that are white!  If the child loves your quilt, it will get snot, barf, mud, etc all over it and white just doesn't handle those so well.  Just my humble opinion, really. :)

I will look at some neutral linen, or possibly some beige or gray cottons.  I'm happy to hear suggestions if you think there is a color or brand I should use. What is your favorite neutral?

Not much quilting will happen in the next two weeks as I am leaving for Spain on Wednesday. Much food will be eaten but no quilting.  I'm just glad to have the blocks done before then.