Saturday, January 21, 2012

I had four things on my “want to get done” list for today. By noon I had two items finished and another about half done. I completed the edges on the appliqué blocks so I felt I deserved a break from appliqué. I haven’t put it too far out of sight though as I need to keep at it. I’m at the point where I don’t need a full day to accomplish the next steps.

Remember last week when I thought I had finished my cookie tin block and then saw something in the photo that I didn’t like. This morning I took apart the pieces that weren’t right and got the block put back together. Can you see any difference in the two pieces? Did I improve the look?

I started a new project next, but one that I knew wouldn’t take long to complete. I can’t reveal what it is though as it is part of a gift. The piece was a preview to the string quilt technique, and I think I’m going to have fun with it.

The last thing on my list was to cut and sew the binding for my Bench Cover. I still have to stitch down the back edges, but it feels good to be so close to taking that particular project off my list.

When all was done I took a look at the two rooms I’m now using on a regular basis for my crafting and decided a clean up was in order. I put a number of things back into place and vacuumed up the bits of string and material from the floor.

I think I’m done in my studio for the day. I got the approximate measurements for Will’s afghan so I’ll work on it tonight. But first, I need some dinner!

January 14, 2012

Someone dropped out of the cookie tin exchange at the last minute, so I ended up getting this particular tin twice.  Check out Cookie Tin Exchange – Round 1 to see what I made the first time around.

I added this Scrappy Framed Star. I was drawn to this pattern when I received the cookie tin in round one. I decided then that the framed border was too difficult. But when I got a second chance at a star pattern I decided to throw caution to the wind and started to work.

The pattern called for sewing the tiny pieces of the frame individually, but I used the technique I learned in the Bargello class to sew a strip and cut it to length. The method worked well, but I did the math wrong and ended up with an extra piece on each end.

But isn’t that what creativity is all about? Making something work that you goofed up on in the first place!

Round 3 of the exchange was a bit more challenging. Somehow along the way the notebook explaining the intentions of the originator was misplaced so there was no direction provided. After some queries the notebook was located – on the desk of the originator!

When I saw what had been added to the box I was overwhelmed with the artistry of their blocks. Clearly I was going to have to stretch myself a bit on this tin.

I searched the Internet for maple leaf blocks and found a photo of one as a stained glass piece. There wasn’t any pattern, but I recalled that years ago (before I even started quilting) I picked up a book on stained glass quilting. When I looked at the method described in the book I convinced myself that I could do it. I found the basic maple leaf pattern in my book of potholders, but I had to play with the sizes a bit. I used crayons and paper to make a paper copy of what I hoped to put together.

Once I started on the fabric block I was amazed at how quickly it came together.

With such a large center block the person before me added a border to make the piece into a medallion quilt. Although I tried very hard to think of a way to add just one block there didn’t seem to be any way around keeping with the medallion theme and adding a border.

I picked out a pieced border, but when I put it up on the design wall it was too busy so I added a more calming border. And just so you wouldn’t fall asleep looking at it I added a bit of color in the corners.

The completed quilt was hung in the 2013 Quilt Show.