Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Patience cont'd

I've sewn the blocks into rows. This patience this is not as hard as I thought (at least this time it isn't). Next comes putting the rows together for the quilt top. That should take place this weekend. But for now here are the rows.


Monday, January 30, 2012

Patience...

I'm sure all of you have heard the 'patience is a virtue' a positive trait. Well in an attempt to be a more positive person, I thought I would teach myself a lesson in patience. Not sure I picked the correct quilt to practice this on but, what heck, you gotta start somewhere.

Previously I found myself hurrying through one project, to get it finished so that I could get to the next, which resulted in seams that didn't match up and things not exactly square. This caused a great deal of frustration and because I didn't want to get stuck with a UFO, I just wanted to get it done.

The quilt I chose to do is "Small World" from the book Transparency Quilts. There is 110 pieces to this quilt not including the skinny blue sashes, each one cut individually. Cutting them individually (and accurately) took some doing. Here are some of the 'oatmeal' fabrics I chose.


These fabrics were not as difficult to chose as the fabrics for the center. That part took a lot of 'auditioning'. Here are some of the center fabrics with the blue sashes in between.


I also slowed my sewing/piecing speed down, which seemed to pay off. Look straight, 1/4" seams....yaaayyy!


Next comes, sewing the individual pieces into rows. We'll see how far I get tomorrow.



Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Happy New Year!

A new year, a new beginning (that's if you want to). Some may be perfectly happy where they are and didn't want to offend. I learned quite a bit about family this past year and about the saying 'family is as family does'. I recently reconnected with some people that treated as good as any blood relative could, but because of misunderstandings we had been separated for awhile. It was wonderful to get to know them again and I am very blessed to have them in my life.

I only crafted a few gifts for Christmas this past year and here they are...

Hand made notebooks for my son and his girlfriend.


I modified a couple of notebook versions I found out on the web, mainly because I like the look of the slanted pocket. The left side is for loose papers. There is a pen holder in the middle and the right side is for legal sized notepad.


 And finally I made a baby quilt for my nephew Gabriel...







The pattern is Boho Baby by Blue Meadow Designs.