Yesterday

I've been sewing, but it all seems to have been bits and bobs.  Yesterday I concentrated on getting my Celtic Solstice bordered.  I wasn't sure how many of the orange triangles I needed, as I had done my own size, but only had to make about a dozen extra.

 

The photo makes it look a bit dreary, but it looks good 'in the flesh'.  I couldn't do any more, as I don't have any green fabric suitable for the border.  Well, I'm sure I have something exactly the right colour, but never enough yardage!

 

 

So then I did some quilting on this quilt for the expected twins.  I just did diagonal lines, to emphasise the design.  I needed some pale yellow thread to do the border, and only had bright yellow, which would have overpowered it, so had to leave that for the moment.

 

I have an on-going fascination with Mile a Minute, so then rummaged in my scrap drawer and had fun making fabric.  On the left hand block you can see part of one of the leftover 'square in the corner' blocks from my Celtic Solstice.  There's always a place for orphans!

 

Then time to relax in front of the tv.  I can't just sit there, so I sewed most of the binding of the other twinbaby's quilt.  It's really not so drab, I'll try for a better photo when the sun comes out again.

So, what shall I do today?

Pastels?

Here are the MAM blocks I cut up recently, made into a top.  The big triangles are actually purple, not blue, and when the quilt has been bound in the same purple it will look great.   I have used up odd orphan blocks - can you see the wonky yellow star towards the bottom of the centre square, and a window left over from DD's wedding quilt in the middle of the bottom border?  I love using up bits and pieces, and I think it adds interest to the quilt.

 

 

When this top was finished, I must have had a bit of a brain storm as I've been working with pastels!  A friend is expecting twins fairly soon, and I thought I'd better get on with a couple of quilts.  For some reason, I decided to use a group of pastel fabrics to make two quilts with different designs.  We don't yet know the sexes of the twins, so the colour scheme is gender-neutral. 

 

I have been influenced by Pam Rocco's article on Medallion quilts in the current issue of 'Quilter's Newsletter', and decided to make these four Scrappy Trip blocks into a cot quilt by adding some borders.  I got the idea of using a cream strip in the middle of each block from my friend Chris, and I think it unites the blocks nicely.

 

This is another Pam Rocco design which I have scaled down.  Again I will be adding a gender-neutral border, a four patch border and a final border.  Looks a bit dreary here, but I think it will be better when the borders are on.   

 

I don't think that pastels will be my abiding love, but I had one more project to attempt.  My local quilt group are having a challenge to make some 12" blocks, one with lines on it, one with squares, one with triangles and the last one with circles.  It's probably an art quilt project, but I've decided to go traditional.  I'm making two of each block, and will arrange them in a nine-patch (I know, I'll need a central block!).  This will then make a nice baby quilt for Project Linus.  Here are my lines (or strings) in a Lemoyne Star.  My 'Y' seams don't get any better, but I suppose practice will eventually make perfect!

A puzzle

I've successfully completed all the blocks I'm making for Celtic Solstice.  Twenty five blocks will make a great design and with borders will make a reasonable sized quilt which go under my machine satisfactorily to be quilted.  I love the blocks, although I have pieced two of them incorrectly - can you see on the left hand side two pinwheel blocks with the chevrons going the wrong way?  How did that happen?  (Quite easily, I'd say!) 

 

 

Then I had another look at Bonnie's quilt, and discovered that in fact, the two 'wrong' blocks were actually 'right' and all the others are wrong!  How did I manage to go off target like that?  Oh well, I'm certainly not unpicking them all, so it will have to be Celtic Solstice - Variation.  I'm sure Bonnie won't mind!

 

I had been given a whole load of Mile a Minute blocks by someone who said she'd got fed up with making them.  How can that happen?  Well, looking at them, I can see how.  There isn't really enough variation in the fabric colours, and the strips are all straight, so make for a block which lacks dynamic.  What to do?  (Can't possibly waste them!) 

 

I cut them in half diagonally in pairs, and then joined opposite shapes.  That's a bit better!

 

Here they are laid out and apart from the fact that too many of them have the black and white spotty fabric, that's much better.  Now, what shall I make?