Later this year, I am demonstrating Chaos Crumb blocks at my local group,
Piecemakers so I thought I would do some more experiments with these fabulous blocks. I have recently bought a copy of Gwen Marston's 'Liberated String Piecing', which has some gorgeous techniques and quilts in it. I think what makes Gwen's quilts so lovely, is that they are set very carefully and beautifully quilted. I decided to set the Chaos crumb blocks in fours and then sash them with cornerstones.
Once this is quilted it will be fine. I'm going to bind it with the same blue as the cornerstones (I think) which will pull it together.
Here is a clearer photo of a four patch. I just love those scrappy blocks, and can't stop making them! My next trial is to make some blocks using a restricted colour selection - more of which later.
Tomorrow, DH, DS, DD and I are going on an eight day family holiday to the US! We'll be staying in Las Vegas and San Francisco, so if you're in any of the quilt shops there, look out for me!
I will take it round to my friend's soon. I love the cream binding, and the way it throws the focus into the centre of the quilt. I also love the fact that I have used up all the Kaffe Fassett fabrics I bought, even the charm pack!
While I was finishing off, I needed a bit of piecing to keep me going, so I had a rummage in the Linus box. I found these lovely scraps of Moda fabric in dusty pinks, burgundy and cream. They look like pieces left over from a kit or layer cake or something. There was also a reasonably sized piece of floral fabric from the same (or a similar) range. What to do?
Most of the scraps were small, so I though fourpatches was a good idea. I decided to make a Bonnie Hunter design, 'I spy a 4 patch' which I have made before and been very pleased with. I started by having the dark squares in a scrappy arrangement, but soon decided that wasn't right. 
Here is my final arrangement. Much better! Now I'll audition border fabric. 
I knew I didn't want to do all over quilting, as I wanted to quilt a wreath or something in the spaces between the blocks. But if I did that, the stars needed something to stabilise them, otherwise, they would just puff up and be lost. In the ditch was the perfect solution, but all that turning of the quilt would have been so, so tedious. Then I received the July/August copy of 'Quiltmaker'. One of the things I like about this magasine is that there are always quilting designs included for every quilt. Was there a design for a starry quilt? Yes! Star Harbour, by Eileen Fowler had a quilting design which could be done with free-motion quilting. Here is my version.
And here is the result. 
Now I just have to quilt the other 48!
At a local gift shop I came across these labels. I think it's supposed to be parcel tie, but I will use them to go on items for presents. I particularly like the way they look as if I had spent hours cross stitching them. As if I have time for that!
