Catch up...

A year since my last post?! I can hardly believe it. This year was a crazy busy one for my family and I. We sold our home in Colorado and moved to Vermont, where I'm originally from. I'm finally getting back to quilting and crafting and I'm looking forward to a productive year of finishing projects and using up stash.

What I'm working on today
It's a snowy day here in VT so I'm taking advantage and getting crafty. Of course all that craftiness is making me hungry so there's some cookie making thrown in there as well.

View from my kitchen window.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Swirl Cookies from Sally's baking addiction. She says these will keep 10 days covered in an airtight container, HA! Maybe if you sent the container to the moon in an unmanned shuttle! recipe 

A few rows progress knitting my Tree of Life Afghan from Lion Brand. Free pattern here.

I worked on machine quilting my Turning 20 Again. It's sewn in some organic vegetable died quilting cotton I picked up years ago. This quilt feels like a monster under my machine, I can't remember what size it is, maybe a twin.  Slowly but surely it's getting done. 

It feels good to be back on the blog. How's the weather where you are?

A Mystery Part 3, Top Finished

I just realized I totally forgot to post about part 2 (I posted part 1 here) it was mostly cutting anyway, but here it is finished.
It was fun just picking fabrics without worrying about the final design. It's queen size so I think it's going to be a topper for my bed, about time I kept a quilt for myself!
Now to get quilting...

Thanks for stopping by!

Heather

Trying Something New

So far in my quilting I've mostly followed patterns and used yardage. But an ever growing pile of scraps and a need for order brought me to Amazon, hoping to find a solution. I searched for "Modern Scraps" and came up with a few results, one of which was this book, "create your own free-form quilts". It sounded interesting and got good reviews, so I ordered.

Create Your Own Free-Form Quilts

The author of this book Rayna Gillman encourages you to sew, not think, kind of hard for me, but fun to do. She calls it Therapy Sewing, just cut and organize strips and start sewing them together. Try not to think about it too much, just pick quickly.  You sew strips together of any width by trimming them at the same time and then matching them together. There are no rulers used during the initial sewing process.

One interested side lesson has been sewing curved seams, which I've never attempted because it seemed too hard, but the way you piece the curved seams together in this book without perfection and stress, is a great intro to curved piecing without all the pressure. I may actually try that double wedding ring I've been avoiding for years.

So here are a few pictures of my results.

Green palette

variety of strips and cut up UFO blocks

Thanks for stopping by!

Heather

Scrappy Triangles

I've been spending a lot of time lately making these little 4.5" half square triangles for a scrappy quilt I'm making. The last time I counted I was sure I had at least a million, turns out it's only about 380. Each of the two piles are exactly the same, so unless someone decides they want to trade triangles with me, it looks like I'm making two very similar quilts.

I've cut into every fabric in my stash, and got through two massive tubs of scraps a friend dropped by the other day. For a true charm quilt I need 802. Starting to wonder if I care if it's really a true charm quilt or not. The girls in quilt group have promised to raid their stashes in search of suitable squares so I may still get there, only 420 more to go!

Some Wonky Log Cabins

I've been trying this technique with some success. As I do more I think I like the results a little better. 

This first one is not my favorite. I ran out of room with the strips so it's got super skinny strips on only two sides. That bottom strip is probably going to disappear when it's sewed together.

This one I like better, it's wonky but a little better laid out.

This one got a little rectangular, but I like the colors.

I'm planning to complete several more to finish up a round robin quilt.

Thanks for stopping by!

Heather

Baby Blossoms is Complete

I just finished binding and labeling this one. It will be off to school tomorrow with my son for his sweet teacher who is expecting. I used straight line quilting and washed it. It's super light weight and soft, perfect for a new baby in fall.