Friday, August 31, 2012

Bee blocks--August and September

I finished up my blocks for the Believe circle of Do Good Stitches this week for August and September. Just because I'm in charge in September again and had to get them done at the beginning of the month.

Here are the asterisk blocks I made for August:
August bee block 2

These were pretty fun to make and I will probably try them again sometime.

For September I decided to go with a minimal log cabin block in black/gray/pink/red/and/or white. Definitely inspired by Jacquie's work, specifically her Scandia Crush quilt. I admire Jacquie's modern quilting sensibilities (and her hard work ethic and she's just a great person overall) and am looking forward to seeing the blocks our group members will make. Here are the two I made:

September bee block 2
September bee block 1
This is our last weekend before school starts and I'm looking forward to spending most of it at home. I went with my 3rd grader to meet his teacher this morning and got the email notifying me where my middle schooler needs to go to get his schedule on Tuesday morning. We tried to start getting up earlier in the morning this week, but that didn't go so well. 6:20 a.m. is going to be awfully early on Tuesday....

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Granny Square Quilt Top

granny quilt top 
I finished up the granny square quilt top for the Believe circle of do good stitches. This photo is upside down compared to how I had the blocks laid out originally and that pastel chunk in the left column really sticks out to me in this view. I think it looks good though for not having any restrictions on the colors people used in their blocks. 

I have the fabrics gathered together for the back of this quilt, and need to straighten edges and sew them together. I'm planning on this being the first quilt I machine quilt after breaking my finger. I'm getting a little excited about it. My finger is much better but really stiff in that top joint. I am faithfully doing my hand exercises 4-6 times a day and not complaining about it. 

Also, I have plans for a new Christmas quilt.
blitzen fabric 
I really like the new Blitzen fabric line by basic grey/moda and came up with an idea for another Christmas quilt. I think I need a couple more darks added to the mix first though. I'm hoping to be able to have the quilt done and the pattern finished and for sale by the end of September. 

My boys will finally be back in school next week--it's our first year ever starting this late and I think we are ready. We've crammed a lot of summer into the last few weekends since I was down for a while in July after my accident. I'm ready to get back on a good schedule, start exercising again, and see if I can get some good chunks of sewing time in.

Friday, August 24, 2012

Granny charity quilt

granny quilt rows
I got the rows sewn together for this quilt for the Believe circle of do.good stitches. Progress is good. Still need to put the rows together and add borders.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

More quilt blocks

Sewing has been slow with my injured hand. It is getting better though and I'm looking forward to getting the splint off soon so I can get my finger and my whole hand exercising and back to normal function. Eventually.

Here are the quilt blocks I've made since my last blog post:

Five more granny square blocks. 
 
5 grannies 
I have 4 more to make and I haven't used any purple yet! I'm planning on cutting purple squares today. 

And three more star blocks: 
star blocks 4-6 
I decided to just make the opposites of the first three blocks. So this quilt may end up less scrappy looking than some of my others but that's ok. I'm looking forward to making more of these blocks, but planning on finishing my granny square top first.