Amy Butler String Quilt - In Progress

I was curious to see what this quilt would look like, so I started a few blocks yesterday and today.  This quilt is going to take a LONG time to make - no finishing early this month. 

Here are the first few blocks.  The white strip in the middle is common to all of the blocks so there will be a pattern across the whole quilt.  As you can see, the rest of the block is scrappy-ish with strips of different widths, all from Amy Butler's "Soul Blossoms" line of fabric.  I cut the fabric a few years ago when I started this project, and now I wish I hadn't cut such narrow strips.  There are 100 blocks to do - and each block takes about an hour to do.  That is a lot of sewing when I can only sit for a short period each day!  I'll post some more in-progress photos when I have some to show.

April UFO Challenge - Number 1

Here we go again, another month and it's time for a new challenge number.  This month's number is:

So, looking at my list, I'll be working on the Amy Butler String Quilt this month.

I did some work on this in 2012, at the last retreat I attended.  It's hard to believe it's been so many years since I went to retreat, but that's the impact of a back injury.

Here's a photo of the in-progress blocks.  Strips of fabric are sewn onto a paper foundation - there are about 100 paper foundations prepared.  Once the strips are all sewn, the paper is removed.  It's called a string quilt.  We'll see how many blocks I get done before I run out of the fabric!

Happy Birthday Mom!

It's my mom's birthday on March 23, and she received her well-taped package today.  Imagine her surprise when she opened it to find Flannel Puppies!

This quilt was finished over a year ago but I could not figure out how to put the faces onto the blocks.  Klara helped me to figure out how to stitch on the smiles, and then I spent a small fortune on buttons for eyes and noses.  Who knew buttons were so costly?

Here's an in-progress view:

And the finished version, out in the snow for a good backdrop.

March UFO Challenge - Finished!

This month's challenge project is finished, the Carnaby Street Plus quilt.   It's a small quilt, about 60" by 70".

Carnaby Street Plus Quilt Update

I've done a little work on the March UFO, which is the Carnaby Street Plus quilt.

Here are the first two blocks I've made, laid out on the ironing board.  A little on the crazy bright side, but you can clearly see the "plus" in each centre.

It will take a while to make this quilt, a little at a time.  I'm enjoying House of Cards Season 4 as background entertainment as I sew the blocks. 

Tomorrow is quilting day, which means a fun day at Klara's.  I will be focusing on pillowcases again so I can mostly be standing.

A Finish - Colour Your World

I posted about this one recently.  Finally added the borders a couple of weeks ago.  It's a large quilt - almost 90" x 90".

This Sunday at Klara's I spent the afternoon cutting out fabric for pillowcases.  It was a short day because my back is really bothering me, so I focused on an activity where I can stand rather than doing any sitting.

No pictures of the pillowcases because some of them might be for you, my loyal readers!  Let's just say that there are some great kids' prints for my favourite 8-year-old, as well as some other nice fabrics.  About 20 in all - some for my linen cabinet, some for gifts, and some for Christmas.  I'll show you a few of them when they're done.

March UFO Challenge - Number 3

Today we received a new UFO number - number 3.  Wonderful news, because I like this one - Carnaby Street Plus quilt.

With my recently tidied sewing storage area, I had no problem finding the fabric for the project, but it took me a little while to track down the pattern.  Found it and finished cutting out the last few pieces.  Look at the pretty fabrics in this quilt:

I'll post again as the project progresses.