Postage stamp blocks

My sewing machine is in the shop for service, so busted out my old machine and made some postage stamp blocks. The story behind these blocks coming in a later post.

Linking up to weekending at Quarter Inch Mark

Work in Progress

I got all the nine patch pieces cut up and put together. However the quilt top looked a bit busy to me. 

Then I found this block on Kelli's blog. I do like the way the blocks are spaced with a narrow strip. Hmm, it definitely adds a lot more work to an otherwise simple quilt but I think it will be worth it.

On another note I pieced together my first spider quilt block.

As you can see the blocks did not line up. That was a bummer. I think it was because the foundation triangles were not all the same size. I had cut them one by one and they did not add up right. Oh well live and learn. For my next block I need to standardize the measurements a bit.

More:  here & here

Using the snow day wisely

I have not felt this strapped for time in a long time, so yesterday's snow day was a boon. I used every minute of it sewing :) This time I started yet another quilting project. The other two pending projects: spider web quilt, sawtooth start quilt are going to take some time and effort to complete. Instead I worked on an easier project for some quick gratification.

I had a layer cake of Salt Air by Cosmo Cricket from Moda that I had received at Christmas. I paired it with some Kona Natural and a quilt began to take shape.

The quilt is going relatively quickly. I love the muted colors of the fabric, it goes very well with the rustic look of Kona Natural.

I have most of the blocks sewn. Hopefully I can have one quilt finish for February.

Linking up to:

Lucky BOM Stars - February Block

Last night I completed the February block for Lucky Stars BOM hosted by Don't Call Me Betsy. I am definitely enjoying foundation paper piecing and getting better at it. It is such a thrill to see the points match up. This one is called the exploding star.

Spider Web Quilt

Ever since I had looked at Gwen Marston's book Liberated String Quilts I have wanted to make a string quilt. It's taken me a while to settle on the design and color for the quilt. I decided to make a spider web quilt with selvedges and thin fabric strings. This is inspired by this quilt I had seen a while back. For the background I picked cross-hatch in tangerine from Timeless Treasure and decided to go with the octagonal spider web pattern instead. This is just a start.

I have a looooong way to go......................



Linking up to:

Luggage Tags

During the making of the t-shirt quilt we took a short break. My mum is traveling and we got to talking how hard it is to identify your suitcase on the luggage carousel especially if it is black in color. Just about everyone carries a black suitcase. Then my friend suggested we make some luggage tags to help identify the bags easily. This is what she suggested we make.

These are reversible and real easy to make. Don't even need instructions. :) Hardest part is fabric choices.

T-Shirt Quilt

A good friend of mine wanted a t-shirt quilt to commemorate her swimming accolades from high school. She did a lot of ground work and came up with the layout herself. She also did all the prep work and cut up the t-shirts and applied interfacing to each piece.

This is where I came in. I helped her sew it together. I take no credit for how it looks and it looks great. Can you believe it is her first quilt? The interfacing made it really easy to handle while sewing and the seams do bind well when ironed.

This is still a WIP. We have agreed to utilize some more of her t-shirts and make it a bit wider.

It's my first collaborative t-shirt quilt and has been a lot of fun making. Hope to finish it soon.

On another note I got myself a new Olfa cutting mat and rotary cutter after the debacle a few weeks ago where I cut through the mat itself. The quality of this mat seems much better.

A new quilt project

I have not embarked on a proper quilt project since the flying geese quilt was completed last October. I have been itching to work on a large quilt that requires measuring, precision cutting and accurate piecing.

A fat quarter bundle of 'Hometown' by Sweetwater was sitting around since early last year. The colors always reminded me of 'Old Glory'. So decided to make a quilt using the Sawtooth Star quilt pattern from Elizabeth Hartman's book The Practical Guide to Patchwork: New Basics for the Modern Quiltmaker, 12 Quilt Projects. Of all the traditional block patterns this one is my favorite. I had even given the block a trial run early last year. I must really like this book, this is the second quilt I would have made from this book.

I have started to cut the pieces for the blocks. 64 blocks required. This quilt will measure 96 x 96 inches when finished. The largest quilt I have made so far. I am using Kona bone as the solid. The Moda solid in ivory included in the fat quarter bundle would have been ideal but I cannot find it anymore and the Kona bone is a very close match. Almost identical.

I am really excited about this project....off to more cutting and piecing.