Design Wall Monday...
These pics are of the back of the quilt in my last post. I thought it turned out pretty good!



This week I have been working on this quilt. The pattern came in the mail and is called Scrappy Friendship. The idea is that you trade light and dark squares with your friends. I just used what I had in may stash. I added extra rows of white square in between the zigzags because I plan to applique a floral vine in the white space. I have not bought anything for this quilt so far; it has all come from my stash. I also have enough to make another quilt without the extra white squares and applique.

Design Wall Monday... er.. Wednesday..

Ok, I really did mean to post this on Monday. When that didn't happen I was going to post yesterday, Tuesday, but the last 3 or 4 days when I sit down in the evening to post I have no, or very sporadic, internet connection. So it didn't get posted. :( Anyway this is what has been on by design wall.
The fabric is Cosmos, I believe, but I cannot remember by who. I love this fabric and thought it would be good to practice machine quilting a panto. I made it bigger by adding a 1 1/2 inch dark border and the pinwheels. I have a sheet the same color as the inner border to back it with. I will bind it with the dark inner border fabric. The first picture is the one I intended to post LAST Monday :) the second one is the completed top, ready to quilt. Which may be awhile because....

I mentioned to a friend at work this winter that I was needing a lot of practice with my quilting machine (Mega Quilter/New Generation frame). She happened to mention this to her MIL. She has been sending me tops to practice on. Doesn't care that the stitching isn't perfect. Now her friend is sending me tops as well. I am not complaining and am very happy with the improvement I am seeing in my stitching. On this last one I got brave enough to try a pantograph. Previously I had been doing loops and stars or stippling. I have gotten fairly good at those and was ready to try something new. They both have seemed very happy with what I am doing. They are allowing me to choose thread color and the quilting design.

I think I figured it out!!

How to add more than one photo, that is!
The first picture is a quilt that I have been working on for several years. It is for a friend and co-worker. It is a Quiltmaker pattern, but I can't remember the name of it. I call it the Monster Quilt - it measures 120" square. I am hand quilting it in my Q-snap frame. Every time I need to move it to an unquilted area I tell my husband it is time for the wrestling match! It is a little heavy and hard to hand because it is just so big! But, I do like it and am looking forward to having it completely finished. Soon, really, I don't have that much more to do, then have to add a prairie point border.

I am showing another pic of my sewing area with the cabinet open. It needs some re-organization, but I can open it up and easily see what is in there. I have projects waiting their turn stacked in there and can just open the doors and pull one out.





Below, the pink and green quilt was made by someone else. She is letting me improve my machine quilting skills on her quilts! I am being compensated for my time as well. Works well for both of us. I have quilted 2 quilts for her so far.

The quilt in the middle I have shown on here before. I ended up with a thin purple border and then a border of leftover 2 1/2" squares. It was donated to the school carnival. I love the scrappy look of this quilt and will probably make another one.

The last quilt is Hawaiian Star by Judy Niemeyer. I have been working on it for several years, too. The piecing is finished and the paper has been removed. Now I need to quilt it. That may take several more years. :)

Design Wall Monday, continued...

For some reason I am not able to put more than 1 photo in my posts today. Probably just because I don't really know what I am doing with this blogging thing! I do it so infrequently...
Anyway, here is a pic of my sewing center and design wall. I have partly finished projects, fabric, notions, beads, etc. in the top and the bottom of the cabinet. To the right are 2 stacked square cubes. One is made to hold the Super Satchel boxes (Keepsake Quilting), the other came from Lowe's I think and hold small drawers filled with buttons. On top of that is a shoe cubby. Perfect for holding fat quarters and other things. It all works well together to help me stay organized and keep things close at hand.

Design Wall Monday

My design wall today looks like this....
The pattern is TUCKER by Carol Morrissey. I am making this into a roman shade for my kitchen window which faces west. I need something to block that late afternoon/early evening sun. And, I love roosters!
My wall is an old office divider. My husband got it and another one when the place he worked closed 15 years ago. They are covered with fabric and work great. Blocks stick pretty well and I can also stick pins in without hurting anything. This one is leaned up against a wall and slides back a little between the wall and my hoosier cabinet which has been turned into a sewing center.

More Scrap-Happy

Here is another scrappy quilt I am working on - Scrappy Friendship. The instructions came with a magazine subscription offer. I am really liking using up all these scraps! I made at least 260 half square triangle units. The stack is over 6 inches high, trimmed to 5 1/2 inches square. Now to decide how to lay them out - streak of lightening, pinwheel, barn raising? The picture shows the pinwheel layout.

I had a pretty exciting weekend, although not related to quilting. My son is a wheelchair basketball player. His team competed in a tournament this weekend and he made FOUR baskets!! He has made baskets in practice, but this is the first time in a game. Way to go!!

Scrap-happy

What's on my design wall right now... is Four Patch Ladder. It is from Quilters Cache. I have not bought any fabric for this quilt so far, and I don't think I will need to. I am trying to decide on a thin border - purple, teal greenish, or dark red. I think I may add another border of 4 patches after that. I would like this quilt to be a little bigger, plus it would be nice to use up some more stash! I have also busted several partially used spools of thread in neutral colors working on this quilt.