WIP Wednesday (on Thursday)

Popping in to upload some pictures of a New York Beauty block I made recently. I am very excited with how it turned out. I paper pieced it using templates from here. I am not the quickest paper-piecer...but the block did go together smoothly. I didn't have any trouble with the curved seams and they ironed down beautifully.

If you haven't tried a New York Beauty block, I highly recommend it at least once! If nothing else, you will get a great, unique pillow or mini quilt out of it. I am using the one I made as the center of a quilt I will be working on this year. My friend and I will be each making a center block for a quilt and then switching each month to add to each other's quilt. Like a two-person travelling quilt. :) We have done this once before, years ago. And, as much as I do dig the first experiment, I am excited to do it again as our piecing has improved greatly and our taste in fabric changed quite a bit.

I am also plugging away on my scrap/orphan block quilt. I finished piecing the top and back and finally sandwiched it together yesterday. I pinned it every 6 inches or so, as I was out of spray baste. I decided to hand quilt it using a basic running stitch and probably some tying. Here is a (bad) photo of it laid out on my kitchen floor. It will measure about 68x92 when finished. A very generous and cozy couch quilt for our long, cold Maine winters. I will say though...I am totally in love with it! 

And finally, a little 'Throwback Thursday' action...here is a (really bad) photo of the round robin quilt I mentioned up in the second paragraph. I really need to try and get a good photo this summer. This one was taken quickly on a cold and windy day in February 2013. Though the top had actually been finished for years, I only completed the sandwiching and quilting last winter. The theme was Mexican Day of the Dead, as I have always been drawn to the colors and imagery of that holiday.

Thanks for popping in! Have a great day!

throwback thursday

Hi! Sorry I have been away from this blog for awhile. Trying to get some projects finished. I will definitely be back next week with some finishes! Yay!

For now, here is a picture of me (shorty with those big red bangs) and one of my older sisters, circa 1978.)

Thanks for stopping in! Have a great day!

throwback thursday

I thought it would be fun to post some pictures of my first few quilts.

I started quilting about 8 or 9 years ago. I already knew how to sew...curtains, crafty bits, and clothes, but I hadn't gotten into quilting until a friend at work got me interested. I am so glad she did! She provided encouragement and the basics and a new quilter was created!

My first three quilts were Christmas presents for different friends. You will have to excuse the photos...photography wasn't as important back then and these were photographed quickly, so I would have a record of them before I gave them to my friends.

This first quilt was named "Pinwheels of the Damned"...partly because the friends receiving it are Goth and partly because the fabric used was a cool Dia de los Muertos/sugar skulls pattern. It was quilted with a combination of running stitch and hand tying. I used the "quick turn" method for finishing (in stead of using a binding to finish it off).

The next quilt was a gift for another couple and was called "Spider Sushi Yum Yum!". It was named that because the main fabrics in the quilt are either of spiders (she loves them and owns a tarantula) or sushi (he is vegetarian and one of his specialties is making sushi). It was done in the Winning Hand Block and has an "Asian" feel to it. It was quilted with a combination of running stitch and hand tying. I used the "quick turn" method for finishing (in stead of using a binding to finish it off).

The third quilt was a lot of fun to make, with all the different fabrics. It was called "Bento Box of Happy" and was made with the Bento Box Block. It was quilted with a combination of running stitch and hand tying. I used the "quick turn" method for finishing (in stead of using a binding to finish it off). I love the fabrics I used in the borders (I still have a tiny bit of each one in my scraps box.)! The lingerie and bobby pins fabric were found first and served as the inspirations for the quilt--wanting something fun and feminine for the friend it was made for.

Thanks so much for stopping in and reading about my quilting firsts! Have a great day!