I managed to put together this set of blocks, which have been maturing in their box for quite a few years. I just love sq in sq units and these blocks used heaps of them, so I really enjoyed sewing this. (I have another set of thirty in just blue and cream, but I won't mention them now...)

 I've lost the photo of the antique quilt I based them on, and couldn't remember what the border looked like.

I tried a sort of sq on point border, but it didn't do anything for me, and the top has been sitting on the design wall while I tried out different combinations. I think I've finally decided what to do, and I'll start sewing strips tonight with any luck. Stay tuned...

The other night at John's place he was making us a cup of 'proper' coffee, and when he put the cups on the table we discovered... a line drawing of a bottom

and a sort of mythical creature. He swore he did nothing to make these happen- must be his artistic talent coming out in strange ways.

Read more...

 My Bargain Basement top is quilted and bound and ready to put on the bed. I'm really pleased with how this turned out, and it should hide the pawprints and dog hair very well. I've never made a quilt for quite  those reasons before, but I imagine it won't be the last.

I ended up making it 7 x 8 blocks, and then I found a stash of 9 1/2" squares that I cut in half and used as an edge. I really liked the border in Bonnies book, but I'll only go so far for Pippi, much as I love her. If I'm going to put that much sewing into a border, it's not going to be a dog bed!

I thought using the cut down squares for the border was really nifty, because I didn't have to measure anything, just count the corresponding blocks, and I put a square in each corner to even things out. I didn't have to bother finding yardage big enough for the whole thing and the scrappiness suited this particular top. It's an idea I'll definitely use again.

 I used a new panto of Keryn's to test it out and it made a lovely texture over all the scrappy bits and pieces. I sewed three or four old bits of fabric together for the back- no photo- and got rid of about ten pieces of scrap batting from the workshop. I could probably still make four quilts from the pile of batting offcuts, but at least it's a start. All in all, I used a shedload of scraps of every kind, blocks, strips, backing squares, yardage and batting. Very satisfying.Thanks Pippi!

Read more...