I was looking back through my blog and realised that I never took a photo of the  Ohio Star top that I finished last year. This isn't a great picture but you can see how the border turned out. (Excuse my dopey dog in the bottom of the frame) Once I'd figured out what to do in the borders it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience; in fact I could start making those little blocks all over again I loved them so much. I have no doubt there will be other Ohio Star quilts in my future.

I actually have about thirty blocks made for a green and cream quilt but that setting is a lot more complicated and I'm not looking forward to nutting out the final decisions for that one just yet.

 I've decided to make Bonnie's Scrappy Mountain Majesties, so I'm busy cutting and stitching that at the moment. It's not a pattern I'd planned to do, but it looks like fun, so why not?

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 I'm really pleased with this finish. I loved making the blocks, working out the setting, sewing it together and making the borders look exactly as I saw them in my mind's eye.

 The only real problem I ran into was not having enough of the sashing fabric, which stumped me for quite a while. I only possessed  half a metre to start with, (of course bought years and years ago) then Keryn found another half metre and after much searching I discovered two other fabrics that I could place in a way that balanced the setting. I don't usually bother so much but I wanted this top not to have any jarring irregularities if I could help it.

Sometimes it would be helpful to make a top with newish fabric that is still available somewhere in the known world, instead of scratching through piles of twenty year old stuff that you hope is still in your sister's stash as well. But that seems to be the way we operate sometimes.

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 My first finish for 2016 is the nine patch on point blocks, and I'm so pleased to have this done. I didn't spend ages agonising over the border fabric, which is somewhat unusual for me. I chose the floral as I was making the blocks and the others occurred to me soon after- I love making definite decisions and not dithering around  unable to make up my mind. This is such an unusual state of affairs that  I actually found myself thinking "Perhaps I should just try some other fabrics...." but I managed to ignore that piece of insanity.

I cut the plaid border along the actual printed lines, which took some time as it was a little bit crooked, and then carefully matched the print when I joined the strips. This  wasted some fabric in between the repeats, but I really wanted to have this effect around the main part of the top.

When I was pressing the dark brown print I realised that it too had a zigzag motif in the background- I hadn't even noticed it until then.

Unfortunately I haven't got a photo of it hanging up yet, I plan to go to the hall later on and I'll see if I can get a decent shot then. The top has grown to be quite large and won't fit on my design wall here.

Now I can sort out all the bits and pieces left over from this project, clear the tables, and on to the next finish!

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 Years ago I started making 3" finished nine patches, and amassed hundreds of them because they were so addictive I couldn't seem to stop. I sewed them in sets of four or five, thinking I could make another double nine patch, but while I was going through my folder of ideas I came across this configuration.

I'd had in mind the colour scheme of this antique quilt anyway, so I used those colours to make the nine patch blocks.( But I still want to reproduce this old quilt, how many can I make?)

I happily sewed a pile of blocks, but one thing and another got in the way, and soon they were relegated to the background, even though I loved them.

Late last year I pulled them out and decided to move them further along, but how to set them ? I didn't mind them straight,

but I do love on point settings. Add some more nine patches in the corner posts...I like it even more!

I've finished setting them together and have the borders chosen, so I should have a finished top soon. It's so exciting when a long term project nears completion, these blocks have sat around for nearly five years and it will be great to see that project box empty.

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I seem to have acquired a small stash of bright fabric, most of it given to me in various scrap bags over the years, or offcuts from customer backings. I never buy this type of material, it's just not my thing, but nevertheless, I have to find some ways to use it up. It's not that I don't admire all the lovely bright designs I see, but if I have a limited budget for my fabric I won't buy anything I don't really want in the stash.

When I was making Broken Dishes blocks last year I thought I might make some bright 3" HST,
and then  like Lori in this post, I stumbled on the same  photo, from  http://craizeecorner.blogspot.com/p/2012-quilts-finished.html

 Yep, this quilt looked pretty good, so that became my plan. I haven't got much further than making a heap of blocks, but I hope to have this done soon as the first top of 2016.

Is it strange to be amused by the dog ears  cut off the triangles, sitting  in my tin and looking cheerful? Normally it's full of duller reproductions that are quite drab by comparison with these little sparkly bits. It's been fun to work with these colours and it hasn't used up all of them- I think there may be a few more little tops lurking in my future.

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The end of 2015 was exhausting and it's taken me until now to feel faintly normal again. There seemed to be a lot more hustle and bustle this year, and unfortunately some of it wasn't very enjoyable.

Totally wonderful though, was a trip to welcome the latest grandson, Edmund Duncan, born on 17th Dec. He's a beautiful boy and because the family left on an interstate holiday about four days after he was born I've only seen photos of him since then. When they get back I plan to spend more time with this little chap, and his proud big brothers.

Apparently they thought of calling him Ted as a nickname, but he's quickly become Eddy- I think that's pretty cute!

I've been  sewing despite  the kerfuffle that was Christmas, so I have a few projects to show you when I get my photos sorted out. I hope everyone has a great 2016, and I'm ready to get down to some serious piecing in the coming weeks. I love January in the sewing room with the AC on!

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