Where did the Weekend Go?

How did it get to be the end of Tuesday already?! It is school vacation week, so we went away for a few days. Geesh, time flies when you are having fun. I didn't do any quilting over the weekend, but I did bring my current cross stitching project. It was so nice to spend time working on this Shepherd's Bush Sail Away pattern. It is so relaxing to quietly stitch. Here is snapshot of what I have gotten done so far. The picture isn't great, I need to work on low light photos. Have a great few days.

Batik Challenge Update #4

Wow, I have a lot to show you! I have sewed my Chocolate Truffle (aka Murky Pond) top for the Batik Challenge, wohoo. I had this laid out on my design wall for the last week. Just about every time I went by my sewing room, I rearranged a few of the blocks. I finally decided that the only way to stop this obsessive behavior was to sew to top together. Done. I am very please with the results too. I don't think the colors show completely true in my photos (I am sure this has to do with the camera operator-me). The colors look richer in person than I seem to be able to capture. So....here is the top sewn together.

Now that the batik top is done, I can put some other items on my design wall. Yipee. I have been working on Wonky Stars for the Bushfire Quilt Project. These will be sent to Australia to try to provide some comfort and support for the many victims of the wildfires of the last few weeks. These blocks were a lot of fun to make, and I really hope that they can in some small way provide some comfort to someone who needs it.

As you can see, I had fun with the colors for these blocks.

A few caribbean blues/teals/purples-
A few sunny orange and yellow-

A few soft greens/and various pastels. I really love the centers of both of these.

And then one with a butterfly and aqua and one with purples/raspberry (Chocolate Truffle scraps!)

And finally, so happy flowers/red. I love these. I am going to see if I have more of these scraps, this could be a really nice quilt.

No I will get these in the mail to Austrailia to be assembled with all the others.

Have a great few days!

Batik Challenge Update #3

I got into a good sewing groove this weekend. I had the remainder of my Murky Pond (aka Chocolate Truffles) blocks sorted and ready to go. I was able to steal some time on both Saturday and Sunday this weekend, very nice.
Here all all 48 blocks on my new design wall! This pattern is a lot of fun and goes up very quickly. I thought I would put these up so I can keep rearranging the colors and light vs. dark blocks throughout the week. This is a snapshot of the blocks on Sunday morning, and yes I have moved them around just about each time I walk by.
The next mystery quilt that I am signed up for starts on Saturday, so I thought I needed to keep plugging away on this one.

Goodnight quilty friends.

The Bushfire Quilt Project

Like so many people, today I was feeling like I wish there was something I could do for the folks in Australia dealing with devastating fires. What can I possibly do a half a world away? Then I found this information posted on Quilt Dad's blog.

There is a new Flickr group that has been set up by Tia (CampFollowerBagLady). The Flickr group is called the Bushfire Quilt Project. Basically, Tia is asking for donated quilt blocks that are stars on white (you can see the details at the Flickr group). Donate the blocks to Tia and she will turn them into quilts for those who are suffering "so they can wrap themselves in our love and prayers as they return and rebuild". Seems like a small gesture to aid those in such need.

Another Block of the Month

One of my projects that is in my Projects in Progress list is Tokyo's Triangles. This quilt is made with all flying geese blocks. How is that for bitting off more than I can chew. Oh well, I always am more productive when presented with a challenge. I want to do this with only stash fabric, at least for the goose part of the block. Anyway, the reason for the post is if you wander over to the Twiddletails blog you can see a layout of her version of this quilt called "Geese in the Forest". To get even better, each month there will be a free pattern for a different piece of this quilt on the blog! Don't forget to check out her tutorial on freezer paper piecing.

Tomorrow is the monthly guild meeting, wonder what show and tell will be like.....

Have a great night quilty friends!

Batik Update #2

I had some handyman assistance in my sewing room this weekend. Mr. QGM hung up a new curtain rod for me so I could have a design wall. Believe it or not, after over 15 years of quilting, this is the first time I have ever had a design wall. Yipee!

It took me no time to put this to use. I LOVE my new design space. Since the sewing room is also our guest room, now I can have a quilt hanging when we have company.

As you can see the design space is getting filled up with my Batik Challenge quilt. I am already half done with my Murky Pond blocks. These are really flying along, I have 24 of the 48 blocks put together. I think I will call my quilt "Chocolate Truffles" rather than Murky Pond. I find myself thinking about chocolate raspberry, strawberries and cream, and chocolate orange while I am sewing these together. My local quilt store was having a Superbowl sale this weekend. I thought it was worth a trip over yesterday. The sale was up to 40% off of all fabric!! I stocked up on some fabric for backings and a few pieces of Kaffe Fassett and Amy Butler. That was yesterday and the sale ran through today. Hmm, while I was laying in bed this morning trying to wake up I thought of a few more reasons that I should make one more trip to the store today. In a few more weeks I start the Spring Mystery quilt so I NEEDED to buy fabric for that. When you sign up for the mystery you have to pick one color from a select list. For this quilt I selected bright blue (like a royal blue). With the vague gidelines I have selected these for the rest of the quilt. All also 40% off! Sweet. This quilt will be for my son when it is done.

Have a great few days quilty friends.