Once again, I spent about a week thinking about this border before I finally settled on a design. I had hoped to do an appliquéd border this time to balance all the pieces in the log cabin blocks, but I’m not that great at appliqué, and a star shape seemed too challenging. To make the stars…
At the beginning of 2016 I made a resolution — No New Quilts! I’m sure many of you will not be surprised to hear that things did not work out quite as I’d planned, just like most, if not all, of my previous new year’s resolutions. However, even though I am currently working on two new quilts (basket medallion and…
I freaked out when I read the theme for this border. I couldn’t imagine how I was going to make log cabin blocks when the vintage scraps I selected for this project are all small squares and triangles, with only a few larger pieces, and No Strips! Then I remembered the good old pineapple block with its…
In an earlier post, I explained why this border was inspired by my childhood . . . “I grew up in the 1950s in a small town in Oklahoma. We lived in an old neighborhood of modest homes, where there were no fences and children were free to play wherever they wanted (with a few…
The prompt for the first border on our Gwen Marston inspired quilt is “childhood.” I had to think long and hard to come up with something that both reminded me of my childhood, and would go with my already completed center basket and the scraps I’d selected. I grew up in the 1950s in a small…
The denim quilt is moving forward slowly, because I’m working on 4 projects at once. They’re all very different, though, which is nice when I want a break from sewing through denim. It took way longer than I thought to match up each appliquéd block with a back. If I were only using one color of…
Lori, Wendy, Cynthia, Cathy and Katy are hosting this quilt-a-long inspired by Gwen Marston’s work, and I am excited to join in. I especially love the liberated element of this project, because I’m sure the quilts will all be very different. It’s not too late to join in — just visit Lori’s site (Humble Quilts) for details. I…
I’m relieved that the creative part of this project is over, because I seriously could not think up one more design. There’s a replacement sun in this group — you might remember that I already made one, but my daughter nixed it. I have one more square to make, but it will be the quilt label, and I’ll probably…
This is the doll quilt I am making for Lori’s (Humble Quilts) annual swap — the completed top can be found in an earlier post. When I’m creating a doll-sized quilt, the most important thing for me is scale — in the design, prints, and quilting. Although I know it’s practically impossible to make a doll…
Every other project had to be put on hold so I could start my doll quilt for Lori’s annual swap, which is something I look forward to every year. I copied the “Old Italian Block” pattern from an antique quilt sold on ebay last year, and I have since realized this is a pretty popular pattern, with lots…
Thank you to everyone who helped me come up with ideas for these squares. There are quite a few designs in this batch that were suggested by readers, and there is just one more group left to stitch. My husband is relieved that the design part is over, because I might have been driving him a little crazy.…
I hope those of you who were fans of the original quilt top will not be disappointed that I ended up changing it a bit. In the process of pressing the top to prep for quilting, I realized it was never going to be flat enough to stitch. I also discovered, upon closer inspection, that the top did…
Yay! The denim squares are back. 121 are finished, 13 are prepped (mostly the rest of the alphabet), and there are 30 more to design. I’m having a mental block coming up with new ideas, but am hoping for a breakthrough very soon. It’ll be exciting to move on to the next phase of this project —…
Yawn . . . time for more denim squares, and this is the interesting part. Just wait until I start showing you how each of them look with their black crocheted edging 🙂 This week I am adding another feature — Free Pattern Friday. I received a large bed scanner for Christmas, and now it’s much easier to…
First of all, thank you so much for all your nice comments on this project. It was so fun to read your suggestions, some of which I have finished in time for this post (airstream, cup, ice cream cone, gingerbread man, cactus). A few of the suggestions might not happen because they require a shape…
