Quilting on Christmas quilt is completed

So just in time for the ice skating to begin, I have finished the quilting on my Christmas quilt.  in case you are following this quilt for finishing instructions.  I have sashed the blocks made here with a 2 1/2" Kona snow fabric.  The outside border was cut 6 1/2".  I chose to quilt it like this.

Here are a couple of pics as I took it off of the frame.

Maybe it is me, but don't you think they look like Christmas packages all lined up in rows?

Last night my stitchin' group got together.  I made good progress on my other top for the Olympic challenge.  I am right on track now to finish the binding on this one and the top complete on the other one.  I have until Sunday's closing ceremonies, so all is good.  Time to settle in for the evening and some women's figure skating.

Let's talk numbers

So Friday night I started cutting out squares, I have been sewing squares on and off all weekend.

  Last night while watching the USA (WOOHOO) /Canada in hockey game, I got out my calculator and pencil.  It was time to do some figuring.  If I want to make this quilt queen size how many squares would I need?  the answer 1548 total. 774 white, means 56 -3" strips or 4 2/3 yards of fabric exactly with NO cutting errors.  774 colored squares, I happen to have those little plastic baggies I picked up from the Fabri-quilt   booth at the Minnesota Quilt show in a couple different years.  There happens to be about 223 squares in those bags.  That means I have to come up with another 551 - 3" squares from my stash, very doable with my stash. 

 I am really liking the clearness (or brightness not really sure of the correct term to use)of the colors in these squares.  Most of my stash is countrified (is tha a word?), you know what I mean, Thimbleberries, Kansas Trouble Quilters eg.  So that means I will have to do more digging for those clear colors but the scrappy feel of only having a few of each fabric in the quilt is possible.

Having figured that all out, wouldn't it make more sense to just make a baby quilt since I would only need 432 squares total.  I already would have enough colored squares cut, so that would mean only cutting the white fabric.  A baby quilt doesn't go very far to help bust my stash though.  It certainly would be faster to finish though.  The mental argument continued until I looked at the squares alittle differently.

I really like the looks of these squares on point. 

So what are your thoughts, queen, baby, straight set, on points or something all together different.  I would love to here your thoughts.

Friday Night Sew In

Not much to report I only got some squares cut

So I got a few white squares cut.  I was ready to sew, the phone rang, it was a friend I hadn't talked to in ages.  One hour later and too many late nights watching the olympics this week and I was ready for bed.  So today I will be sewing the squares. 

So to Heidi, thank-you for hosting this.

#213 and #219, getting distracted again

So, I volunteered to make a doll quilt.  I knew I already had a top in a tote all ready to quilt.  I couldn't find it, but came across these "4 patch, checkerboard" blocks that are #213 and #219 in the book. 

 I put them together  into this doll quilt.

I used a fat quarter for the backing.

Oh, the color just looks so faded out, sorry, still too much snow to take pictures outside.

The bolt of white fabric is a cotton/bamboo blend.

I bought at joann's with a coupon, they were out of the kona snow.  I neglected to read the label before I bought it.

Can you see it says to use a cool iron.  WHAT QUILTER USES A COOL IRON???????  I did a test on a small swatch with a hot iron so I could return it if I needed to.  Well I was happy to find it held up to the heat.  This little doll quilt will be given away so I don't have time to wash it.  I think I will make myself some pot holders so I can wash them and see how they hold up to laundering.  For right now I am happy with my purchase.  I will keep you updated with further tests.

I am off to get ready to go out and have supper with DH and then I am home to sew for the Friday night sew in that Heidi is hosting tonight.  Maybe that will help me get back on track with Pat's olympic challenge.

Inspiration comes in small packages

Moda Scrap bags!
I came across this scrap of minkee

It was a left over from the back of a baby quilt.  So as winter is still far from over and I could use a great scarf.  I hunted through my Moda Scrap bags and found this one.

It is the collection for a cause.  It matched well enough for me.  Some cutting, piecing, pressing, and now I have this new scarf.

So now that I have played hooky from my Olympic challenge projects, I had better get back to them.  I am about half way through quilting the Christmas quilt.  Holly, ribbons, berries, swirls and Christmas ball ornaments all free hand.  Here is a sneak peak.

Olympic analogy to quilting design

Ok, so I was watching the skaters last night and thought I could compare yesterdays quilting design prep to them. With my Christmas quilt loaded and ready for quilting (one of my two Sloanie Olympics challenge) I started to map out my program. Much as the skaters prepare their programs they perform, a quilter will audition her moves like I did. I could just go with a plain meander, it would do the job, but it would lack the sparkle the judges would be looking for. So like the skaters takes cues from their music, I took cues from the fabric. Holly leaves, snow flakes, ribbon, ribbon candy and Glass Christmas balls are all a possibility. I had planned on showing you these pictures that I am sharing with you and asking for suggestions. However this morning I woke to a light fluffy Christmas kind of snow and inspiration took over. I will share those choices in a later post. So today do as I am and enjoy that second cuppa while sharing my Olympic progress with you all.

In case anyone else played hooky from the Olympics yesterday to watch the Daytona 500, I want to send my congrats out to Jamie McMurray and GER on their win. It was an exciting race when it was running, and while it was on red flags I was able to start another project using a Moda Scrap bag to share with you soon.  Ok I can't get the pictures where I want them but they are all here so you will just have to look at them where they are.

Doing the happy dance here

I just found out that I was the lucky winner of this blog giveaway.  I just had to share.  It turned a crappy day in to a happy day.

It's not always in the last place I look

Usually when something is missing around here, I don't find it until I start searching for something else.  This was the case with my camera and this

One of the large reasons for my lack of blogging here is because this book was MIA.  While looking for my One Block Wonder book I found it and the missing camera.  The OBW book is still MIA.



So now I can get back to some blogging about the 1000 patterns.  First I want to finish up the Christmas quilt I wsas posting about previously.  Well Pat is having a challenge durring the olympic to finish a UFO. Well I am in for these two.

On the left is a project I am making with charms and turnovers.  On the right is the Christmas quilt mage from the jelly roll and some yardage.





So hopefully with the book and the camera now safely in my possesion, there will be some better and newer content to look at here.