Seconds

here's my 2nd Joseph's coat block all prepped--i'm only halfway done with the 1st block. i figure since it's going to be years before this done, i'll just showed the prepped blocks :-)



and here's the 2nd Beloved quilt. it's going to be made of scraps from the Lakehouse Basket quilt so lots of bright colors with white tonal fabric. i'm working on doing the machine blanket stitch around the letters right now.

Tardy for the Party

yes--i've outed myself as an avid watcher of The Real Housewives--well, "only" Atlanta and NYC (starts tonight!)--as if that makes it less trashy :-)


anyways, the party in question is Don't Look Now's Joseph's Coat Quilt-Along. this quilt is breath-taking but it looks like it'll take years to finish! this Quilt-Along started a few months ago--it took me that long to commit to this quilt--it just looks like sooooo much work (and it is!)



i prepped this first block (only 48 more to go!) at a Arts & Craft morning that my friend organized for our church. it was so much fun to have an uninterrupted 5 hours (!!!) to just work on my quilts. i didn't bring my sewing machine but was able to start prepping this project as well as start work on the 2nd Beloved Quilt.


i'm using a mostly pink palette from my stash and from the newly acquired stash of Kaffe Fassett's (LOVE these fabrics) and am using Kona Coal as the background. i love DLN's white background but since this is my "porta-project," i would think the white would get dirty right quick. it's funny--just a few months ago, i wrote that i never use solids but i'm bowing to peer pressure out in blogland--solids seem to be the new "in" thing with quilters! the idea for using gray as the background came from Mrs. Schenkman --hmmm...can't find that particular post but you should read her whole blog anyway--she does amazing work!


i started stitching the petals down on this block today--the twins had their first gymnastics class (after the first 10 min of being painfully shy--they shook down and took part in everything--they did great! :-) so i was able to do it during their class. i think i have only 4 more "Marbles" to go--that's such a easy & portable project, i almost don't want to finish it so soon.

Porta-Projects

25 of these blocks finished!!! i started these back in July, and they really did go pretty fast. in fact, the last couple of months, i started working on my other big handwork project (Grandma's Pop Garden - May '09) in the car while the twins napped because the dresden plates are more portable.

i decided to set the blocks 5x5 instead of the pattern's 6x4 'cos i think it might be a little more usable (6x4 makes for a longer, skinnier quilt which won't fit on our bed). i still haven't decided if i'm going to applique down the little circles that go in-between each block. lots more work to do--i've gotta cut them all down to the same size (i'm sure they're wonky from all that handwork) and lay them out. i'm thinking of prairie points around the edges. we'll see...


and here's my newest hand project. it's the Marble Champ pattern (i talked about it here). there's 42 of these blocks (i use 21 different fabrics for the circles, so 2 each) and i just finished prepping all of them (that wonky white thread is the basting thread--i like using that for appliquing much better than pins--i always poke myself!). these go really fast--it takes me around 45 min to do one and i was able to finish two blocks at a school meeting :-) i think i've finished 8 already so this shouldn't take too long (famous last word). enough time so that i'll be able to prep for my next big portable project (more on that later...)

UPDATE: i wrote this post back in january and forgot to post it. i haven't done anything more with the Dresden Plates but am almost finished with the Marbles. Also almost finished with Row 8 of the Grandma's Pop Garden--have to admit, i'm getting a little bored with this project, but have 6 more rows to go!