in the works…

I started making some blocks last winter while snowbirding on Saint Simon’s Island (gorgeous place, I highly recommend it- just north of the Florida border). Then they got “filed away” when I got back. While doing a major clean up I re-discovered them, and have made a few more blocks. Here is what I have so far.. although I am not sure what the final arrangement will be! The blocks are not sewn together yet, hence the slightly off kilter look of some of them. Hmmm. this would make a nice “modern version of the block. Maybe I’ll make a few off-kilter blocks for the back?
I was at Country Clothesline / Fabric Spark with Shirley and Jane, doing a pop-up to promote our upcoming Quilts at the Creek quilt show and celebrate National Quilting Day yesterday.  Of course when you spend several hours in a quilt shop you cannot- no matter how hard you try!- be drawn to at least one fabric which you must have… this is what I was drawn to:

…and or course some coordinating fabric.
. I am posting this to remind me of this project and think about what I’d like to do with them. But first I MUST work on all those other projects I have in progress or have bought fabric for. Sigh!

A Quilt for Baby

My son and his wife had a baby last May- so exciting to be a grandparent! They had decided they wanted the sex of the baby to be a surprise, so I decided to make two quilts.

One is a soft floral done in a traditional hourglass design. The fabric colour choice started out being out of my comfort zone, but I knew that my DIL loved these soft florals- and check out the fabric used on the back. I have come to love these softer tones too, and they will be included in future quilts for sure! You can see it has already been used and loved, so surprise! I have a lovely granddaughter, Charlotte Rose.
The other quilt I made was in blues- lots of blues! This made using the tumbling block pattern, but modified for ease of sewing. The white blocks are actually two separate blocks, which allows you to sew the quilt together in rows.. easier to see in the close ups. I had been saving the circus fabric for a special place, and the back of this quilt was it. Perfect!

Just a photo

My sister and her husband are spending 6 weeks wandering around Portugal.. we have been facetiming every few days, and she has held her iPad up to show me where she is staying, what she is eating, etc. But today, she sent me the coolest photo, which I must share with you.. worth the trip to Portugal just to see these boats!

A Little Improv

I am a member of the Toronto Modern Quilt Guild, and in June we had a president’s challenge. We were paired up with another member, and each drew a coloured crayon. We got lime green and blue, and we decided to each make a block with our chosen colour, and then swap. Sue and I made the swap a month ago, and I have been staring at that block for a month with quilter’s block. The kind when you have no idea what you want to make. We have our next meeting tomorrow, so this morning I finally decided to get busy with it. I did lots of improv piecing, and incorporated her colours into my border as well as the blue of my crayon. Improv sounds way easier that it is! This is the result.. hopefully she likes it!

I am entering this quilt top in the Bloggers Quilt Festival..

Quilt show over

Every year a small group of us organize Quilts at the Creek, an outdoor quilt show held at Black Creek Pioneer Village in Toronto. Check out the photos from this year’s show here.

Here are the quilts I entered in the show:

This was a fun show, and I need to spend some time thinking about what I want to do for next year’s show. The theme: BIG and/or small. Stay tuned!