Carolyn Forster's Quilting-On-The-Go

Well, certain projects stalled this week:

My ‘Cheddars ‘ are still on the design board. (Sorry Lori, I know others have finished and quilted theirs!), but other things got put on top of them!

It seemed a quicker option to see what this block looked like made up:

than complete the ‘Cheddars’ , and all because I read on someone else’s post that the little quilt (24″x 24″) has 500 pieces in it when finished! Gulp! Mind you, they had finished, and quilted theirs, so they had a moment to count them!

I did finish this top though:

It is a version of the ‘Japanese Stars and Lanterns’ pattern that I have coming out at the end of the month. This one is made from Makowers Flowers, and has really been a breath of sunshine on yet more grey and drab days here.

I have also been enjoying Kathies post about the Amish quilt book. What caught my eye on the website for the publishers was their selection of cards, and this in particular:

Now isn’t that a quilt waiting to be sewn?

There is lots going on here in the sewing room ( well, isn’t there in everyones, I hear you say?) So here is what I have done this week:

The Ninepatch Pinwheels have gone together to give a nice fresh spring like quilt. Although the weather here is set for  a bit more snow I have seen spring like tips of daffodils peeking through the grass.

If you are in need of a bit of quilting inspiration and the company of other quilters coming out of hiberation, then come along to the quilt show a Ardingly  29th to 31st January to see some quilts and shop. Come and Say ‘Hi!’ to me as I will be there too!

Or if you want something to look forward to later in the year I am teaching in France in September. Doesn’t the thought of some warm sun, being catered for all week and some sewing just appeal right now!

I made this little block this week and although I love it, the colours are what I am seeing in the sky right now. It would be nice if the sun came through, just to remind us what it looked like!

If you want to see some colour, go over to Sarah London. I just want to crochet everything I see on her site! Because it’s not like I have anything to sew around here!!

Well, we are sort of getting used to the snow. Apart from the obvious inconveniences that people are facing, I still quite like the snow! I know some people are experiencing difficulties with getting along with daily lives, but I have to confess that we are lucky in where we live as I can walk to most places, and I can work from home. So apart from the feeding (constantly) and entertaining of my son, and trying to encourage a bit of home study (as the school suggested!), I have sewn. A Lot.And ordered fabric. And ordered a book.

The book was the new one by Keiko Goke, and as Amy suggested I got it from Yes Asia, which worked very quickly. So I am being inspired by Keiko’s beautiful work each night as I read it in bed! (And I ordered some of her fabric from Glorious Colour which is on its way, but I see she has a second line out now, so I need to keep my eyes open for that too!)

I finished putting this quilt together:

I miss calculated the number of hexagons that I needed for the size of quilt I wanted to make, (by about 100! Wah!!) So I figured turning one into a pincushion wouldn’t hurt:

And I quite liked the look of the quilt, ‘Road to California’ (page 61) in the book ‘Treasures in the Trunk’, so I made one of the blocks to see how it looked:

I am pretty happy with it, so I feel a quilt coming on……eventually, so don’t hold your breath! Sadly unlike Victoria over at Bumblebeans, I don’t seem to find that blogging about it makes me more likely to sew it!

Although I am now hand quilting the giant Hexagon Flower garden quilt that was in a post or two back! So I have a nice cosy quilt to sit under as I quilt it in the chilly evenings! Bring on the hot chocolate!

Well, we are getting back to normal here after the Christmas and the New Year holidays.

I managed to squeeze in some stitching, but first let me tell you that Lori is having a quilt-along over at her site. It is a Dolly Quilt called Cheddar  and Crackers. It is based on an antique quilt which I loved, that she had as her header sometime last year. I figured that I would join in as 1)I have never done a Quilt-along and, 2) I have never made a Dolly Quilt. So two new things for me in 2010! This is how far along I am  with it:

I think I have a chance of completing this as it is little, but I must now get out my design board so I can plan my layout.

One of the quilts that I put together (I had started it earlier in 2009),over the holiday was this Star Quilt.

I really liked the idea of grouping the four stars together as a block, and then adding wide sashing. I like  the top, but I think if I do another in this setting, I will use wider sashing to separate the four star blocks. I was not quite brave enough this time! I have also sewn all of the Ninepatch Pinwheels together now, but then got distracted by a hexagon top:

This is a follow on from my Hexagon themed tops I am making. (Yes, the Kaliedoscope Hexagons, are all complete, and some are sewn into rows already!)

So I don’t feel that I have left 2009 with too many incomplete quilts…. I have finished almost as many as I have started for 2010!