Another Week-end Update!

It's been a beautiful fall week-end here in Nova Scotia. And I spent the bulk of it in the studio. Few things make me happier... unless you include activities, even housework, in Hawaii. Hawaii always makes me happier!

This week-end, I was inspired by Dominique over at the Running Thimble. She made a lovely girly toddler quilt just because she felt like it. Looking at some of the fabrics that arrived in my Hawthorne Threads Fresh Scrap Pack, I decided to follow her lead.
I also copied Dominique (imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?) and kept it sweet and simple. Just some 4½ inch squares, easy and fun to sew together. I started with the idea that it would be 40 by 60 inches, but scaled it back once I started cutting. My inspiration fabric was the floral with the roses... hence the inclusion of the red. It made me uneasy given the greens I'd chosen, but I think it worked out in the end.

It came together quickly. I sewed pairs, then fours, then groups of eight. I used this method on one of my first Thousand Pyramid quilts and it's stayed with me ever since. Since I wanted it to be 9 blocks wide, I made sure to save enough single blocks to finish off all 14 of my rows. Then I decided that 36 by 56 just looked odd and opted to remove the last two rows. Here you get a close up shot of my sneaky rotary cutter as seam ripper method. Probably not the safest use of a cutter, but it's quick!

 

Here she is all sewn together!

And the back... I re-purposed the two rows I cut off into part of the backing. The chevron piece is from my Scrap Pack and the two blues are from the stash. Isn't it great to use up fabric that's been kicking around for a while?

 

I likely would have quilted it today, but I'm short on batting. Oh well.. guess I'll have to make another trip to my local fabric store! ☺ Since I couldn't quilt my Sweet and Simple quilt, I got my Double Irish Chain Redux layered and got stitchin'. Here's the backing... pieced from leftovers.

It's straight line quilting on the diagonal again, my friends. I am indeed a creature of habit! Don't you love how this quilt coordinates with my machine?

The quilting only took a couple hours and now it's bound (in stripe-y happiness) and ready to be stitched while watching my Sunday night guilty pleasure. Feel free to leave a comment with your guess!

Given that the cat is away, this mouse just kept playing! I've been waffling about getting started on my Toes in the Sand sampler, but I dove in with a vengeance this afternoon. First, the fabric stack. Clearly, I do not have enough fabric to get started on this. ☺

 

This is my first time using such a funky ruler. It's well marked and made cutting the triangles really easy. Helps that the ruler inventor and pattern designer are one in the same.

 Block 1 - Baker Beach

Block 2 - Santa Barbara

Block 3 - Venice Beach

Before the flurry of questions begins, the pattern designer is from California and named the blocks for beaches along the California coast. I thought about renaming them, but thought I'd spend my time quilting rather than dreaming of summer days on Nova Scotia beaches. Next up - Sonoma Coast and it's partial seams!

Phew! Now that I look at it, that's a lot of quilting for a couple days! Time to heat up some planned overs and relax for a bit!

And I am outta here!

J