Design Wall Monday August 20, 2012

Here it is, Monday again, and almost the last week in August. How did that happen so fast? Where did the summer go. and why do summers always fly by so much faster than winters? (sigh)
I have a couple of things on my design walls. Avery's Truck quilt is about 3/4 finished, or at least the center of it is. I have a couple of ideas floating around in my head for borders, but they haven't quite jelled yet.
I discovered something about some of the fabrics in the quilt yesterday while I was sewing with them. The truck fabrics are done by someone in Australia. There are signs on the fabric that are warnings for kangaroo crossings. LOL!! We have deer and moose warning signs, but I'd never even thought about kangaroo crossings. So that puts an added layer of fun to these fabrics.
Then the other thing that I've been working on is some of the Great Granny squares.
I'm using the fabrics that I picked up at the fabric party I went to a few weeks ago, plus some of my own that work well with them. They are totally outside the style of fabric I tend to use, as well as outside the colours I usually put together, so it has been a challenge, but also a lot of fun. I'm not sure, at this point, where this is going, or how many of them I will end up with. I think I have 2 more blocks laid out, and ready to sew. They actually go together quite quickly. I am loving the look of the charcoal grey as a background colour. It really make the rest of the colours stand out. I suspect there will be more of this particular colour in my future fabric acquisition.
We have some errands we have to run today, and then I have to get my August UFO finished and of the machine. I have 3 wall hangings for customers that have a deadline for the first week in September. So, I'd best get off the computer and moving, or it will not all get done. I'm linking up, as usual, to Judy's Patchwork Times

A sew in afternoon

Jannette came over on Tuesday afternoon, and we had another sew-in afternoon. It was such a lovely time. We're going to try and make it a regular occurrence. It gave me an opportunity to start sewing the pieces together for Avery's truck quilt.

 It's been a lot of fun working on this one. The piecing is simple, and fast, and the colours are bright and happy. It won't be ready to take up with us on Sunday, though, when we go up to see them for a week. Too bad. But, I'm going back up on September 4th to look after Avery for the first week that Laurie is back teaching, so maybe it will be ready by then. It would be fun to put it down on the floor and see what draws his attention.







And then, I have finally caved in and started making some of the Great Granny squares that have been seen floating around blogland for the past month, or so. I simply couldn't resist. I'm using some of the fabrics that I bought at that fabric party I went to, plus some that work with them quite well from my stash. They are easy to do, and a lot of fun to do as well, and so far I am loving them, even if they are made from colours and fabric patterns that I ordinarily wouldn't put together. Sometimes it is fun to step out of the same old box, and into new and different. I can't say that it would ever have occurred to me to put together the colours of red and orange and pink and blue, but it works, and I love it!!

These are the first 3. I have enough squares cut out for at least 3 more. I plan on playing with both these quilts today, along with finishing up a customer quilt, as well. It is cool enough today to have the windows open, and we are finally getting some much needed rain. So, I'm going to open the windows, enjoy the breezes, and sew. Maybe I'll do another post tonight, and show what I've gotten accomplished.

Design Wall Monday, August 6, 2012

I had a really busy week, and there were all kinds of plans to do blog posts about it as I went. But we all know the saying about the best laid plans......... I got lots done, just no blogging. I started a new quilt for Avery last week. He loves his trucks, plays with them all the time, even at the beach.

I've had a couple of layer cakes of fabrics sitting here for a while, waiting for an idea for how to use them. When I saw this Musical Pinwheels Quilt, designed by Jamie, I knew that was it. So, I asked if I could use the design, and she gave her consent.
 It's all from stash, using up lots of fabric. I didn't get a stash report done yesterday, so I'll do a double one this week. Anyway, there are a couple of fabric lines in this one, but I can't remember the names of them. I showed Avery some of the fabrics the last time we Skyped, and he was pointing at them and seemed to really like the colours and the subject matter.


After the complexity of the Grandmother's Diamond Ring quilt, it was fun to do the very basic elements in this quilt. And fast, too. I worked on this while taking sit down and rest my legs breaks while working on a customer quilt last week. I had thought that I just might be able to get it done before we go up to see them on this coming Sunday, but that was overestimating the time I would have to do it, just a bit. I have no idea, at this point, what size it will finish out to be. There is all kinds of fabric left from the 2 layer cakes that are coordinating colours, but without the trucks. I might end up using them in some sort of borders. I'm just not sure what, at this point. I have some customer quilts scheduled in for the next while, so my sewing time will be limited to when I need to sit and rest my legs, which is actually when this one was done last week, as well.
I'm linking up to Judy's Patchwork Times and her design wall monday post. Lots and lots of fun stuff to see. If it weren't for those design wall monday linky's, I wouldn't have seen this design. I love blogland.