WIP Wednesday

One of the bonuses of working on machine stitched quilts rather than hand stitched quilts is that there is progress to show faster. I’m working on a sampler using up old orphans and also some new blocks. I’ve gotten a second and third row done now and the rows are sewn together. I’m calling it my Leftovers Sampler.

I am really working outside my comfort zone here. I love all things balanced and symmetrical, and this quilt is neither of those. It is all different sizes and grids and because there is so much variety in it, I think it works.

I have finished the quilting on my Pioneer Log Cabin, a design by Judy Martin. It ticks all the boxes of balanced and symmetrical and I love it! It is quilted with all over Baptist Fans.



I exhausted all of the reds in my stash making this, so there will be an outing to a quilt shop to buy some red for binding.

Once I post this I’m going to start on the next row for my Leftovers Sampler. I’m linking up to the Canadian Needle and Thread Network WIP Wednesday.

What I’m working on....

For the last few years most of my sewing and quilting time has been taken up almost exclusively with hand pieced projects. While doing La Passacaglia I fell in love with the process of English Paper Piecing and it took over all my quilting time. But in the last few months my love of machine piecing has been renewed.
Back at the end of November I started working on a Log Cabin quilt designed by Judy Martin. It is in her book Extraordinary Log Cabins. Its name is Pioneer Log Cabin. The picture here shows it without the borders on yet. I was in such a hurry to get it loaded onto the long arm that I didn’t take pictures of it with the borders. And of course there is the problem of finding floor space big enough to take a picture of the whole thing. Once the quilting is done I’ll take it outside and spread it out on the snow for a glamour shot.



I loved the process of piecing this quilt so much that the entire quilt was pieced within the space of 2 months. It measures 96 x 96 inches. I’m quilting it with very simple and classic Baptist Fans which compliment the curves in the pricing quite well.

Last week I was doing some blog surfing and came across a block of the month from A Quilting Life. I thought it looked and sounded like a fun thing to do. It’s been ages and ages since I’ve done a block of the month. She is offering the blocks in three different sizes; 6 inch, 12 inch or 18 inch. Well that got me to thinking about all of the different blocks that have been started and abandoned over the years, some of which are 12 inch and others which are 12 inch. I went digging in the black hole in the back of the furnace room and found them - lots of them. So rather than follow along month by month with the Quilting Life BOM I’ve used it as a spring board to use up these odds and ends of blocks.  This is her January block, done in the 18 inch size along with a 12 inch and 2 6 inch blocks of my own.



Once I established that I liked the look and the concept I dove into my EQ8 computer program to find more blocks that would look good in the 18 inch format. By the end of Friday evening I had the first row done. The lighting isn’t the greatest in the next photo.



On Saturday I worked on a couple of other 18 inch blocks for the next row.



This project should go fairly quickly since I have a lot of the blocks already done.

I’m going to link up to  Monday Making and Design Wall Monday before getting back to more 18 inch blocks for this quilt. It is going to be so much fun to see this one grow.

Slow Stitching Sunday

I did not take a single hand stitch in a quilt this past week. I have done some knitting. I found a pattern on Ravelry that I liked and I thought it would be good for some odd bits and bobs of sock yarn I have hanging around...... kinda like a scrap quilt, only knitting. Who knew I’d end up with the same leftovers/scrap problem in two different hobbies? The design is called All Points South and I thought it would be a fun thing to knit while I wait on my new yarns to be delivered.



It’s very difficult to get a decent picture of any knitting project while it is still on the needles. It should be lovely and warm and cosy under a winter coat once it’s done.
The biggest reason why I haven’t done any hand stitching this past week is because I’m trying very hard to get this Log Cabin quilt done, and it is all by machine. Our daughter and son in law were away last week, so I took advantage of the situation and set up in the glorious window they have in

their kitchen. Sewing in the natural light was a real treat. Up till then my sewing machine had been tucked away on a table in the furnace room. Not exactly a desirable place to go to spend any creative time. They are home now so I had to give up my sewing spot and have now set up in our living area where there is light rather than go back to the furnace room. Hopefully I can keep the mess under control so it doesn’t end up too disruptive. The centre of the log cabin quilt is done, as are the 4 corner squares for the outer border. 

I have 24 border blocks to do and then it is done. I’m really enjoying being back at the sewing machine. I think I am going to have to go exploring into some older projects once this one is done and see if there are some that might want to get finished.
I’m linking to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching.