Breaking Out a New Pack of Charms

I sketched my proposed Tennessee Waltz quilt design and decided that 12 blocks just wouldnt look balanced.  The orange in the corners just wouldnt pop the right way.

This sketch shows that one more row of 4 would resolve the look.

This charm pack includes some gold and some brown squares.

These are the charms I chose.

Charms are stacked in piles of 4 and cut in half.

One stack of each colour is flipped and each stack is sliced diagonally.

All set to chain piece

Corner Blocks

Got a start on the four patch corner blocks for the Tennessee Waltz block.  I just have a little more strip piecing and squaring to do before these are ready to put together.

Just about ready to sew together

 The blocks will finish at nine and a half inches.  "Looking good," as Eleanor Burns would say.

Open House Fabric Sales

Some people have made resolutions restricting fabric purchases in the hopes that they use up their fabric stashes.  I'm not quite there yet.  When there's a sale, I can't resist.

Store #1 Boxing Week Sale, Yardage and Fat Quarters

Store #2 Boxing Week Sale, Fat Quarters

Store #1, Open House Sale

Store #2, Open House Sale

Those brightly coloured reindeer really caught my eye.  I don't really know what to make with it yet ... gift bags, place mats, tree skirt ...

Usually I sort the fat quarters by colour when I put them away, but I want to try to purchase selections all at one time that seem to work well together.  Then if I need to add to it, I can just pick out a background fabric.

It looks like a lot of material, but I had nothing under the tree.  I'm having a happy late Christmas.  This should keep me busy for a long time.
Now, on to sewing.

Playing With Charm Squares

I spent the day with a group of dedicated quilters and started a new project using charm squares.  About 30 members from the local quilt guild chatted together, shared ideas, and inspired each other with our work.  What a great way to spend the day.

When I returned home, I began the process of squaring up the blocks using a set of Triangle in a Square rulers by Quilt in a Day.  These will become Tennessee Waltz blocks or a variation called Grandmother,s Garden.  Eleanor Burns gives a great tutorial on creating this block at her Quilt in a Day site. 

The four patches will go in the centre of each block and I'll make additional four patches to go in the corners.  I plan to add a bolder colour to the corner four patches.  I hope to have additional photos tomorrow.

Happy New Year!

I've enjoyed reading blogs welcoming in the new year.  So many are featuring lists of UFOs and plans for finishing tops in 2012.  I'm relieved to see that I'm not the only quilter with so many unfinished projects.  I'm not getting anywhere near as much done as I once was.  I don't even have any excuses, other than work, cooking, cleaning, gardening :-)...  Okay, maybe this year I will start off strong.  I've made a list of my projects, many of which just need quilting and binding.  They're so close to being checked off the list already.  Here's a pic of a twisted log cabin block that I started with the local quilt guild.  It just needs a little more quilting and then the binding.

The cat is reminding me how sharp pins can be.  She approves of the job so far.

I'm not usually drawn to such bold colours.  I don't wash my fabric before piecing, so will see if the black runs into the lighter shades.

Here's a look at the whole top.  It's the size of a lap quilt.

I've quilted it and at this point there are only 16 pins left in.  I just need to play with design ideas first.  I'll take additional pictures when it's fully finished.  This quilt really helped me make headway.  I was getting so frustrated with shredding thread while quilting that I felt pretty discouraged.  I watched a video made by Barbara Shapel, who recommends using jeans denim needles.  I'm finding that these needles poke through multiple layers and intersections much more smoothly.  What a relief.  That too may lead to more finishes this year.  Thank you Barbara.