Jacobean Moderne Simple

Very easy square in square blocks combined with even easier squares of focus fabric practically turned themselves into a quilt top.  All the scribbles went into a piano key border.  

The thing I love about quilting jacobean flowers is that anything goes.  Anything.  If it doesn't look right, add more decorative swirls.

Leaving the background alone (which was my first choice) was wrong, wrong, wrong.  It looked puffy.  Like a quilt from the 1970's.  Channel lock to the rescue!  Horiontal lines worked great.

Not much quilting on the focus fabric because it wouldn't have been especially visible.

The quilt police might come chase me down for using a paisley back on a jacobean front, but until they do I'll just enjoy the effect.

FINALLY!

Yes, I do realize six of the half-QSTs on the short ends are backwards, and maybe I'll do something about that someday, but probably not.  I also think adding the navy inner border around the corner stones would improve the effect.  But even still, it's finished.  This quilt has been my problem child for years.  I'm going to make these smallish changes and then hang it in the quilting queue and get it finished.

Thanks Tim for keeping me company while I got the borders on it today.

Cute Chick

The Quilting Gallery's candlemat swap is in full swing.  All their eggs are in one basket on  their flickr page where you can see all the interesting variations on this block pattern being made.  Many of them are quite unique and all of them are pretty.  This one will be winging it's way to my swap partner Monday morning.  If she doesn't like it I'll sure feel like a dumb cluck.  Of course if she does, I'll have something to crow about.  :)

Online Quilting Swap

I don't swap much anymore.  For several years I was perpetually in block swaps.  Loved the heck out of 'em, too.  But after a while I realized I wasn't getting the creative outlet I wanted, so I stopped.  Once in a great while I'll still join one.  Right now I'm participating in the Candlemat Swap on Quilting Gallery.  The block pattern looked interesting and versatile.  I made this test block in traditional christmas colors just to make sure I really wanted in, then I joined up.

  Our swap partners are blind - that is, we don't know who has our name, but we get someone's name and color/style preferences. 

One of the things I enjoy about swapping is trying to work with someone else's color preferences.  You're pretty much guaranteed that it'll be different than your own, but that's a good thing to me.

Here's a shot of some of the colors going into my partner's mat.  Now I just have to quit being such a chicken and turn them into something!

At Long Last

My version of Bonnie's Double Delight Mystery quilt is just about done. I still need to put on borders and quilt it of course, but all the hard bits are over. I'm not entirely happy with the grey in the quilt. It should be a bit darker. As it is it seems to fade into the background too much. I will not be ripping out and replacing however.

Life Is Good

Oh yah!

All the blocks are finished. I'm going to cut my setting triangles tonight and assemble the top tomorrow.

Well Beth?

The Last Lap

There's still all the trimming and assembly to be done on 24 of the Rolling Star blocks, but YAY! the square in square portions are all pieced. There was a brief scare during which I was certain that I needed to make 400 of these units instead of just 200, but my good friends, Beth and Swooze helped me calm back down.

I'm pretty excited about getting this Double Delight top finished up over the weekend, so it will be the focus of all my spare time quilting.

Triangles Triangles Everywhere

...and not an edge to pink.

Has ever an innocent stack of triangles loomed so menacingly? Respite, respite I demand! I know, I'll go work on my only other currently frolicking project, the cranston fruit blocks. I'm piecing a border for it.

Noooooooo! The border for that top is made entirely of...60 square in square blocks!



Terpsichore! Save me!