Blissful Yellow Brick Road

Baby quilt is done, a bit larger than my typical baby quilt, almost 50" by almost 60". The most fun part about this was the fabric and the quilting. Did two overall designs, one in the center and another in the border.

Yellow Brick Road baby quilt

I've been working on another baby quilt this week, another Yellow Brick road. This one was done with Moda's Bliss fabric, which I think will coordinate nicely with the bedding selected by her parents (yes, a baby girl!). Been piecing the backing using the leftovers from the front, this one is a modified log cabin with varying log widths. Just one more log to add, then baste and quilt.

Yellow Brick road and Noel quilts

Life has been busy the last month, went to the Houston Quilt Festival and made two (small and easy) quilts. In the middle of October I went to the Pacific International Quilt Festival and picked up the Noel quilt kit. I had seen it in various magazines and fell in love with the center panel. Once I got the kit I discovered the pattern called for fusing the triangles to the squares to make the trees. Not happening. I used the Tri rec tool to make them instead, much happier without the raw edge applique! Squaring up the center panel was a bit tricky, since it was warped, but I managed in the end. Quilting was another adventure, how to do it? Finally went with "in the ditch", only the ditch is really the printed lines for the most part, and a tree shape in the tree blocks.

A friend of mine decided to make a Yellow Brick Road (Atkinson Designs) for a baby quilt, so when I needed to make a baby quilt too, this pattern was already in my brain. I made a large one a year or so ago, so I found my pattern, some fat quarters, and went to work. I used 10 fat quarters to get a decent sized baby quilt with no borders, then another 8 fat quarters and leftover bits from the front to piece the back. After quilting and trimming the backing I used the trimmed bits to make the binding. Love the fabric, was going to use it for a pieced bit of clothing, but I think it is perfect for a little girl's quilt. Quilted with Warm and Natural batting, King Tut #905 thread on the top and Masterpiece #147 on the back.

Ricky Tims Super Seminar

For the last three days I have been soaking up information from Ricky Tims, Alex Anderson and Libby Lehman. Along the way I also have been tempted to start several new projects. But I will finish a few before I start these, I hope. One of the new ones is an idea for the perfect quilt for my oldest grandson. He wanted a green and black plaid quilt. I think that doing four convergence blocks, setting them on point and then something in the corners would be perfect. I am thinking about adding some Celtic inspired animals to the corners (I already have a great Dover book for design inspiration), using Ricky's applique technique. I even have the fabric. Then there is the kaleidoscope quilt that I thought about making (and bought fabric for) last time I saw Ricky. Found that in the stash, Ricky’s hand dyes along with some complimentary Mickey Lawler Skydyes. Scrumptious. And let us not forget the Rhapsody quilt I want to make. Bought the book this weekend, along with some of Ricky's (now dyed by Jeff, because Ricky and Justin don't have time anymore).

I have been working away on my Shoo-Fly blocks, inspired by Gerda’s Shoo fly quilt in the Return to Elm Creek book by Jennifer Chiaverini. It is 72 blocks, and I have 66 finished. This is a UFO I started in Jan 2006, after aging some fabric from Cotton in the Cabin for a couple of years. I had 36 blocks done when it got set aside. After I finished the Yellow Brick Road top I picked it back up. I found some dark blue fabric in the stash to use as sashing and border, but still need to find something for the skinny accent border. I’d like to get this done before, I start something new, at least the top. I have three quilt tops waiting to be basted already (Yellow Brick Road, baby YBR, and a Garden Fairy top), this will be number 4. Guess I better get back to work.