Back to the Shoo Fly Quilt

I really want to get the Shoo Fly quilt done before I go to the quilt retreat next weekend (leaving in 7 days). 24 blocks done, 48 to go. Watched Grey's Anatomy that I missed last Thursday, so glad it is on their website, while I quilted. It has a wool batting, which would be perfect to sleep under up there. Need to figure out what I am going to work on while there. I plan on bringing the Featherweight, so not quilting, piecing would be perfect. I think I will bring the Patchwork Party blocks, and the Sylvia Bridal Sampler stuff, just in case.

More Sylvia's Bridal Sampler

This week's BOW was D-3 Mother's Delight. I can't say it was a delight to sew, working on it too late at night and managing to cut right then use the wrong parts of the paper piecing bits. Fortunately I cut the pieces largish and it all worked out more or less.

On Sunday night I listened to the Sharks go into quadruple overtime and decided to work on some simple SBS blocks, because I obviously didn't have time for a complicated block (NOT). I ended up making three simple ones, the Nine Patch, Churn Dash and Bright Hopes, so I now have 10 blocks done.

Patchwork Party Progress

Last night I went to my SQG and worked on the Patchwork Party Blocks. Got two completly done and one more well on its way, which is now done. I have been using Marti Michell templates to cut out these blocks and must say they make piecing a whole lot easier. Cutting is more work, but the accuracy you get when piecing makes up for it, IMHO. And it is really noticable when you try to put bits together the wrong way! I was working on an ice cream cone section (for those of you familiar with Doreen Speckman's terminology), and tried to put the 30-60-90 triangles on backwards. The trimming at the tips won't match up that way, but does when you put them together properly. So glad I had done the trimming instead of having to do the frogging (rip-it, rip-it).

Quilting the Shoo-Fly Quilt

I started quilting the border of the Shoo-Fly quilt on Thursday and got the free motion feathers done (yeah!). Also did a zig zag around the quilt so I can trim it a bit more now, after the cutting table is cleared off.
I found an article in Fon's and Porter's Love of Quilting about quilting blocks and the sample block was a Shoo-Fly, talk about serendipitous. I am slowly getting better (more even) as I quilt the blocks, but it is a slow process. I have 72 blocks in the quilt, and about 12 done, so 1/6 of the way. So not too bad considering I went out to dinner with friends tonight. Saw the Sharks game against the Stars every now and then, was so glad when the Sharks won!
Saturday is stitching with my small quilt group. I plan on working on the Patchwork Party blocks so decided to start cutting tonight, taking a break from quilting. Got one of the 12 cut out, and would like to get at least two more cut and ready to sew. We'll see.
I also printed out the rest of Sylvia's Bridal Sampler and got that into a binder. Found some more sheet protectors so now all of my blocks are safely stowed away.

SBS B-5 Grandmother's Flower Garden

This week I managed to finish the BOW from Sylvia's bridal Sampler and get a picture taken before time ran out! This is number six, slowly creeping up.

Now that this BOW is done I can get back to my Shoo-Fly UFO. I've got the right machine in the cabinet at least. That will be tomorrow's task.

Oregon Shakespeare Festival

Last weekend we went to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon. Contrary to many people's opinion, they do other plays than just Shakespeare. We saw five plays in three days, "A Midsummer's Night Dream" and "Coriolanus" by Shakespeare, "The Clay Cart" (a classic Indian play), "Welcome Home, Jenny Sutter" (a very contemporary play) and "Fences" by August Wilson set in the late 1950's and early 1960's. All very well done, but my favorite was "Fences", with "Coriolanus" a close second. Both plays were very intense, made you think.
Right before we left I worked on a couple more blocks for Sylvia's Bridal Sampler, Follow the Leader and Mosaic. Tonight I made Birds in the Air. The last one is a photo of my first block, Aunt Sukey's Choice.

Quilt Progress

The good news is I finished the Yellow Brick Road quilt made with the Paris Cats fabric. I also made a baby size to use up the leftovers and practice quilting with the Bernina Stitch Regulator (BSR). I am getting better.

This is the large one. I still had leftover fabric so I used it for the baby Lone Star sample I was making to show my small quilt group (Space Blanketeers). That was a fun session. I have seen one finished top so far

I am working on quilting the Shoo-Fly quilt. Now that I have an idea of what I want to quilt, it should go quicker.

Then recently I got caught up in Moda Prairie Paisley madness, courtesy of the Patchwork Party 2008 shops. I fell in love with blocks and fabric and decided to make the 12 blocks and design my own layout, which is modified from the version put out by Stitchin' Heaven. I added another block from a different shop, Quilt Something, and changed the Ohio Stars to LeMoyne Stars. My LQS got the entire line of fabric and I went a little crazy, I got enough fabric for at least two quilts. I hope this is a fairly quick quilt to put together, then it will be sent to a Long arm quilter to finish. So far I have begun the four extra blocks. I plan on using Marti Michell's templates, and don't have them yet, for the 12 blocks, so will work on my center blocks until then. The center is a Feathered Star, also made using MM's templates. This will be my first Feathered Star, and I hope to make many more.

On top of that I have begun doing the BOW from Sylvia's Bridal Sampler. I saw the original SBS at the Voices in Cloth quilt show last weekend and couldn't resist any longer. I had the patterns drafted into EQ6, and the fabric (Dorothea's collection from Red Rooster) from a while back, waiting for the right time. This seems like the right time. So far two blocks are done, Aunt Sukey's Choice and Cut Glass Dish.