Blocks done for Civil War Quilts

I have decided to only make 42 blocks out of the 52 published on Barbara Brackman Civil War Quilts blog. 



Close up...

I am still thinking how I am going to put it all together but I don't want them to end up as orphan blocks and would like at least the top completed soon.
I struggled a bit to keep some of the blocks the correct size, so I have to take that into consideration.  Overall I'm pleased with the results.

Monday's project

My Summer Vacation ends today, so I had a bit of fun with a site I came accross recently.
They are offering 2 free blocks of the month with a video tutorial. What got me interested is the fresh fabrics Amy Gibson is using. I have been collecting some modern looking fabrics which I thought would look great for these blocks.

The site is called Craftsy .

These are my blocks....

These are my recent fabric additions. They were heavily discounted as they are not recent collections.

Small quilt and show 'n Tell

Here's another quick quilt/table topper I completed yesterday using the the leftovers of a charm pack I recently used on another project.

I wanted to do something small in between the list of 2012 goals and larger projects as well as before cleaning up my studio.

It will probably be a gift for someone who showed interest in the similar quilt I made recently.

I want to share with you a quilt I made sometime ago.... The pattern was a free pattern from a fabric company (can't recall which one)  and it was fun and relatively easy to do.



Close-ups ...

Border showing the overall quilting.

The fabrics were from different collections.

And now for some music....  Chopin - Fantaisie Impromptu, Op. 66 (Rubinstein)

This piece is one of my favourites in the classic genre and its romantic and ivocative nature touches my soul  like nothing else can. I hope you take time to listen...

I Love NEW YORK !

No matter how many times I visit New York, I can never get enough of this vibrant city.
A couple of years ago I returned to New York and visited The City Quilter for the first time.

One of the things I purchased there was a kit for a wall hanging. In the past few days I've been putting it together.



It's machine appliqued and I used a straight stitch around each shape.

This section of the quilt is suppose to be the the Guggenheim in New York  .



Other well recognised landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty, the Chrystler building, the Empire State building and the Citicorp buiding are all in the quilt.

And this is what the quilt looks like.

I would have preferred to photograph it outside but the weather is not the best today.

I used for the backing the 'New York Taxi Cabs' fabric.

I'll be enjoying looking at it for a long time and dreaming about my next visit to New York !

That's my first concrete goal done for 2012..
Next I'm going to play again with my scraps doing a little project before tackling the next goal.

Table Topper

I had a play with my AccuQuilt GO as I purchased the smaller tumbler recently.
I cut out the blocks from some leftover fabric I had from a quilt I made my mum  last year.

Its very scrappy but I like the way it turned out.

I have a few days left before I go back to work and the weather forecast is just perfect for staying indoors and quilting...

But I can still look out of my studio window and enjoy my garden...



In my next posting I'm planning to show you a completed quilt that I'm currently working on that symbolizes a place that I absolutely love....

First completed project for 2012

I am hoping to make a few smaller quilts this year, so here's my first one...



The fabrics came from an half a charm pack I had purchased years ago. All dot fabrics.

The main reason I haven't been doing a lot more sewing in the past couple of weeks is because I've been gardening and taking advantage of lovely weather while I'm home on vacation.
Here are some photos of my backyard and outside my studio...

I enjoy having breakfast in this spot early in the morning and listening to the  birds singing ...

The bulk of the gardening work is now done, so I just have to keep up with the maintenance and enjoy the beauty and lovely scents.

And finally, some music...

I don't often get comments about the music references I add to the blog, but today I've chosen a very beautiful song called "Heaven in your Eyes".  It has a special meaning to me and I would like to share it with you.
The main artist is the contemporary jazz saxophonist Elan Trotman and it features the keyboardist Brian Simpson...

2012 Resolutions and Orca Bay progress

Happy New Year !

Today I managed to get into my studio later in the afternoon to do some stitching and formulate my quilting goals for 2012.

Given that Orca Bay has now been revealed I decided to do a couple of blocks to get an idea what the overall quilt would look like. 
I have to admit that I am not too happy with the Ohio Star blocks. They seem to get lost with the other blocks, lacking contrast.

Looking at the blocks before stitching them together, the blocks with the darker corners I am not too happy with and once I put them together I deslike it even more !

I tried various combinations to give these blocks some definition, including use of the same fabric to the corner squares but even that didn't work. The Hourglass blocks are the problem in some instances and I was not inclined to do more of them.

For the Ohio starts I should have used darker blue fabrics instead of the varieties of blues I used. I'm going to put aside for now what I have done until such time I come up with a different layout or use the blocks on another project.

I feel this has been a disappointing start to my quilting year....

On a more positive note, I have set out for myself for 2012, to complete 8 UFO's, at least to completed top stage. The rest of the goals will be to do a couple of new projects for gifts, try out new techniques and make smaller projects.

I hope you started 2012 inspired....