Civil War Quilt Finish and Caswell Quilt started

This quilt was a block of the week pattern by Barbara Brackman started in 2011.
To make it more interesting I made two blocks of the same and swapped with a friend so we would have more variety in the quilt with different fabrics.

The blocks have been sitting in a box waiting for a suitable fabric and inspiration.
Finally a couple of weeks ago I purchased a stack of civil war fabrics and finished up the top.

It's not going to be quilted just yet as I have a few more blocks for another project ready to be assembled and I want to do several other fun projects.

But I am just glad the top is finished !

And this is one of the new projects I have started ! The Caswell Quilt ..

The Caswell Quilt  was inspired by the famous Caswell Carpet which resides in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It's made up of thirty appliquéd blocks of flowers & leaves, birds & butterflies on two different background fabrics.

 The pattern came from  Threadbear shop and I'll be working on it gradually along with my other projects. No doubt it will take a few years to complete like previous applique projects I have done along the years.

My friend Lynne is also doing the same quilt.  She does beautiful applique and this is her block.  We are trying to inspire each other to work on this quilt but she doesn't need much motivation at this stage with 7 blocks already made.
 

Next blog post I should be able to show you a quilt I had started late last year and the top is almost done ..

Can you guess which one ?

 

Valentine Day is coming....

And I made this table topper to celebrate the occasion  !
I have had a charm pack for years and this was the perfect project to use it for.

I have been sorting some of my bright fabrics and tried out this block.  It's foundation pieced.
Like so many quilters I have so many fabrics that if I had more spare time I would love to make so many more projects and try out so many other techniques because I just love all types of quilts and all types of fabrics.

And lastly, my collegue Richard turned 60 on Friday, so I gifted him this quilt.

My friends's quilts

 



Since I last blogged I have been very busy with work and the weather has been very warm which makes me very tired.

 

My friend Lynne needed her top quilted as it was going to be a gift to post overseas so with  limited time I decided to free-motion quilting using a variegated thread to match the pink.

I really like the simple block with the pink borders and the fabrics are so gorgeous too.



 



My other friend Jennifer S. came over for a quick visit to show me what she had been doing.  I so love her style ; she is a true quilter who uses most of her stash in her quilts and cames up with such lovely quilts which end up being mostly gifts.

A few years ago, she and I used to hand dye our fabrics and at every opportunity she uses those fabrics; I still have mine in a huge box !

Another such example of her creativity was this quilt. 
A few weeks ago I went through my fabrics and general sewing supplies and offered them to her.
Well, she gathered up the William Morris fabrics she found in that stash and made this lovely top which turned out great.
It just goes to show that one man's trash is another man's treasure.

Here is another of her recent creations; she knows that I am not a huge fan of 'Sunbonnet Sue" quilts but I quite like what she did with this version .

I don't have any of my own projects to show today but I have been doing some applique which always take quite a while when time is limited.