Sweet Sugar Swirls

Now that Christmas is over, I can finish the post on this one.  Earlier, I had whined about the bias stretch in this quilt.  I have to admit, however, that the closer I got to finishing it, the better I liked it.  And I kept thinking it would make a great gift for someone who is very special to me.

That person was my sister, Patricia and, if her reaction is any indication, she loved this quilt.

Sweet Sugar Swirls

Now that Christmas is over, I can finish the post on this one.  Earlier, I had whined about the bias stretch in this quilt.  I have to admit, however, that the closer I got to finishing it, the better I liked it.  And I kept thinking it would make a great gift for someone who is very special to me.

That person was my sister, Patricia and, if her reaction is any indication, she loved this quilt.

Thinking Outside the Block

It's finally done!  I've spent much of the past several weeks working fast and furious on this king-sized black and white quilt for our eldest son, Bryan.  It was WAY too big to put on my quilt frame so I had to wrestle with it on the dining room table, putting it away just long enough to serve Christmas dinner.  My shoulders were in knots so I kept borrowing Bryan's heat pack that he uses for his back.  That helped a lot.

Arranging the 144 blocks to sew them together presented a challenge.  My knees are too old to try to crawl around on the floor, so Scott and I put our heads together and built a design wall out of pvc pipe and flannel-backed tablecloths.  It stands 7 feet tall and 7.5 feet wide.  I could lean it against the hallway wall out of the way while I assembled the top.  Worked great until I realized I was too short for the top rows and had to get the stepladder.  (Santa Claus, alias Scott, built me my own little stepstool the day after X-Mas!)

The entire day after Christmas was spent stitching the binding.  I got it done just before Bryan got home from work.

I think he likes it.

Thinking Outside the Block

It's finally done!  I've spent much of the past several weeks working fast and furious on this king-sized black and white quilt for our eldest son, Bryan.  It was WAY too big to put on my quilt frame so I had to wrestle with it on the dining room table, putting it away just long enough to serve Christmas dinner.  My shoulders were in knots so I kept borrowing Bryan's heat pack that he uses for his back.  That helped a lot.

Arranging the 144 blocks to sew them together presented a challenge.  My knees are too old to try to crawl around on the floor, so Scott and I put our heads together and built a design wall out of pvc pipe and flannel-backed tablecloths.  It stands 7 feet tall and 7.5 feet wide.  I could lean it against the hallway wall out of the way while I assembled the top.  Worked great until I realized I was too short for the top rows and had to get the stepladder.  (Santa Claus, alias Scott, built me my own little stepstool the day after X-Mas!)

The entire day after Christmas was spent stitching the binding.  I got it done just before Bryan got home from work.

I think he likes it.

Thinking Outside the Block

Since my Janome is STILL in the shop, I can't finish the quilt on my frame.  So I've started a new quilt.  I made a Scrappy Diamonds for my younger son two years ago but had a hard time trying come up with a pattern for my elder son, Bryan.  Where Devan requested bright greens, Bryan wanted black and white bandanna fabrics.  Impossible!  So here's what I came up with instead:

The pattern is "Thinking Outside the Block" and the king-size requires 144 of these blocks!  

The finished size will be about 103" square.  Much as I'd like to, I don't think it's gonna be finished by Christmas...

Thinking Outside the Block

Since my Janome is STILL in the shop, I can't finish the quilt on my frame.  So I've started a new quilt.  I made a Scrappy Diamonds for my younger son two years ago but had a hard time trying come up with a pattern for my elder son, Bryan.  Where Devan requested bright greens, Bryan wanted black and white bandanna fabrics.  Impossible!  So here's what I came up with instead:

The pattern is "Thinking Outside the Block" and the king-size requires 144 of these blocks!  

The finished size will be about 103" square.  Much as I'd like to, I don't think it's gonna be finished by Christmas...