Strips 'n Curves, stage 2

Only the first 18 of 110 squares but I like what's happening.
We are watching the grandsons this week so no quilting will be done. There is a reason children are born to the young but they are a blessing and fun.

Cutting It Up

The pattern my niece chose for her king quilt comes from . . .

After all the sewing of the strips, it's hard to cut into the "fabric" you worked so hard to create.

Here's my plan. I like to map out on graph paper.
I've moved all my sewing to our guest bedroom, as Jack has moved his desk to the front living room. I hung my flannel-backed tablecloth over the closet door as my portable design wall.
Each cut has to be planned to line up with the next. I traced around my template with chalk and added the 1/4" seam before cutting.

HOME GATHER

Here they are, Victoria, ready to mail. I couldn't see mailing just one so there are five.

Saturday is Benjamin's 4th birthday. He is growing so fast.

His Mom used Paper and Cake" race car" party print outs for invitations, decoration and party favors. Go see.

Invitation

Victoria at Bumble Beans is an prolific quilter, not just for herself but also for the benefit of others. I recently participated in a charity quilt challenge that ended up as 8 quilts, bringing in donations for Haiti. Now she has offered an opportunity to participate in another worthwhile project. Make one or more of these 10.5 x 10.5 block houses and send them to her and she will be putting them together. Click on the sidebar button for more information.


Last Saturday, I got to teach a class at my local quilt store, Fabric Patch, Montclair, CA, introducing my Memory T-shirt Quilt. I didn't want to talk about it until I knew that it was a go. I had 6 ladies participate and all went well. I didn't have time to take a lot of pictures but I did shoot each ladies' layout. The store is offering this class again on April 1.

100th Post & One Year of Blogging

It's been quite a journey, challenging myself to write, being inspired by others and making new friends.

Marsha and I finished piecing "Baby Monsters" and I finished quilting it so Marsha can do the binding. It's a challenge blending two quilter's ideas. I think the receiving couple will be happy with the result.

New projects in the works . . .

The young man who was hired to teach Art when I retired, is also one of my former students. He is doing a terrific job and I am so pleased to see what I started 20 years ago continue. He and his wife are expecting their first child in March. A teacher colleague and I are making a baby quilt for them.










I found this flannel backing, scanned the images and enlarged them for applique.




Marsha is making the pinwheels to fill in the other 5 squares. We'll join them next week and I show you the finished product.


The second project is for my oldest Niece, Sarah. Its her turn for a king size quilt for their bedroom. She looked through my books and spotted an idea in Louise L. Smith's A New Twist on Strips 'n Curves (Not a simple pattern). "Can you do this Aunt Janet?" "Of course Sarah, I love challenges." I put together these fabrics from my stash and got the go ahead.
Here are the strips I've sewn so far, ready to cut and put together. I hope the orange doesn't take over.

I did this technique before for my sister. Look here to see what I'm talking about.