A Little Progress Report (and some Confessions)

Thanks to Cindy Marvel for snapping these photos for me!

I've been working away in my little sewing room, despite the fact that there hasn't been much activity on the blog.  First is the finished Riley Blake Challenge quilt.  I presented it at the ECMQG meeting a couple of Saturdays ago and everyone wanted to know if it was a Drunkard's Path or a Dresden.  The general consensus was that it was a Drunk Dresden, so even though I don't drink anything much stronger than the occasional Diet Coke - ok, I admit that I have a slight Diet Coke addiction - the name seems fitting, so Drunk Dresden it is.

Here's a close up of the quilting.  I outlined the Dresdens in 7 rows of echo quilting, then used a double clamshell as the filler.  It gave it a lovely texture.

I used every little bit of the six Fat Eighth challenge fabrics.  I don't think I have so much as a scrap left.  In fact, I had to piece some of the blades to get the design to go the direction I wanted it to.  It was a fun little project, and I'm especially excited that I didn't buy anything to create this quilt.  I have a bolt of the yellow since it's the background/fence fabric for my Grandmother's Flower Garden WIP that I've been working on for - oh - a couple of years now....  The backing was a white sheet I bought on sale at Target for $4.00 way back in 2010 I think for just such a purpose....  I had the black Kona left over from something - I don't remember what, just now....  And of course, the MQG sent the Riley Blake Fabrics to the guild for distribution.

I managed to get the bookshelf quilt quilted last week, but sadly the backing shifted during the quilting (maybe I didn't use enough basting spray?  Or maybe it wasn't straight to begin with ?)  In any case, I had to make some strange adjustments to the back to make it work.  Oh well, maybe I'll just count this as a humility quilt.  It will still keep someone warm, right?

I'm now in the process of binding.  (BTW, I chose the green - thanks Krista!)

After 4 years (yes, 4!) I'm finally making progress on the Avignon quilt.  These were the very first charm packs I ever bought!  They are from the Moda line Breath of Avignon by American Jane.  I decided on a pattern from Moda Bake Shop called Avignon Picnic, and got all the blocks made...  And then it sat...  And sat...  And I moved it around some...  And it sat some more...  So I'm pretty excited to have a bona fide quilt top now.  Finally!  This baby has some quirks.  Not many of the seams match, probably due to the fact that it was constructed on at least 4 sewing machines - one of which was the serger.  The seam allowance is all over the place.  Nevertheless, it is going to be a quilt.  Soon.

Ironically, I ended up one block short.  Whether it got lost, or I was short of fabric and just never made it, or  I miscounted, I have no idea.  I knew I had some yardage set aside for the back...  somewhere.  Naturally, I had to dig through the stash.  And I never really finished the stash organizing project last summer, so I am proud to report that it is now done.  What you see is what I have, with the exception of bundles, which are in boxes, like the one on the top shelf.  Naturally, now that I've worked in my room awhile, I'm thinking it's time to reorganize because I need more {accessible} storage.  (I'm sure the hubs will be glad to hear that!)

I needed a baby quilt for a baby shower I was supposed to attend on Saturday, so while I was digging through the stash I came upon some leftover Honey Honey charm squares from the Charm Madness Blog Hop last year and decided they would be perfect.  Looks sweet and girly and fresh, doesn't it?  I started without much of an idea in mind, but I'm pleased with the way it turned out.  The center is just a 9-patch with a hot pink border, and then a gray (yes, gray!) border.  then I used some coral Kona, and then another strip of pink to bring it to the size it needed to be to do the charm border all the way around.  A fun, quick little project.  Best of all, everything was in my stash, so no shopping.  The backing was a sweet little heart print someone donated to me awhile back.  Although I finished it in time (which was in itself amazing) I ended up not attending the shower because of a head cold, since the baby was going to be there.  Maybe I'll actually get out and take real photos before I gift it.

And since I still had a few leftover charms, I decided to use them to make the siggy blocks I almost forgot to make.  I made siggy blocks for a swap last fall, but they disappeared into thin air (what would someone do with more than 1000 signed blocks, anyway?) so my friend Mary organized a new swap promising we would actually get our blocks this time.

Naturally, I had to mess up one...

In any event, that's what's been going on around here.

Thanks for dropping by.