Progress

 The blocks are assembled and the borders are on the string quilt. I even mitered the corners! Mitered corners are easier each time that I do them. Next task, tackle the applique. 

You'll notice though that I haven't begun the applique yet. That's because I'm intimidated by all that applique, and I'm not really sure where to begin. I'm figure the stems for the flowers come first. However, because of the way that the red diagonal is pieced they are not perfect. That means that each stem is a little different. I guess I just need to jump in and start it.

 

I also wanted to show you the progress on Dear Jane. I may have to redo the block in the lower left. Curved seams are not my strong point, and that one is a little off. The seam allowances are so narrow that some of the rounded pieces will get cut off when I sew the sashing on.

Next my SewCalGal Christmas Quilt Show entry.

This was my first experience designing a quilt using Electric Quilt. I had purchased the fabric, one yard of each, and I didn't want to buy more, or have any leftovers. I played around until I had a design that used up everything. The only thing I had to add was the white for the alternate blocks in the nine patches and the plain blocks. This poor quilt never got a name.

 This quilt, however, does have a name. My grandson, Bubba, named it Mimi's Kiki. I purchased the fabrics during one of the shop hops. I bought fat quarters at each of the shops to get a nice mix of fabrics. 

Visit Patchwork Times to see more design walls, and head over to SewCalGal to see all the Christmas quilts.

  

Decisions, Decisions

I have decided to try to enter quilts into two categories at the Machine Quilter's Showcase. The first category is Overall Design. This category can be any quilt design. The second category is Bread and Butter. This category is restricted to two quilt blocks, Storm at Sea and Snail's Trail. Whew, no difficult decisions there. Storm at Sea is a design I've liked for years. Decision made.

It's the Overall Design category that has me stumped. I have been working on designs for the string quilt blocks that I've been making for a year, or two, or three. String blocks seem appropriate for an overall quilting design.

My friend, Kathleen, had this really great idea for a border for those string blocks. Now, I haven't done it justice in EQ7. Her flowers were much cuter. I just haven't figured out how to use the applique tracing feature of the program. It does sort of give you the idea of the border though.

This is design #2. I'm using the string blocks, but have white on half to create the zigzag and bring the white into the border. This plays on Kathleen's design with the stems creating a zigzag effect.

This is #3. The quilt would be trimmed at the red band to create a zigzag shape.















Which one is your favorite? I could use some help making a decision. Please leave a comment with your choice.

What's on my design wall

Well, not much new is on my wall this week. I've got the blocks for the table runner put together, but I'm stuck about what's next. I know I want sashing between the blocks, but I'm not sure about the outside edges. I have about a bazillion little half-square triangles left from different projects. I think that they overwhelm the flying geese blocks though.

I've pretty much talked myself into buying Quilt Pro rather than EQ6. Quilt Pro will run on my MacBook without any additional software, a big plus.








When my friendship group was over on Saturday, I remembered these blocks. I like piecing the string blocks. It's almost mindless piecing, and they always look good. I do have a few batik strings to use up.




Now no, "My stash of strings is bigger than your stash of strings" stuff. This is not a competition.







The other thing I want to try with the strings are some free pieced letters. Lazy Gal Tonya has the greatest quilts done with these. Something to put on my wish list.