Arcadia Avenue Block 9

I've been making some nice progress on quilting Arcadia Avenue. I'm almost done block 9. This block reminds me of old film strip. I feel this is an easy block to quilt. It's so easy to quilt in those little squares!

This picture shows the quilting a little better. I'm stitching in the ditch in most of the seams. I'm making little up and down loops in the colored squares. I'm just alternating the directions of the loops. I thought it would be more interesting that way.

Almost forgot to show you the middle! I outlined each seam and stitched 1/4 inch little arrows in each triangle. I'm hoping to finish this block tomorrow. Only 3 blocks left to quilt! 

Green Tea and Sweet Beans

So excited to show you Green Tea and Sweet Beans! It's done except for the borders. I'm too tired to try and conquer them. This quilt top needs a good ironing but that's for another day too! This quilt top has been a challenge!

This quilt is made up of 4 sections. This is Section 1. It is the largest section. I finished this on Monday.

This is Section 2 .I completed most of it yesterday after work. Today, I added the little squares so it would be the same size as Section 1. 

Section 1 and Section 2 were sewn together this afternoon. I just had to sew this half to Section 3 and 4 which you can see below.

Voila, the top is done!! Sewing the two halves together took some time. Too many seams to match up!

I really think the borders will add a nice frame to it. I can wait a few days before I start the borders. For now, I'll just look at the quilt top so far!

More Machine Quilting

I finally started machine quilting the scrap quilt I made a little while ago. It took me forever to decide what to do with that border. It's a 5 inch border but it's pieced and has a 1-inch strip running right through the middle of it. I decided on these loops in mirror images of each other. It was easy to make my little loops in that 1-inch piece.

I made my little arcs in the 9 patches and wishbones in the solid fabric. I liked quilting my up and down loops in the on-point 9 patch. I've completed the first row as well as the top border and a little bit of each side borders. I feel calmer now that I've quilted all the different patterns at least once. 

I've completed quilting block 8 of Arcadia Avenue. 

This is a better look at the quilting. I made loops in the triangular area. I outlined 1/4 inch inside the border triangles. I also made little loops in the white area. Just like the center!

You can see the loops a little better in the center here. 

That's it for machine quilting for me! I've got to do some piecing soon! Green Tea and Sweet Beans is almost done. I have to cut a ton of 1.5 inch squares. I think around 100! I'm really looking forward to putting that quilt top together! 

Shades of Blue

I worked until 1pm today so I had some time in the afternoon to get a few things done. I'm just about done knitting this shawl. It is called Cinder. It's from Jen Lucas' book called Sock-Yarn Shawls II. I actually skipped a few rows at the end. I thought I had enough yarn but it looked like I wasn't going to be able to finish it. I'm so happy that I don't have to rip out any rows. It's so hard to rip out rows and know exactly where you are when knitting lace rows. Skipping a few rows was a much better solution. I'll post pictures once this shawl is blocked. 

I pieced the backing for one of my quilt tops. I had originally bought this fabric for another project. I think it will look great on the back of this quilt.

I think any backing would look good with this scrap quilt. There are so many different fabrics that make up this top. I finally figured out how to quilt it. This step always seems to take me so long!! I'll post pictures when I have some of the quilting done! 

Green Tea and Sweet Beans Blocks

Here are all my blocks for Green Tea and Sweet Beans! They're finally all done! You will see gaps between some of the blocks. I will be adding 1 inch checkerboard fillers to make all the blocks fit. I'm going to take out my design wall and make sure I like how all the blocks are placed. I like to live with the arrangement for a little while. It's surprising the little things you notice if you just give yourself the time. 

I ran a few errands this morning. When I got home, I started these little pinwheels. They measure 4.5 inches square. I wasn't sure I could get all 9 blocks made today but I did! I did some chain piecing and that saved me a lot of time. 

This is the fabric I bought for the border. It's a very pale pink with muted multicolored polka dots. I will have to applique a vine with flowers all the way around the quilt. What a great way to finish a quilt! Will take awhile but should frame the quilt so nicely!

Square Daisy Block

This is the last applique block for Green Tea and Sweet Beans. I made this block my own way and it worked out great! 

Here is the block after I appliqued the flower onto the background. I also appliqued the leaves. I made the background a bit bigger to compensate for any loss from the actual applique. 

Here's the block all made nice and square.  It measures 8.5 inches square, 

I cut the triangles to square off the block and just made sure they all fit!

Here it is all done! I have to make 9 pin wheel blocks and then I can piece the quilt top together! So excited!!

Quilted Finish

I finished machine quilting this cute quilt. It was made by Auntie Em for Quilts for Kids. As usual, I'm so lucky to be able to work on these quilts. I learn a lot and hopefully help out a child at the same time. 

I quilted curves around each seam in the 9 patch blocks. I stitched a square in a square in the fish fabric block. I then stitched a diamond inside that stitched block. I finished it with wishbone stitched inside the diamond. It's so hard to see! That fabric is so fun but hides my stitches!

You may be able to see my stitching better in this picture of the backing.

I decided to stitch a big stipple in the borders. You can't really see my stitches so I thought stippling was a good way to finish up this darling quilt! 

More Mystery Quilt!

I've put together what pieces I've made so far for the Mystery Quilt. I'm not sure if this will be the final layout but I love it!! I feel the Kaffe Fassett fabrics looks so great together! My husband says it looks like Spring. After yesterday's snowstorm, I'm happy to hear it!

I finished these rows today. I made 4 blocks last month. This month, I added these flying geese/square units. I only had to make 2 rows.

I made these first with this month's clues. 

I'm making the lap size version which is supposed to measure 67 inches square. These pieces measure about 42 inches in length. It will be interesting to see how this quilt turns out! I'll keep posting until it's done!