Hello again,

Today was a marathon quiltmaking session! After a week of not getting much of anything done quilt-wise, I decided this morning that I HAD to finish son’s quilt top TODAY. Well, I worked on that top all morning and all afternoon and ALMOST got it done….that is, it would have been done, but then I started second-guessing about the size and decided I needed to add more fabric to make it just a teensy bit wider ( what good is a quilt if it can’t cover you up??) So I played with my leftover fabric and auditioned fabrics this way and that, and finally came to the conclusion that the BEST way to enlarge the quilt was to add another row of blocks. That presented another problem because I am running preciously low on the off-white fabric, but I searched through the scraps and found enough to piece together 10 more quilt blocks… I think that will do! So here is the quilt top, without that needed last row….

I do love the way it looks! And I think I will just add binding, no borders, to give it that old-fashioned feel. The quilting will also be really simple, just in the ditch probably, although it would look pretty cool to stitch just outside the seams…hmmm, something else to ponder!

A few weeks ago I found a free pattern over on Craftsy and decided I needed to do some hand stitching. I dug out my wool felt and set to work.

This is what I have so far.I swear I made 9 flowers, but one of them has gone AWOL! I searched for it this morning, to no avail….ofcourse my room IS rather a disaster area right now so it could be sitting there and I just can’t see it…..Not sure what this project will become…a little wallhanging or maybe a large pillow. I am planning on doing some decorative stitching on those yellow lines to set the flowers apart a little. And maybe I will add some leaves….

Another thing I have been playing with a bit is my Accuquilt cutter. I got it a few years back and used it for one project and then it just sat in a corner because I wasn’t quite sure of all its uses and possibilities. Lately I have been watching some videos and tutorials and am trying to figure out how I can make use of it more. For those of you not familiar with the cutter, it is basically a die-cutting machine where you lay your fabric on a template, lay fabric on top, top with a mat, and then roll it through and voila, you have your shapes. I have to say that it cuts shapes wonderfully ( and it takes the dog ears right off your triangles so that makes lining them up super easy!

The flying geese unit that I made using my die-cut shapes didn’t need too much trimming ( and they usually need A LOT!) Here is one block I made:

So I will continue to play and explore the possibilities. If any of you have the accuquilt cutter I would love to know how you use yours!

What else is there to share? The latest BLOOM block came out on Monday but sadly I haven’t had a chance to work on it…here it is in its sad state…Maybe tomorrow…

And maybe tomorrow I will get to plant all those sweet little plants that I bought earlier this week. They have been patiently waiting for me to put them into their summer containers!

Aren’t they sweet? Can you tell that I have no restraint when it comes to picking flowers either? I just pick whatever color makes me happy and off we go….much like my quilts!

Until next time!