Wandaful Quilts
I was asked how many quilts I finished in the time period from when I started my blog (July 4, 2007) to the same date this year. Yesterday I spent some time going through old posts from the 3 years that I didn't do a recap collage at the end of the year. I came up with 214 finished quilts (or if I count small wallhangings, 220). In 2007 I posted mostly pieces I had made before I started the blog. I started a lot more projects that year but only finished 4 that I documented on the blog. This is my favorite from that year. It is a paper pieced Karen Stone pattern called Jewels in the Grass.
In 2008 I had two favorites. I call this one "My Happy Quilt" and it is made of batiks and Kaffe Fassett fabrics. This post shows a close up and the back of the quilt.
This is my other favorite from 2008. It is a Buggy Barn pattern and is made of flannel fabrics. This post has a closer look at one section of it. I still have this quilt and I use it. I still love it.
This crazy pieced batik quilt is my favorite finished quilt from 2009. I gifted it to a great-niece and I miss it. I was trying to use up my blue, turquoise and purple batik scraps with this one. In this post is a close up of the binding and backing along with a little of the front of the quilt.
This little couch quilt comes in as a close second for a 2009 finished quilt favorite. It is all Christmas fabrics, a lot of them Hoffman fabrics. I get this one out in the first days of December and it usually isn't put away until late January. There are some more photos of it on this post, closeups and backing.
When I started cutting the Hunter Star quilt I mentioned that I was going to cut 2 or maybe 3 quilts at the same time with the Australian fabrics. This is the second quilt I am contemplating. The equilateral triangles will finish at 8" on a side. The smaller triangles in 2 of the blocks are 4" finished and 4 of them sewn together are about 1/16" smaller than the big triangles. I will have to sew with a tiny bit narrower seam allowance in them. I have no idea how large this quilt will be since I could use more of the Australian fabric that I'm not using in Hunter Star.
Here are 4 more combinations of the Australian fabrics for Hunter Star. I spent quite a bit of time pressing the fabrics that I'm cutting for this quilt. I have seen so many tutorial videos where the presenter lays wrinkled fabric on the mat and then proceeds to show cutting. The only way to have accurately cut shapes is to have flat unwrinkled fabric. The fold lines take awhile to press out but it is so necessary.
This is the next batch ready to cut. They have to be layered all right side up for this die so after cutting the shape needed to cover the die, I then have to layer each pile correctly. These 2 groups will make 32 more blocks to add to the 48 I have done. They are 6" blocks so there will be lots more cutting.
Here is the first Hunter Star quilt top I made 2 years ago. It has 96 blocks and was 48" x 72". If I can stick with it I want to make the Australian fabric one a little larger.
I finally got busy yesterday and wound several bobbins and then sewed the 2 triangles into Hunter Star blocks. There are 4 alike of each of them. I also cut 8 more fabrics for more blocks. Two people shared some Australian fabric scraps with me a couple years ago so some of them will be in the quilt.
The tall hostas are starting to bloom. They are the lily type flowers that are so sweet smelling. We finally got some rain yesterday so the plants are happy again.
When I bought the Dianthus plants I tried to get a really good variety. The ones on the left are a totally different shape flower than all the rest. It makes me wonder if they are really Dianthus.
The cannas are now towering over the Coneflowers. They look so pretty with the light coming through the leaves.
This hosta that starts out light green in the spring is almost white at the end of the season.
The Delphinium blooms are fully open now. I hope we get the rain predicted today and tomorrow because the ground is dry and cracked.
The shaggy petaled Coneflowers are opening.
A friend came over yesterday and we laid out her blocks on my double design wall. We also went through other fabrics for quilts that I am going to cut for her.
I had a busy day yesterday finishing cutting and sewing the preemie layettes in the morning, sewing circle in the afternoon. I was tired last night but decided I needed to start sewing the 2 triangles together that make the Hunter Star blocks. When I ran out of bobbin thread on the third one I decided that was a sign that I needed to quit for the evening and go to bed at a decent time (before midnight).
On a totally different subject, this is post #3900. That means there are a lot of old posts with a lot of quilt photos and tips. The label list on the right sidebar will lead you to different topics.
I'm still working on the preemie layettes so no sewing photos.
The Zinnias are finally filling in. The shaggy variety has started blooming. Some of the plants are only about 8" tall and others are more like 18".
This is an example of how the camera reads color. Look at the difference between the photo above and this one, taken just a few seconds apart. I think maybe the sun went behind a cloud but I think it is the majenta that threw the green color off.
I like all of the different shapes of zinnia blooms.
In the back garden the Coreopsis is starting to bloom again, mixed in with the Dianthus.
