Kids Exploding Squares

     I finished quilting the B&W exploding squares kids quilt. I am going to send this to the Hands2Help Challenge in May. It needs binding yet, but it seems very happy. I did not use the ruler on the square spirals as I thought the quilt could hold a little line wonkiness.

Wonky line diagonal center

Back 

Those Kaffe HSTs

     After a nice trimming job using the Bloc Loc on the HSTs from the Kaffe charm packs, I decided I wanted a diamond layout, but asymmetrical. I tried a number of combinations and settled on one that sparkled most to me. Then, I numbered the columns with painters tape and clipped each column, Wanda style, ready to sew in a web method. I have not decided on the borders yet. I did pull some fabric to try, but will wait until it is sewn together.

Final choice

It is sewn, but...

      Sewing a quilt all together is a satisfying thing for me. On finishing the Herringbone, and looking it on the wall, it left me a bit cold. I worked hard on trimming and getting everything lined up, but I could not figure it out. My husband walks in the room and says, "Too brown" and then I realized it was the colors in the layer cake that left me cold. My neighbor and her sister walked in and said "Awesome" (they love the primitive Americana colors). So, I know someone will love this. I think the fabric is masculine enough and Americana enough that I could give it to a vet. 

Large sized lap quilt

Done in three

     I suppose you could count the gorilla quilt in with these, but these three quilts are all finished with their bindings that I did in one group. All the bindings are different, but I glue basted and stitched them on, and then pressed back and stitched in one group. I sew them all the Singer 15 with the potted motor.  

The group of three

And as usual, Tugger wakes up when he hears quilts plopped down and has to inspect. All except the one I made for him.

Layer Cake into Herringbones

     One of the women that I cleaned a Featherweight for gave me a layer cake in muted Americana colors as a thank you among some yardage. I cut Kona white into 10" squares and gave them to my mother to sew all the way around the pair of layer cake square and white. I asked to her sew off the corners and restart sewing on the next side. That helped slow her down so I got square corners that I cut easily cut all the way across, corner to corner twice to make 4 triangles that opened into HSTs. I trimmed the HSTs with a Bloc Loc ruler- just the best tool!!
     Missouri Star Quilt Company has a tutorial on the Herringbone quilt. It has no waste except the trimmings of the HSTs. I did a couple of layouts on the design wall and so far 4 rows to the right are all sewn. I had to web the side instead of the across the top since the blocks do not line up so my tape numbers go down the side, not the top. What I did is to take every other row (which have the same configuration) and do a leader/ender with those. After two sets of pairs sewn, I attached them together. I will do this for the rest of the quilt.

Layout 1

Layout 2

 Four rows on right sewn

Gorillas unleashed

     The granddaughter ponies quilt ran away, and yesterday I sent the gorilla quilt home with my grandson. I had bought an animal panel and gorillas fabric. At the retreat, two women helped me design the batik area above and below the panel to finish it off. I quilted on the long arm where I went around all the animals two times to make them stand out. I used a lot of leaf shapes to fill in.  Glide mocha on the front, light blue Omni in the bobbin. On the back, I used a length of the gorilla fabric and split a long piece of teal to piece it. I made a scavenger hunt to find the quilt and he was thrilled. 
     It was actually sunny Tuesday, so the sun came in the family room windows and sort of bleached out part of the quilt. Both kiddos wanted to lay on the quilt for the photo. 

Back of quilt

     I hate to write this, but I blur out my grandchildren's faces because I went to many FBI cyber crime workshops as a public school teacher and was told and shown how evil people cut and paste heads from the internet over child porn so they can resell the images again and again. I was horrified to the core and I never put their photos on the net without blurring them. 

New stuff going on

     I like to start new things among finishes and problems. I bought 2 Kaffe charm packs on sale at MSQC and cut Kona Ash squares to make HSTs. I will put them on the design wall and come up with a design then.

Matched up squares, and ones already sewn, needing the iron, below- one pile trimmed, the other sewn but need trimming

A few on the wall

     I also bought this panel when I was visiting another city because I loved the colors. Now I have to think what will go with it. It is the Fantasia line by Timeless Treasures and there is some fabric, though scarce, to complement it that I could scare up and buy I suppose.