Great Granny {the tablerunner}

Earlier in the year I won this copy of Lori Holt’s book on Red Pepper Quilts.

I like a lot of the patterns in this book and I’m happy to have it as part of my home library.  In January we remodeled our bedroom, and sadly our dresser has been “decorated” with an old bath towel on top to protect the surface from the TV and other electronics stored there.

But that’s all about to change!

I’ve been planning this tablerunner in my mind for several months, knowing I wanted to choose fabrics that would look sophisticated and pop out against a black background.  Slowly I built up a pile of potential fabrics and this past weekend I finally started cutting the squares.

The cream is Essex linen, and a lot of the fabrics are scraps, hooray!  The first seven blocks are sewn and squared up, just seven more to go.  The squares finish at 1” and it takes me about 75 minutes to sew one (already cut) from start to end, so this is all I’ve been working on the past four nights.

Hopefully I will have a finish to share soon!

TNT Tula Pink Edition

The first installment of the Tula Pink Sew Along is complete!

This quilt top is based on a pattern from the December/January 2011 edition of Quilt magazine.   It measures 68” x 84” and is made from mostly Tula Pink fabrics including Full Moon Forest, Birds and the Bees, Nightshade, and Prince Charming.  There are also a couple of AMH, Amy Butler, and Denyse Schmidt fabrics and some random charms collected from a few swaps.  If you ever have the chance to join a charm swap, you should do it!  It sure is nice to have some choices when you are picking out fabrics for a scrappy quilt. 

This quilt top qualifies for “trying new things” for a few reasons:

• the pattern is from a magazine
• this scrappy quilt looks pretty good and isn’t made from all one fabric line or designer
• I used Tula Pink fabric
• I made it in time to be part of a sew along
• and I’m seriously considering having it long-arm quilted

The last one is a big one for me.  Have you ever had anything quilted for you?  A few months ago I would have pooh-poohed sending it out, but I have realized I like piecing a quilt, but rarely quilting it.

This is the “first installment” because I have bought two—yes two!—Tula Pink patterns.  One is a huge zig-zag quilt and the other is called Snowglobes.  I am not joking when I say I am going to make both of them by the end of the Sew Along!  Are you entering anything in the Sew Along?

Old and New Projects

This Saturday was the DC Modern Quilt Guild’s field trip to Material Girls in La Plata, Maryland.  Five of us met up there to sew and shop and have fun.  I left with these two patterns.

I haven’t opened them up yet, but I have plans to use the Bizzy Kid pattern with some beach themed fabric as a gift for friends who let us use their condo in Ocean City.

As for old projects, I got the top pieced to my Shoo Fly quilt.  Now I just need to piece together all the flying geese I accidentally made when I sewed the wrong squares together in the beginning of making the shoo fly blocks and make the backing.

And as for new projects, yesterday I finished up all the blocks for my Tula Pink quilt I plan to enter into the Sew Along.  Full Moon Forest was my second ever designer fabric purchase and I’ve had two fat quarter bundles since the line came out.  It’s time to cut into it I guess!  I also used some Prince Charming, Birds and Bees, and some Amy Butler and Anna Maria Horner fabrics.

I read a little bit about making scrappy quilts “work” and tried to use all different scales and values of fabric, but I fear I may have missed the mark on this one.  I hope to have the finished top to share later this week.

My friend Donna is having a giveaway on her blog for a pack of Lecien fabrics and a copy of her pattern “Sweet Scrappy Love.”  It would make a perfect Valentine’s quilt.  I hope I win, but you should pop over and enter yourself, too!   The giveaway closes November 2nd.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!