Doing the Happy Dance!

I still can’t believe how very fortunate I am (insert squeal).  Vicky at LA Quilter recently offered a wonderful giveaway to commemorate doggy Penny’s fifth birthday and her blog’s eighth anniversary.   The prize was a tower of French General Esprit De Noel fat quarters.  Long have I eyed the French General collections, but never made the plunge, so I was stunned to learn I had won the drawing. 

My box arrived today.  I could not believe how big a tower of fat quarters is. 

It includes 33 fat quarters with no repeats.  Now I am in search of a fat-quarter-friendly pattern that will show off the beauty of this collection, and I’m open to suggestions.

Thank you so very much, Vicky!

Tuesdays Mean Sewing with Friends and Jane Stickle Blocks

Tuesday’s Jane Stickle triangle block was LS-1, Nancee’s Fantasy.  It required paper piecing and applique and went together surprisingly quickly. 

Our icy weather morphed into a gorgeous sunny afternoon in the 50s, quite a change from the sleet and icy conditions of the morning.

Thunder Sleet and Applique

We went to bed to a thunder sleet storm last night and woke up to freezing temps and ice.  It's kind of pretty seeing the sun shine through it, and this photo of our rain chain does not do it justice.

Fortunately, the roads in our area are clear, although the “big city” 40 miles to our east has chaos conditions for rush hour.  I should be able to leave for Sit 'N Sew Day shortly.

Last night I watched Bonnie Hunter's Quilt-Cam while I did applique prep work for one of the Jane Stickle triangle blocks I’ll be working on today.

Split Nine Patch Now a Flimsy

My split nine patch scrappy quilt is now a flimsy.  I really had fun with this one and it has been entirely made from stash remnants.  I now have two tops that are ready to be sandwiched and quilted.

Our high temperature yesterday was 80.  As I prepare this post this afternoon, my computer gadget tells me it is 29 degrees.  It’s also very windy and damp…good weather to be inside sewing.

Another Jane Stickle Triangle

Now that the third and final quilt from the Hawaii quilting cruise is a flimsy, I have resumed working on Jane Stickle blocks on Tuesdays when I gather with friends to sew.  Here is BR-8, Thunderhead triangle block.  It is entirely paper pieced and had enough triangles to force me to really concentrate.  I believe this block has 32 pieces.

The Next Project

My collection of split nine patch blocks grew to more than 100 so I started playing with layouts in earnest.  There were several that intrigued me, but this is the one that kept calling to me.  I’ve seen several versions of it online recently including the one Bonnie Hunter did as her leader/ender challenge project.  The first five rows on the left have already been stitched together, so the two halves don’t match up.  It's very easy to accidentally turn these blocks the wrong way when transferring them from the design wall to the machine, and I've already had to do some unsewing.  Fortunately, it was on an outside block and not too much of a hassle.  

There are so many neat layouts that can be created with triangle squares that it’s a temptation to keep making these, but then I'd have to cut out more 2 1/2 inch squares.

I've been listening to the audio book version of The Hobbit while working on this project.  It's an 11 hour MP3 disk I borrowed from the library and I nearing the end.  I just didn't want to wait for the final movie to be released to find out how the story ends.

Carol Doak Top is Finished

I sewed the last two borders on the Carol Doak quilt I have been working on Tuesdays and it is now officially a flimsy.  I like it much better with the borders.

Here is some of the paper I had to peel off the back.  It came off fairly easily, but it was still a time consuming and messy process.