Design Wall Monday--October 18, 2010

I was determined to get my Downy quilt finished this week, and so I spent most of the week on that. 

I'm calling this one "Shell Game" for its turtle motif.  I had in mind to do some fancy-dancy free-motion quilting, but then I just wanted to finish it more.  So I just did a simple diagonal grid in the middle section.  I kind of like how it looks on these quilts.  I used a fancy stitch from my sewing machine on the narrow inner border, and some free-motion "waves" on the outer border.  And then, the Downy folks want a zig-zag stitch instead of a conventional binding.  They seem to think it's more durable, and it probably is.

Here's what the back looks like:

They have a different kind of tag they give you now.  I like the old ones better.  These don't have any place to write the name of the quilt and the quiltmaker, but the instructions still say to do it.

I still kind of like it.

Then I had time to make two more blocks on my "Orange Crush" quilt.  This is the one Judy designed.  Her pattern is called "Peaches and Dreams."  Mine is very bright.  These are all fabrics from my stash, and some I've used on other quilts.  I like bright colors and whimsical designs.

I know this might be a bit much for some.  Here are the six blocks I have so far. 

With 6 blocks out of 30 done, I'd say that makes me about 20% done!  Of course, that doesn't include the borders and the quilting.  Maybe I should say I have 20% of the blocks finished.

And lastly, I got the center applique done on my next Checkerboard Flowers block of the month block.  I still need to make the checkerboard border for it, but those go together surprisingly fast.  This block is called "Iris Rising."




Here's a picture of the whole quilt.

Sadly, being sick for two weeks has me way behind on my three block-of-the-month quilts now.  There's no way I'm going to catch up, and there's really no point.  The blocks will continue to show up in the mail while we're gone this winter, and I won't be here to make them.  I'll be woefully far behind by the time we get back in the spring.  Erik will pick up our mail at the post office once per month while we're gone, but he won't be forwarding any of it.  Oh well.  I was really trying to keep up, but now that I've admitted defeat, the pressure is off.

Now I'm looking forward to seeing what the rest of you have done this week.  Hope on over to Judy's blog and see what others have on their design walls.