1/29/12

Design Wall Monday--January 30, 2012

We are already to the end of January.  That month flew by!  I worked on a lot of miscellaneous projects this week, and I feel like I have a lot accomplished.  I'm ready for February now.

The week started with my decision to re-make a baby comforter I made when Erik was a baby.  There is a story behind this comforter that you can read right here if you like.  In short, my mother embroidered the nursery rhyme characters, and I sewed the blocks into a tied comforter.  Now I have a mind to make it into a proper quilt.

Right now I'm in the process of separating all the blocks, and I have 15 out of 25 taken apart.  The embroidery will need some repair on a few of the blocks.  Then I'm going to add a sashing between the blocks, a couple of borders, sandwich it and quilt it.  I found some adorable Mother Goose fabric for the back.

The Sunshine on My Shoulders quilt is back from the quilter.  This quilt was made from Judy's Peaches & Dreams pattern.  I have the binding sewn on by machine, but I still need to do the hand work to complete this quilt.  (I've been working on this for at least a year and a half.)

The October block for the Home is Where the Heart Is is completed now, including all the top-stitching.

This is my oldest (and only) true UFO.  I've been working on this quilt for over two years.  My goal is to have it finished in June.  The top-stitching still needs to be done for the November and December blocks, and then I'll need to piece together the log cabin border.  As I've said many times, I love the quilt, but I hate working on it.  If I could figure out a way to finish it without finishing it (if that makes sense), I would do it.  It feels like an albatross around my neck.

I completed a swap block and a block for the Blogger's BOM.  The swap block is only a sneak peek until it can arrive safely with my swap partner.


Finally, yesterday I started on the Castles in the Air doll quilt I'm making for my friend's granddaughter, Camlyn.  Lisa (my friend) said this about Camlyn:

Camlyn is all about being a pink princess and doesn't show much sign of changing that part of her personality.  She loves shiny (certainly beads, buttons and crystals!), luminescent, and soft-feeling textures, along with PINK!  
Originally, I had in mind to do one thing for Camlyn's quilt, and I had a pattern picked out.  It was going to end up too large, however, and so I wasn't completely satisfied with my choices.  Then I was flipping through some patterns I had and I came across this paper-pieced pattern from Kitten's Mitten:

The block works out to about 9 1/2 inches square, and I knew right away that I wanted to use it as the center square for Camlyn's doll quilt.  So I spent yesterday afternoon coming up with my own version.


In my opinion, an Add-A-Quarter Ruler is essential for paper-piecing.  It makes the process so much easier!  With this pattern, the little turrets of the castle are only about 1/4-inch to begin with,


and so I was really glad to have the Add-An-Eighth Ruler as well. 

I wish I had used a better contrasting fabric for the windows on the castle.  It's too late now unless I want to start over--which I don't.  My back-up plan is to quilt little window panes into the windows with a darker thread, and I think that will help them to stand out more.

What's on your design wall?  For more inspiration, visit:

Patchwork Times

7 comments:

Aliene said...

The baby blanket is one of my favorites. I guess because I am sentimental and love old things.
Especially if Moms or Grandmothers
had a hand in them. I have several Mom started and I plan to finish. I have already done one baby and one
bonnet girl that Mom started. Your grandchild, no matter when, will have a special quilt..

Lynette said...

I know just what you mean about dreading the finishing of Home is Where the Heart Is. I'm so intimidated by my Beachwalk quilt blocks! I really get quite a bit of anxiety when I seriously consider how to do any of the thread-painting/quilting.

Denise :) said...

Gosh, Barbara, you've always got SO much going on! I think your Nursery Rhymes project is my favorite, though. It's such a sweet idea to convert it to a quilt! Happy Monday! :)

Snoodles said...

Lots going on in the Northwest! I think the block with the cherries is neat...and the castles are sure to be loved. How you can do that paper piecing, I don't know! I've tried it, and it (PP) and I just don't get along too well! LOL Yours looks great, tho!

Ranch Wife said...

You have been busy! I adore the nursery rhyme blocks - the resulting quilt will be fabulous and I love the story them! I like seeing your progress on the Home is Where the Heart Is quilt. Keep on keeping on and you'll be thrilled when it's finished! Your Castle is darling! I can only imagine how it will be treasured!

Sue Daurio said...

I can't wait to see how your peaches and dream quilt looks, love the colors you have. The October block is super cute. And will you look at that castle? My goodness that is precious! Oh to be a little girl and get a doll quilt with that on it. Certain to be remembered for a lifetime.

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

Wow! Lots of great stuff going on!! Enjoy!!