Wait and See

Guess I have been MIA this week.  Quilting continues on the little four-patch kaleidoscope quilt .... I'm on the borders now, so it won't be too much longer before I have that to show off.

I have been having a wonderful time lately, cleaning our attic.  It doesn't sound like fun, but I am clearing things out and taking load after load to Goodwill.  Most of this stuff should have been dealt with at the time, instead of packing it away.  I opened one box and the only thing in it was WIRE HANGERS!!!

Anyway, this stained, sad fabric was in my hands, literally inches from the garbage bag:

I've been wanting to start a new selvage project so decided to wash it and cut it into squares for my foundations.  We wouldn't want to waste any "good" fabric, would we?  It is going in the washing machine this morning.

I was given some wool yarn and a new book so of course I started right off on a project.  The knitting is done. I just need to sew the handles on and then I'll pop it into the washer to felt.  I am kind of afraid that I didn't make it deep enough.  We'll see.

Borders ON!

The new Windmills quilt top was completed yesterday.  The original, orange version was bright, but I believe that this one is brighter!  Definitely a happy quilt.

Tonight the borders went on the Cobweb quilt top.

One will probably be machine quilted and the other hand quilted.  But both will be put away for a little while because I have some other projects that need attention.  So many ideas and so little time!  

A Little Self-Promotion

We finally got around to adding pictures of my original patterns to the store website (www.cottonfieldsnc.com)  Some of the patterns are by-products of teaching beginning quilting classes.  I already had the supplies and measurements all figured out, plus a sample made, so why not put them all together?

  

Other patterns were specially designed for our annual "Romancing Eastern North Carolina Shop Hop" which takes place each February.

   

This pattern began it's life as a Mystery Quilt Class:

Here's our best-selling pattern:

I could go on and on .... if you are curious about the rest, visit our website!

In other news, we visited the Washington (NC) waterfront area yesterday.  Love is in the air!  We watched a number of goose couples (geese couples???) carrying on, showing off and making some most unusual (mating?) honking noises.  As we were leaving, we spotted these two, just standing there, each on one leg.  They stood so long and so still that, as some children walked by, one said, "look at the statues".

Day Off? Off Day

Yesterday wasn't supposed to be my day off, but it felt like it.  I had SO  MUCH time on my hands that I made some little kits to go with my "Crooked on Purpose" patterns.

While making the kits, because of the variety of fabrics it calls for, I also cleaned up a very messy, piled-up cupboard of miscellaneous fabric (wish I had a "before" picture!)
THEN ...
I worked on the Windmills quilt top.

THEN ...
I read the book Stalking the Angel by Robert Crais.  I love his Elvis Cole character and thought that I had read all of his books to date (in order), but somehow this one had escaped me until now.  Another P.I. with a smart mouth.  Good stories.


On Friday, I sewed the sleeve to the back of the Phone Book Quilt, so it will be ready for it's appearance at the Greenville, NC quilt show on April 20 and 21.  Cassie misunderstood and thought it was there for her napping pleasure!

Robert B. Parker

Today was my day off, so I read Night and Day by Robert B. Parker.  It was a quick read and I enjoyed it very much.  I have read a lot of Parker's books with the Spenser character, but this was my first with Jesse Stone.


In the quilting department, I have another small finished project to share (22" x 22").  This selvage table-topper was pieced about a year ago.  Yesterday I machine quilted it and last night I finished the binding.

I started piecing the green/yellow/brown "Windmills" quilt top too.  First, there were a lot of strips to sew together ....

Cobweb Progress

The blocks are together!  I didn't have enough feed sack scraps to make any more than this.  So, here it is, hanging up on the wall.


Here is the back ...

And here is a close-up of one of those 12 seam intersections that I was whining about earlier.

After I finish pulling the rest of the paper off, I have a solid red that I am thinking about using as a border and also a WHOLE feed sack that is a white, blue, and red print that would be nice for an outer border.


I'm continuing to hand quilt the four-patch kaleidoscope quilt.  I'm using masking tape to mark the straight lines criss-crossing each four-patch block.  The little yellow blocks each have a simple four petal stencil design that will barely show up in the long run.

What else?  I sold my store sample of the Windmills quilt (Cotton Fields original pattern), so this week I cut out another one.  This is the original sample, the new one is bright yellow, green and brown.

It's a simple design, so I can probably get it put together over the weekend.  I also just machine quilted a selvage table topper (another something-or-other that had been waiting around for a while).  As soon as it's binding is finished, it will be ready to show off, too.   

Feed Sack Cobwebs

Here's what things looked like when I was finished with the string piecing on the feed sack parts of the cobweb blocks .  Cassie was exhausted by the process!  Next I added the solid side pieces.  After the solid fabric auditions the other day, I ended up choosing a green just because I had enough of it.  


BUT ... as it turned out, I didn't have enough.  I was six strips short!  And I didn't discover it until I was almost finished with the blocks.  I was determined to use solids from my stash and decided that I could add one different strip to each block and arrange them symmetrically when I put the top together.  I told myself that that's what our pioneering grandmothers would do!


Anyway, I've put together the first block and it has too many seams!  It's lumpy and thick in the center and I'm not very happy with it.  I'm already thinking about using some vintage buttons to hide the intersections when I am finishing.  I am glad I'm only making six blocks and it is a small project.  Maybe we can't hit a home run every time?  

And, maybe things will all work out in the end.