Thursday, March 22, 2012

Another Over and Under ... Wait, there's More!

Sandy's done it again.  Not one, but two finished I Spy quilts for lucky great-nephews.  Check them both out on her blog here.  One has blue sashing and the other quilt has green; the two different colours create two quite different looking quilts. There's lots of close-up photos too. I love them!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Let's Play I Spy

This new quilt is on show at Riel's blog The Q and the U.  For someone who's only been quilting for two years her quilts are very impressive.  The I Spy charms are 4 inch squares and sashing is 2.5 inches. The sashing in this top is quite clever.  Why?  You'll have to visit Riel's blog here to find out!

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Spinning Stars are Topped

A few weeks ago I shared some Spinning Star blocks.  When I had enough for a small quilt I spread them out to do some star gazing.
I really, really liked this layout but I saw two potential problems. Firstly, the thought of matching all those seams seemed like too much trouble.  Secondly, I only had 15 blocks and I wanted a bigger quilt top without making anymore.

One quilt I finished last year was made from orphan blocks with Friendship stars in the sashing.  All the fabric came from my stash; it was a challenge to find another print when the previous one ran out.  I liked the end result, this quilt lives with my daughter-in-law.*

So, I found some red fabric in the stash that was nice but had been around for too long.  I still had enough blue from the star blocks so I decided to make a red sashing with blue Friendship stars at each intersection.

Part way through the assembling process I realised that the friendship stars and the spinning stars look exactly the same - just put together differently.  I added an additional row to finish the blue stars.  I've chosen the fabric for the backing and I have the batting on hand, so there's another free quilt made from the stash.

*I have just discovered that I didn't take a photo of this one before I gave it away - panic!  I will have to photograph it in it's new home next time I visit.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Twisted Happy Blocks Quilt


When it come to writing instructions, I'm not your man.  Or woman.  I would much rather put up a photo and say, here it is, figure it out.
Fortunately, Mary Johnson of http://www.maryquilts.com/ is one of those generous folk who not only make a terrific quilt, but then also take the time to write a comprehensive, full colour set of instructions and put it up on the internet free!
Follow this link to download the instructions for Twisted Happy Blocks.  By the way, it's not the only quilt that Mary has on her website, there are dozens are patterns for scrappy quilts.  Well worth a visit.