Southwestern Strings

I finally got all the blocks for Alishia's string quilt done.  Gotta say...strings might not be my favorite kind of quilt.  Man they take a long time.

I tried a few layouts and sent her pictures, and in the end she picked small diamonds.  Here were the options:

The Big X.

The Big Diamond.

The Little Diamonds.

Maybe I'll call this Alishia's Stringy Diamonds.  Or maybe something less stupid.  In any case, that's what I'm working on tonight.

I also got 3 more QFK kits in the mail.  Pictures to come.

**** Quick Update ****

Here's the top as of the end of the night.  The middle is all sewn together, but the borders aren't on yet. I am LOVING how the border fabric ties everything in so nicely.  Click for a bigger image...it's teal flowers on a brown background.  I couldn't have designed a better fabric!

Pics from Yesterday's Exploits

Nick walked into my sewing room a few minutes ago, took a look around (I expanded my doodle wall a bit) and said "You're so OCD, I love it."  I was confused, but then realized he meant ADD.  That I can't argue with.  Here's the day's rundown: 

Mai's quilt, a quick update.  I did a total of 5 blocks today, and that was enough to mull on.  I'm not sure where I'm going with it, but I have high hopes.  We'll see. 

Soaking the squares for Alishia's quilt so I could take the paper off.  This was the bulk of the day, and it took FOREVER to get done.  My fingers were pruney, but...

Eventually it started coming together. 

A quick close up of Mai's squares, rearranged a bit. 

Some of the paper I took off of Alishia's blocks. 

Taadaa!  All the blocks I have done for Alishia's quilt so far. 

And finally, my two favorite boys, in eerily similar positions. I love these boys.  One of them needs some teeth pulled though...unfortunately, not the human one.  :-(  

Anyways, I hope everyone had a great weekend!  

First Guild Meeting!

Tonight, I went to the monthly meeting for the Mothertown Guild, in Lancaster.  It was so much fun!  I learned to do English paper piecing:

Seems like it could be fun if I cut the pieces before a long road trip...not sure I can bring needles on a plane though, so I'm pretty sure I won't try this weekend. Actually...this makes it seem like I could bring needles but not scissors of any kind.  I'm not sure I want to bring sewing stuff to New Zealand, but maybe for the next trip. 

I had a lot of fun at Mothertown tonight.  Everyone was super nice, and they even invited me to their retreat!  I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it or not, but it would be nice to get away for a weekend...well, get away with other women for a change.  We'll see.

So some pictures of the latest projects:

Here's Alishia's quilt.  I was doing the numbers:

And figured out that, in order to make a twin-sized quilt it'd be best to add an inch of sashing between each block.  I was debating the darker fabric above, but I don't think I'll have enough.

Instead, here's the lighter fabric I like...it's cream/tan roses (called "tea time" I think).

Here's the pre-hand-stitched fleece blanket.  With any luck, I'll have this and the I Spy quilt done by Thursday, in time to ship to SAPD on Friday.  

the general state of my sewing room

a few blocks down, all strips cut, how I met your mother playing, dinner cooling, kitty wandering, and off the screen a glass of wine slowly draining. it's a great Friday night.

my first string block!

I am so hooked! this is your future, alishia! :)