WIP Wednesday #36

Wednesday again. How does this happen with such frequency?

I have spent most of my available sewing time this week working on Farmer's Wife blocks (come back for Farmer's Wife Friday) and Snow Angels.Yesterday I mentioned some of my math problems in regard to Snow Angels. I thought I had the border all planned out but then things went in a totally different direction.

Right now you may be asking yourself this question:


How long did it take her to come up with such an inventive and creative border for this quilt??

You would be surprised. I had planned to use the leftover jellyroll strips on two sides, but it was just too busy, so they will become part of the back.

Then I auditioned a stack of fabric in different combinations. I thought about using a narrow red border to "stop the action" and then add about a 4" border of some of the prints.I even really liked the polka dots, particularly because it was not part of the line and added a little extra "something." But it was still too busy, and I wanted the circles to continue, not be stopped.

 So then I thought about how I wanted to quilt it. I want to use perle cotton in red, blue and two shades of pink, and maybe some white. I really like the circles created as a secondary design and want to emphasize that so my plan is to quilt 1/4" inside each grey piece. Then I decided I would like to finish off the illusion by carrying the quilting into the border. Kind of like this:

I didn't want to piece the solid grey borders, and that's how I ended up fussy cutting a cute little girl on a swing for each corner.

Does that make any sense? Have I thoroughly confused you? Awesome. My work is done.

So go see what everyone else has been working on this week.

WIP Wednesday: Minnesota edition

I just returned from a quilting retreat in Minnesota (details to follow tomorrow). It took me the better part of the retreat to get these nine blocks done. You would think I could have gotten more done in 2 1/2 days, but it goes a lot slower when you are working with templates and curved piecing at the same time you are laughing and talking. I managed to do some Farmer's Wife Sampler blocks too but I'll post those on Friday, and I finally started the Blockapalooza quilt-along (which incidentally has been finished for a long time...) and completed one block but I can't find it haven't unpacked yet.

So...this is it for this week, my Sherbet Pips flowering snowball quilt (taken directly from the suitcase, therefore explaining the wrinkles). I'm looking for another name and would welcome any suggestions.

No, it's not a big quilt. Yes, it would be nice if my design wall were a bit larger.

This is quite possibly my favorite block:

Or maybe this one:

Now go see what everyone else is up to. And come back tomorrow to find out what lessons I learned by going out of state to a fabulous quilt retreat.