Deadlines

can be a wonderful motivator to finish things. I haven't produced much for a while, except works in progress. Since two of those WIPs were for birthdays, both within a month or so of each other, I decided it was time. Both quilts were begun on my retreat last March, so were well overdue for a finish,

This one was for my son-in-law who has his birthday just before Christmas. It is a Bonnie Hunter pattern (I love her stuff!) which she calls 'Strip Twist'. Lots of fun and pretty easy to make.

The other quilt was for my son, who said "You already made me a quilt!" That was many years ago, so I told him, "It's time for another one!" The basis for this was the disappearing nine patch block and I used Japanese themed fabrics as my son has an interest in Japanese culture. The extra strips and the borders were to make the quilt big enough for his bed. I love the backing fabric too.

I am happy to have these finished, hoping the sense of accomplishment will transfer to new projects, I have one or two small things in the works, but I will save those for another time!

Playing around

After my retreat, I was concerned that I may have left the sewjo behind, so I am cautiously attempting to do a 'little' bit at a time and not push the issue. I have continued to play around with my scraps, cutting strips and squares and using up the fabric. I have always been a thrifty minx and I'm following the suggestions of Bonnie Hunter, who must be one of the craftiest quilters when it comes to using up a stash. Not that my stash comes anywhere near rivalling hers!!

I have started sorting into containers, but I have a long way to go.

I have also begun stitching squares into nine-patch blocks. Ultimately they will become a quilt to raffle for Wolston House. I think I like the Dancing Nine-Patch, which is a free pattern on Bonnie's blog.

Baby steps!

Crayon Box

I have finally decided on the quilt I am making as a fundraiser for Wolston House. I dithered about this for a while as I am hoping to get some of the other volunteers to participate and most are not experienced patch- workers. Even though they have sewing skills, they lack confidence. The pattern I chose (from Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville free patterns) is Crayon Box and I think it will be perfect as it doesn't require precise seam matching.

It is a scrappy quilt (Bonnie's specialty) and I have started slicing and dicing fabric. Stay tuned for progress!

Taking a trip..

... not literally, but via this block.

Lots of people in blogland have been taking the same trip lately it seems. I am a bit slow on the uptake due to mislaying my sewjo for such a long time... but.. better late than never. Most of the Scrappy Trip-a-long efforts are based on instructions from Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville site (you can link from my blog roll). She has lots of free patterns available and is the Queen of scrappy quilting. I played around with this while at my retreat and it's very simple, so dig out the scraps I say!