A Nerd Quilts

The promised photos...

The latest Snowflake block:

 

And one Hollow Cube potholder, awaiting binding:

Some potholder ideas I've been kicking around...

(click on image to see full-size)

Just a short, photoless update...

Progress has been slow lately (but there has been some!).  I've had some nightmarish work weeks, and the little one is just now getting over a bout of bronchitis.  I can always sneak in a little time to sew (well, usually), but somehow taking and uploading pictures is always a huge production for me.  So, pictures later this week - I promise!

I've completed one more Snowflake quilt block - so, two more to go and then I can start working on the borders.

The Snowflake quilt has been generating lots of scraps, so Idecided to make a pair of "scrappy squares" potholders.  These are not finished yet - I've got the top of one done and the top of the second is about 10% done.  I should make more potholders!  Anything that will increase the frequency of a finished object is an awesome thing for a slow crafter like myself.  Of course I will still plod along and make quilts, but from now on I will try to always have a potholder in progress.

Speaking of potholders, I have also been working on the Hollow Cube quilt that I mentioned here.  I've finally got one full cube block completed.  The thing is, when I look at it, I can't stop thinking about what an awesome potholder it would make.  I think I'm going to scrap the Hollow Cube quilt, and just make a series of Hollow Cube potholders.

I'll end this post with a public service announcement.  Quilt Otaku has been creating some awesome Flickr slideshows from pictures she took at the Pacific International Quilt Festival.  She links to the slideshows from her blog, here (2008 show) and here (past years).  Check it out!

Once again, two more blocks

They look a bit wonky, but they aren't - they're just badly in need of some pressing.

 

Six blocks down, three to go!  I've also got some ideas for the final layout.  I'll photograph these again when the last three blocks are finished, of course, and I won't choose until then.  But the final layout will likely be one of these two:

 

Snowflake Variation - A Bit of Progress

I've managed to make two more blocks for the Snowflake Variation quilt:

 

Here are all the blocks so far.  (Although this is most definitely NOT how they will be laid out in the final quilt.  I don't like the black/madder and lavender/green blocks next to each other.)

 

Also, the startitis continues.  I've started a little wall quilt in the Japanese taupes I've been secretly collecting (I should really post about those...).  Plus, I've started a companion quilt to the Snowflake, using the same fabrics.  The companion quilt is a Hollow Cube layout.  For each Snowflake Variation block, I'm making two Hollow Cube blocks with the same three fabrics.  The two quilts will end up roughly the same size, although the Snowflake one will be square and the Hollow Cube rectangular.  I don't have any pics of the Hollow Cube quilt yet, since I haven't yet managed to complete one entire block yet.  I've been focusing on the drafting and cutting on that one, and saving my piecing time for the Snowflake.

WIP Parade

I'm still working on the niece quilt (quilting) and the pentagons quilt (piecing the final round).  But, in the wake of DQS4, I seem to have contracted an acute case of startitis.  As evidenced by the following (as usual, click any photo to see full size):

1. Hexagon mania continues, now in reproduction blues:
 

This will probably end up as a table runner of some kind.

2. These babies (and their as-yet-unsewn siblings) will turn into a black and white version of Joelle's Triangle Quilt (24" x 24", although I will probably stick a border on it):
 
Basically, the same dark print will be used throughout.  There are four different light prints, and from each one there will be one 6" square, three 4" squares, and fifteen 2" squares.  If I do decide to put on a border, I have a white-on-black toile that will be perfect for it.

3. Snowflake variation, in various stash 19th century prints:
 
There will be 9 blocks total, and no fabric will be used more than once.  Stay tuned, because I'm planning on doing something really cool with the border.  This will end up as a lap quilt, somewhere between 50" and 60" square.

DQS4 Received!

 

Last night I came home to this beautiful quilt (click for bigger)!  It is from Lynda in Australia.  I absolutely love it!  Thank you so much, Lynda!

DQS4 Complete

 

I finshed this quilt right on the deadline... Phew!  I had a tough time with the binding, and had to un-sew and redo a few parts of it.  In the end, I'm happy with how it turned out.

Just to sum up the details:
The quilt was originally inspired by this quilt from the February 2008 issue of Patchwork Quilt Tsushin (I changed the circles to hexagons since I don't know how to do applique):

Some of the fabrics were in my stash, and the rest (including the border and all of the indigos) were from The City Quilter.  I used Gutermann thread for both the piecing and quilting.  The batting is Quilter's Dream wool from Purl Patchwork.  I cut the 3" binding strips and did a double-fold binding.  All of the piecing, quiting and binding were done by hand.

I used MS Paint to design the label, which I then printed onto Printable Treasures fabric with my inkjet.

This quilt went to Lynne in New Hampshire - I hope she likes it!

More photos in the DQS4 album. 

Next on the List

After DQS4 is over, and I finish up both the niece quilt and the red pentagons quilt, I want to make this:

 

It's this quilt from Den Haan & Wagenmakers (and they do offer a kit if chintzes are your thing), which I've reimagined in spring-colored Kaffe Fassett prints, Haze Stripes and Shot Cottons.  I would scale it up, too - the original quilt has 10cm square blocks, which I would enlarge to 10 inch square blocks, making the full quilt about 41" square.  Perfect for a wall hanging.

Quick Progress Update

The blocks are all pieced, and some of the sashing is done...