Diamonds and Apples

I finished a wall-hanging today - it is actually leftover from the project I finished last weekend as a shop sample. It was made from a jelly-roll. No, not the pastry! Jelly-rolls are rolled bundles of 2.5 inch strips of fabric from an entire line of fabric. What fun - I love scrap quilts so these are right up my alley as far as quilting goes. I really enjoyed working with the variety, and best of all it saves a ton of time as far as cutting the strips. The original quilt came out beautifully, and I had five diamonds left over, so I made them into a smaller version of the larger quilt. It is only 25 x 44 so it hardly took any time at all to quilt and bind this afternoon.

Didn't it come out pretty? The first quilt used all the same color of sashing, but I didn't have enough, so I used all the other greens left from the first quilt and made a scrappy sashing. It worked out quite well.

Next on my list is a sample I made for a pattern I wrote that didn't come out quite as well as I wanted it too. I ended up re-making the quilt for the pattern, but this one is perfectly acceptable - I just didn't like the lack of contrast. So, I plan to finish that one up tomorrow, and get started on that UFO pile. I need a big sale on batting, though - I'm almost out! We have some great fabrics on sale at the shop for backs so I'm ok there. Once I get the pile at the back of my table quilted it will be time to dive into the drawer again - it got filled up with various shop samples, plus a round robin in progress that I really want to get going on. It feels good to clean up these odds and ends, then I'll be ready for some new creations.

I really think that September would be a good month to make resolutions. It seems like I get energized this time of year as the nights get cooler and the days start to get shorter. Life seems a little less rushed for a while and I have time to think and dream and plan. Right now I am enjoying looking out my window at the trees and the blue sky. I know soon the rain will start and the sky will often be gray and stormy, but now as the summer hangs on it is a beautiful day and I appreciate it!

I am off to pick up some groceries, and maybe some more quilt batting (got to find that sale flyer from the fabric store!).