This Week's Finishes

I got some good quilting time in this week and have managed to finish quilting the Rainbow Swirls Log Cabin quilt as well as another lap quilt!

This is the only picture I have right now of Rainbow Swirls, but you can see I used variegated thread (Gumballs by Coats & Clark).  The batting is Warm and Natural.  No problems at all quilting this one, it took nearly 4 bobbins of thread.

This quilt is a variation of my Lover's Kiss pattern.  I made fewer blocks and added a piano key border.  The paris fabric was in my stash, and I paired it with strips from a Honey Honey jelly roll. (Kate Spain)

This one was quilted with Aurifil thread - of course it quilted up great!  This one took a bit over 3 bobbins to complete.  The batting is Warm and Natural as well.  I've almost used a whole roll of it this year!  I was really glad to have a chance to catch up on some machine quilting - I only have two more quilt tops in my pile to quilt at the moment.  I guess that means I'd better get to sewing, and I have a bunch of projects ready to be started.  I am really looking forward to piecing up a storm over the next couple of months.

I finished another block for Crazy Jane on Monday - G-3:

All applique, took me about an hour to finish.  Another Island Batik fabric - perfect for applique!  I love that it pressed so nicely and held the edge for stitching.  I'll have a few more blocks to show tomorrow when I can take pictures.  

I feel like I've been a bit more productive this week, thanks to my planner!  Listing three things I want to accomplish each day really seems to help me stay focused and accomplish those things.  I know the latter part of this week won't be quite as productive as I'll be working at the quilt shop while Sharan is away at the Oregon Gardens show.  Rainbow Swirls will be there in the booth as well as a few other samples I've made.  My quilts get to more shows than I do!  I don't mind, I'll be thinking of new shop samples to make while I work - can't complain about that, after all.

Rainbow Swirls and Curvy Log Cabin

I suppose it was inevitable, but I missed my first day of the 31 day blogging challenge yesterday.  I started this post, but was just too tired to finish it last night!  After a 4 mile walk, grocery shopping and cleaning house, I guess I just needed the rest.   The weather has been less than delightful - lots of rain and wind, making it a challenge to get out and do anything or take pictures!

Here are the details for the Rainbow Swirls quilt top and another look at the finished top in what light I did have yesterday.

It probably took me a total of 15 hours to piece this top.  The pre-cutting probably took an hour or two.

The ruler for the 6 inch curvy log cabin ruler is available at your local quilt shop or here.  The pattern is a Cut Loose Press pattern.  They only cost around $4.00 and are also available from your local quilt shop, or here.  The pattern is printed on lightweight card stock and can be saved in a binder!  I have really liked the patterns I have tried in this format.

I am making good headway on my list for the week, but have a lot of work to do tomorrow to get ready for Bunco on Friday, so I will call it a night for now.

Rainbow Swirls Top Finished!

Despite part of my afternoon being hijacked by an errand that went badly, I got the Rainbow Swirls top finished today!  I won't go into detail on the errand other than to remind you that you can't have reprints of photographs made at Wal-Mart unless you have taken them yourselves.  We ran into some copyright problems, and I totally understand, but my poor husband has to rework his project a bit to make it acceptable.

I was glad to retreat to my sewing room and work on sewing 64 blocks together into a quilt top.  Other than a little fussing to keep the colors random enough to suit me, this top went together like a dream.  First you sew them all in sets of 4 like this with the outer curve at the top and the inner curve at the bottom -

Then you sew those together into 4 sets of those units.  You can see the swirl now!

Then sew those four units together to make the center of the top

And you add the borders to finish it up!  Easy as pie!

After that I started working on sewing together the units from step 1 for this years Bonnie Hunter Mystery, Allietare.  I got 59 triangles done, and hope to finish step one tomorrow so I can get busy on step 2!  This coming week is a bit busy.  I have 4 curtain panels to make, 3 pair of pants to hem, 1 valance to adjust the width on, and an appointment to alter some blazers.  Not to mention that I have a Bunco party at my house on Friday and need to clean and decorate the house, shop for gifts and prepare lunch for 12 on Friday.  Oh well, life would be boring if it wasn't busy, right?