Nature Crazy Quilt blocks progress...

(I'm sticking this in at the top of a post I did last night.)

*I just changed the eye of my squirrel and I think it looks a lot better than the one below.  The button was all wrong....a squirrel's eye is almond shaped.  Now I don't like the ear....a little too big, but that is harder to change, so it will stay the way it is!

I'm having a lot of fun working on these nature blocks, but applique is sure a lot of hard work, and I feel like I have "6 thumbs" working on these little things.

 The Chickadee block is basically done.  I don't want to overwhelm the applique by doing too much of the crazy quilt stitching, so I am doing less than I would normally do on the blocks.  

 Today I finished up this poppy for another block.  I want to get several of the appliques done so I have a variety of blocks to do the hand stitching on in my spare time.  

 My squirrel block.  I'm not happy with the eye and am trying to decide whether to rip it out and change it.  the button is a little bit too big...maybe.... and the circle around it not obvious enough. *NOTE: See eye change at the top of the post.  Maybe you can't see the difference, but I can and like it better :-)

My second bird block....a Red-bellied Woodpecker.  Not too bad!  I'm trying to pick ones that aren't too complicated .  I may do a Cardinal next and a Goldfinch, I hope.  We'll see.  I have 12 blocks to put whatever I want on.

Crazy about nature.....

A new project!  I have been wanting to start a new Crazy Quilt project ever since I finished my last one.  I really enjoy doing the hand work on the blocks.

  I made 12 blocks from the Quik Krazy pattern in all greens.

Here are 6 of them tacked to the design wall.

These blocks are fast to make from a stack of 12 pieces of fabric.  You stack up 12" pieces of fabric and then slice them along the lines of the pattern.  Then after re-stacking them......move one piece to the bottom of stack 1, 2 pieces to the bottom of stack 2, 3 pieces to the bottom of stack 3, etc. for the 12 stacks.  Now you have 12 new blocks arranged to sew back together!  An easy way to get some crazy quilt blocks if you don't mind them all being the same design, just different arrangements of the fabric pieces.

Chickadee!

I have wanted to do some nature themed work for a long time, so this is the year I will experiment!  Starting here!  I am going to put one bird, flower or butterfly on each block and then do the fancy stitching to the rest of the block as it takes my fancy.  This is the beginning of block #1.....a chickadee!  Not too bad.  His head isn't quite right, but I am not good at applique yet.  I can't wait to finish this block and am planning the next one....maybe a woodpecker? or a Cardinal?  I can't make them too hard until my skills improve.  This should be a fun project for a long time.  No idea what its final shape will be, but assume a wall hanging of some sort.

Starting out the new year.....

Well, I am starting the new year in a very quilting mood!  I finished the strip/rail fence top....except for whatever I decide to do about borders.  I'm still debating that in my mind.  I wasn't going to put borders on it, but it needs a bit more width and I don't want to make any more blocks.....I'm "stripped out" at the moment.

For me, this quilt top was like playing with "candy".....I just love all the yummy colors!

Here is a close-up of some of the blocks.

Then, before that one was even "cold" or ironed or put away, I started a blue and white quilt using the same pattern block as the orange quilt I did earlier (see at the end of this post).  This should be quite a contrast to the orange quilt.....from flaming hot to icy cold!

I'm laying the blocks out differently this time and hope to do applique in the white areas.  This will be an ambitious project for me....so don't expect to see it done anytime soon!  I have sewn the blocks into long strips since I took these photos.  Now I have to plan the applique.

I'm thinking "Bluebirds and blueberries" for my applique.   I started some blueberry circles today just to play with.  I may decide this won't even look good on the quilt, but it is my plan at the moment.  I'm not very good at applique, so don't want anything complicated.  I can't seem to get past the idea of blue leaves with the blueberries, but want to stick with all blue and white.  Hmmmmm......

Hard to believe this one started out the same as the blue and white!

Scrap happy.......

When I bought this issue of Better Homes and Gardens American Patchwork & Quilting magazine August 2011 issue, I knew I wanted to make this quilt on the cover.  I like "scrappy" looking quilts and I like easy patterns.  It was just what I needed to use up some of the fabrics in my stash.  I'm trying to not buy a lot of new fabric right now.

I really like simple patterns like this Rail Fence.  It is smaller strips than I like to work with.....1 1/2".....but I'm doing OK with it.  I dug through all of my stash baskets and chose a selection of my favorites from each color.....

......greens, my favorite!....

....yellow, orange, and red.....

.....black and brown floral and patterns (I like black in quilts).....

.....and the blues and purples!

I have been collecting neutrals ever since I saw the magazine and decided to make this.  So, armed with my colors and my neutrals I began sewing 5 strips together.....3 color and 2 neutral....to be chopped into blocks.

It wasn't long before I decided that neutrals are boring and I really wanted to put the colors together!  I love lots of color!  So I made some with 5 strips of color to be mixed into the final layout along diagonals.

Here are a bunch of the finished blocks laid out randomly.

Today I began to sew the individual blocks into 4-patches.  I decided to do it that way instead of sewing them in strips.  I don't have a big enough bed to lay out as many as I need to in each row.  I will have to add more blocks to get the top big enough.  Haven't decided if it will have borders or not.

That's what I'm working on! 

I'm loving playing with all the pretty fabrics and picking out combinations. 

I hope to have enough strips left over to do a log cabin with the same strips......we'll have to see if I am sick of them by the time I finish this one!

"Making a list, checking it twice".....

Have been trying to wrap up my Christmas sewing projects.  Some are gifts, some aren't.

The Christmas stocking for baby Chloe, my newest great-niece.  Front....

....back.

This is crochet hook keeper....a gift.  I received one from someone and thought it was a good idea, so I tried making my own.  I need to buy some hooks and a small pair of scissors to put in it.  You roll it up and slip the elastic over it.  I love the one that I have and use it to keep all my hooks together and ready to use.

A Christmas table topper that I finished.  I made three different ones of these and posted them unfinished in an earlier post.  Finally got all the bindings sewn on.

My sister asked me to make a bag for her to give as a gift to a friend.  I like making these bags and they are easy and a nice way to try out a block pattern.

I made this quilt top to give to our service projects group in our quilt guild.  I can't quilt it for them, but someone else will donate the quilting time or they will tie it.  I decided it was time to cut up and use some of the floral fabrics I had accumulated over the years!

Speaking of service projects:  This quilt was made by the quilters in the Wabash Valley Correctional Institute (male prisoners). It is a gift for my husband for his volunteer work with them....tutoring, teaching, and gathering quilting supplies for them.  Isn't it gorgeous?????  What a great pattern and more complicated than anything I've ever made.  These guys are good quilters even if they only tie their quilts.  And they can't even use a rotary cutter or rulers like we do.  I can't imagine making this with kindergarten scissors!

Here it is thrown on a bed.  I need to figure out how to get better photos of it.

I got my orange quilt back from the quilter and it is beautiful!  She quilted flames in the orange blocks for me and some beautiful heart shaped flowers in the border that echo the print.  I with you could see the great quilting.  I just love this and hope it makes me feel "toasty" warm this winter!  The back has a bright orange flannel.  Should have taken a photo of the back, too.

Sewing like crazy!......

I think I have sewn more stuff in the last month than I sewed the rest of the year!  I have really been on a roll with a lot of different projects and have more in the planning stages.

I completed this blue quilt for my son.....I call it "Underground Blues". 

I thought I took a photo of it when it was finished, but I guess I was so anxious to get all the cat hair off of it that I folded it up after I rolled it good and forgot to take a photo.  He is getting ready to move into an apartment, so maybe I can get a photo once it is on his bed.

Another corner shot of it.  I made him three pillowcases to go with it, as well.  I love making pillowcases!

I made this pair for my husband and me.  I saw that cool black fabric with the planes and zeppelins and knew he would love it.  So I dug around in my stash and found that black and white paisley to make me a case.  Mine has a black border with cat paw prints on it in honor of Hopey, who "puts us to bed" every night :-)

While I was in the pillowcase making mood.....I made the Grinch case for Mike and will find something green to make me a Christmas one to go with it.  The other pair were just a way to use some fabric I've had for a long time (the yellow is the band, the green floral the case), and the black ones behind them match the border of the quilt that you see on that bed......sort of.  They have bands of that dotted fabric.

I made two "Angel Quilts" for our quilt guild....they give them to the local hospitals.  These really went together fast.  Since I had extra pieces I made another slightly larger one for my sister's newest granddaughter and a doll quilt and pillow for her 4 year old sister.

I finally started working on the stocking for the same great-niece.  Got all the fabric and trims on, now I get to do the fun part...the crazy quilt stitching!

I found a cute pattern for a little Christmas table topper in an old magazine and have finished one....the top one...and have two others waiting for the binding.  These will be Christmas gifts when done.

I made a stack of wine glass coasters in Christmas fabrics, too for gifts.  These are fun to make!  They slip over the foot of the wine glass so you are carrying around your coaster and also marking your glass so you know which one is yours.  I've made others from wine design fabrics and batiks.

I'm starting a new quilt.....a blue and white one....so I have been cutting squares of fabric in two sizes.  I have enough blue and need to cut lots of white ones yet!

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The orange quilt in the post below is now at the quilters, so I will be finishing that up soon.  I have a dozen other projects in my head at the moment and just hope all this inspiration lasts and I keep working at these things!  Of course, I'm not getting much blogging done.........

Orange! Finishing up old projects.......

You had better get out your sunglasses for this one!  In the winter of 2009-2010 I started an orange quilt with the idea that maybe working on something "hot" would make me feel warmer.  It was a cold miserable winter that year!  When spring came I set aside the blocks and didn't really know what I would do with them or if I would ever finish the quilt.  I love making these blocks but had no idea on how to set them. There is a tutorial for making these Delectable Mountain blocks at the post where I started this quilt.

Recently I decided to finish making the blocks and started looking for some fabrics that would "tone it down" a bit and set the blocks off nicely.  I had decided on this strip style setting.  I found two beautiful orangish/brown fabrics at a Ben Franklin store in Jasper, IN that I thought would look good for the borders.  I already had the other batik brown that is the center of the stripe units.

As I begin to put it together, I realized that I was going to end up really liking this quilt despite its very bright color!  I had a little trouble with the corners of the stripe units but finally made them look right.

Cat tested and approved!

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So what do you name an orange quilt?  I've thought of a zillion names since I started it......"Turn up the Thermostat!" ........"Light my Fire!....."Dreaming of Summer"......."Betty's Nightmare" (Betty hates orange)....."Fire on the Mountains"......"Tropical Dream"......"Sizzling Hot!"......"Red Hot Mama"......"Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight!"????????