A Few Works in Progress

It is amazing how much progress you can make in the sewing room when there are no interruptions or places to be. That is my favorite part of winter! Besides, the beautiful, quiet, and fresh blankets of snow. I hope you are having fun in your sewing space as well.

And with the Olympics on, there is plenty to keep my mind entertained while doing some handwork. Speed skating, bobsledding, alpine racing...what's not to love, right?!

Snowball sew-a-long report: I have 100 dark center blocks complete and 73 light center blocks done. This is truly a scrap project. I am not putting any forethought into this as I pull collected 5" charm squares out of the box. It will be fun to see the end result. I imagine a utilitarian quilt and may even use an old blanket for its wadding layer. Perhaps I may even be delighted by the time it's finished! You can jump in on this sew along at Temecula Quilt Company. She uses 4.5" and 1.5" squares whereas I have been using 5" and 2" squares. I hope to have this sewn into a top by the end of March.

Edyta Sitar is hosting a Block of the Month this year. All patterns are from her Patches in Blue book. I am so thrilled to participate and could not resist adding this project to my many others. Block 1 (January) and Blocks 2 (February) are pictured. I only have to sew the tops to the basket bottoms. I jumped ahead a bit by making a little Ohio Star there. Aren't they cute? Check out her blog at Laundry Basket Quilts for the completed quilt. It's not too late to join in! 

My Lemoyne Star border has been attached to my Medallion Ca'rlene quilt. I ran out of the fabric for the setting triangles and even had to piece a couple. So I used some of the dark turquiose from the next border for the 4 corners. The turqoiuse border is now attached and I am working on the 4 patch blocks that will be set on the diagonal in the next border.
 
This quilt has really been a challenge. It was a purchased kit so I do not have a lot of extra fabric for mistakes. I did purchase a few pieces of Judy Rothermel's fabrics to use in a pinch and they have been lifesavers! 

Another challenging factor is that there is no forgiveness in a medallion quilt. The borders fit, or they don't. 

The directions state that at this point this top should measure 54" square. Mine does not! It measures 60" square. Ugh! Now I have to make the 2" (finished size) 4-patch blocks fit and because they are on point my math is all confusing! Once these blocks are sewn I can begin to see how far off I will be...my cornerstones may end up being "Corner-rectangles".


I only have 2 more borders to complete after this one and this baby is complete! Wow! Will I be Snoopy dancing!!

If you have any helpful suggestions, I welcome your comments below. Thank you!