Saturday, April 17, 2010

Friday Night Sew-In - April

Heather and I are making cross quilts "together," and Amy and Carla have joined in the fun.  Heather and I have been using this pattern by Kelly McCabe, but both Amy and Carla have come up with their own fast and fun methods and posted tutorials.  Carla's liberated cross block tutorial is here, Amy's method designed to make the most efficient use of her precious Hope Valley fat quarters is here.

Friday Night Sew-In seemed like an ideal opportunity to make up a few cross blocks, and I started with two more Amy Butler fabrics.  I love how these turned out!



They are starting to add up, and I'm very happy with them so far, except these two blocks:


See how the background color on the Sun Spots is just a little to yellow for the Kona Snow?  Although this Wall Flower fabric has a little of a similar color, so maybe in the end everything will work out.  Time will tell.


Next, I finally turned my attention to the Nicey Jane + Essex cotton-linen blocks.  I love working with the Essex!  Once pressed, the fabric really holds it's shape, but I had to be careful to press and not iron as it was surprisingly stretchy and just the movement of the iron on my 10-1/2 inch squares could distort the edges.


Final total for the night: 10 blocks.  I was working slowly, and while Amy and I agreed that I should not be a distraction to myself, I absolutely was -- puttering around and re-arranging things.  Buy, hey, I found my Kona Color Card!

Final total for all cross blocks: 34 (26 Amy Butler and 8 Heather Bailey).  To put this in perspective, I think I would need 58 for a throw.


And yes, it does strike even me as odd that I am making two cross quilts and each is blue and green.  And it does occur to me that they just might work together if I combined them.  I should try to find time to outsmart the cats so I can lay them all out together and see how they like each other.  Or not.  A person can never have too many blue and green quilts -- at least in my book.  As always, I'm just making it up as I go.

With wishes, true and kind -- Joan

19 comments:

  1. Your "making it up" VERY WELL!

    ReplyDelete
  2. These are such pretty blocks, Joan. So calming. I think they would look great together - the variation in the lights would work well together, I think. I laughed when you said "outsmart the cats" - good luck, but do try and take a photo of all the blocks together so we can see.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think when you put the Sun Spots blocks next to other blocks, they don't look too yellow. On their own, maybe they're a bit off of the K.Snow color, but in a quilt I think they'll blend right in and look pretty. I do like that dot fabric!

    My dog also likes to "help" when I lay quilts out on the floor. He's close to 40 pounds so he covers a fair amount of quilt when he flops down.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I think they are both looking lovely! I especially like the Nicey Jane.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Both are BEAUTIFUL! Just LOVE the colors & patterns you are working with! CANNOT WAIT to see the finished result!

    ReplyDelete
  6. How cool that all of you are working on the same project together! I love that. I especially love your Heather Bailey blocks! So fun seeing your progress.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am inspired. You can try them together. I had not thought of that. They look nice. They remind me of soft ticking fabric.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Looks like you had a productive Friday night! I love your "cousin" blue and green quilt blocks. :-) You're right, you can't have enough blue and green quilts. Today I brought home some blue and green and pink for little twist. We'll see what transpires. I am going to have to get some of the blue/green Nicey Jane. I can see that writing on the wall. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Lovely blocks, colors and fabrics! Making it up as you go is the BEST way! Enjoy your sewing, creating and playing. : )

    ReplyDelete
  10. lol, your so funny :) It is amazing how such simple blocks can be so stunning.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Your fabrics are so great, Joan. You are way ahead of me in these...better get crackin'! I don't really have a complete plan either but know that I have more to make! I think I will try to make some small ones using Amy's method.

    ReplyDelete
  12. All your blocks are beautiful! Even though you are making two quilts in similar colors, they are definitely both unique. I have my fabrics picked out and ready to go as soon as I'm finished quilting my current quilt... I might have to cheat and make up one or a few cross blocks this afternoon. LOL

    Jennifer :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. nice! the soft colors are very eye-catching!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I'm so tempted by both the projects you're playing with at the moment. I think I need to keep this one for sometime soon as well as the hexes. This is going to be gorgeous with the softer colours, the creamy ones wouldn't worry me,

    ReplyDelete
  15. I really like these cross blocks. I'd like to try them some time!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I love the Essex with Nicey Jane! I haven't had a chance to try essex yet, but it has come up a couple times this last week. I should find some.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I love the colors. Can't wait to see it done. Are you doing straight rows? I'm working on a cross quilt right now too.

    ReplyDelete