Last Block Finished....Now What???

Yes, I finished the last block for Strips on Stripes this morning, but now what???

There they are, all on the floor....I'm missing my design wall back home.

I swear, at times like this I have no idea what I'm doing.....what is the best way to join these up?? Here I go making a huge mess, as I try to decide my next step.

 

A few layout possibilities.

 

Bring it to a different room for different lighting.

Audition a few fabrics for joining strips...who knows??? Sometimes the process is tedious other times things click into place immediately.....a little tedious today.

I linked up to:

"No Rhymes just Words, I Write like Marianne Quilts" Judy Chartier

 For some reason I was a little crabby as I started sewing this morning. I hadn't worked on this project since February and of course, lost any notes I might have made (if I made any at all)  In the first hour, I had ripped out more than I had sewn. After making a few phone calls, I gave up and went out for lunch with my husband...and then a little shopping.

 In my last post, I  jokingly referred to this as my West Coast Studio...so one of my quilting buddies wrote a crazy little ditty and challenged the rest of us Blockheads to come up with something too. When I got home and opened my email this was waiting for me:

Marianne's Studio

Light bouncing off color and pattern...

Women's laughter and tears

Shared over the years...

Babies celebrated, loved ones mourned...

Thread and fabric formed into comfort and love...

Hearts bound together, friendships weathering the test of time.

All in Marianne's Studio

"No rhymes just words, I write like Marianne quilts."

by Judy Chartier

I am fortunate to have such wonderful friends to quilt with....Thank you Judy...this poem is a treasured gift, as is your friendship.

Now off to finish this quilt...with a tear in my eye.

I found What I Was Looking For

 I found the green I was looking for and more. My husband jokingly calls our home here, his West Coast Office.....I am now officially dubbing it My West Coast Studio...do you think I'll get any work done, this week, with all this beauty to distract me? Of course the beauty is so inspirational, how can one not spend a little time quilting

I can see this flower bed, in the distance, from my window.

It's amazing what a walk through the park and along the ocean can do for one's spirit. Have a wonderful Easter

I'm Off to Find Some Green....and I don't mean Fabric.

As much as I love Alberta....I took this picture yesterday morning....snow and brown, not a bit of green to be seen any where.

 

My current quilting project for Lily's Quilts QAL is the only thing I'm going to have trouble leaving behind......sorry kids, did I actually say that out loud??

I'm off to the West Coast to find a little spring, and wouldn't you know it I found a little airport inspiration along the way.

Would you look at the ceiling at the Victoria Airport.

I'm inspired and haven't even stepped out of the airport.....

Quilt Backs....Good Place to Experiment

I was planning to experiment with an over sized version, of the blocks, that I am making for Lily's Quilts QAL, and the quilt backs are just the place to do it.

Here's the same assembly line method.

I even like ironing assembly line style

Quilts backs are great place to add a little something interesting.

Why, Why, Must One Idea Always Lead to Another??

I find it's often in the doing that ideas start to flow. Is that a problem ??  Yes and no, I'm barely into one project and the floodgates open and ideas start to bombard me......the result,  many many and I mean many multiple projects.

This year has been particularly bad or good (depending on your perspective).....I think the problem increased when I started blogging, just before Christmas.   Hmm, is there some correlation??? The up side...I love when my creative juices are flowing.....the down side, I would really like to finish these projects and that could take a really long time.

The smart thing to do would be, to write these ideas down, as they come, but smart, was never my strong suite.

As I was working on this project......

I suddenly started thinking.....

Here is the back of the block...I like to press my seams open.

The Quilted Block

The back fabric was quilted along with the front.

Back to what I was thinking....what if I make the block much bigger???

I'll get back to you on that...to many ideas racing around my head....am I writing them down, you would think...but no.

Assembly Line Type Quilting

This assembly line type quilting moves along rather quickly.  I'm using a method from the book Crazy Shortcut Quilts.  If you are familiar with Karla Alexander's work, the  Stacking the Deck method is fairly similar, except you only make one cut....then sew and then the next cut....then sew, and on and on until your block is complete.

My husband's pool table gets a good work out, as I lay out all the blocks after each cut.

I'm happy to say I finished nine blocks (only six are shown) in pretty quick time, since I want to keep up with the QAL.

The next step is to play around and come up with a layout I like and works well, with the QAYG method, I want to use to join the blocks, after they are quilted.

Sneak Peek at My Building Blocks

Blocks for Lily's Quilts QAL

Check out my Guest Post today at Lily's Quilts.   Lynne asked me to come up with a little something for her QAL.

 If you love to quilt and laugh her QAL is  well worth checking out.

Fired up the Long Arm

I'm still recovering from my holiday (that doesn't sound quite right, does it) so I didn't get much done in the quilting world last week, but I did manage to fire up the long arm and help fellow Blockhead (Judy) with her quilt.....such lovely colours.

Would you just look at that concentration. It took the thread breaking, multiple times, before we clued into changing the needle. We're just a little slower some days.....remember I'm still in holiday mode.



You can see all is well , her smile says it all!