learning progress

Granddaughter and I finished the top of her quilt. She made 6 of the blocks and I made the others as part of the teaching process. You would be hard pressed to figure out which she made. Some of her corner matching are better than mine. I actually sewed the sashing after she helped me cut because it was time for her to go home. I'll quilt it and mail it to her. However, I have taken a couple of days off ....resting up from my time with two kids in the house!

learning about quilting

My granddaughter is spending a few days with us before school starts....second grade this year already. My how the time flies.

We had some special girl time. She is fascinated with quilts and the last time she was here, we made a simple four block for her to take home. But this time, she wanted to do more. So we had an adventure.

First we took a trip to a quilt shop on Friday...she was so excited to be able to pick out her own fabric.She picked her focus fabric...the one with the pink and green hearts. The the stripe, green, and red and white hearts were the coordinating ones. The background fabric was from Nana's stash - we will use it for the sashing. We learned the words...focus fabric, coordinating fabrics, and stash. When we got home from the shop, we washed and pressed our fabric. We are going to make a nine patch so we cut strips, sewed the strips together, and cut them a second time. Of course, Nana used the rotary cutter with granddaughter telling me where to cut. We talked about measuring very carefully. Then the new strips were sewed together into blocks. She followed directions very well and sewed a straight seam. I put tape on the machine to mark the quarter inch line and put the machine at medium speed. Her seams were better than some of mine have been! Today we are going to sew the blocks together with sashing. Unfortunately, our time together is limited so Nana will have to finish it up and send her the finished quilt. Next summer, maybe we'll have more time.

bee-utiful

Look at the beautiful fabric one of my bee-buddies, Rachael, brought back from St. Barts. Yesterday we had our bee lunch and she gave each of us a pack of "St. Bart's" quarters. It was fun hearing about her search for fabric on the island...there was only one fabric shop and they had trouble understanding her quest for quilt fabric...until she described what she wanted and they said "oh, patchwork!"...The fabric is sold in 62" widths by the meter. It will be fun to see what each of us does with the fabric.

Yoyo progress

I have 3 strips of the yoyos made and I really like how it is coming along. The two lighter strips have been joined and they will be just the right size to put up over pillows on a bed just as I had hoped. The rest of the quilt will be a patchwork of the darker blocks.

Yesterday, I went to my favorite quilt shop to look for a backing for the coverlet (so I can make it like the vintage one I saw at a show a while ago). We found the perfect batik! Alas, the bolt was a little short and there wasn't enough for my project. There was another one but it just didn't show as well. Oh well, new shipments are coming in and it gives me another excuse to visit the shop---not that I really NEED an excuse. But all was not lost. I found some great fall fabric!

On with the yo yos

I have recuperated from having a weekend BBQ for about 25 of our friends so now it is back to quilting. Actually, it really wasn't that much work to have the party and sharing with friends more than made up for it. We had some of my quilting friends and some of my hubby's community theater friends here...all in all, a creative bunch of people.

Now I am ready to do the second stage of my yo you coverlet. I have 100 blocks (each about 9" square) ready to put together. Don't know how much will get done as I may have company this coming weekend...if my son doesn't get called for forest fire fighting...he is on call and may be going out west again this summer. Also, tomorrow I'm meeting with my writing group so I need to do some work for that...