New Challenge Quilt

Nicole is hosting a Two Colour Quilt Challenge. She and Susan, Erika, Jane, Julia, and Patti are all going to do it.
I've been wanting to make a red and white quilt for a while and this seems like a great opportunity. The peer pressure should help.

I'm thinking of maybe doing a Lady of the Lake, or a 9p and snowball quilt. Something simple and classic.
I also have a bunch of blues and neautrals. Hmmm...I may have to think about this one.
If I do the blues and neautrals I could do a jewel box or Road to Oklahoma. There are so many patterns that look amazing in blue and white/neatral.

I'm not a huge fan of scrappy, at least not making them myself, but I think with two colour quilts it looks really nice.
Blues would be easier because I wouldn't have to worry about them not going together. Reds are a lot harder, you have to watch for the undertone, purple, yellow, brown, etc.
So do I go comfortable and blue or be adventurous and try red?

Really unfun week

First, I know unfun is not a word but it is about the nicest I'm going. My back is still giving me fits. The spasms have bruised my kidneys and now I'm just unhappy. Little Bit is away for the weekend with her biodad and she really didn't want to go.

Second I just noticed that my Wednesday post never published, so if you wish you can skip down and read it now.

Today I got another of my stars done. This one is ok, the problem I had is I ran out of the paper I normally use and just used computer paper, which if fine except that with smaller blocks it is very stiff.

I don't really like this block. I tried playing with it in EQ using all sorts of colour combinations and placements but I never really feel in like, let alone love, with any.
I'm sure after all the others have posted I'll see something that makes it pop.
Something I've noticed when I look at paper pieced blocks is a lot of them make the Maltese Cross when you put them together, either in the center or as a secondary pattern with multiple blocks. It's weird. Or maybe I'm just weird for noticing.
I really hope I get feeling better because I am not enjoying not being able to do anything.

Back pain and paper piecing

So my back decided to cause me great pain the last few days. I was doing Little Bit's hair after her bath on Saturday, turned to grab another elastic and popped three ribs out of place. Which cause my low back to start spasming, which forced my tailbone out of place. Very painful. Very irritating also. So until today I haven't been able to do much. I've been to the chiropracter twice and go again tomorrow. Little Bit is mad at me for not being able to play much the last few days.
But the pain is starting to diminish and I'm too stir crazy to not do anything so I decided to do another paper pieced block, it's not a star but it will be used as one.


I have discovered that I am a) not really patient enough for paper piecing to be my primary method b) paper piecing causes more back pain than regular piecing and c) my attention span is shorter even than I thought it was.

The pattern is another provided Carol Doak and her amazing online quilt group.

Wall Hanging

So up until about 2 hours ago I still had a snowman wreath on my apartment door. As it is now officaly spring, and flowers are actually bloomimg, I decided I had to change it. I didn't want another wreath, I just haven't liked any I've seen.
So I dug through my small flimsies and got out my Urban Indigo star, familiar from my header.
I quilted it and it looked ok. It wasn't pieced the best because I was just making up the design as I went so didn't really plan well.






So not too bad right?
Well then came my nemisis. The binding. I hate binding. I am not good at it. I can't hand sew because my fingers cramp after about 12 stiches.
So what in blue hell (does anyone know where this saying came from?) made me think I could attach attractive binding to a quilt with 8 points and 8 indents? Yeah this was dumb. A perfectly decent wall hanging is destroyed by my binding. I don't really want to show anyone but I will.




Ok not too bad?
Wait until you see the back. Its bad, really bad. But I was at a point that I really didn't care.
I mean who is going to see it, right? It's against a door.



So out on the door it went. It'll keep people from thinking my door is the door to the garbage room. Which will keep my little puppies from barking up a storm and making me deaf.


My exams are done now and I don't start back until May 8th so I'm hoping to get a lot of sewing done. I want to try a few more paper pieced stars.

CF fundraiser

Perry has a link on her website to donate and buy raffle tickets for a 98x96 quilt made from Moda's Chocolate line. It is really beautiful.

Perry's granddaughter has CF.

CF has hit my extended family twice and is really a horrible disease, and hard on both the kids and families.

Check it out if you can.

Paper piecing

Before today this is the only paper piecing I had ever done. I haven't gotten to putting binding on it but it is quilted, though it needs an iron from the look of the picture, which could just be from me just dropping it on the ground for the pic.

I took a class a few months ago because it is something I just could not for the life of me figure out. It really is the easiest thing, if somewhat time consumming and wasteful. The wasteful is just because I haven't learned any of the strip methods that are out there. A few women off one of the yahoo lists say they have a few methods to seriously reduce the waste, and Carol Doak has a method also. I hope to buy her books soon. I love the designs. I have another book I got for my birthday, 365 Foundation Quilt Blocks, by Linda Causee but it is more just patterns, some great ones too.
Paper piecing came up on my the Pickle Road list and some one mentioned Carol Doak has her own list. So off I went and joined. It is really neat. She has very generously added some patterns to the list. So I decided to jump in and made this.

There are 56 pieces in one 6" square! It took forever, more because Little Bit was wanting something every 5 minutes than because it was hard. Just time consuming, having to trim and press everytime you add a piece.
I used Fusions from Robert Kaufman fabrics. I love the fusions, but especially these ones, which I think are Fusion 11. I have about 20-25 FQs of them that I use in projects.
I'm really enjoying the intercacy and accuracy you can get with paper piecing but I don't think it will be my primary method still. I like the look and simplicity of regular piecing.

Working on that block meant I didn't finish the flimsy of Day in the Country which I had planned on finishing today but that's ok.

I should be studying for my exams later this week but really don't feel like it. I wrote two last week and am kinda crammed out but one of the exams I don't feel like I know a damn thing so I had better get cracking on it.
Bye for now!

Center

I got four of my blocks done. I think I'm going to just keep it smaller. I got hubby to hold the flimsy up for me so I could take a picture.

I don't have a lot of the peach and DH is on me about not buying more fabric, and since it's an older collection I'd have to go to ebay. So I think I'm going to add a border, bringing the secondary star into the border. I'm still doing the math, hoping I have enough peach. Right now the top is about 40". Adding about 6" to each side....should get to be about 52", which I guess is ok for a lap.

I've been so busy studying for exams. I have palliative care tomorrow. I'm so tired of books. I just want to QUILT. I'm really tired of not getting to do anything. :(

DD is bugging me to make her babies another quilt. She's 4 and the other days grabbed some of my fabrics, handed them to me and said "find blanket for baby!" She already has 2 for her dolls, but apparently the Care Bears need their own.
She really is my anchor when things get crazy. She really reminds me of what is important.