I don’t think I’ve mentioned it here, but one thing I really love is a good sampler containing the alphabet. And I rend not to mention it because traditional alphabet samplers are generally needlepoint or cross-stitch, not quilts at all.
Thankfully, there are quilters who want to change all that. First up: one of the many projects to be found at Orange Flower’s lovely patterns and tutorials blog.
Don’t you love this??? The size is just perfect, and there are so many possible variation to match any decor: boy/girl, adult/child, home/school/office, Christmas/Easter, fall/spring.
This would look great in redwork. Or blackwork. Imagine blackwork on colored linen! Or framed instead of bound, if that’s your thing….
Okay, at this point, I’m pretty much just taking up your time. And you need your time to make alphabet samplers. Find out how here.
Don’t hate me for saying this, but, after being in a few quilting bees, I’ve got to say, I wonder if the month of sending fabric isn’t the least exciting.
I mean, the payoff is huge, eventually. But at the beginning, there’s a LOT of mail to send, which can be a drag, and then there’s no fun fabric surprise that arrives and just waits to be turned into an awesome block or two for your fellow bee-ers. (That almost looks like “beers.”)
Thankfully, I’m at the point in the Rockin’ Bobbin bee where I can, if nothing else, obsessively monitor flickr to see if anyone made me a block today. And my concept – each participant makes a pair of blocks, one of which has a strong border – has me thinking a lot about a look I really like.
I don’t know how to describe it, exactly, but it involves sashing/a border that’s really part of the block. This side-by-side comparison of blocks made (for me!) by megan.mary will hopefully illustrate my point:
1. DSC_1804, 2. DSC_1800
See? Blocks like the 12″ chevron will be alternated with blocks like the one on the right – an 8″ block with a 2″ border added to make it the same size as the block on the left.
Does this type of sashing/bordering have a name? I’d hate to have to call it “sordering”….
I finished a quilt top last night! It’s composed of blocks made by the lovely ladies of the Threads Together Quilting Bee, as well as some other helpful folks, and even a few by little ol’ me!
I may be totally insane and alone here, but does finishing a quilt top ever feel anticlimactic to anyone else? There’s something about assembling all those small, fiddly pieces that just feels right. It seems as though the whole thing will never come together. But then, with a single, final seam, it’s done. And I’m sitting at my machine thinking, “Really? That’s it?”
Make no mistake – the anticlimax is hardly a disappointment. Maybe it isn’t an anticlimax at all, since, let’s face it, finishing a top does not equal finishing a quilt. Sewing on a binding represents the real finish line.
Still, it seems to warrant some (small) celebration. How do you mark a quilting milestone?
Have you made a New Years’ Resolution yet?
If you’ve ever thought of attempting the quilting insanity that is a Dear Jane Quilt, now is the time to resolve it, and That Quilt is the blog for you.
Photo by klynslis on flickr.
Tips and tutorials to help you through one of the toughest – and greatest – quilts of all time.
or are sampler quilts back in?
Image courtesy of my girl Shannon.
This strikes me as a very, very good thing.
That is all.