Finally Finished!!

I have finally finished my large quilt for the Challenge.  Here is the "official" portrait:

"Snuggle" 
53 inches by 65 inches 

You can see more photos over on my blog.  I love this quilt.  Thanks, Tonya, for the fun challenge.

Happy quilting,
Sharon

Shine

"Shine" is quilted, bound and DONE!  This was my first quilt for the Lib Amish Get Together.

I can't belive it's taken me a year to get this done. I just couldn't decide how I wanted to quilt this. I finally took my inspiration from antique Amish quilts (should be a no-brainer, right?) and machine-quilted triple diagonal lines. Free-hand, of course. I was liberated enough to use my sewing machine, or it would be a realllllly loooong time before this got finished . . . hee hee!

I didn't measure anything, and I didn't stress about it. It only took me a few hours to get this done, once I got going.

 

I really like this quilt.  I think it finally came together just right.

A Flimsy Finish

Snuggle

54" x 68"

I finally got this finished and I love it!!! I'm so happy with this quilt top. It was painful at times, and I sometimes had to force myself to work on it, but I love it now. I can't wait until it's quilted!

I think I'll be putting my intials and the year pieced into the back. Just a last finishing touch.

You can read all about this and see more photos here.

Thank you, Tonya! This was the biggest bit of free-piecing I've ever done, and I learned that it's not as hard or as scary as I thought it would be. As a matter of fact, I think I may have trouble "following the rules" now!

Making Progress

I 've been so busy working on the challenge, I've forgotten to post an update! So, here goes. . . .

Here's my progress as of yesterday, May 10th. I've gotten the center of the quilt all sewn together. I'm working on my letters/word, and then I'll be ready to add the border. I'll have another opportunity for creativity with the borders, as I don't have enough of any one fabric for the border.

As I was looking at the challenge quilt hanging on the design wall yesterday, I thought the top was billowing in the breeze. And then I realized that the wonky 9-patches are creating an "Op Art" effect! They look like they're bending or bowing out, due to the off-centered-ness of the blocks. That was a fun surprise that I never expected!

Warm-Up Quilt

Sharon from Indigo Threads checking in! Here's my "warm-up" quilt top. . . it's a finished flimsy now. It's 21 inches by 23 inches, so not very big. I finally got my word done....whew! The hard part was that the letters came out bigger than I thought they would, and I had already done the other borders to 3 inches. That top border is 5 inches, due to the size of the letters. Still having some problems with that. It seems to be hard for me to make a small 'S'. And somehow, that 'E' was supposed to be lower-case and I got confused at a critical juncture. But I decided that I like it, and so I left it.

So, frankly, I've been stalling on doing the 9-Patches for the quilt I'm supposed to be making, and this was my excuse. Now that it's done, I have to get into the quilt studio and just do those 9-patches! Everyone on here is doing inspiring things, so when I get stuck, I come here and scroll through all the posts. Really, I'm having fun doing this and I think I know better what I'll be aiming for. Thanks for all the inspiration and encouragement!

Almost a Top

Hi! Sharon of Indigo Threads here. This little crib quilt was calling me so loudly, I had to stop any progress on the 9-Patches I'm supposed to be doing and make some stars! I'm pretty happy with my little "warm-up" quilt! I used some hand-dyes that my friend Roberta made. It's come along pretty quickly, as the stars finish at 6 inches. I'm ready now to make the letters. I know what word I'm going to use, just have to sit down and git 'er done. I haven't yet decided if the word and the last border will be the top, the bottom or the side of the quilt.

Here is my Cherrywood fabrics that I've picked for my color palette for the 9-patches. I'm not 100% positive about that bright pink yet. The gold squares on the left are what I'll be using for the centers of the 9-patches.

And here are my first two 9-Patch blocks. I'm not sure I like them. . . not wonky enough? I can't decide. So, I'm going to make a few more and try to make them wonkier and see what I like. Somehow these aren't inspiring me, but maybe they're just lonely and when I get more done they'll be "better" somehow. Or maybe it's just me?

Just a quick mention . . . today is the last day to leave a comment on my blog to be entered in my giveaway. (You have until midnight Pacific time tonight.) So, please, drop by and take a chance!

Decisions, Decisions

Hi! Sharon from Indigo Threads here. First, a huge Thank You to Tonya for doing this Get Together! This is gonna be fun!

I've been trying to make up my mind, because so many of these quilts are so wonderful! I love Amish quilts - the wonderful colors and the great graphic appeal. It's been really tough, but I think I've finally narrowed it down.

I'm thinking "keep it simple, stupid" here. I've already done a Roman Stripes quilt (wallhanging) and a Bars quilt (doll quilt), so I want to do something different. I've been really drawn to the Nine-Patches, especially #108 and #67. And then there's Gwenny's Own Nine Patch on page 80 of Liberated Quiltmaking II to also inspire me. So, I think I'll be doing a Nine Patch of some type.

However, I do reserve the right to change my mind! I'm also quite drawn to #88 (Stars) and #37 (Bow Tie) and #49 (Stripes).

Next is the tough decision of what fabrics and colors to use. I gave most of my solid fabrics to my daughter when we moved 3 years ago. . . they live in Nevada now, too far to access easily. So, I'll probably be using my hand-dyes or even my small stash of Cherrywood fabrics. (If you're interested in the Cherrywood Fabrics, and only want a little, they have a grab bag of 50 - 7" x 10" pieces for $20 here. They also have Cherry Rolls - 9 colorways in 24 colors each for $29. And, of course, yardage and bundles of gradations) I just have to keep narrowing things down!

I have to go fondle fabric now. . . .