Sunny Sewing

Is there anything better than sewing in the sun on a winter day?

 With all of the spokes finished, I've been having fun assembling Dresden plates from all of the low volume choices. The quilt will feature 12 plates on a soft grey dotty background. They go together quickly....five down and seven to go!

 The cute aqua Ikea cart that my hubby gave me for Christmas has come in handy for moving everything to my sunny dining room window for stitching.

 Meanwhile, Moose is waiting for a break in the sewing so that he can go outside for a walk. At five months old, he has grown so much that he looks like a big-boy dog already! (But don't be fooled...the puppy antics are never-ending!) In other news, I started a new project out of this fun applique book...

 Here's a teaser of what I'm working on... 

More about that next week. Moose is getting impatient and the sun is still out!

Dresden Love

Have you been noticing the popularity of Dresden Plate quilts these days? They seem to be popping up all over the place, even in some modern projects. This  pretty aqua, navy and green block is for Rene' who is this month's queen bee for the Mid-Century Modern Bee.

It was enjoyable picking the analogous fabrics from my stash to create the block. If you haven't tried one, you really should as they are fun and easy to make using the acrylic ruler by Darlene Zimmerman. The pattern, one of the most popular in the 1920's and 30's, gets it's name from Dresden, Germany, the center for 19th Century Romanticism movement in art including elaborately decorated plates.

My head has been turned by the lovely pattern in my own quilt making. Remember this? Well, after accidentally cutting all of the blades for my quilt a little larger than my original test block I had an extra block floating around. Needing a sweet dolly blanket for a certain grand daughter's Christmas gift, I immediately thought of my spare block.

 A search through the Lollyquiltz Stash Closet produced the perfect lavender background for my floral block. I quickly backed it pillowcase style and then top-stiched on the dresden, stitching in the ditch along each blade to quilt it as I machine appliqued the block to the quilt.

 The little pine bed came from IKEA and I spray painted it hot pink. At $19.99 it is a great bargain for such a sturdy little bed! The beds must really be in demand as Christmas gifts as they were out of stock and I had to wait for a new shipment! Whew...thank you elves, for your hard work! 

 The bed comes with a little blanket and mattress pad but they really weren't very cute so, of course, I made some bedding to coordinate with the doll quilt. I think that the fabric (again, from my stash) looks a little like vintage sheets, don't you?

Baby bear tested the mattress, pillow and quilt for me and found them to be quite comfortable.

There may have even been visions of sugar plum dancing in his head!

Marathon Sewing

 What fun I have had the last two Saturdays as I sewed all day, and into the night, with quilting friends from two different quilt guilds.

 My good friend, Vicki, sat across from me this past Saturday creating darling Christmas quilts for her grand-children.

 Meanwhile, I worked away on dresden blocks for a quilt I've had in my head  for awhile now.

 Nikki stole my phone and snapped this photo of me hard at work. Do you see my leader/enders all lined up so neatly, ready to sew, as I stitch away on the dresden blocks? Nikki thought that you should see how organized I am! (Sometimes.)

I'm planning on using the grey dots as my background. Any thoughts on what to do for the centers of each plate? Every block will be a different assortment of fabrics in the same color combination of pink, yellow, aqua, orange, green  and lavender.

 I also managed to finish up another block in the blue color-way for my Soul Searching quilt. These blocks are really large at 24 inches square!

 This one puts me at the halfway mark for a twin size quilt when I'm finished.

 Anne, from my Mid-Century Modern Bee, requested that we all make blocks in grey and lime from an original pattern that she's trying out. The layout is a secret. Four blocks were sewn up fast during my sewing marathon Saturday!

 Much slower and intricate sewing was needed to create this paper-pieced block for Elizabeth, a member of the same MCM Bee. I'm happy to have that one behind me....isn't it pretty!

 I wish that I could spend every Saturday sewing all day, but with the arrival of autumn weather, there's lots of yard work calling me to stay home!

And, besides, I'd miss my new little buddy, Moose! He keeps me busy, too!

Something New

Sometimes a girl like me just has to start something new...

 Actually, I've been thinking about this one for months now. The Kaffe fabric, on the left, was my inspiration for the color scheme: low volume fabrics in pink, aqua, lavender, peach, yellow and white, all against a grey background. Maybe I'll use this Michael Miller Spot On that I have in my stash. Course, I don't have enough.

 I've never made a Dresden Plate block before. The directions included with the EZ Ruler were easy to follow and included tips for stitching everything together as well as a chart for making various sizes of blocks.

 Mine will be large: at least 20 inches as the Dresden is 18.5 inches across.

 Each block has 20 spokes. I'm doubling up so needed 10 fabrics. That's fine with me 'cause you know how I love all that scrappy goodness! No two blocks will be exactly the same, of course.

 I'm pretty happy with my experiment and think that I'll continue. Sewing the block was not difficult and fairly quick, really. I enjoyed making it a lot and look forward to creating 19 more!

 This week I've also sewn up a dress. Another little grand daughter needs a new one made by her Lolly.

 Again, I used the Jump Rope pattern by Oliver +S, this time in a size 2, for Lois. I'll try it on her today and maybe even get a picture!

 The fabrics are from the Briar Rose line by Heather Ross. I love sewing up this quick and classic pattern. I wonder how many more I'll make before I'm done!?

Do you sometimes like to start something new right in the middle of sewing on other projects? Or am I the only one?!