Around the World in Five Years

 Today I'm celebrating five years of blogging as I feature my Around the World quilt. I can always remember when I began Lollyquiltz because it was on my birthday.

Never did I dream that I would have friends from around the world because I'd decided to chronicle my quilt making and sewing. It's definitely been a lovely perk!

 I began this quilt in a workshop taught by Shannon Brinkley, author of Scrappy Bits Applique. She was the speaker at the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild in January. I chose to add a layer of tulle over the glued down applique and then quilted the whole thing with straight (ish) lines. This was a new-to-me technique. The other option was to applique with clear thread which my Bernina and I seem to be allergic to! This method worked out pretty well.

 There ended up being a small amount of rippling in the water surrounding the continents. Oh well.....adds interest and realism, I say! The quilt still lays flat and I like the overall effect. I'm deciding, though, that maybe art quilts are really not my thing. But, I'm usually up to try any technique at least once!

This quilt will be hanging in the Kansas City Regional Quilt Festival June 19-21. Are you planning to attend? If so, let me know as I'd love to meet you "in real life"! Thanks so much for stopping by Lollyquiltz. 

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!