Amy Butler, con't.

Surprise! I had another e-mail from the library arrive in my inbox while I was away in TN for a second (gulp!) book by Amy Butler. "In Stitches" is now on my mantel awaiting a second read-thru. The patterns are even in great shape! I am amazed.

Amy Butler

I got an e-mail from the library telling me that the copy of Amy Butler's Midwest Modern that I had reserved had come in. I was so excited. I brought the book home and hid it away until after the kiddos went to bed. I covered myself with mosquito spray, grabbed a (big) glass of wine and curled up in the backyard to get lost in it. I only meant to be out there for 30 minutes - it's a good thing it is staying light out until 9pm these days because I was out there for 90 minutes pouring over every page. What a lovely book. I am looking forward to trying out the Blue Sky hat for myself (and one for my sister-in-law too!)

More baby blocks

Just before coming down with the flu, I finshed up a set of three more baby cubes. I did one 6-inch in yellow tones, one 5.5-inch in green and one 5-inch in purple. The purple one has already been gifted at a recent baby shower for my cousins wife, but these two will hang around for awhile until more babies are born. They each have one jingle bell in the middle to give them a rattle effect, and the taggie ribbons look great. Next time I may go for a set of 3 4-inch cubes...I seem to be liking the smaller ones better these days.

Crazy-9 Patch Squares - Quilted

Here's some pictures of three of the nine Crazy-9 Patch squares that have been quilted into a wall hanging. I decided that rather than do more reading on how to quilt something I should just dive right in and try. I am relatively happy with the results. Here are some things that I learned:

1) Spray adhesive worked better than basting pins for this project.

2) Backing fabric NEVER stays smooth or taught. I have to remember to pull on it constantly to keep it from bunching.

3) Batting can cause problems for bunching as well - it doesn't lay as smooth as I expected.

4) I'm glad that I left an extra three inches of batting and backing around all sides as I quilted. The project shifted so much during the quilting process that I really did need all that extra.

5) Everything looked much better after trimming :)

6) Now I must learn how to make my own binding. I have the fabric picked out and know that it should be 2.5 inches wide then pressed, but sewing it to the project is still a mystery to me.

7) I am now brave enough to tackle the remaining 6 squares that are pieced and ready to go. However, I may switch up the quilting pattern and try quilting in the ditch instead.

8) Quilting patterns that sew up like a pillow prior to quilting (see Amy Butler's Lotus Brick Path Quilt) are becoming more attractive to me - but I am still nervous about the fabric bunching problem.