Hanging Gardens progress

I worked all week adding more machine quilting to my Hanging Gardens quilt - 'meandered' along all the sashing, and added a sort of angled paisley on each lantern/garden.  I'm really pleased with the result and plan on hanging it in my living room - as soon as I add a sleeve...

This is the 'before'- very baggy!

Bugsy takes every opportunity to get into the picture!

In our friendship group meeting last night, we decided to share our skills and I think I got signed up for needle-turn applique!?  I'll have to check!  and review!  Next month Fran is going to show us how to work with felt - something I've never done.  Sounds like fun!

I plan on working more on my BOTM blocks today - maybe I'll be caught up and be prepared to share them at our Modern Quilt Guild meeting next week.  Sometime this week, I'd like to work more on Picaso 3 before posting again so that I can display a group of photos instead of 1 at a time.

Spring birthdays in our family!  Daughter-in-law, 2 granddaughters, and daughter!  My daughter 'repinned' several quilt ideas, so that gives me an idea what she likes and what to make for her birthday.  Pinterest comes in very handy sometimes.

New Blocks

I've begun making blocks as part of an online BOM QAYG - all 3 of which are new to me!  It's Pile O' Fabric's Block of the Month Skillbuilder, and we use Flickr to show progress, which is also new to me!  I'm very excited about this class!  A member of my new guild showed blocks she had made as part of this class, and Christa on her blog also started it, so I had to check it out. 

Choosing fabric took forever as usual.  Lately I've been trying to use from my own stash and I've only had to buy 2 fat quarters so far to supplement my colors.  Of course I needed to buy the background fabric.  Just finished piecing the 2 blocks from January - got some catching up to do - and they aren't quilted yet.

I've been looking at my hanging gardens quilt, and have decided it needs more quilting.  It's such a pain to maneuver it on the machine that I stopped and figured that was enough, but I can see large places where the fabric hangs, and I know I need to make it right.  Bugsy wanted to be in the picture too!




A quilting friend is coming over today.  We do handwork and talk together, and I'm looking for something to do by hand - maybe more beadwork on the Christmas tree that I started last  year.

A New Guild

This week I've joined a new quilt guild - my 4th! - Modern Quilt Guild.  I can see I will like it a lot!  Contemporary fabrics and designs, make-up-your-own patterns - can't wait!

In the meantime, I've been working on my plank quilt.  I didn't like it at all when I first made it - but I'm feeling better about it since adding the borders.

 The hanging gardens quilt top is almost done - the inner part is squared up ready to add the borders.  The inner dark border is the same as the accent on the quilt body, and the outer border is similar to the background - just a bit darker.  The pattern called for the borders to be more elaborate but I ran out of the right fabric to do that.  The back will be the patterned fabric and the soft green.

I have finished (almost) 3 tops in the last couple of weeks - time to layer them so they don't turn in to UFOs!


Also thinking about what to start next!  Fun!!