I almost finished quilting Summer's quilt today but at the end I made a mistake on the border. I almost didn't start doing the border because the light was going and I can see what I am doing so much better in daylight. I decided to go ahead and made a mistake so I will rip out and finish tomorrow. I only have a couple of inches to rip so it's not a big deal. The quilting shows up really well in this photo. I hope I have enough dark blue for the border. If not I will probably go with the dark pink.

Now I have two choices for the border on Ariana's quilt. Today I dyed some light blue because we thought the pink was too strong.
A change of color certainly changes the mood of the quilt amazingly. The blocks stand out more with the blue but the pink is very nice too.

I will work on quilting Summer's while I ponder which color to use. What do you think , Ariana?

Here it is, decision time again. It seems to me that quilting is more about making decisions than anything else. I changed the sashing to dark blue and I think it sets off the blocks better. I love the multicolored strips on the inner border. Now what color to make the outer border? I think the binding will be the same dark blue if I have enough. It is just a bit left over from Free's quilt so it's a bit iffy and I doubt if I can get any more. If I don't have enought dark blue, I think the dark pink would be all right since I am planning to back it with that. If I go with the dark pink border, I could still bind it with the same color. I don't usually do that, but it might look all right. Also,I still have the option of the light pink sashing but a bit narrower. Too many options.

Finally got back to work today after a couple of days off for a cold. I think I have enough blocks to make the quilt the size I want. I still have to rearrange the colors a bit. I think the four darkest ones in the corners and the lightest ones in the center.
They are so much fun to make and it's fun picking out the colors too and seeing how they look when put together. I will put on a narrow pink border and then I am thinking of doing a second border of horizontal stripes in all the colors of the flowers. I will do a bit and see how it looks anyway. Then another wider pink one or maybe a darker pink, depending on how it looks.

We didn't go to town today as planned, so, since I couldn't work on Summer's quilt until I get another batt, I started on Ariana's.

It is called Pieced Tulips.I thought it was appropriate that they both had tulips. It also uses up a lot of small pieces. When I was done a couple of the squares I realized it is almost the same block as Sandy and Christine's but it looks different partly because it's called a tulip so you see a tulip. You can see theirs on my second entry on my October 2005 blog.

I am not sure about the squares on the sashing. I might make those triangles or nine patch blocks. Also the blue is a bit too intense but they are only set there to see how they will look. Maybe I will just use the darker colors from each block.

I had a bit of a crisis this morning when I pinned the finished quilt up and noticed that one of the pink side borders was only 2 1/2 inches wide instead of 3 1/2 inches like the others. It would have been no problem if it had been the end ones which I put on last. As it was the ends were going to be one inch short once the side was corrected. I had to decide whether it was worth it to put on new end pieces or add an inch. I finally opted to add the inch because I'm pretty sure the seam will disappear into the quilting and binding.

Now it is all marked and ready to be basted. I have to wait on that until tomorrow when I go to town and get some batting and pink thread. The back will be the same light pink as the triangles. I will quilt with that shade of pink thread. I will quilt around the flowers, in the ditch along the sashing and nested triangles inside the pink triangles.

I will bind it with the dark blue. The only thing I am not totally satisfied with is the little square on the lower right end. It seems a bit dull compared with the others.

I got all the tulips finished and then spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon dyeing some fabric pink for the sashing and borders. The first one was called Hot Pink, but I thought it looked too bright and might drown out the tulips so I did another piece with a very diluted red. Turned out that I used both of them. The background triangles were blue in the one in the book but I didn't have enough blue so I went with the lighter pink. I got part of it sewn together but the camera battery died before I could take a photo. The next decision is whether to use the light pink for the outer border with a dark pink binding or a dark pink border with a blue binding.
I am also starting to think about how I will quilt it. That's always a difficult decision for me.
I am really pleased with how the flowers turned out. Hopefully I will get it all sewn together tomorrow and maybe the binding on, if I can decide on the colour scheme for it.

I made a few more tulip blocks and have decided to discard the two I made yesterday. The first one is in the wrong order and the plain one is too bland. I am happiest with the purple one but that is done with fabrics I hand dyed last fall using a gradated dyeing technique, so they all match perfectly. The blue is the least successful because the top of the flower is too light and doesn't show up enough. I will probably run out of the green that I am using for the leaves unless there is a piece hiding among my scraps. Time for a deep search or else a few will be made with different leaves. The next decision is what to use for sashing and the triangles in the edges and the border.

We are back from our wonderful holiday in San Diego and ready to get back to work. I have been sorting through some of my scraps and trying out a few blocks for Summer's quilt. I seem to have collected quite a few bits and pieces!





I am thinking of the tulip block. I kind of like the log cabin but maybe for a young girl, the tulips would be nicer. I like the one with all the same color better than the mixed one. I would make a pink, yellow, mauve and purple one.










The log cabin is nice but maybe I'll save that one for later.

Here we are enjoying the sun and the hot tub in sunny San Diego. I haven't been to any quilt shops yet but we have visited some galleries. Basically, we are just enjoying the weather and the family. Who could ask for anything more!

We are all ready to leave for San Diego tonight so there won't be much going on in the quilt department for the next three weeks. I do, however, hope that I will get to see a few quilt shops and maybe take a few photos. Meanwhile, think of us in the sunny South!

Here is Free's quilt all finished. I have done a lot of hand sewing this weekend but it's nice to have them done in time to take to San Diego.

And here is Sky's. They are quite different shapes. A quilt seems to have a mind of it's own when it comes to size and shape. It depends on the size of the blocks and borders I guess but it is always a bit of a surprise when they are done.

As you can see from the background, we are in the process of packing. We weren't going to take a big suitcase, but two quilts will make that necessary.

Here's Sky's quilt with the binding all pinned on and ready to hand sew. I had to take a break from Free's because I ran out of orange thread. I think I will be all right with red on the top though as long as I have enough orange left in the bobbin. I am doing free-motion on the small squares where the patterns join. It's a challenge! Also end up with a sore neck and back.
Free's quilt will be done tomorrow one way or another. It's very cold and stormy today but if it gets milder we will go to town tomorrow and I can get orange thread. Otherwise, I will finish it with red.

Here is Sky's quilt all ready to pin. I have to finish quilting Free's to free up the pins first. This morning early, I went out and pinned Free's only to realize after I was done, that I had forgotten to tape the backing to the floor. The backing was all puffy and I could see that it would be a mess if I quilted it like that. So...
take all the pins out and do it again. My hands are a mess and my back is sore but it will make a much better job.


Here they are, Free's partly quilted and Sky's waiting in line. I still have to do some diagonals on Free's but I am not sure if I will go aronud all the little squares. I will see how much time I have. I'd really like to have them both ready to take to San Diego next Tuesday. Free's will have orange binding and Sky's probably blue, but I haven't tried to see how it looks. It will be either blue or gold.

I still didn't get a batt for Free's quilt and in the meantime I've finished piecing the blocks for Sky's quilt. Tomorrow I will get two batts and quilt them one after the other. I still have to assemble the blocks for Sky's quilt but they are all ready and the sashing is done. Then I will just have to put on the borders and quilt it. If we don't leave for San Diego until next week they might even both be done. I am afraid that Sky's quilt may be slightly larger so I hope that doesn't cause any jealousy! You never know just what size they will end up.
That means Summer will have to wait for hers, but as I tell them, the more you wait, the better your quilt will be.

Here is Free's quilt all ready to quilt but stalled for lack of a batt.

That means that Sky's quilt is moving right along, though, so it's not really a problem, especially for Sky. It does mean, however, that possibly neither of them will be finished in time to bring along when we go to San Diego.


Here is Sky's quilt so far. I think it will be three squares by five squares, but I am not sure how big that will make it. I want to keep them more or less the same size. No use having anyone jealous!

Free's quilt is all ready to quilt but I realized then that I had no batt big enough for it. So there it sits until I get to town but the roads are really icy and the car is stuck in a snowdrift at the end of the lane.
Thus, I have started on Sky's quilt. I have to decide whether to use both colours of stars or to stick with the yellow and gold ones. The smaller stars in between the big ones are also optional and can be orange, yellow or gold. So many decisions!

It is only a piece of fabric after all, and I didn't find anything suitable in town, so I bit the bullet and cut up the beautiful dyed fabric for the border. Today I got that done and now it's ready to quilt. That is always a huge decision. It is bigger than I had planned so I will have to do something quite simple. It doesn't really lend itself to stitch-in-the-ditch, which is my usual solution to the quilting question. I think (hope) I have enough orange for the backing and binding. It will be nip and tuck but according to my rough measurements there should be just enough.
I think the dark color quiets it down a bit and that's probably a good thing.

I dyed some fabric for the background but it's too nice to cut up. I love the circular pattern that appeared. I used low-water immersion dyeing with Procion MX dyes. It is always very unpredictable but when it turns out like this you hate to cut it. I will see what is available in town before I decide to cut it or not.







Here is a close up of the circle.





While I was waiting for the dye to be finished (it has to set for at least half an hour and then wash, wash, wash until all the excess dye is out and then dry) I tried a couple of blocks for Sky's quilt. I prefer the one with the yellow rather than the orange but there are so many options. I do really like the background fabric though so I will probably go with that.

Today I got all the pieces done but now I realize that I can't use the orange for the border as I had planned because I will lose the top of the orange pattern. That would make the blue pattern too dominant. Anyway, now I am dyeing some fabric burgundy and navy which should, according to the color wheel, look good. We will see when it comes out of the dryer. I may also look when I go to town and see if there is anything that would look better for the border.