Grand Illusion Back On....but my way.

I'm jumping all over the place with my quilting right now.  I can't settle on any one thing.

I pulled out Grand Illusion and with the benefit of a few weeks away from it, I came to my decision about how I am to finish it.  As you can see, I've sashed each block with white, cornerstoned it with blue and that's as far as I have got for now.

I've not even pressed it, so please forgive the crumpled look of it.

I think now I'm going to stitch a floating border of yellow around the outer edge, and then copy Bonnie's idea for the outer border.  I always like that part of it.  Really, I liked this block too but just couldn't deal with the green/black/cream checkerboard sashing, so I've left it out.

Of course now I have 203957 green/black/cream checkerboard pieces left that won't play nicely with other fabrics so I'm going to unpick at least half the unit.  Then perhaps inspiration will hit me as to what to do with that.

Hope you've had a happy day - most of my family is coming down with head colds so odds are I'll get that once everyone else is better.  That seems to be the norm around here!

A Few Little Purchases....

It was all my husband's fault.

He went away on the weekend and left me at home alone, with the internet, and a credit card.

I took a risk too.  This is all Chinese, and from Ebay.  I don't normally do Ebay.  I certainly don't do fabric from Ebay.  But the colours were so pretty and it was cheap enough and I thought 'why not?'  I was prepared to take the risk in case it wasn't cotton, or it was too thin.  Or whatever.

And yes, it is thin but no worse than what I can buy in Spotlight. And it certainly feels like cotton. And whilst it's pricewise on a par with what I can get from the USA, it all came free postage.  And the postage is what kills us here in Australia.

I don't know that I'll buy Chinese fabric again, but I'm certainly not displeased that I brought this bundle.  I've already got a little quilt in my mind that I want to make.

Hope you have had a great day.  

Charm squares and more...

Ohhh gee whiz, the colours on this blog entry are nothing like the real thing.

I had the most divine little pack of charm squares, all about 7" square.  I didn't know what to do with them so I just sashed them together with some pink homespun and it looks really really pretty. Though you'd not know it from these photos.

It still needs a border, and as luck would have it, despite having enough fabric to open a fabric shop or two, I don't have the right colour to use.  So I'm going to have to order some.  I'm thinking a wide-ish border all around, and then perhaps some pinky florally applique around the outer edge.  

I'll wait and see when the fabric comes in.

And because I have many hours to spare sitting and waiting for ballet lessons to finish I made another hexie!  They are very, very delicious!

I haven't decided what to do with them but I do enjoy making them, I really do.

Hope you've had a great weekend, happy quilting!

Dusting Off Dear Jane

a13

B2

B5

B6

B7

B8

B9

B10

B11

B12

c2

c4

c5

c6

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d1

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g1

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g13

h1

h2

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i3

i4

i5

i6

i1

i8

i9

i10

i11

i12

i13

j1

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j9

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m4

m5

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m11

l1

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m1

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m6

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m9

M11

M13

Not that you’d notice up there, with all the great swathes of ‘yet to be done’ spaces, but I’ve made another Dear Jane block.

This one is A12 Framed Fancy.  I have one more to do on this row and then I can say I have finished One. Whole. Row.

I’m having a massive ‘Why did I start this stupid quilt, I am the world’s worst quilter’ moment right now.  I can tell you that the best way to make yourself feel completely inadequate as a quilter is to search other Dear Jane blogs to see their tutorials.  There are some quilters who are just immaculate.  I don’t know how they get their work so even.  It beggars belief how good some people are.  I foundation pieced the block above which should make everything straight and lovely, and even this block is wonky in parts.  I wonder if it’s my pressing that’s letting me down?  Maybe I don’t pay enough attention to grain line?

Not asking for help here, really – just thinking out loud.

I was telling someone that I’d only done about a dozen blocks, but I didn’t really know how many I had finished, so I got them out of banishment and counted them.  I’ve now done over forty which I must admit surprised me a great deal.  So I’ve made one more today, and perhaps I can get back on some sort of schedule with this. 

We shall see. 

It’s another stinker of a day today and we’ve all acted like very precious snowflakes, sitting inside all day under the airconditioner.  I hope you are all coping in the North with your very cold weather, I must admit to being slightly envious of you all.

Happy quilting!