Mother's Day means... quilting time

A couple more lap quilts--probably one for donation to the ALS challenge, and one to keep.  The second one is still just blocks, in case it looks a little wonky : )

And thanks, kids, for the beautiful flowers and quilt book!

April projects

In addition to working on my mandala quilt (here's a sneak peek at progress),

I've also been working on...

a table topper that was really just a place to practice some free motion quilting,

and....

  a lap quilt to donate to the ALS challenge.  Here's the flannel back with some scrappy additions to liven it up!

 Finally,  the charity quilt that my small group made was shown at a local quilt show this past weekend, and sold for the maximum asking price--yay for the children's home, but it made us happy too!

New design wall and some spiral progress

 I finally have a real design wall!  It is 4' by 8' (and I have another piece of foam insulation board, so it may double in size-- I just have to get more batting.)  I was able to cut it down just a little bit, so that it fits the height of the wall perfectly, eliminating the need to put holes in the wall... and it is portable in case I decide to move things around.

And here is some progress on my mandala quilt project--  

Playing with spirals

After seeing the fabulous quilts of RaNae Merrill, my friend Cheri and I have decided to try our hand at one of her designs, each using our own choice of colors/fabrics.

I wanted to try out a sample before cutting into the actual project-- so here we have a pieced spiral using solids left over from a previous project.  The second photo shows the full mandala design, with the piece that I made colored in.  This promises to be a fun project!

Farmer's Wife Quilt Sow-Along, 1st blocks

I've decided to finally start a Farmer's Wife quilt. I've had the book for a year or two, and was wanting to do something "sampler", but wasn't inspired by the traditional colors.

I am following along with Randy D. and her blog, Barrister's Block (and Bonnie Hunter) and have decided to make the quilt with bright colors and a background that is a light purple. I don't know what the final product will look like, but I'll certainly have fun sewing with these colors!

The "sow-along" started this month, with three different blocks to complete twice a month- and the blocks are all fairly simple. Should be fun!!

Happy Fat (Quarter) Tuesday

It was fun to wander the fabric store today, gathering goodies for future projects...

One more project--my first tote

This was a challenge from the CIMQG (modern quilt guild, central Illinois)--to make a circle of geese block and then use it in a project.

I made this while on retreat #3 (Feb 2012), and even though I feel as though I am just learning to paper piece, was able to teach three others to make their own "Circle of Geese" block. Margaret even made hers into the same style tote--yay!

The second photo shows a variation of the pattern, inspired by a sudden lack of background fabric... thanks to Pat for immediately seeing the alternate possibilities of the geese pattern.