Quilting Season 2016

     Once the holidays are over, I am so impatient to get everything boxed up and stored away so that I can plan my sewing projects.  The first three months of the year are always my best sewing time.  There are fewer distractions, the weather isn't conducive to outdoor activity and our little village goes to sleep for three months.  Sometimes there is a little activity on the weekends, but not much.  Approximately 50% of our residents are weekend people and they tend to stay in the city most weekends, especially when it is cold or snowy.  So, I have plenty of time to sew and tend to burrow into my sewing room and come out only for sustenance and sleep.  Here's what I've been doing.

I finished my blue orange peel.  The appliqué was my deck-sitting project this past summer.  

The photos don't do it justice.  The blues are actually much brighter.

I used unbleached muslin for the backing.  I will have to admit, there is nothing that shows up your quilting as well as muslin.

I joined the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this year sponsored by So Scrappy.  The January color was blue.  I had a bursting-at-the-seams bag full of blue 2-1/2"strips, so chose this block, Father's Choice, to make for my year long project.  This will be twelve or so blocks with sashing (I think).  Then, since that didn't make a dent in that bag, I decided to try a new block using more of the strips. 

Someone had given me a gallon zip lock bag full of 1-1/2" white strips.  So I came up with this block, which I'm calling the Binbuster.   

I tried this setting...pretty boring.

Then I sliced a couple of the blocks on the diagonal, in opposite directions, sewed them to each other and lo! a block with a little more personality.  I think this will make a great charity quilt.

Someone in the Stashbusters group posted photos of three quilts done in Jacob's

 Ladder blocks, all using different settings.  So, in December, I pulled some Christmas fabrics from the stash and made this small table topper.  It is 45" square.  

Last, but not least, I have finished the flimsy for Allietare, the Bonnie Hunter 2015 mystery quilt.  I only made 1/4 of the blocks during the mystery,  due to the disappointment in my quilt last year.  Of course, I love this one and wish it was larger.  It is 56"x56".  

I have some other things started, so will share those another day.  For now, 

Happy New Year

and

Keep on stitchin'

Judy