9 Patch Finished

I really can't believe this quilt took this long. I'm not sure that it really should have. It was going to be a quick project and be done in a week. (Insert loud laugh here.) Yeah, right. Obviously it wasn't. But the top is finished now.



Seriously? I really didn't think it would be this big. Yes, I had the measurements, but still. I couldn't even hang it up the right way, which would have been this way.



I must say. I do love it. I can hardly wait to get it quilted.

And my love affair with 9 patches? It has not diminished. This is what's on my design wall.



I started with the patches on the left, but then saw Tonya's tiny patches. It was love. I had to make mine smaller. I'm not sure how big Tonya's are, but mine are three inches finished.

And did you see this quilt? Oh yeah, baby. You can bet that I immediately ordered some Kaffe Fassett fabric and went out and got the book that has this pattern in it (I had just received a 40% off coupon from Borders - it was kismet). I can hardly wait to get started.

Of course, I'll get started on those other projects after I've finished the 192 half square triangles that I need to make for Judy.

Quilt Along

I saw this quilt on Patchwork Times, and fell in love with it. I think it was the stripes that got to me. When she decided to do a Quilt Along, I had to join. Judy is quite the taskmaster, however. In order to do the Quilt Along and get the instructions, you have to actually do the Quilt Along. *gasp* Okay, I know I can do this. So, the first task, is that I have to show the fabric that I'm going to use. Here it is.



Don't you LOVE those stripes? I do. I got them at Quilt Taffy (FABULOUS customer service). Now, sssshhhhhh, don't tell Judy, but I might be using a different pink for the sashing. We were supposed to use fabric from our stash, but I found some fabric that I HAD to have, and might use that instead. We'll see. I will definitely be using scraps for the "toes".

Have you ever seen the Applepop Quilt? Holy Smack! The first time I saw it, which I'm sure was on the amazingly talented Amy's blog, I fell in love. Here's a picture of the whole quilt that Amy did. She talks more about it on her blog. Well, I recently found a quilt kit for it on eBay! Hooray! You know I had to get it. I also got the template that Terry recommended on her blog. I decided to play with it a bit, and here's what I came up with.



I used the fabrics that my middle child used in her quilt. Along with some fabulously ugly much loved wild pink fabric. I figured I can make it into a pillow. I can quilt it and see if it will, indeed, ever lay flat. Then I'll know what to do before I actually cut into the ApplePop fabric.

I finally finished up all of the 9 patch squares. I'm now just hyperfocusing on getting them laid out so I can get them stitched up.

A kind of stash report

There seems to have been lots of talk about stashes on blogs recently. I saw today on Sew Mama Sew that they're asking about stashes, as well. I read through some of the answers and found them interesting. Of course, I love the ones with lots of pictures the most.

Last week amandajean linked to this quilt. Holy Cow! I immediately fell in love with it and decided that I had to make one like it that. very. minute. And, in a moment of sheer stupidity revelation I decided to make it using a different fabric in every block. There are 70 blocks. That means 140 different fabrics. And, I was just going to cut bits off of fabric in my stash - meaning, not use scraps.



I now have 52 blocks either completed, partially sewn, or cut. And I have plenty more fabric to choose from so that there will be no repeats.



I don't know what to say.



In my defense, I have thrown some scraps in there.



I usually don't buy more than a yard of fabric, and there are lots of half yards in my stash too.



I buy some fabric at JoAnns - usually with a coupon. I'm always hunting for online sales as well.



The Fat Quarter Shop sometimes reduces it's price to half! And I'm all over those sales.



But yes, I agree. I need to stop. If not completely stop (because I really don't think I can do that), at least slow down.



And sew. I need to sew a lot more. I also need to get over not wanting to cut into certain fabrics. There will always be something out there that I just can't live without.