Works in Progress

I like having several quilting projects going simultaneously.  Sometimes (like now, during the summer) I have a lot of time for quilting.  It's a great time to finish things up and to start new ambitious projects, or maybe sit down and really practice a new skill (that's been free motion quilting for me lately.)  But when the orchestra season starts things can get hectic. And alot of my quilting then is accomplished in short spurts of time, say 30 or 40 minutes.  That calls for another type of project.  And then, of course, there's the issue of what I'm in the mood to work on.  Sometimes just  a little straight stitching is plenty.  Or after a long day, just tracing applique shapes onto the fusible paper is more than enough.  So I like to have projects around that suit my mood and available time. 

Here are some projects that I'm working on now:

This is an almost-complete quilt top for my Etsy shop.  I think it needs maybe three more leaves before basting and quilting.  This was really fun to make-- no pattern, just an idea in my head about sunflowers on a randomly pieced white/neutral background.

Lollipop Trees by Kim McLean

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LOVE THIS QUILT.  And what a challenge.  I'm doing it as a fusible machine- appliqued project.  (Shut off your sirens and put away those Applique Violation Citations, Quilt Police!  I know it's supposed to be all done by hand, like in the pattern.  But I don't have the patience for all that.  So, it's my quilt and my Blog and I'll fuse if I want to.)  If I make all 16 blocks it would be a very large quilt, like 91inches square.  I don't really need another bed quilt.  So I'm thinking of doing a 9 block version, which will be more of a lap quilt/throw size.  And I'd like to do a version with a dark background, I think it would look really interesting that way.
I showed this pattern to a quilting friend and she said I needed to make 4 versions of  this quilt, 1 for every season of the year.  Hmmm, that's an interesting proposition.  But I think I'll just concentrate on getting this first one done.

This is a new queen size quilt for my bed.  I'm in the middle of quilting it, which is why you see the safety pins.  Also my own design, it's definitely the brightest color scheme I've ever done.  Can someone have Quilt-Induced Insomnia?








                                                                                   

And some projects are still on paper, like this plan for a placemat set for my Etsy shop.  











Of course, any activity (quilting or otherwise) that you want to do regularly, and in an efficient manner, requires an organized and dedicated workspace.  We'll talk about that in a future post.