Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Spring News

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome. 
Anne Dudley Bradstreet


I have good news!  Spring is coming to the South.  Yesterday and today the temperatures are in the 70s.  Of course tomorrow is to be colder and rainy but the long harsh winter seems to be coming to an end at last.  You may cheer now!


Misty even seems to enjoy the daffodils.




It's nice to see the hyacinths that David planted after they quit blooming last year did make it through the winter and bloom.  The tops of two of them were a little frost bit and they are a little small but that's OK.  You can see how they looked when I bought them last year here.
Definitely not as showy this year.

I know I haven't been blogging a lot lately but I have been on a cutting and sewing jag.  My head is filled with projects that I want to get made.  Of course a good shrink might have a few words to say about why I have been in the mood to attack fabric with my rotary cutter and chop it into bits.  LOL  I also have made a dent in the bin of fabric waiting to be ironed and put away.  Still working on that last step though.


I did get the aqua/teal Soul Searching block made for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  Since purples and teal were my favorite colors for a number of years during the 80s and 90s I had a few to pull from.  I'm hoping purple and yellow will come up soon.


I got the 5 inch black squares cut on the Accuquilt studio too.  This project is now ready to go.  I put it aside for another one that was just screaming for my attention though.  It is going so fast that I should have the whole top done today if I can get back into the studio.  I'll let you keep guessing as to what it may be.  

And are you ready for?  Can you believe it?  I have not one but TWO finished tops!!! I told you I had been busy.  The border issues were resolved and now the question is which one to finish first so I will let you help with the decision.

TOP NUMBER ONE:


This was the original plan.  Star blocks are just two colors, a dotted print and a solid.  Two blocks of each colorway.  The border issue HERE, was resolved by eliminating the solids. It took a while to make up my mind about it though.  Take a closer look at the blocks.





TOP NUMBER TWO:

When I started this project back in June I realized I had enough strip sets for two sets of blocks since I was using so many colors.  As I was working on it the extra blocks just kept nagging me for attention so they got made too.






Again there are two blocks in each colorway.  I wanted the quilt to look a little different too so I went with a piano key border on this one.  Not my favorite border but I made it fit.  They can be a bit of a pain to get to the right size sometimes and don't expect the second side to fit just because the first one did.  Remember I mentioned the crooked jelly roll strips.  Grrrr.....

Here is how it turned out.  Solid cornerstones might would have looked better but then I would have had to decide which of the 8 solids to use.  To simplify matters I went with the dotted white background.



So which of the two do you like best?  Or do you think they are so similar it is a toss up?

By the way this is my 200th post.  Hard to believe isn't it!

10 comments:

  1. This is awesome!! Check out those points!! :)

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  2. Oh I love them both!
    The colours are so joyful!
    And Spring has arrived here too ! Hip hip Hooray!
    Esther
    esthersipatchandquilt at yahoo dot com

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  3. Love stars. I could not decide.

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  4. Hi!!! Wow!!!! Both of them are beautiful and cheerful!!!! Yes I have a hard time choosing too!!!!! Congrats on your 200th post!!!! Yaa!!!!

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  5. What beautiful work and I can see why you have stayed off the internet!! Oh would I love to have the beautiful weather you are having! We are expecting snow again tomorrow....sigh. Thanks for sharing.
    Freemotion by the River Linky Party Tuesday

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  6. I like them both! I don't know why folks think it's weird that we cut up fabric just to sew it back together again. We've been doing it for years with clothing and other home dec. I can hear the wind whipping at my front storm door. We are expecting wind, wind, and more wind tonight. I guess their might even be a chance of a tornado. I don't get too excited about them unless they get really close. I've lived in tornado alley (Tulsa area) since 1974. At first, I was a mess every time there was a warning. Now, I'm respectful and stay calm. Last year, I was in the closet watching the tv and friend called to tell me there was one about 1/8 of a mile from my house. Well, the channel I was watching didn't say that and I got out of the closet to answer the phone. Maybe in that event, she should call on my cell. lol Beautiful quilts and I think most people are ready for spring. I'm just not ready for hot, hot weather.

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  7. Spring has arrived here too, although we have had a much milder winter than you have so it is not so much of a shock to the system! Love both your quilts but the second just shades it as my favourite :)

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  8. Soul searching is gorgeous and love both of the quilts they are fabulous and I sew love the dots!

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  9. Mmmmm, just delicious both of them. I'm with the others, so hard to choose I think I would close my eyes, whirl in a circle and point and see which one wins!! LOL. Heading into autumn here in New Zealand so our long summer days are almost at an end. Daylight savings end in two weeks and then it will be much gloomier. Still, more excuses for quilting when the weather is not nice :-)

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  10. Congratulations of the 200 posts, as you know have not been following for long but so glad I found your blog. Impossible to pick a favourite star they are all so colourful, also like the tinny multi coloured dotty fabric you have placed them all on. I do not seem to get notification every time you blog, I had missed this post and came to your blog to see why there had been nothing new posted!" If I follow through the google button I get notified but other methods seem a bit of a hit and miss thing.

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