KatyQuilts

My four patches have been sewn into 16 patches.

And I have my alternate blocks chosen and cut. It won’t take long to get these sewn together.

This is the pantograph I plan to use.

It’s amazing how fast small quilts come together.

Have a great day!

I played around with the four patches and decided I liked this.

I just need to choose an alternate block fabric. Here are some options.

I could go in a totally different direction, but this layout appeals to me. The crazy is contained and becomes interesting. If I go this route, it will finish at 40” square.

Have a great day!

Okay, I had an idea and I thought this ombré fabric would work.

I cut all these for alternate blocks.

I’m not loving this. I loved it when Cathy made hers.

Maybe if I just use one color?

Maybe my scraps are too crazy. This is supposed to be a small quilt for donation. But I don’t like to give something I don’t love.

Back to the drawing board. Have a great day!

I finished another puzzle this week.

We took the girls to the farmer’s market. They were very good and enjoyed people watching.

More polished rocks!

Mister Wonderful’s greatest fear.

Have a great day!

My flat lap has arrived! Of course, I had to play a bit.

There are several diamond wheels from coarse to fine that go with it to polish the rocks.

Here are some of my first examples. This is the outside of a thunder egg.

This is the inside of the same rock. BTW, a thunder egg is similar to a geode, but solid inside.

Outside.

Inside.

Outside.

Inside. So much going on in this one!

Outside.

Inside.

You can’t tell from these photos, but the inside faces are flat and polished. Pictures really do not capture the beauty and details.

These and many other rocks in Arizona are actually volcanic. Gas bubbles in lava get filled with silica rich water. Over time, the water evaporates leaving crystals or even solid silicon dioxide behind.

How cool is that?

A big part of rock hunting is learning what to look for. At one time, I would have walked right by all of these, never realizing what secrets they held inside.

Have a great day!

I don’t go fabric shopping very often, but when I do, I do it in a big way! The evidence:

I attended a fabric sale of a lady who is no longer able to quilt. So sad! Man, did she have a stash! Made mine look pitiful. They were selling by the pound and most was quilt shop quality with a few vintage bits thrown in, like this adorable dog print.

I also picked up this HUGE Robert Kauffman panel. It’s about 108” square.

I spent an enjoyable time folding and sorting.

In case you were wondering, I ended up adding 76 yards to my stash.

Have a great day!

Okay, the back burner didn’t last long.

I started thinking about what i would do with these bits if I couldn’t make them work in the mystery quilt. I decided to sew them together while I pondered that.

I realized I was just 16 units short of making them work and I found a “close enough “ batik scrap and made some more. Perhaps it was my Fabric Godmother that provided it? Haha! A big thanks to Grace for that term and a good laugh!

I had nothing but slivers left of that scrap!

I still needed to find something for that inner border.

I got all four strips together while thinking on that.

I had more background fabric and suddenly realized I could just use that. It worked. Not perfect, but good enough.

Bonnie had pieced corner blocks, but I was tired of scrounging for the scraps I needed so I cheated and cut up the last of my light blue batik into plain squares for the corners.

It doesn’t look as good as Bonnie’s idea, but I’m just done with this. Don’t get me wrong, I love this quilt and I’m really glad I kept moving even when I wasn’t sure what I was doing. It finished at 60 inches square. I’m so glad to NOT add this to the UFO list!

Have a great day!

My blocks for the Quiltville Mystery are all sewn together. It currently measures 50 inches square.

It definitely needs a border to bring the size up for a throw quilt. Sadly, I don’t have enough units for the pieced border and not enough fabric to make any more. This is what I have left.

I found this printed Northcott fabric in my stash. I had nothing in the batik drawer that was even a slight possibility. This is close, but maybe not close enough.

I don’t love it.

No, I’m not willing to go buy something. I think this project will move to the back burner until inspiration strikes.

Have a great day!