"...With My Little Eye..."

"...With My Little Eye..."  ~  47" X 54"

I  put this I Spy quilt together yesterday, it was quick and easy; I followed the directions in the pattern book to the letter. I was eager to try this pattern and the cutting template, both of which I purchased at MidAtlantic Quilt Festival last month. Created by Karen Montgomery, the book Crazy For More and the set of non-slip Creative Grids templates "Scrap Crazy" combine for some effortless and precise piecing. I am already planning my next project using these tools. The pattern book has many other appealing patterns and the templates are an absolute joy to use.

This quilt will be for Lynnleigh, her favorite color is orange.  She chose all the cute little novelty prints that she wanted in her quilt over the weekend. She dug deep into Nana's bins and placed everything that she wanted in one pile. You might think this would put a big dent in my fabric scrap bins. Think again! This bin, below, with its bulging cover is one of five.

I plan to back this quilt with a white Minkee-type blanket and quilt it on the longarm without any batting. It should be the perfect drag-along quilt for my favorite three-year-old!

Life is Good!

Where Am I Headed?

Back in December I joined a round-robin group at my LQS entitled "Head For The Border". This is a round-robin that never leaves the hands of the original quiltmaker, everyone works on their own creation the entire time. As a way of sparking creativity and building skills, the unknown for the next border "round" is revealed each month by the drawing of a color and a design element to be used from a brown paper bag. We don't know where we're headed... it's the journey that makes this experience so much fun.

In order to develop a sense of direction toward the destination it's important to not only know where you are but how you got there. I often find myself relying on the most basic skills that I learned in the very first quilmaking class I ever took, back in 1983. (Are you reading this, Ann?) Back then we cut templates from plastic and drew every seam line with pencil. I don't use mylar sheets anymore for templates but sometimes certain situations (unusual sizes) call for me to draft the shapes in EQ7 and print them onto freezer paper sheets. I cut them out (on the stitching line) and iron them to the backside of my fabric pieces; then lightly draw around those shapes with a fine mechanical pencil. The pieces won't shift (I use a sandpaper board beneath the fabric pieces to ensure stability while tracing) and then cut them out 1/4" beyond the drawn line. The freezer paper is reusable (over and over and over...). This is much more accurate than using rotary cutting directions to the 1/16th or 1/32nd of an inch. I'm happy to have a solid piecing foundation, basically anything that can be drafted can be stitched using this technique. Even with a closetful of specialty rulers and a die cutter it's always a good feeling to return to the basics.

Ready for tomorrow... my "Head For The Border" medallion work in progress. This now measures 23.5" square; I believe there are to be three more "rounds". The four "Winding Ways" blocks are where I began. Round #1 saw us adding the color black and the design element of rectangles; round #2: green and flying geese. I can't wait for tomorrow's reveal and to see what everyone else has come up with. As for me, I may not know exactly where I'm headed, but I am guided by good directions and am having an enjoyable time getting there. I believe I am going to name this one "The Long And Winding Road". Stay tuned for more clues along the way to the ultimate destination.

Life is Good!