Pink and Blue Progress

I decided to work on my Quilt Block Project by pulling out my two favorite blocks and making them their own quilts. So the purple and yellow pinwheel block is getting its own quilt, as is the pink and blue block. This is the block I made to coordinate:

The blue stars and pink dots are some of my favorite fabrics, and I think I love the new block even more than the original! I was tempted to make another block just like this one, but I'm running out of solid blue fabric, and - due to my extensive collection of pink fabrics - I think can finish this quilt without buying any new fabric!

ETA: The finished project!

Purple and Yellow Progress

I didn't quilt much last year, and I decided that I would change that in 2013. I started by pulling out the blocks from my Quilt Block Project. However, when I laid it out, I still wasn't entirely happy with the combination of blocks. I decided to pull out my two favorites, the purple and yellow pinwheel block (shown below) and the pink and blue block and make them their own quilts. It turned out that I had enough scraps to make a second purple and yellow pinwheel block, only slightly smaller. 

I had three other purple and yellow blocks to work with:

Quilt Block #30

Quilt Block #34

Quilt Block #7

After some seam ripping and some additional fabric, they turned into this: 

This was going to be the back of the quilt, and the pinwheel blocks would go on the front. At one point, I had purchased at least a yard each of four yellow fabrics for another project, so I was determined not to buy any more fabric except some solid purple for the binding. But the back didn't fit with the design I'd put together for the quilt top. Then one day I realized that if I took apart that center hexagon block, I could make more pinwheel blocks. After more seam ripping, I realized I didn't have enough of the yellow or purple polka dot fabrics to make the same pinwheel blocks. However, I was still able to recycle the pieces into something more useful:

A few more blocks, and I'll be able to piece what will either become the new back or a second top.

ETA: The finished project!

Rainbow Hexagons

About a year ago, the clock on the wall in my office at work died a slow, painful death. As it stopped keeping time accurately, it made weird noises. When we reported it to facilities maintenance, they didn't fix it, they just removed the entire clock, leaving a gaping hole in the wall. From where I sit, I can't see most of the hole, but one of my coworkers looks right at it. He has commented that I should make something crafty to cover the hole, but it wasn't until this month that I realized I could use an embroidery hoop to make a convenient circle. I got an 18" hoop at Hobby Lobby and painted it silver. All the fabric is from my stash. The hexagons are pieced together, and then I stitched the whole loop down on the black background. I managed to get the whole thing in the hoop without too much trouble.

Other art for the office: owls, butterfly, polyhedrons

Flowered Doll Blanket

I embroidered these flowers over 15 years ago, and I just now got around to turning this project into something useful. Originally it was a doll blanket, but I had just hemmed the edges, so the back looked unfinished. I was too old to actually use it for its intended purpose it when I made it. Then last year my mom rescued my American Girl doll from the closet of my childhood bedroom and gave it to the daughter of one of her friends. I pulled this project out of a box and decided to turn it into a more usable blanket for her. I added some quilt batting and some lavender fabric for the back that matches the lavender ribbon on the front and stitched around the edges with lavender thread. See this post for detailed pictures of of the flowers.

Finished size: 16" x 19"

Ribbon Embroidery

I saw this idea in a magazine and had to try it. Of course I tried it with the regular ribbon I had on hand, not the special embroidery ribbon, so it was quite a feat to tug the ribbon through the fabric. I do love the results however. At some point I did buy some embroidery ribbon, but I never ended up using it, probably because these projects are decorative only and not at all useful.