Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Shimmer

It's called Shimmering Triangles, and it's a pattern available on Craftsy with support from a facebook group called Shimmering Quilts. 


This project came about simply because I saw a picture posted of one that someone else had made and I was in love. I did a search, found the facebook support group, and joined. I was in awe of the projects other people were making with this pattern... each so different, depending on the fabric chosen. 

I bought the pattern that very same morning, and my brainstorming began. There were so many choices. Different fabrics/patterns/colors each gave a different feel to the look of the quilt. It was overwhelming.

I decided to use fabric that I have, sort of to "test drive" the pattern. 


These were the fat quarters I pulled from my stash. Oh how I love Amy Butler fabric! I was going to use them for a pineapple quilt once upon a time, but that never happened and they've been waiting patiently for me ever since. I decided to go against the suggestion of the pattern to have every block a "color", and instead I made every other block a background 4-patch with 2 different shades of brown. 


I did a test piece, and decided I liked it, so onward I went, making half square triangles and 4-patches and laying them out on my flannel covered styrofoam boards as I went (do you like the backside of the dinosaur flannel? lol).


It didn't take long before it grew upwards and outwards, and then outgrew my little flannel boards.


So, from this point, I started assembling the pieces into blocks, and the blocks into rows, and sewed the first half of the quilt top together. 


The remainder was assembled a row at a time, and it was attached before I assembled the next row... I was unprepared for just how time consuming it was to assemble, but that won't detract from making another. 



All blocks completed and assembled, and border added. Ready to be quilted. 


Friday, May 1, 2015

Lunch Bag

It seemed like a good day to make a new lunch bag. My daughter picked the fabrics from my stash, and it turned out wonderful! 


This is my favorite go-to pattern for a quick, easy project, and I have not yet found a better design for holding stacked square sandwich containers, plus a bottle of water. It has that handy-dandy drawstring top that keeps everything where it belongs, too.