It's Finally Done!!!!

And it is huge!!! I could not even find a place to take a full picture, so here is is, wrinkles and all. This is large enough for a king bed with a very generous overhang.

This was quite the process. My idea and first execution was not what I wanted, so many blocks needed to be remade. I still am not really happy with the size of the white lines. But another thing I learned is that small pieces and narrow lines result in a quilt where at least 1/3 of the fabric is in the seam allowances. Something to keep in mind for large quilts.

I struggled with the final arrangement of the blocks. And asked on Ravelry and Facebook for opinions. Overwhelming the vote was for the alternating vertical/horizontal arrangement. Funny,  this was my least favorite arrangement. But I started playing with the blocks and came up with this. Vertical/horizontal but offset. I did the offset partly because I didn't like the formal block arrangement and thinking that it would make it easier to sew at the corners where the 4 blocks would meet.



Close up of block arrangement



Another problem was figuring out the actual block placement. This quilt is almost 10 feet wide!! My design wall is only 4 feet wide. I don't have a king bed, no indoor floor space, and the deck is covered in snow. I found out real quick that value could be a problem and the yellow blocks needed to be replaced with a dark gold. (Quick shopping trip needed!)  I finally gave up agonizing about the color arrangement and pretty much randomly lined them up.

So it is what it is and is now on it's way to the long arm quilter. I think the quilting will really unify all the different colors.

What will I do next? I want to do more on the mosaic theme. I have a lot of scraps left over and will work on something which fits on my design wall.

AND the white will be lines and not shapes.

Now I need to clean up the fabric piles and knitting sounds really good. I need to work on some Comfort Bears for the local police department.



It's all about the Kitty

I cannot seem to focus on any detailed projects, knitting or sewing. I have been knitting simple chemo hats for donation to a local hospital cancer treatment center and cat mats for the local animal shelter. Both of these are simple repetitive projects that I can do without having to concentrate.

The cat mats are crocheted using some donated yarn that my knitting guild received. Not the greatest quality but perfect for cat mats that will be heavily used and cleaned.

Then there is the Hello Kitty project. How can anyone resist the cutest granddaughter in the world who has a Hello Kitty fixation. Christmas presents included Hello Kitty shoes,

watch and necklace. I was able to find some Hello Kitty fabric so current project is working on a quilt. It's all about the fabric so no great design decisions needed.

Then there is this. She is only  4 years old

 but I sure hope she gets interested in a sewing machine soon, because this was made for a Grandma to buy.

More coming soon on a quilt project challenge I signed up for.  What to do with this fabric? I'm starting with the color wheel to find a complimentary color. The challenge is based on this this book by Rayna Gillman Create your Own Free-Form Quilts, so my next step is to go through the orphan block basket and get going on this. After the kitty quilt that is!!