Progress report

Well, last night I officially reached the 60% mark in quilting the Pick & Choose project.  I have three full rows done, that's 15 of the 25 blocks.  I can get one or one and a half done in the evening while I'm watching TV.  And since there are only a few shows each week that I really enjoy watching closely, I get a lot of quilting time while the TV plays in the background. 

Besides the big quilt, I have also gotten the St. Patrick's day table runner cut, pieced and basted together.  I just have to do the hand quilting on it.  Since I have a little time before I put it out, I haven't focused on getting it finished yet. 

I have also started on my red, white and blue project that has been waiting in the drawer.  It was in the Jan/Feb 2010 issue of McCall's Quilting magazine.  I saw a picture of it on the Marcus Fabrics web site so I got the magazine right away.  I was able to order the same fabrics used in the magazine picture from Quilter's Roost.  All of the fabrics I needed were on her web site.  I placed the order in mid December and it arrived Dec. 24, it felt like a great Christmas present when it arrived.  Plus, I don't know if she always adds a little something with the order, but she sent me a cute little snowman ornament with it.  The fabric is from Marcus Fabrics American Patriot Collection designed by Faye Burgos.  Here's a picture of the quilt from the magazine:

The quilt is titled "Patriot's Home" and is done in red, cream and blue.  The neat part is the "flower" shapes.  They are English paper pieced using a striped fabric. (I have always wondered what to do with the fabrics that are printed in stripes of all the different fabrics in the line.)  You cut 63 hexagon shapes, 9 are cut so the whole strip shows for the centers of the flowers, the rest are cut across two stripes centered in the hexagon to get the two tone effect.  I have all of the hexagons cut out and the first seven sewn together to make one flower.  This is the first time I have tried paper piecing so I was a little concerned about it but it went really well.  Now, I only have eight more flowers to go then I applique them to the background squares.  From there on it is easy piecing.  This one finishes to 41 1/2 X 41 1/2 inches square so it's not too big.  The part that intrigued me are the way the flower shapes are made and the way they look on the quilt.  I also went to the McCallsquilting.com site, joined there and they have a bonus pattern for a miniture version of this quilt that is only 16 1/2 X 16 1/2 inches.  I might give it a try sometime if I have enough fabric left over from the larger quilt.  The hexagons are only 3/4 inch for the flowers, so that may be a big challenge!

So much for my finish one project before starting a new one theory!  So far working on three at a time isn't bad.  I can work on one then switch for a while so I don't get bored with just one.  And, the weather report here for the next week is cloudy with a chance of rain and/or snow all the way through next weekend.   Not as bad as out East, but still good weather for staying home and quilting!


I also want to start looking for fabric for the quilt that is in the last issue of APQ.  When I get these projects finished, it is next on my list.  It's the one I included the picture of in my last post.

Well, off to quilting and getting ready to watch the Superbowl.  My husband likes football, I know very little about the game but enjoy just being with him while he watches.  I ask questions, learn a little along the way and I can work on my quilt while watching, too. 

Marsha