ONE NEW THING WEEK 5

Okay...Back to more 'quilty' things!  For my new thing this week, I decided to tackle something I have wanted to try for ages!  It's no big deal, really. It was simply setting quilt blocks on point.  For some reason, the idea of doing this terrified me.  I think it was the setting triangles. I just couldn't seem to wrap my head around it. Anyway, I read tons a few tutorials, crossed my fingers, and pulled out my cutter!  Here's the result...

I'm absolutely thrilled with the way this turned out and I absolutely love it!  I bought this bundle of Annie's Farm Stand ages ago.  Here's a closeup of what I think is the cutest print...

These fabrics are so vintagey.  I wish I had enough to make curtains out of the seed print! I also love how the binding looks with the print on the back...

When I pulled this fabric out, I had forgotten that I had already cut a bunch of 3 1/2 inch squares for a patchwork quilt  I wasn't sure I had enough left over to put this quilt together.  After some 'creative' cutting and a little breath-holding, I managed to squeak out just enough after adding a few coordinating prints from my stash. Here's the pre-construction pile...

I didn't have enough fabric to cut five 8 inch squares for the setting triangles.  I was able to cut one, and after cutting it in half twice, I used one of the triangles as a template so I could use smaller pieces of fabric for the setting triangles.  Pretty clever if I say so myself.  Putting the top together was a breeze. I've always liked the look of blocks set on point and I'm looking forward to making many more of these!

AT LONG LAST...A FINISHED QUILT!

I FINALLY managed to finish a quilt! Yay!!!! It's almost the end of January!  What took me so long!  Anyway, here it is...

It was almost impossible to get a decent shot of this quilt.  The rare January sunshine was creating all sorts of shadows! I absolutely love these Ann Kelle prints. They are so much fun to work with and so colourful. I can't decide which one is my favourite.  I also have a ton of them in boy prints, too! I love the way this quilt turned out. It's heading to my poor neglected shop!

Linking this post up with Amanda Jean!

SOMETHING NEW, AN ALMOST FINISH, AND MORE GIANT BLOCKS!

How's that for a long title! First up, here's my new thing for the week...Blueberry Oat Quick Bread.

I've had this recipe in my favourites for probably over a year!  It came together quickly and tastes delicious (I had a tiny slice just to make sure)! This recipe is definitely a keeper!

And...because this is really a blog about quilting, here's an almost finish...

I managed to get the binding sewn on today and just need to hand stitch it to the back.  I love how this one turned out.  This is the second snowball quilt I've made. I must admit...I don't really enjoy the process. It's a tad bit tedious and the quilting is a little challenging with all those seams! I do love the end result, though. Can't wait to see this one all crinkly out of the dryer!

I also managed to get a few more of these completed...

It's no secret that I'm not really crazy about big blocks! These ones actually measure about 12 inches! I have to say...these have been fun to make and are so quick. I only need to make nine to make a decent-sized baby quilt!  I made a quilt like this previously (I blogged about it back in October) and sold it at a Christmas craft fair a few months ago and I've been wanting to make another one similar to it.  I finished another block this afternoon - four more to go! I have a coordinating green polka dot for the back and I'm going to do the "organic boxy meandering" I did on the last one.

WEEK 3 OF 52 NEW THINGS & A QUILT FINISH (FINALLY)!

For Week 3 of 52 New Things for 2013 I made Lemon Crinkle Cookies (recipe found here!)

The cookies turned out great. They were delicious!  The only alteration I made to the recipe was adding 1/4 teaspoon of lemon extract.  The cookies had a subtle lemon flavour - I think next time I will add 1/2 teaspoon of the lemon extract.  The dough was a bit sticky so I hope this won't throw things off too much.  Anyway, here's a picture...

There's even a few left to take to work tomorrow!

And...I actually managed to finish a quilt (I think my last finish was well before Christmas)!
This was a semi-custom order for a work colleague (I hope he likes it)!

When I was looking it over after it came out of the dryer I noticed the quilting on this block...

It made me think of a puppy's paw which is kind of funny since this fabric is Puppy Park!
Anyway, I'm pretty happy with the way this quilt turned out. I love the simple, clean lines! I wouldn't normally use black in a baby or child's quilt, but I think it works here and makes the other colours pop! I used two charm packs (42 squares total) and a little Kona Snow for the sashing. The back is a coordinating print and the binding came from my stash (yay!!!).

LET'S TALK RESOLUTIONS!

Okay...Like most people, I usually make resolutions at this time of the year, and for the most part, I'm pretty good at sticking to them. (A few in the past included reading the newspaper every day and becoming a vegetarian.) This year, along with the usual ones (lose weight, exercise more, stop procrastinating, blah, blah, blah), I resolve to try something new I've wanted to do once a week and have been putting off for various reasons.  It can be something I've wanted to cook/bake/sew/quilt/etc., but never got around to doing. For week one I made a batch of biscotti!  I used a basic recipe and it turned out great.  This week, it was a Dresden plate quilt block...

I think it turned out great! It's a little bigger than I thought it would be (about 12 inches) and I had to make more blades than I thought. I used my EZ Dresden ruler. I'm going to make another one with a 30 degree ruler. I think I might use this one for a cushion. It was actually quite easy and I really enjoyed making it! Why did I wait so long! Haven't decided yet on next week's project!