Just for the Fun of it!

After a lot of ripping and resewing I finally got the 'Thyme to Water' quilt top finished. I learned a lot from this project about my sewing machine and about the importance of measuring accurately several times and sewing with a perfect 1/4 inch seam. It was the triangles that gave me the most trouble though. It seems that when you cut a square into fourths you get some part of the triangle that will be cut on the bias. I have seen a video by Eleanor Burns where she shows a great way to cut triangles in a strip so that you don't end up with any stretchy bias problems. I will have to put this into practice next time I cut triangles, but I am avoiding doing anything with triangles for a while. I decided that I didn't want to use the flower pot border on this quilt and used this adorable garden themed fabric I recently found instead. I think it all goes together pretty well and made a fun quilt with more attention to all the hard work I spent on the center. I have several seams that are still not matching exactly, but I am not stressing over them since this is just a fun throw for me. It is all a learning experience that I hope to put to use one day soon on a quilt for my bed.


I have several projects in the works, but still found time to start another. I was attracted to a fall quilt I saw on the cover of Better Homes and Gardens American Patchwork & Quilting. It has some great pumpkins and I had just got some fat quarters in some great fall colors so I did a little mixing up of things and am making a wide runner. I tried several different blocks before I came up with blocks between the pumpkins. The designer of the quilt, Avis Shirer of Joined at the Hip used a wonderful block with flying geese, but after trying my hand at just one I opted to use something a little simpler. I did throw my sample block in the center of my quilt though. I still have to work up a back for this and get creative with some quilting and a border.

These were fun projects that sort of represent the seasons of Spring and Fall to me. My favorite seasons of the year. I always wonder if other crafters make things with a specific purpose in mind or do you make things just because you think it would be fun to do. I do a little of both I guess. I made these two projects with no real purpose in mind, but I am thinking that they will look at home on my couch or over a small table. No matter what I use them for I am getting a lot of pleasure from just creating something that I enjoy looking at.