Confection (76 x 90)

 

I'm in love with this quilt.  It reminds me of black licorice and cotton candy, or of Good and Plenty candies, so sweet they makes your teeth hurt and delicious to eat in the dark of a movie theater.  

The blocks were pieced on my treadle machine with some 5 x 5" squares Debra sent me, with some of my fabrics thrown in for good measure.  When I finished the blocks I took them upstairs to the sewing room, where I organized them on my design wall, and sashed and bordered them on my modern Janome, which is way more accurate.

For the border I had a very special piece of black and white  print which I bought at IPQF a few years ago.  I didn't quite have enough to go all the way around because it looked like the 1-yard piece had been cut in the dark with a hack saw--don't you hate it when that happens?--so I substituted a related print on the bottom.

Here's a close up.  I think those blue cornerstones make everything pop.

Have a great weekend.  If the new version of Jane Eyre opens in my area, I'll go to the movies.   I hope they have Good and Plenty at the theatre.

Spring Break

I'm now officially on Spring Break--whoo-hoo!  Although there will not be any bikini-clad beach trips  to warm locales for me, I will be off work for a week, and taking a much-needed breather.

Very appropriate to the season, I recently read our dear friend Allie Aller's new book Crazy Quilting: Modern Piecing and Embellishing Techniques for Joyful Stitching, which is a happy bowl of eye candy and practical skill-building instruction. 

 

The book is beautifully photographed, and has clear and precise tips and instructions on a number of fresh approaches to  crazy quilting.  In addition, it's a homage to the friendships among stitchers in the on-line community.  We see contributions from Susan Elliot, who has posted tutorials here and here for her beautiful queen project.  There are are also contributions from Debra Spincic, and...

...yes!  From me too!  My St. Therese quilt is in the gallery.  If you'd like to see process photos for how I made this quilt, the links are tabbed under "St Therese" in the sidebar and they're right here too.

Also appropriate to the season, I finished this lovely shawlette, which is from Stephen West's popular pattern Pagona, knit some some inexpensive Deborah Norville sock yarn.  The design is very attractive and not hard at all to knit.  Just a little something to throw over the neck, just in time for Spring.