Spring has sprung!

A little late this year, but it's here! Spring!

I went hunting for quilts to put on the quilt ladder and, along with Pinwheel Party and my Grandmother's Flower Garden, stumbled upon my Spring Fling quilt. From 2009!!

I'm amazed that, between 2009 and now, my preference for brighter colors has not changed.

(The Spring Fling pattern is available in the Craftsy store.)

Fanning seams for less bulky blocks

Since I've been working on and posting pictures of my Garden Party quilt on Facebook and Instagram, I've gotten some questions about the fanning (or spinning or popping) of seams on blocks.
Like this:

In response I added a new video tutorial to my YouTube channel. The link is in the sidebar if you'd like to take a look.

Oh, and here's the latest progress photo. All the full green blocks are done. 21 more "flowers" to make. And a whole bunch of half blocks!

(Please excuse the quality of the photos. The light indoors is not all that great.)

I'm using my scraps!

In March, Bonnie Hunter visited our guild. I've admired her use of scraps to make stunning quilts for years and, between my recent scrap organization frenzy, her visit, and an urgent need for a retreat project, I determined it was time to make a scrappy quilt. After much research (thank you Pinterest), I decided on the Garden Party quilt because it uses a variety of scraps and all 1/2" strips, which I have a ton of.

I found the book containing the pattern on amazon.com. The printed version is $19.99 and the Kindle version $9.99 so, for the first time ever, I decided to buy a digital "picture book".

I cut all the background strips (solid scraps, because somehow I don't have light scraps) in advance and, come retreat time, I was ready to get to work.

When I got home, I put all the blocks up on the design wall to gauge my progress. Not bad, but I have to make 100 "flower" blocks, so I have a long way to go.

Back at it this morning.