Ready for the new year

Last year my resolution was to use more fabric than I bought because my stash was quite large.  I have done well at keeping that one.  In 2011 I want to get more organized and give away things I will not use again.  

I have spent some time the past few days organizing quilt patterns I hope to use and scraps of fabric.  I seldom throw away any scraps so they just seem to grow.  Everywhere I look I find more.  I sorted strips into bins if they were a consistent 2 ½” or 1 ½”.  I sorted irregular shaped scraps according to color and tone.  Now I 'm ready for the new year.

After sorting I decided to create some  more crumb blocks.  It is easy for me to play with triangles and create half-square triangles that are free formed with triangles of different sizes; but when I put them into stars or churn dash blocks, I still want to match the points in the center of the 9 patch.  Here are a few created in the past day or two.

Have a happy New Year and keep quilting ! 

Sewing crumbs

Yesterday I spent a lot of time sewing crumb blocks.  I have my scraps sorted by color and tone. First I used my stash of bold primary scraps (crumbs) and then I switched to pastel crumbs.


These will probably be used in 2 different quilts.  I was just having fun using crumbs.  Here are some examples of what I did. 
         
I will be teaching some crumb piecing techniques at Midlands Technical College – Harbison campus.  You can check out the quilting class schedule at http://www.mtctraining.com/programs.htm. 

I also sandwiched the 3D star quilt.  For quilts this size I use my kitchen floor at home.  In class we put several tables together. I like to spray baste and pin around the edge. Now it is ready to quilt.

Day After

The 3 D Stars top is together as you can see.  Since I still have more fabric, I think I will add a couple of very narrow borders and another outer border to give it more of a frame. 
It is a snowy day so a great day to stay inside and sew.