More Sunday sewing!

Another productive day thought not quite as much sewing got done.  But I did go through my bin of 3" strips and pulled out some brown and beige fabrics that will work with my 9 patches.
And then I went through my Canadiana bin and found some great strips for my next project... a rail fence.

I want to play with some easy quilting patterns so that I can hopefully hold a few free sessions in the spring for Quilts of Valour and encourage quilters to come with either 2.5" strips or fat quarters and I will demonstrate a couple of quick and easy blocks that can turn scrappy fabrics into easy blocks and simple quilts perfect for donating to soldiers who have been injured while on duty in service to Canada.

My first project is a batik quilt that I got the borders added to.  It is a Villa Rosa pattern called Cool Water and is made from 12 fat quarters. It will go home for quilting.

And I made more brown/beige strips sets so that I could stitch up a few more 9 patches for my patch a day challenge.  I think these will get put aside for a few days while I work on the other projects that I have started.  Fourteen of them means I have two weeks worth made.  I really need to spend time stitching the strip sets so I have a variety of pieces to choose from to keep the blocks scrappy looking.

Then I wanted to try this simple pattern that uses 2.5" strips, the width of fabric.  It is easy and perfect for scrap fabrics that you have cut into strips or leftover strips.  I am using up some strips of Canadian themed fabric and will mix and match in some red and cream strips to get the quilt large enough.  My stash of Canadian themed fabric is limited here but I found a shoebox of fabrics that I will use up.  Two contrasting strips stitched together lengthwise will make one 12.5" block. 

And back to my Sunday in the Park quilt.  A few more blocks are stitched together.  It is slow because I have found that if press my seam allowances the correct way, they will next nicely and it takes time to figure out which direction to press for each block. Seven of the twenty blocks are on the design wall.  If I can make three a day, should have the blocks ready by New Year's eve!

Of course, am still working on my flying geese as well as my Christmas batik quilt.  But all these projects are in their own bins and all stacked by my sewing machine ready for me to sit and stitch.  I need to take time out to fill some bobbins, clean the dust from the bobbin area and change my needle and oil the moving parts so that I can put the pedal to the metal when I get free time this week.