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Thursday, June 14, 2012

Recent Road Trip Projects

I forgot to show you what I worked on while we were travelling to Asheville a few weeks ago.  The trip to see our kids usually takes between 8 1/2 and 9 1/2 hours depending on whether we go to Asheville or Charlotte.  So I usually start out working on dishcloths.  I make knitted and crocheted ones.  They are so easy and mindless to make.   And then I have something I can give when I arrive :).  If not, they go home with me to be given away another time.
This is a group of fabric I've been collecting for over 4 years.  It started with finding the batik (on top) at Mary Jo's.  The colors are phenomenal but I just have not been able to find the right pattern. ( I didn't take these, just the book).
I recently checked this book of our Guild's library.  I think I've found the perfect pattern for this project!!  So I took graph paper, pencil and eraser and worked on graphing out a pattern.  More to come...  This is one of Jean and Valori's older books but it's fabulous!
Then of course there's the hexies project.  This is a long term project as the only time I work on this is usually in the car.  A friend gifted me hundreds of hexies all prepped and ready to be joined (oh, and by the way, she's the same one who gifted me the orphan block from the previous post).  While 30's are not my passion, the colors are fun and happy and I'm content to work on this slowly.
I do think it's going to be beautiful. I don't plan on any setting hexies, I'm just going to join them like this.  It's going to be plenty big enough.
Last, but not least, is a big bunch of leftover scraps from my wild Pineapple Quilt.  I also used these scraps when I designed the One of a Kind quilt and I still have a whole tote of them that I'm going to have to find projects for .  I swear, I think these things multiply during the night LOL!!! 
I'm playing around with a variation of a quilt I saw in APQ several years ago.
I took a small cutting mat, rotary cutter and ruler and went to town.  Each center will have this Kaffe fabric, and the surrounding logs are basically anything.
As you can see, it's going to be a happy quilt!!!  Out of the all the pineapple projects, this one is the most like me - I think I'm going to love this one!!  I'm hoping to get some serious sewing done on this project now that I have so many blocks prepped.
Since my DH made some business calls on the way up and back, I did all the cutting in the hotel room (lest you think I tried to rotary cut in the car!!)  All the other projects were done in the car.
The sun is out - I'm lovin' it!
-Karen

10 comments:

Karen said...

I don't find Mary Jo's to be as fun to shop at as it used to be. But I still like to go. I wish they had Moda fabrics.

Darlene said...

Lots of happiness in today's post, Karen!

Darlene said...

Lots of happiness in today's post, Karen!

regan said...

So many fun projects! And I love the colors of those washcloths.....nice to have something pretty to use when doing the dishes!

Terry said...

You've been busy! I love those batiks! :0)

FlourishingPalms said...

Oh! I'm a road trip girl too! I knit dishcloths, similar to yours on the far left. And I love to hand piece in the car. Your hexies are wonderful... and so tempting! I really want to start a hexie project. Sometime. You've got lots of fun projects going. I love them! Thanks for sharing.

Alyssa said...

Lovely hexes, the colors are fun and charming. And my my, I love your collection of fabrics, definitely the colors are phenomenal. :)

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Barb said...

lots of fun project going on here!
The squares quilt looks bright and fun and the flower garden blocks are lovely.

MamaT said...

Finally! I've had a moment to catch up on your blog. I always enjoy seeing what you're working on--even your long term projects. I hadn't heard about the rain (I was so busy with the quilt show and Tim's hip surgery). The hexagon project is so pretty. I'm not crazy about 30's fabric either but it indeed looks happy! How lucky you are that the hexies were already to be sewn together.

Vivian said...

Lots of lovely, varied projects, Karen. No grass growing between your toes!
I'm looking forward to seeing which pattern you decide to use with the greens and blues and that luscious batik.
I like your happy quilt. It's going to make people smile.