A New Thing

My wonderful quilt "Midnight at the Oasis " is done and ready for quilting. Yaaaay!!  I've decided to use Perle cotton 8 like Jen Kingwell did in the original. I've never really done this before, any suggestions??

I'm excited to try something new. 

Happy stitching,

Karen 

Fifth Step is Done

I have been working on my Midnight at the Oasis quilt in between other projects.  All of can say about this quilt is that it is wild and wonderful.  Maybe that's the way things are in Australia and Jen Kingwell has done a great job of portraying that feeling. 

I have finished all 44 blocks in the outside border.   Yay!!  There was a little trick to making these blocks that I didn't discover until about three quarters of the way thru.  But I'm not going back to fix them.  I figure no one may notice except me.

And I have started work on the 9 patch border. Jen does not do anything fast, so her method is to individually cut 276 bright 11/2" squares  and 276 gray squares - and that's exactly what I've done.

When these are done all that will be left is the appliqué border and then putting it together.  I'm not making any deadlines for myself, but I can feel the end is in sight (sort of).  I still am not wild about the stripe border but to date I can't find anything else.  I am still looking though.

Hope you've found some stitching time today,

Karen 

The Fourth Step - Still Working on It

I am down to 6 left.  That's good news as I need 52 to complete this border.  While I've gotten used to the little pieces (these blocks finish at 3"), it takes me more time to pick the fabric and cut the pieces than it does to construct the block.

I wanted to get this border done before I start work one the vine and flower border as I still haven't totally committed to the background fabrics.  I'm thinking at this point I will use several different fabrics and not stick to just one like Jen did.  As you can see, I've cut the black dot and will probably use that for the vine border.  I'm still debating in the stripe.

These really are turning out so cute.

They are kind of fussy, so extra trimming takes time too.  But this was one of my favorite elements of Jen's original quilt so I'm excited to almost be finished with this step.  I still haven't figured out how to embed a link, so be sure to go to Lining Up My Stitches blog and check the progress of the others on this quiltalong.

I'm off to work today, but hope you have time for some stitching today.

Karen 

The Third Step

Well after a slight detour, I am ready to start the orange peel row.  I should have known better and checked my measurements but I didn't. So with 68 out of 80 petals already prepped and pinned I realized the template was too big and didn't fit on the squares. Grrrrrrr!!  So I undid all the basting, re-pressed, trimmed and basted again.  

But now that they are all redone I'm ready to go.  I'm still trying to decide on the center (as you can tell) but I'm happy with the petals.

Here's a darker blue in the center. I just feel like it needs color and so far nothing is speaking to me.

Just for grins I did one in B&W.  Some of these are pretty low contrast but I think that's what the pattern is going for.  Now it's time for some appliqué 😍.

Happy stitching,

Karen 

The Second Step

Well it seems the second step is not any easier.  I can't even begin to describe how out of my comfort zone I feel. I keep telling myself this is a good thing. I seem to be struggling making choices with each step.  I haven't decided in a background fabric but I did buy 1/2 yard of the dot that Jen used.  I'm trying not to buy too much fabric.  So, ask me how that's going LOL!!

I do think the dark fabric helps set off the fabrics.  I'm not totally crazy about the stripe but I already had it.  Now I'm working on the petals so there won't be much progress for a while.n at least I'll enjoy the appliqué 😊.

Happy stitching,

Karen 

The First Step

I think the hardest part of quiltmaking is starting. Especially when the quilt is outside your comfort zone. 

I have decided to just jump in and start somewhere. These may not all work but with a super scrappy quilt like this one you have to have something to build on. 

Having fun,

Karen

Almost Ready to Start

After my crazy but wonderful summer, I am ready to start this!!  After meeting Jen Kingwell in June and seeing her quilts in person, I was smitten with Midnight at the Oasis.  Imagine my joy when I found a Quiltalong for Jen's quilts that is just starting.  Juliann over at "Lining Up My Stitches" is heading the QAL.  (I'm using Blogger and I can't figure out how to add a link.  Anybody know how to do that?). 

Jen is so delightful and I am excited to start this quilt.

I have not decided on my background fabric yet, but I'm gathering my other fabric.  I actually made some petals for one of the borders.

This quilt is going to be way outside my normal fabrics, but I'm excited to be stretching myself.

This is one of the pictures I took of Jen's quilt.  I can't wait!!

Happy stitching.

Karen