A Little Extra Gravy in November

For those of us who have just

finished enjoying a Thanksgiving meal 

with family and friends,

I'm thinking many of us might have added a little extra 

gravy to our turkey and mashed potatoes.

The extra gravy 

was not on my plate this year, but rather, it was

finishing the top I started only last month

with these Lady of the Lake blocks.

The pattern was designed by Jo Morton

for Quiltmania, issue 121.

I had been so faithful to my 17 UFO's in 2017 list

that I needed a diversion.

I loved the design,

I had plenty of fabrics that 

would work perfectly, so I opted

to temporarily take a side trail

and see what might happen.

The blocks went together easily

and soon became the center.

At this point, the pattern added the borders,

but it seemed to look unbalanced.

The photo in the magazine had half square triangles

on all four sides.

With a bit more stitching

the extra hst's were added

then the border, which was cut in an unconventional style. 

I only had a 3 long pieces of the border fabric left from 

a previous project.

With some careful piecing, I had just enough

to frame the quilt. 

Finishing this quilt top

seems like a little extra gravy for November.

It wasn't something I had planned on doing,

but it was just what I needed.

(No extra calories involved.)

Until Next Time-

Kyle

Have an Itch? Scratch it!

What do you do when you have an itch?

Why, you scratch it, of course.

I've had a sewing itch ever since I 

got the latest copy of Quiltmania, issue 121.

What's got me so itchy?

The pattern Comfort and Joy designed by Jo Morton.

photo from the magazine

What has made the scratching so easy and pleasurable

is the fact that I had so many of her fabrics

 and the border print.

It seemed the perfect pattern to use

some of these fabrics.

I even threw in one of Di Ford's new 

Clotted Creams and Caramels

I jumped right in making

larger hst's

and then scrappy half square triangles

using the magic 8 method.

The Bloc-Loc ruler

was waiting it's turn to start

trimming.

If I was a more careful stitcher, maybe I

wouldn't have to trim, but I'm not,

so a tool like the Bloc-Loc ruler is 

my very good friend.

These Lady of the Lake blocks

are sweet and easy to do

especially,

if the half square triangles are the perfect size.

But, then I had to stop.

I got a little busy

with another good itch that needed to be scratched.

I had visitors over the weekend

and we needed to play.

And that required a trip to the pumpkin patch

in search of the perfect pumpkin.

 Then there were these two little pumpkins

also at Nana's house.

Perfect too!

I'm hoping it won't be too long 

before I'm able to get the blocks sewn together.

You never know when I might have another itch.

 Until Next Time-

Kyle