BluePip Designs

January was cold and snowy, and the Rainbow Blossom quilt took up almost all of my time.  I did custom quilting in matching colors on it (using my domestic machine) so there was a lot of thread burying to be done.  I'm very happy with how it turned out and to be done with it! Quilt Tally WIP List at beginning of month: 11 WIP List at end of month: 12 Untouched in 2023: 5 Active QAL Projects: 1 Quilts Finished Rainbow Blossom (January 2019) Quilts Started Test Block Sampler - One of my goals this year is to publish at least three patterns.  While I was deciding what fabric to use for my first test block, my bin of Lori Holt fabric caught my eye and I decided that all of my test blocks this year will be from that fabric.  At the end of the year, I should have a scrappy sampler that showcases all my pattern design efforts! Bright Day - After tweaking the test block, I went ahead and made an entire test top for the same pattern! I made

  This corner flip was a beautiful accident.  I wanted to show how close I was to finishing the binding, so I flipped the corner back and it landed exactly like this.  For once, no further fussing was necessary. My January OMG was to finish the top of my Rainbow Blossom quilt , baste it, quilt the background, and get the binding on.  I went above and beyond and the whole quilt will be finished by the end of the month!  I could have finished the binding before I took this photo, but I like having handwork to do in the evening while watching television so I am going to save that for tonight. My original plan was the quilt the background around the pieced elements, put on the binding, and then come back to finish quilting the colorful bits when they were stabilized by the background quilting, but after the top was basted, I couldn't resist starting with that pink seashell - I could see how I wanted it quilted in my mind and it seemed silly to wait. I like to take pictures of my quilt

Our snowy January weather (including an e-learning day) has been the perfect excuse to stay inside and sew.  I'm enjoying the quieter days and getting a lot done!  I wish I could have taken my finished quilt top photos outside, but with roughly 18" of snow on my deck it's just not possible right now. My postage stamp quilt !  This quilt top is huge and turned out exactly as I envisioned it.  My 5'9" son is standing on the left and the bottom is still dragging on the floor (his little brothers are standing on the couch to hold their parts up).  I've ordered some flannel to go on the back and when it gets here my longer quilter is going to baste it for me. I'm planning on straight-line quilting it myself, but I don't have the pins or space to do the basting.  My son has already claimed this for his bed! I had all the blocks for my Rainbow Blossom top finished in December, so all that was left was to sew them together.  This one is a more manageable size