Civil War Quilt Top Completed!

Blocks designer:  Barbara Brackman  Size: 76" x 87"

Woo hoo!   I've been working hard on piecing my Civil War quilt blocks and finally I have the top done.  I used only 42 blocks out of the 52 offered by Barbara Brackman.  The pic is not so great as the porch blocked the evening sun.  The inner cream sashing is 1/2" finished and the outer black sashing 1-1/2" finished.  The border is 5" wide.  It's huge for my puny sewing machine to quilt so I suppose I'll most likely hand quilt it, and that will take even more time.

  Completed the small quilt by Jo Morton.  It's a freebie on APQ.  Love all the variety of reds and shirtings.

The Quilt Sampler.  Designer:  Little House Needleworks  Floss: DMC as charted.  Linen: 32ct Cream Belfast.

 I came across frames with 50% discount at Parkson supermarket and I thought it would be a nice size for the Quilt Sampler.  Unfortunately the glass is reflective.  Most of my other framed cross stitch pieces use non-reflective glass, then again they were framed by professional framers.  Nevertheless I still do like framing some in these store bought frames especially for small pieces.  I did not use glue but instead lace the back with thread as tightly as I can.  This method also provides room for some shifting.

Shaker doll 13-1/2" tall

In between working on the Civil War blocks I've been fooling around with doll making.  I tried out this Shaker doll by Miriam Gourley, just to gain some courage before trying out Gail Wilson's doll.  I like how her nose was shaped.  I use muslin and stuffed her with polyester filling.  The stuffing fork that I got from Gail is an excellent stuffing tool.  The instructions that were given in Miriam's book were quite basic and minimal, on the other hand Gail's can be overwhelming.  Gail says that way she ensures her dolls are made successfully.    

A folder to organize the doll templates

 

The Feed Sack doll is coming along.  There were umpteen steps to follow before the stuffing stage and more after.  I'll have to work on her step by step and I expect it to be an interesting journey.

Here's a start to some hexagons for Kathleen Tracy's October Small Quilt Challenge.  I used 100gm weight paper to print the hexagons.  I quite like EPP and it can be quite relaxing.  So I've ordered a small pack of 1" hexagons from Paper Pieces.  They are having a free shipping promotion.  An EPP hexagon quilt in the future perhaps? :)

 I finally got my strips organized for the progress of the Jacob's Ladder blocks.  I've been cutting strips as I go and just setting them aside.  So now their all organized for eventual piecing.  I've also been thinking of starting some 3" (finished) 9 patches blocks.  Maybe as a leaders and enders project.  And just build up the blocks slowly.