Heaven's Gates quilt, getting better or worse?

If you recall, I started out by adding borders to just the top and bottom, but I just wasn't satisfied with the bordering I had done on the little mosaic quilt, so I removed the two borders, and replaced them with 4 in this milk chocolate brown solid.

This photo doesn't do it justice here; it actually looked really nice, but too dark.

Then after thinking that was really nice, but kindof boxed the center in more than I really had wanted, I found a lighter warm shade of tan in my stash. However, I definitely was NOT going to remove borders again !

So, I set about making myself a back, incorporating those nice, rejected borders into a stripe on the backing. Well, I was so pleased with the finished results, (you really can't get a good look at it with the duvet stripe showing through the quilt backing) that I refused to settle for a border that wasn't making me sing. So, yes, I removed those 4 chocolate borders, and replaced them with the warm tan. It's a simple border, but it had to be the right tone for me to be happy with the finished result. Now, I like it, especially how it goes with the backing.

Do you ever place your top on your backing and flip one corner over to see how you'll like it when it's a quilt? I like to do that, and with this one, I'm very pleased.

Now to find time to baste it and quilt it. Time I had today, but not energy. Still recovering from this flu, and a coughing jag with lunch left me wasted and napping. I thought I'd never get my breathing straightened out !

Tomorrow will be busy with the cornbread and pie baking, boiling of eggs, and house cleaning ! Let's hope there are more than just the two of us here when it comes time to eat on Thursday. But first, a family dinner at John and Deb's tomorrow night. If they have ham, I'm going to forego the turkey, I think, just so I'm really ready for it at my house on Thursday ! Can't wait for the eggnog and boiled custard !

A possible setting.......

.......maybe. I DO like it ! Need to shop for some setting fabric, and I might need to make some purple blocks. I had planned to, but didn't have 6 or 7 fabrics that I like together that were as playful as the other fabrics I've used. Most of these brights are from a separate little tub of "kiddie prints" that I kept just for baby quilts. I had thought of this one as becoming another baby quilt, but this setting (which I've run across numerous times on Flickr and wish I could give credit for, but don't remember names ,) would really make the most of a small amount of block piecing. It could cover a twin-sized bed.......wouldn't that be great? By the way, it looks pieced and quilted, but isn't ............ I've laid it out on the backside of a finished quilt.

EDIT: I just rediscovered the quilt that inspired my layout and blocks. Though mine are just staight pieced, rather than round and round, I was inspired by "FROM THE HANDBASKET"'s quilt that she posted here. Oh, how I adore this quilt !

And let me just say that I am tickled plumb to death to find out that several of my friends and family members read my blog regularly ! I don't mind at all if you don't comment, but I do love that stopping by makes you feel closer to me, and maybe even inspires a project of your own once in awhile. ( I do want to see photos, though !) I miss our closeness ! ! ! ! ! ! SO MUCH ! ! !

But now, I feel you all around me when I post and I can share my days with all of you.

Just three blocks........

......that's all I got done. The first week of the month always keeps me running, doing errands, and it's just so beautiful this week, that I have to fit in a nice slow walk too !

So, I only got three blocks pieced. But, it's enough to let me see that I really like this color scheme.........who'da thunk that beige could be so pretty ?

I had this packet of bali prints in 8 different colorways from Walmart, and decided that they might work nicely.........since there's so much variety in the beige prints, I didn't want to go too wild on the 'diamonds', including mixing colors within the diamond itself. I think I'm going to be pleased with the final outcome, but I wouldn't want to use this pattern for an entire bed quilt.

My triangles are not matching up that wonderfully, but I've done a practice swatch and found that the machine quilting can hide a multitude of sins, so to speak ! That's probably what I'll do to finish this baby quilt, if I can come up with another cotton batting........HINT, HINT, JodieAnn !

Sneak Peek.....concept and cutting stage !

I've been playing with EQ5 again, after seeing the post with this lovely quilt on BeMused's blog. I asked her permission to imitate her, and she graciously wished me the best !

I have a great niece whose Mommy has beautiful taste, and has painted the nursery in shades of beige/tan. I couldn't imagine how to incorporate this into a baby quilt, but now I think I'll give this a try. It may or may not work as I have it pictured on EQ5 or in my head, but we all know that the playing is the fun part, anyway, right?

So I've cut me a nice little stack of beiges and tans, the same ones that I used as background on Seth's Monkey Tower quilt. Now, I just have to choose the '''''jewels'''''' that I'll 'set' among the mortar. In my mind, it reminds me of the walls of the gates in Heaven.

Ziggy--Zaggy top finished

I'm trying to be so-o-o-o-o-o good and just use fabrics that I have on hand, even though I am daily tempted with all of the luscious new fabrics that I see other quilters using online. I have 1 1/2 chests of drawers full of fabrics, and although most of my quilts seem to be made with the SAME fabrics, over and over, I am determined to continue making quilts until I have a good reason to purchase new fabric................I CAN'T WAIT FOR THAT DAY ! ! !

So, having said that, I present the newly finished baby-quilt top, Ziggy--Zaggy. I really wanted to border it in blue, a beautiful bright cobalt blue. But I didn't have a piece of that color that was big enough, so, in digging around, I found this purple. The top is finished and that 's a good thing.......I'm sure that somewhere there's a baby or child that will just be crazy about the purple.

The quilt top measures about 42 x 45 inches.......I hope I can find a piece of fabric wide enough, among my stash, to back it. You know, the older fabrics were all 44-45 inches wide, but now they measure more like 39 to 41 inches. If I was sure that I was going to machine-quilt it, I would piece a back, but I'm still debating on that decision.

PHOTO UPDATE ---Ziggy-------zaggy !

UPDATE: 'Tis the end of a very long day, filled with cutting, laying out, piecing, AND ironing. I'm beat, can hardly hold my back up straight to sit here at the computer, but I'm also happy with today's work. Hubby said that he didn't like it when I had it laid out on the sewing room floor, unpieced. But he says that it looks good now that it's pieced. I think he was just suffering from quilter's widower syndrome.....tired of being ignored ! Anyway, if you missed today's activities, you can read the earlier post down below.
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I'm so spoiled on reading other people's happenings that I hate it when I miss a day of updating mine.......I feel a responsibility to my readers, few as they may be !
So, looky here..........I'm trying another baby quilt, inspired by this wonderful zigzag quilt that I ran across a link to on someone's blog the other day. Forgive me for not remembering where, as I have visited so many during Quilt Festival, but I think it was a blog that I follow. (Edit: I just saw that it is Erin's old blog......she now has this one http://erinjoyquilts.blogspot.com/ ) I love the fact that it's made from strips rather than triangles !

To that end, I found a rectangular tin full of strips leftover from this quilt,


and decided to see if I could use them for the zigs and zags !

Had to stop for a little pot pie and homemade chili......sounds like an awful combination, huh? Well, I had the pot pie, chicken and broccoli, and then when I was still hungry, I perused the fridge for leftovers ! It's cold today and I'm working and burning calories, so I'm gonna fuel up !

Okay, I've been back to work, and I think I'm ready to start assembling.........hubby decided to turn the heat up, and I had it laid out over the furnace vent ! Oops !......MEN !

"Riotous Hodge Podge" -- quilt top finished !

Here's an updated photo........the shot below the deck didn't work out.........there's grass that made the quilt-top lie all rumply ! And when I put her on the clothesline, she decided to dance in the Fall breeze...........who was I to stop her? I felt a little like dancing myself !

This is not the best photo..........I've already figured out where I need to put the top to get a good long shot of it, one that's nearly rectangular. But the rain needs to STOP and the SUN needs to SHINE for awhile first, because the perfect spot is on my driveway gravel, with me taking the photo from up above on my front deck !

But I was too excited to wait............I love this quilt top ! It's yummy, delicious ! Like having a rich scrap bag poured out at your feet, and you can't decide what to use, so you take big ol' pieces of all of it, and turn them into a quilt on which you can feast your tired eyes at the end of a day.

How do you like that border? My dear gal pal, Jodie Ann, sent me a challenge package this week, with leftovers from a recent charity project of hers. This time, there was no specific type of quilt challenged, just the request that I find a good way to "use up these fabrics".

Well, when I looked at this top, prior to borders, it didn't have a lot of personality, so I couldn't stand the idea of slapping on your standard, one-inch/six-inch border. Besides that, I had a pile of 1 1/2 inch strips leftover from trimming the 7 1/2 inch squares I used to cut out the blocks......and I didn't have enough of any one green fabric to go all the way around the quilt.

So, I started sketching, and cutting, and playing................isn't that the best way to spend a rainy day ? ! ? Before I knew it, I was just about to scream with anticipation. Back and forth, from one end of the trailer, where the bedroom is with the top laid out..........to the other end of the trailer, where the sewing room is...................I certainly got my exercise today. SOMETIMES I EVEN RAN............might I say I actually skipped once !

Hubby thought the quilt was too small when he saw it without borders, and the joke is, it's actually the perfect size now for his twin-size hospital bed ! I didn't plan it that way, but I am awfully tired of looking at that half-square plaid Lone Star quilt that's covered his bed for the last 6 months ! I hope I can get this one basted up and hand-quilted soon. My cotton batting has had one baby quilt cut off of it, so I don't think I can get this top out of it too. But the local fabric store sells a Mountain Mist cotton batting that I'll probably try.

Next stage of "Riotous HodgePodge"

I pieced the blocks together into a top today.......it didn't take but a few minutes.........and when I laid this part out, the hubby's reaction was just what I expected. He said , "I like it, but the trouble

is, you don't make them big enough."

As I stated on my flickr page, I figure people buy comforters to COVER their beds these days, or blankets, but a quilt is chosen because it does something to you on the INSIDE ! It's colors or design speak to you, and it doesn't matter if it's just big enough to fold and place on the corner of your bed for a spark of color. When I get the borders made, this one will actually be big enough to sleep under. It'll cover the top of a full-size bed mattress. That's my favorite size, you know, because I hate tucked in covers that smoosh your toes down during the night. I always like to go to sleep under a single me-sized quilt, long enough to cover my feet well, but not tucked in..........and then when/if I get cold during the night, I pull up the sheet and comforter.

Quilts are personal, and they don't know nuthin' 'bout no RULES ! So make'em like you like'em, girls and guys !

Another day, another 40 blocks.........

unfortunately, they're just 7 inch blocks once they're trimmed, so even with the first 20, it's not enough for a very big quilt............YET !

However, I do have very good company while I'm sewing on these rainy days, so what better could I be doing with this time?

(By the way, my machine isn't really that dirty..........those are flecks of paint that came off of the windowsill and ceiling when I cleaned them with the machine in place.....they won't wipe off !)

I'm sewing today........

and I took the time to play around with EQ5. I came up with this design, to use up some squares that I cut a long time ago with a different project in mind. Of course, I'll have to cut quite a few new squares to go along with these, but atleast I'm at the sewing machine again.
I've actually laid out the first few blocks on the floor, as I've made them, and I've changed the placement around from the original design. I may just like it better. Anyway, with quite a ways to go in the piecing, who knows what I'll wind up with in the end?

This is more like what I've been laying out..........although the finished quilt would hopefully have many more blocks than this.