Block Progress

I am still knitting daily on the baby afghan. It progresses in length slower and slower as you add stitches, so doesn't really look much different that the photo a few days ago. Looks good though. Oh, and I got a new crochet book! If you like flower afghans, this one is worth it!! Includes some 3D flowers as well. It's called A Crocheter's Garden of Afghans put out by Leisure Arts. Bought it at Amazon.


As you know, I have a hard time finishing things because I start new things. Some of these things are long term projects that will all be done by the end of the year. These are the ones I've started so far. I have a couple of past BOMs that I want to work on as well, but haven't gotten that far.

First, the 2007 BOM at QATW has a 2nd block! As mentioned last time, I'm doing it in two different colorways both of which are from stash. The first shows colors pulled from the Debbie Mumm focus fabric. My border is going to be pieced with Flying Geese. The second is Christmas fabric left over from my Christmas Snowball quilt. I have enough for the blocks,but will have to come up with something interesting for the border.

A quilt-a-long I joined is based on the pattern in Debbie McCaffrey's book Open A Can of Worms. I have a ton of floral strips to use up, so that is what I am using. The hostess has provided different instructions for those without the book, but the results are already looking great! So, here's my first 2 blocks. Due to the baby afghan, I can't really work on this until later in the month, but at least I know this is working! If these fabrics look familiar, most of them are leftovers from the Floral Triple Irish Chain Quilt done last Spring. That quilt is mostly quilted. Just haven't figured out what to put in the white centers.


Finally, my focus project for 2007 is to finish my 1000 Pyramids quilt. I started collecting charms for this back in 1993 and started cutting them a few years ago while listening to audio books (specifically Harry Potter). I have about 600 charms cut and have now completed 40 of the estimated 118 blocks needed. A new Harry Potter book comes out this year, so if I check out the last one again for a refresher, and then the new one, I should get plenty of charm cutting in. If you like Harry Potter and have never heard one the audio books, go to your library and check out the first one. Jim Dale is fabulous and came out of retirement just to do these books. This is one of the very few audio books that I've enjoyed listening to multiple times.

I highly recommend using a one size template if you are doing a charm quilt. The one size is also great for plowing through odd-shaped scraps. I've been using the ones designed by Pepper Cory for several different shaped charm quilts and they are wonderful. The 1/4 inch is marked off so you can see exactly what you are cutting and center it accordingly. However, I believe EZQuilting has discontinued their manufacture. You can still find some on Ebay now and then. Joann's recently was selling individual shapes, at a higher price, but they may be a one time thing. Here's a link to what I bought.
http://www.ezquilt.com/products/acrylictools/classic.htm