The Quilty Puppies and Shakespeare in the Park
 

Since I have finally finished my Diamond Pineapple quilt and have rested a bit lol.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...210260-18.html

I have decided to make this quilt, for some very good friends of mine. I had promised, that one day I would make them a special quilt. I am doing Shakespeare in the Park by Judy Martin, out of her Creative Pattern book.

I pulled out some blues of several values, reds, oranges, and creams. I was reading the book and the puppies, Emily and Milly) decided they wanted to help, so I put them up on the table so they could watch and help me read lol.

Fabrics
 

Here are some of the fabrics I pulled out.

Here is my Molly, she is in the hole, (that's the space under my sewing cabinet where the extension table is, she was helping too.

Here is the beginning of the block. The four squares for the middle.

Then the tri's are cut, making sure to trim the points off so everything goes together smoothly.

I made my first block to check my sewing. I made a mistake already lol, but caught it on the first round.

Here are seven blocks. Now this isn't the way it's going to look. There are going to be star blocks between. I am going to do all the reels first tho and then the star blocks. I am now doing speed piecing after checking my first block. This will be a king size quilt.

I think it's going to be a very very pretty quilt. I love this pattern. I bought the book just for that pattern lol and then went on to buy a couple more of her books. I love going to her site and looking at all the quilts people have made from her patterns. Keep up the good work.

here is a link for a pic of the quilt.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Um44Dg9_Fv...-h/SITPpic.jpg

Lovely quilt, and cute dogs, We lost our precious Muffy the night after Christmas, I miss her sooooo much.

You need to get you another Muffy now. We got these little darlings last May because we know the two old boys are going to leave us soon.

I love that pattern and am amazed at how it looks in different colorways. I can't wait to see how yours progresses! Your quilts are stunning!

With these fabrics it's going to be a lovely quilt!

I really think your on your way to a very lovely quilt, please keep us updated.

Looking good! With helpers like that you can't go wrong.

My two little dogs have a blanket to sleep on on my sewing table! They love to lay there and look out the window while chains of patches cover them up!

Rosy, I can't wait to see your vision complete. Your finished blocks are beautiful. I love the colors. Your puppies are adorable. I just got a new puppy to add to my mini zoo. He's a daschund/York mix. He certainly is busy. I like it. Makes me feel young. (*yorkie) Spell check is a pain sometimes. Your puppies brought a smile to my morning. Thank you.

You are off to a very good start. Darling doggies too.

Looking good so far.

Love the colors and the quilt.....and the puppies are sooooo sweet!

Exquisite colors and pattern. Please share the finished project.

Can't wait to see it done!

That pattern is definitely on my list to do...it's spectacular and I can't wait to see yours finished. Thanks for sharing your progress, it's inspiring me!

This is going to be a georgous quilt, I love all those colors. What a great friend you are to make this. I have Judy Martin books too, guess I need to look at this one again.

It is going to be beautiful!!! Love your babies!!!!!

Thank you Ladies. I love to have those puppies near me and they love to be with me every turn. I am fixing them a spot on the sewing cabinet so they can watch while I sew lol. My Molly used to have that spot.

I did the seven blocks in a short afternoon so I suppose it won't take that long to finish the reel blocks. I am cutting today as I want as many different fabrics in the reels. So far I have just done some blues, now it's time to add all the rest. I will post pics of blocks as I go.

This couple that I am making this for, are really some dear friends of mine of many years. He in particular has given me so much of his time on different things, from learning the computer etc. It will such a pleasure to make this quilt for them, I might make two lol. I am thinking that I need at least a twin for me lol.

Thanks for showing these pics. I am in the planning stages of a Shakespear in the park quilt that I want to make scrappy and there aren't many pics of scrappy ones to look at.

Oh this one will be scrappy lol. I am still cutting...

very nice be sure to show us when completed

I love your blues. I have the book Yes You Can Make Stunning Quilts From Simple Patterns and it has a similar pattern on the front Virginia Pinwheel. I am now inspired to give it a try.

what a beauty this is going to be. i see another added to my list. Thanks for sharing and looking forward to seeing your progress on this.

I have that book also (I have all her books in my collection, from the very first one). I did make that Virginia Pinwheel also. She has added the star blocks to that pattern in this book.

I got all the cutting done for the larges tri's. I cut the biggest strips first, then subcut the squares and the tri's and then use what's left for the smaller strips and tri's. This way, nothing gets wasted.

Normally I don't like to cut too many pieces but in this case, because I want to use many different fabrics, I have to cut what I need. These blocks go very fast for me, so I don't mind all the pieces. I don't know how the star blocks will go yet.

If I get all the cutting done today, I will be able to show some more blocks and some tips when putting the block together for those who need it.

Shakespeare In the Park
 

Ok, I got a good start and some tips for the beginners. Remember, this particular block is made up of all bias tri's, except for the middle four patch. Care must be taken, centers have to be marked and when sewing the patches, put your entire hand on the block and push through the machine gently, so as not to stretch anything.

Here I have a bunch of patches cut. Cut the size strips, sub cut into the size squares and cut the squares in half and trim the points. I used the Judy Martin point trimmer. It makes life so easy. Your patches match up so perfectly.

After sewing the four patch together, I fold the tri's in half to get the center and line it up with the center of the four patch. Check to make sure that the point of the tri is also in line with the point of the four patch. Following are four pics. The patches, the trimmed points, centering the patch and checking the point on the four patch.

After you have sewed the patches your block should look like this. See how it is nice and square and everything matches because you have taken care to mark your centers. If one side is a bit bigger than the other, rip it out and see what went wrong and redo.

After you have sewed all the patches on for the block, I personally do not trim, I block it. I spray starch it and pin onto my block pad where I have drawn my 12.5 square and I even use steam to block. I use an up and down motion, never slide the iron.

Here are 13 blocks, remember this is not the way it will set up. The star blocks will go between. Remember the original six blocks I made yesterday? I ripped of the last tri's and changed them to more flowery ones to create a more happy and light mood. Too much blue in those blocks made it seem too cold to me. Look at the block on right, the second one down, see that flowery arm, I love that.

The next three pics are of the block with the tri's matching to make the square, the blocking and then the 12 blocks on the board.

Wow, they are beautiful!

that is going to be very pretty, the blues are lovely together.

I made a couple stars, one light one dark. Boy do I have to make a lot of stars for this quilt. I put some of the reels and the two stars to show how the set up will go.

The cream star with the dark background looks bigger than the blue star with the light background, this is a good example of light objects coming forward and dark ones receding.

Love the stars! The more I see the more I'm wanting to make one! Very inspiring!

I am cutting six stars at a time as one star has 36 parts. It's not bad to chain piece six at a time, it goes fast. I have to pay attention when I put the star points on, as it's quite easy to put these on backwards lol. (did it). I have enough Reel blocks for a twin size, so I know I have to go back to do more of those.

For now, I think I will just do lots of stars. I know I will need at least 12 large stars more or less and lots of the little stars for the border. I am enjoying working on this quilt tho. I do some everyday.

If I manage to get up early, I can get a few done. I have to be dressed and ready to go to the Gym every day at 11.45. I joined the Gym in January and haven't missed a class except for the week I was sick. I go four times a week for 1 1/2 hours of work out with a group, called the Silver Sneakers and we have a wonderful instructor.

I had made up my mind that I was going to do this for myself to keep me fit and healthy. Everything has to wait until I get my time in at the Gym. I am in the active group, where we used the machines, then the work out room and then the spinning. I am feeling so much stronger already.

Silver Sneakers is free if you have medicare complete. You can go to any Gym of your choice for free. I am taking full advantage of it lol.

So while I took a break from the stars, I went and cooked up some potatoes and squash. Saute onions, throw in potatoes and then the squash, salt and pepper, cover and let steam. Then I cooked a piece of salmon and that was dinner.

I had two bananas and four apples. I chopped up the apples, mashed the bananas and combined the two, added one cup of oil, three eggs and two teas. of vanilla. Then in another bowl...three cups of flour, little salt 2 1/2 cups brown sugar, 2 teas. cinnamon, 2teas soda into that I folded in 3/4 cup sour cream.

Made a well in the center and added the other mix and added 1/2 c raisins and 1 c walnuts, bake at 350 until done.

can't wait to see it done