Busy, Busy, Busy

Awhile ago I found a stack of blue triangles and a stack of ivory triangles buried on my cutting table. I took some time to stitch them up into scrappy HSTs. Then I stitched them into hourglass blocks. I started playing around with them and this is one of the quilt tops I made by adding some cheddar to the mix. 7.5" blocks.

Right now this arrangement is on my design wall - nothing has been sewn together yet, but I think I'll add a blue border to the edge when I get to that point. BTW - I know a lot of quilters spent a lot of effort & money making fancy design walls, but I use an inexpensive flannel-backed vinyl tablecloth that I thumb tacked to the wall - works GREAT and probably cost $3-$4 - so you can't beat the price!

I still have quite a few of the blocks left and have been trying to decide what to do with them - maybe I'll put these with some red and do something with an Americana flavor. If anyone has a great idea for a little quilt setting that I can use these in, please leave me a comment with your suggestion, okay? Thanks! These are 3" and will finish at 2.5" square.

Last summer when I took the Ali Strebel workshop that our Guild arranged, I purchased an Oxford punch needle from her and I've decided it was time to give this tool a try. I borrowed a frame from my friend Sharon and drew out a little floral design to make. Here's the progress I made today - from the back side - which is face up as I'm punching.

 I seem to be having trouble keeping the loops straight and of an even length - you can see that from this view of the front side of my work.  Don't know if I'll get better as I go, or if this is a problem inherent to the tool? If any of you have used this and have advice for me I'd appreciate some input on how I can improve. It does seem to go faster than using a hook, but I'm not thrilled with the quality of my work. 

Last week I got to meet a blogging friend in person and enjoyed eating lunch with Janet of the Rogue Quilter. We talked about husbands, kids and especially quilting.  We each brought little gifts for the other and I received three of her special handmade soaps - they smell so good! And she also gave me a bundle of wonderful Civil War scrap fabrics to add to my stash. Today in the mail I received another gift from her - these two adorable little paper pieced pineapple quilt block ornaments. She has shared pictures of these on her blog before, but I wasn't prepared for how SMALL they are in person - only 2" square! They are so much fun - I just love them! Thanks so much Janet - and I look forward to visiting with you again some time!

After a couple weeks of spring-like weather, we're back to winter in Utah today with a dusting of snow and temps in the 30's. Sigh - - -