Kaleidoscope Layouts ...

Recently, I mentioned Kaleidoscope Quilts ...

Here's the latest one I'm working on.
In my earlier post, these pictures showed up:

Here's what those pieces are up to right now ...

It's looking like a 5 x 5 layout of 25 kaleidoscopes that are about 12" each ...

The question is what to do with borders and the little square kaleidoscopes ... 

The squares look good on-point as shown at the bottom of this photo ...

But I also like the idea of the little squares laid out as shown below ...

And, for borders, I've got some more of the same white-on-cream background, and some of the fabric from the kaleidoscopes. More details coming up another day ...

Work In Progress Wednesday at Freshly Pieced is a fun spot to see stitching works in progress ... I'll be linking this post to this week's Work In Progress Wednesday. Check the link or button to see the latest!

Progress: Upward, Backward, and Very Tiny ...

So, since I finished the Lavendar Socks a few weeks ago, I've been wanting to start some new socks with some self-striping sock yarn I've had for a while.

I decided to try a "toe-up" sock pattern this time ... I've only ever knitted socks starting at the top, so this is new. So far, so good. I'm using this pattern (free, online. Yay!)

It's Upward Progress ...

In handsewing news, on my Vintage Diamonds, I was using a loosely-woven muslin for the stars. I thought it would go well with the vintage fabrics, in keeping with the "homespun" feel. I convinced myself it would be fine. Even though the muslin was SO loosely woven. Even though every completed star felt loose and unstable. Even though my cardstock diamond "papers" poked through the loose weave at the diamond corners.

So. I'm done trying to talk myself into that. I'm redoing the muslin stars with some REAL muslin. I'm much happier with it. Delighted, in fact.

So, it's Backward Progress, in a way. Because, now I have 3 completed stars, instead of the 6 I mentioned before. But they're so much nicer.

I might leave these assembled stars un-sewn-together, as is, for now. Because, needing more fabric for this project, and not having any more actual vintage fabric around, I recently bought some cute new 1930s reproduction fabric. I'll probably reserve the reproduction fabrics for the border, with the vintage as the centerpiece of the quilt.

We shall see ...

And, in Very Tiny Progress:
The Mini-Hexagon companion to the vintage English Paper Piecing ... I've been keeping this project handy for the occasional quiet moment ... (Earlier notes on this project here and here.)

Little Quilt Mondays at Pieceful Life are a great gathering of tiny quilt-y projects - I'm linking this post to this week's Little Quilt Monday ...

Take Your Time Tuesdays are a fun place to see handwork at So Happy To Sew!
I'll be linking this post to this week's Take Your Time Tuesday!

Pink Irish Chain progress ...

Recently, I mentioned starting on some (very) pink Irish Chain quilt tops ...

I did a bunch of sewing pieces together ...

 And then a bunch of pressing and cutting ...

Looking forward to getting this looking like an Irish Chain!

Kaleidoscopes!

A few years ago, I discovered quilty Kaleidoscopes. I love them! 

There are several kinds, but the common factor involves the use of identical pieces arranged into a kaleidoscope. (When I was trying out the concept for the first few times, I searched Google for "quilt kaleidoscope" or "stack & whack quilt" for pictures and tutorials.)

Here are a few Kaleidoscope types I've made:

The six-triangles kind ...

The four-squares kind (also called "stacked posies") ...

And the eight-pointed kind ...

A couple of these kaleidoscope-y things will be showing up in other posts soon ... so, stay tuned!

Leaders and Enders ...

Progress is happening on my stack of Leaders & Enders (I mentioned them here)

After sewing blue (and purple) squares to white (and cream) squares, I stitched them into four-patches.
So, I'm getting quite the stack of blue-and-white four-patches.

To keep things interesting, I'm also working on some square-in-a-square pieces that will be about the same size ...

For an eventual layout that will look something like this ...

It's a work in progress ... more to come ...

Another Fleece & Jeans Quilt

My middle daughter's Fleece & Jeans quilt is done. 

She loves it, I love it, everyone loves it.

There are a lot of things I love about fleece-and-jeans quilts. The softness, the warm-ness, the heavy-ness.

Here are some of my other favorite things about jeans quilts ...

Embroidered or appliquéd details that were on whatever-garment-that-denim-used-to-be:

Pockets! Every jeans quilt needs some working pockets!

Belt loops! Just for fun, some of the belt loops got preserved in the quilt ..

Did I mention the fun of embroidered details?

I've started looking at thrift-store denim differently: I see something cute embroidered on a denim garment, and I picture it in a quilt! 

So, for my kiddos, that's 4 jeans quilts down, one to go!  

Fabric Tuesday at QuiltStory is another fun place to see fabric projects of all kinds, and I'm linking this post to this week's Fabric Tuesday, as well. (Click the button below for the most recent Fabric Tuesday).

Starting some Double Irish Chains ...

A work (or two) in progress ...

Lots of pink in a couple of Double Irish Chain quilt tops ...

One will have Hello Kitty; one will have hearts ... 

That's a lot of pink!

I'll probably list these on eBay when they're sewn into quilt tops, so somebody can quilt them and enjoy them ...