Wednesday, February 8, 2012

In Which Orca Bay Quilt Top is Finished and Receives Kitty Approval

Two seconds.  That's how long it took Muffball ("Muffin" if you want to be formal) to walk onto the Orca Bay quilt top after I spread it out on the floor to take a look.  I think we both like it.  I know I'm glad it's finally all pieced.  The last borders took several re-dos with a lot of seam ripper action.
Please don't tell me if you see any glaring errors, 'cause I'm not fixing them now!
Kermit approves too. 
See how her paws so neatly frame the cat print? 
Now, I love scrappy.  Scrappy quilts and I get along just fine.  But this is by far the scrappiest scrap-fest of small scrappy bits that I have ever made.  I may have to do a matchy-matchy quilt with big pieces next, just to use different quilting muscles.  But Orca Bay is now a complete top, waiting in the queue to be quilted.  Check out the other Orca Bays over at Quiltville in the link-up party.  It's really quite inspiring that so many ladies from all over the world made this quilt.  They are all gorgeous.

While I was sewing Orca Bay together this last week I made 4 new Farmer's Wife Quilt blocks as leaders-and-enders (that's when you reach the end of a seam and just keep sewing new patches together without lifting the presser foot).
#87 - Star Gardener.  I thought of a gardener in outer space, so I thought this cactus-y fabric looked exotic in that way.
#88 - Star of Hope.
#89 - Steps to the Altar.  I used colors that made me think of my own wedding and bridal bouquet in this.
And #90 - Storm Signal.  I will try to lay out all my Farmer's Wife Blocks on my design wall next week so I can begin to think about sashing choices.  I realize they all have very little in common, but I'm trusting the scrappy vibe to see me through. 

Now that Orca Bay is done, I've got the sports quilt for the Cedar Tree auction to piece a backing for and get on the Megaquilter.  After that I need to quilt my UFO of the month, Aunt Maggie's Quilt.  Not so much regular piecing for a bit, maybe... but we'll see.

I'm also linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced, where lots more is going on.

6 comments:

Janet O. said...

Your Orca Bay is beautiful!
I'm about to start a Farmer's Wife Sew-along. I'm using plaid shirts for my fabrics. Your florals are very pretty. : )

Eden said...

Great Orca Bay! I laughed and laughed at your comment about using different quilting muscles on a match match after this one! I almost joined in and am now glad I didn't dispite the FAB results... The thought of that many tiny pieces all acurately sewn gives me hives! My crumb quilt has a lot too, but they are 'free form'. Congratulations on the great top!

Judy D in WA said...

Your OB is fabulous! Love that our cats think it's their duty to inspect. I wish they would learn to point out our errors before they get out of control. I bonded with my seam ripper on the border too. :)
Love the Farmer's Wife blocks.

Ray and Jeanne said...

So glad you got your Orca Bay together. It is by far the scrappiest one I've done too! And I only did half! I must get a leader/ender project going - it is such a good use of thread and time! ~Jeanne

Unknown said...

Kathy your Farmers Wife blocks are gorgeous. That is on my bucket list to do. I originally wanted to do a Dear Jane, but realized the blocks might be way too small for my patience.

Smiley Quilter said...

Your Orca Bay is great, so nice to have it done. Thank you for you leaving a comment re my Orca Bay and I agree time for something with larger pieces LOL.