Design Wall Monday

I have another wall with various projects layered on it.
Do you remember this post when I showed a variety of projects that I wanted to complete by the end of January?

All of the projects are done (quilted and bound!) with the exception of the blocks on the left side. But,  they are put together into a quilt top and I've started the quilting. Unless something comes up that means I can't sew, that should be done in a couple of days.

Here's the wall today.

 
You can see that quilt I mentioned earlier is the bottom layer. I can't show the entire quilt yet because it was being done to test a pattern, but I love it. I was thrilled to find what I consider to be the perfect backing too.

I don't think I could have found any better fabric for this! I'm making a table runner out of the "oops" blocks and these two tree blocks will be included. I'm a happy girl right now.  :-)

The quilt that is on the right side is made from 2 1/2" strips. It's actually not mine, but that of one of my students. I was going to quilt it for her, but she had some issues with it laying flat and I really wanted to see what happened so I offered to fix it. I found the problem and am now reassembling the quilt top. Yes, I know that is a lot of work and that I didn't have to do this, but I really was stumped as to what happened. Her 1/4" seam allowance was perfect and her pressing was good. I found the problem and it had to do with cutting the ends when it was time to add the next strip. The cuts were not always straight and when the next piece was added, the seam was not straight, even though it appeared to be because the ends lined up properly. 

This did not happen every time a new strip was added, but it was enough that it caused problems. I'm thrilled that it was a pretty easy fix. It was just a bit time consuming to rip apart all the seams, but even that was educational. I tried a couple of new methods of ripping and I like that. 

Working on this has helped me figure out a better way to teach this quilt and many others that use strips. It's also helped me determine the best way to fix the problem so it can be finished and not tossed in a bin and forgotten. So, I'm glad I offered and that my student let me do this. I only have ten more strips to add (nine, after I sew on the one that is pinned to the top), so this should not take long. Yippie!

The purple mini quilt on the left is the insides of what will be a 12" Hoop Quilt. The fabric below the quilt will be the binding on the outside of the hoop. 

I decided I wanted to make a Hoop Quilt that reminds me of Mardi Gras. This one will be 18", and here's the center of that. I could not get a good picture, but the blue fabric is actually purple. I'm going to love this!

These fabrics are all left over from making a bunch of new Stacking Pop Ups that I made this weekend. 

Aren't these fun? They make great gifts and are easy to make. The second one from the left  and the smallest one on the right provide a better picture of the purple fabric. You notice that I've collapsed the yellow pop up in the picture below. I did that so you can see how they work. 

These will eventually make their way upstairs into the guest rooms, which will be fun, because the black dot fabric is glow in the dark.  :-)  In the mean time, they will go to Chestnut Ridge Sewing Center for class samples.

What are you working on today?

Check out the quilters eye candy at

Judy's Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

and

Beth's Monday Making