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Tuesday 3 May 2016

A New Quilt and Good News

Don’t you just love starting a new quilt?  Deciding on a pattern, gathering fabrics, choosing, discarding, choosing again.   Hopes and dreams, thoughts of loved ones, all bound up together in the promise of this wonderful new creation.

But first I have to share my good news or I'll burst.  I got an email to say I have been accepted for the 2016 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop.  So excited!!!!  Did you notice what is on my sidebar? The Button.  Oh yes, I learned how to add them just in time.  I'm doing my happy dance.



Second,  I am linking up to Heidi at Red Letter Quilts for One Monthly Goal. This month I have to finish City Lights.  It needs the back sorted, layered, quilted, and binding.  I have three weeks.  Yes I know you've seen this pic before but I love it, in fact it's now my desktop pic.

Now, back to the new quilt.  All of April I was pursued by circle quilts, wherever I looked, I LOVE circle quilts.  Did you see Luna’s wonderful quilt top Amish Grace?  So beautiful and I so love the colours.   If you click through don't forget to check out her Quits page, you won't be disappointed.  Luna produces some of the most wonderful modern quilts.  Then there is Kaja’s lovely  quilt at Sew Slowly, this was the first one that piqued my interest.   Ann from Fret not Yourself has made and stunning quit called Freddy Dot Com, be still my beating heart.  I gave in, I HAVE to make a circle quilt, but I reasoned that it would be to my advantage, after all there are times when it is not convenient or practical to do machine work, if I have some handwork such as appliquéing circles then it could be a get up and go project, hmmmmmmmm

I checked my stash, white tone on tone or a solid sort of mushroom colour.  Not how it looks in my head so it was time to go shopping.  I knew I wanted strong, though not necessarily bright colours, maybe on a dark blue  or grey background so the lovely colours shine out.  How come you can never find the right colour when you want it?  



Then, I spotted it, my perfect background.  Lynette Anderson My Hearts at Home, love it.   Then to sort the circles.  I did find some fabrics in my stash, in large scraps fat quarters and half meters, but of course I HAD to add to it.  What about these.  A mixture of solids, textures, and a shot cotton.  Perfect.  Except I'm not convinced about the bright purple and the bottle green, any thoughts? The wine and the dark rusty colour together seem similar too????????

I had already planned it out, 8 inch finished blocks, quarter circles.  I found a pair of compasses, measured out the square, drew the quarter circle, made a template and cut out a dozen freezer paper templates.



Here is where I am now.   All 36 blocks cut out and the first 12 quarter circles ready to be appliquéd.

Just a reminder in case you missed a post, I now have a home button AND I added a page, Blogging Tutorials.  Now if you need to find one or, think you may have missed one they are all together, including the new one, Adding a Link in your Posts.  Before you ask, yes I have one for adding a home button which I will post in a couple of days, and I plan to do one for adding pages, and how they work.


Linking up with

Heidi at Red Letter Quilts One Monthly Goal
Bits 'n' Bobs Design Board Monday
Love Laugh Quilt Monday Making


I'll let you know how I get on later in the week
Smiles
Kate

23 comments:

  1. Congratulations on being int he new quilt bloggers blog hop. I did it last year and I loved it. I also love the fabrics in both of your projects. Good luck on your finish.

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  2. Oh I am so happy for you!This whole blogging thing is so much fun and you are just diving right in. Love the home button - lots of blogs are missing that and it makes it harder to see what is most current. I look forward to hearing about your experience with Yvonne, Cheryl and Stephanie. You are going to learn so much and meet lots of new bloggers. Keep us posted!

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  3. There was never any doubt that you are perfect for the New Quilt Bloggers Kate! It's going to be the adventure of a lifetime!
    I adore City Lights! Your circles quilt is looking like a winner too!

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  4. Congrats! You are a perfect choice for New Quilt Blogger's! You're doing such a great job. Your circle quilt is going to be just beautiful! XO

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  5. Well done on doing the button, I have yet to sort that one out!!!

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    1. Thank you Mary. It's not so hard when you get down to it. With me it was a confidence thing but my motto for the year is 'Just Do It', so I did.

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  6. Lovely eye-candy on your blog today! I am excited to see how your circle quilt works up!

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    1. Thank you, I'm interested too :). I worked out the basics and I'll have to go with instinct as I get further on.

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  7. I'm looking forward to seeing your City Lights finished ! Good luck on your new project and the blog hop. And thank you so much for linking back to my blog and your kind words ;-) Luna

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  8. Such gorgeous colors you've chosen for your circle quilt! I'm brand new to your blog, so I'm happy you posted the photo of City Lights, too. I found you through Let's Bee Social and I'll definitely be back to watch your progress.

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  9. Great colors! I hope to try a circle quilt some day -- it's looking good.

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    1. Thank you Beth. I haven't worked it all out yet but it makes a great portable project.

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  10. You are going to have so much fun in the New Blogger Hop, Kate! Both of your current quilt projects are beautiful. But I especially love the circles!!!

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  11. You can always find the right color when you don't need it, but when you do need it, then good luck! I usually do a glue basting when I work with freezer paper... this method looks really interesting - what is it?

    Congrats on your blog hop!

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  12. Enjoy the New Quilters blog hop! I'm enjoying your tutorials for blogging. Very helpful of you!
    Thank you Kate!
    Barbara xx

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  13. I just clicked over to your blogging tutorials, and found out how to add a Home button. Thanks so much for that! I've been blogging for about 3 years now, and had been meaning to figure that out, but never got around to it. Now I can!

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  14. Hi Kate, I was one of the lucky ones to be chosen for the New Quilt Bloggers Hop. It will be fun to see how everyone does and how their blogs grow. I love all the pretty colors of your quarter circles and your City Lights with all the pretty jewel tones.

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  15. Such beautiful colours - will look forward to seeing this progress. Such exciting news re New Quilt Bloggers - we'll be seeing more of each other!!

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  16. Your quarter circles are perfect! Wow, you used freezer paper? City Lights is going to awesome! I'm excited for the new bloggers hop too, so much to learn!

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  17. I love your fabric choices, such yummy colors! :)

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  18. Great fabric choices, especially the background! Love it when things work out!

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  19. It's interesting how certain things - like circle quilts - pop up and keep knocking politely until we pay attention. What beautiful colors you've chosen for your circles. I look forward to seeing your progress. Congratulations on joining the New Quilter Blog Hop. You're sure to be a hit.

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  20. I may like starting quilts a bit tooo much haha!! Your fabrics looks so rich and delicious:)

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Thank you so much for taking the time to read and leave a comment, it helps me grow as a quilter and as a blogger. It also makes me very happy :)
I try to respond to all comments by email, but if I don't reply within a few days it may be because you are a no reply blogger

With smiles from,
Kate