New Year Crafting

Well, I am settling back in the regular grove, after the hubbub of the holidays is over.  DD#1 was home before the New Year's holiday and DS and DDIL were here both before and during the New Year weekend.  It was fun to be together and have a second Christmas on Saturday.  I did not get much quilting done as I was busy enjoying my family.

I also enjoyed watching DD work on a craft project while she was here.  I was able to unload some of my old craft supplies as well.  She was working on making some hats for friends for New Year's celebrations.  Here are some of her creations

The hats are attached to headbands for wearing.  They were really cute and I hear that the people who received them really enjoyed them.  It was really fun to watch her work on this project and have such enjoyment!  Just the way I feel when I quilt!

After all of the eating, talking and laughing, when everyone went home, I was able to work on the Orca Bay Mystery.  Here is the picture of the pieces that I was able to get up on the design wall.  

Since this picture was taken over the weekend, I have been able to put together two rows of the body of the quilt,  I am putting the pieces together like a 4 patch.  I like to construct my quilts like this if possible as it allows me to 'pop' the seams.  I make a couple of rows of 4-patches and then use those pieces to make larger and larger 4-patches until I have 4 big chunks of the quilt to finish.  Especially with quilts that have lots of pieces like this one, being able to pop the seams really makes the quilt lay flat without lots of lumps where the seams meet.   I have also found that with the need to keep the string blocks oriented in a proper alignment, making all of the pieces the same (the black star blocks and the white star blocks are all constructed the same) really helps keep everything going in the right direction.  Helps to cut down on the un-sewing!  

I may not have much time to do quilting for a while as I am doing some redecorating, and that will start with some new carpeting in the living room and dining room.  Before that happens, I need to get rid of some old furniture, so that will probably be taking up a lot of time.  I am really looking forward to the new look.

Thanks, Bonnie for the great quilt and the fun time with the link-ups!