Finishing up the yoga quilt

My yoga quilt is nearly finished.  The binding was sewn on last night and today I am sewing it down.  I've decided to make a bag that will hold my mat and the quilt rather than making the small mat bag.  The baby quilts will take precedence for the moment, but I'll get working on the bag soon.

On the Sketchbook Challenge front, I've got an idea page started for the February theme which is "Opposites."  For more information about the Challenge, just click on the button to the right.

Here's the top with the label pinned in place.  How apropos that upward facing dog is so close.  It's a pose that reminds me how much strength I've lost.

Pin basting the yoga quilt

The work table was cleared so I could pin baste the yoga quilt.  I just have to thread baste the edges and it will be ready to go into a hoop.  Tomorrow I will piece the first ring of the new baby quilt.

"Gemini" is pieced and a new "Single Girl" begins

The "Gemini" top that I'm making for my yoga class is now pieced.  It was a bit like working with the bento box pattern when I made the wedding quilt last spring:  lots of colors and many stages of light and dark.  I nearly pulled back and made blocks of the same colors, but then decided to go for it.  I did have a few blocks sprinkled in that are lights and darks of the same color and generally, I think it works even if the colors are "bossier"(Nancy Crow's word) than those in the first bento box quilt I made for my niece.

As you can see from this detail, some of my fabric has been in my stash for a LONG time.  I'm slightly amused when I read the blogs of new, young quilters who are "destashing" fabrics that are maybe six months old.

This is the fabric pull and the pieces for a new "Single Girl" quilt for a baby.  It will have four rings.  This pattern is so wonderfully versatile in its look and size.

Here's the fabric map in progress with three-fourths of the fabrics present.

This is the last quarter of the ring on the background polka dot fabric.  The jungle print will be the back and the stripes (of course) will be the binding.  Looking forward to putting the first ring together.  We have a two-hour delay this morning, so I'm going to get started sandwiching the yoga quilt. 

Quilt for yoga class

This is the fabric pull for my new projects.  I bought some great Michael Miller fabric called "Yoga Monkey" to make a bag for my mat.

After it came, I decided I needed a quilt, too.  I'm using a pattern by Janine Burke called Gemini. She is one of the designers for a great site called Blue Underground Studios.   Their sample quilts make wonderfully strong color statements and they seem to love scrappy quilts as much as I do.  Their patterns, while based firmly on tradition, have a great modern feel largely due to their fabric choices.

There will be 60 different fabrics in this quilt--all from my stash.

This is a little bonus shot of the safety pin fabric pennants.  All of the photos today were taken with my newish camera.  I decided I'm just going to make myself use it and try to get better.  I'm still not thrilled with the focus, but I'll keep trying.  It also likes natural light better than artificial.  The colors are really off.  Back to the manual....