Time in a Bottle blog hop

 Hello everyone. It's Wednesday, and my opportunity to share with you all in Carol's Time in a Bottle blog hop. Visiting all the participants on Monday and Tuesday has been inspiring and fun. There are so many creative sparks flying around in this hop. Something I have especially liked about being a participant, is the opportunity to challenge myself during my play time.I've mentioned before that I am much better at starting than at finishing, but with the hops, I am actually getting some finishes too. Feels good!

Recently our Cumberland Quilt guild was working on a BOM from All People Quilt.The pattern is Midnight Blooms. I had two layer cakes from some time ago in my stash(I have never figured out how to make the most of them), so I thought I'd try them in this quilt along with whatever else I had that would work.The top is complete, and a couple of days ago I built a back for it. Now it is in the short lineup for quilting. There are only two tops ahead of it. Bonus for me there are a bunch of hourglass blocks making up the borders.

Yes both the inside and outside borders have hourglass blocks. I think there are 89 in the outside one. The layer cakes worked well for my quilt I think. They were called Portobello. I have a few bits left, and they may find their way into a log cabin quilt that I am itching to make as soon as my ufo pile gets smaller.This was a fun top to construct, and I learned some lessons along the way, so it is a win in my books. 

And then came my play day. Well because life is so busy at the moment, it wasn't a whole day of play, but about an evening instead. It went like this. A quilting friend gave me a small baggie with some of her leftover bits from a kids quilt she was making. I put the bag aside, but when I was sorting through some scraps, it turned up again. Perfect timing for me, it was this hop coming up. My decision to use these bits was influenced by my desire to build a piece of fabric, and use it in whatever emerged.And that is how my project was born.

First I took some of the small pieces and made some hourglass blocks. These are unfinished at 2 1/4 inches. Then I took the bigger pieces(strips of no more than 1 1/2 inches wide, and added them. From a gifted larger strip which I think may have been a backing, I pieced into a strip 21 inches long, and fused it with fusible fleece to give stability to a little bag I wanted to make. In your usual bag making process, I ended up with 2  x 10 inch rectangles with my cute little hourglass blocks in the centre, and all that was left to do was add a zipper and sew it all up. BTW, the only new component was the zipper.

And here is a sweet little bag

with hourglass blocks back and front. The bag is about 9 1/2" x 5 1/2" with a squared off bottom.

And of course because there were just a few bits left, what else but a pinnie to add to my collection of little gifts to give.

Before I leave you today, I wish you a Happy St Patrick's Day. May your troubles be few, your pleasures great, and the wind behind you. I had not quilted a piece for the celebration, so I made this runner. There is not pattern, just hearts I turned into themselves, Lots of love. And my good fortune to have a husband to hold it for me at a moment's notice

Hugs

Lynn

March 16
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