Log Cabin Quilt Top

Wanted to share my latest quilt top -- this quilt is for my uncle to have at his mountain cabin, so I had to do a Log Cabin pattern!

The center was 2" x 3" and I added one extra piece to make it more rectangular.  I'm not putting a border, will just quilt and bind.

I am determined to use up my scraps!

AND, my quilting machine is being shipped back to me today!!!  It's been in the "shop" for 2 1/2 months and I've been going crazy without it.  One of these days I'll post about the saga of the stretched Juki.

Mary

Bloglovin or Feedly?

Like many of us, I'm testing out alternatives to Google Reader -- I wanted to do a "short" post about my experiences so far with Bloglovin and Feedly, hope it helps you.

I've downloaded the apps for both Bloglovin and Feedly to my ipad, and also use on my Windows laptop in my studio.  Both are really nice, easy to add sites, good cover pages, can move sites from one "group" to another, etc. so I'll just comment on the things I didn't like.

These are just my personal opinions.

Feedly

• On the ipad app, there's no way to see tags, or tag posts, other than to "save" them. (You can tag posts on the web site -- I use Chrome, hopefully Explorer and others are the same).  If I save posts on ipad, I can tag them the next time I'm on the web site, clumsy, but possible.
• On the ipad, there doesn't seem to be a way to get to the Safari web version, so you have to use the app.  
• Movng a blog from one "group" to another seems awkward.
• No direct linking and automatic posting of your new posts to Facebook.  No tracking "followers".

Bloglovin

• Can't tag posts. I like to tag similar posts  - try this, good idea, etc.
• As I scroll through the posts, they aren't automatically marked as read.  Doesn't have as many setting choices as Feedly.
• I didn't like the ipad app.  It might be good for quick looks, but was too basic for me. It only works in portrait mode, and doesn't group blogs.  To get around this, I use the web site with Safari.
• Can link directly to your blog, and posts can be set up to post automatically -- this is good for some people, and not for others.  Bloglovin is more of a "site", it tracks followers, and can give you more visibility if you get on their "up and coming" list.

Decisions, decisions! I'll let you know my final decision when I make one.

Please leave comments, suggestions, corrections, etc!  We're all in this together :)

Mary

Claiming my blog on Bloglovin

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/5620359/?claim=zg4n9be8zxf">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Spiraling Lone Star Quilt Top

STILL waiting for my stretched Juki to come back from being repaired, so I am getting lots of quilt tops done.  Hopefully my baby will be back this week!!

I saw this spiraling lone star design on the internet, and adapted it for this quilt.

Do you see the spiral in the center of the star?   I really like adding that modern twist to the Lone Star.  

The quilt is made for a double bed, so it looks a little small on this king size.  The stripes will hang down on the full size bed.  It's another one of the 5 my uncle asked me to make for his mountain cabin.

Spiral Lone Star

With all that white space, I'm planning a lot of fun quilting!

Mary

Exuberant Spring

I love the word exuberant --and this quilt is just that!

Exuberant Spring

I used the leftover fabric from the quilt I made for my daughter last year, I love these bright colors.

The quilt started out as a disappearing nine patch, but I discovered (the hard way) that the small corner pieces weren't the right color.  Back to the drawing board - thank goodness for The Electric Quilt program!  Ended up with patches that worked as long as each vertical row was offset 1/2 block.

I also had to change the location of the small blocks depending on the direction the colored area was going -- for example,  if the colored area went to the right, then the small block was on the right side of the block.  Confused?  I sure was, but after some trial and error, the top looks great!

I tried to work in the yellow fabric, but it was just too "yellow".  Yellow can be a tough color.  So I took out the yellow blocks and replaced them with orange.

I'm debating whether to leave it like this, and have it lap quilt or wall hanging size, or put a border or some more rows to make it bigger.

What do you think?

Mary