A productive weekend

2012 has brought with it some great new quilt projects, hasn't it! Swoon has swept the blog world and although I was tempted, I've decided not for now. I decided to try the Rose Star block instead.

As you know, I like hand-piecing, so that meant a big tick on the side of Rose Star vs Swoon. And I have to admit something here to further explain my decision - I've never actually machine-pieced a quilt from a pattern before. Seriously! I haven't!

But the start of a fresh new year is a good time to learn something new, so last week I started one. I've had my eye on the Stepping Stones pattern for a while. You can download Moda's pattern here.

I think I spent longer figuring out the pattern than actually sewing, but now that I've done it it seems easy. (Why did I wait so long!) I made it using the summery new California Girl range. My rotary-cutting and machine-sewing both leave a lot to be desired, but the point is, I gave it a go.

Once I'd done this much, I decided to do more. I was going to spend the weekend turning this 16-block quilt into a queen-size quilt (36 blocks!) but life had other plans. A friend mentioned she needed to make her wedding invitations asap, so that's what we did yesterday.

I was glad to have an excuse to bring out the Vagabond I bought a little while ago. (It's a motorised die-cutter, see the YouTube video here). My friend had a good idea of what she wanted and we made a quick dash to the wedding stationery shop in the nick of time before it closed.

Actually it was me, her and her fiance making the invitations. They took care of the die-cutting and I assembled the cards. It turned out to be quite a late night, but they were very happy with the results. (They must have been, because they came back today and we made some Thank You cards in a similar design.)

The gold die-cut on the black card looks really striking. I's softened by a pale green ribbon and pale green inserts. And my friend's lovely calligraphy is so elegant!

Oh, P.S., I got my sewing done as well. I had already pieced the extra blocks and I just needed to joing them together. The next challenge is to quilt it. Something else that's new to learn!

What a productive weekend. I'm very happy.