Needlework Tuesday - Snowballs in Vegas

 Needlework Tuesday is open to all readers looking for inspiration, encouragement or who want to share their recent needlework project. Introduce yourself in the comments and be sure to leave a link to your current post. Feel free to grab the cute little mouse for your post.

Be sure to read to the bottom of the post for my contest.







Last week I shared photos of the snowball and nine patch blocks.   I don't think I mentioned that the blocks are all 6 inches.  They were from a swap that I did with 7 other members from an online group.  Good thing I wrote this up or I would have forgotten that I have siggies (3 1/2 inch signature blocks from the participants) and I want to include them on the back.  In this first photo I have added 2 1/2 x 6 1/2 inches light sashing strips and 2 1/2 inch square medium cornerstones.

I wanted the quilt to look like it had a border, so the next round of sashing, I choose dark strips and even darker cornerstones.  Very effective.

To finish up I added some medium sashing strips between the nine patch blocks.  I remembered to add some pink so that the 'pink' autumn blocks wouldn't stand out too much.  At this point, none of the sashing or cornerstones are sewn, I left that for one big process. 

Voila, the finished and pressed top.  It measures approximately 48 inches square.  This morning I bought some Hobbs 80/20 quilt batt (80 % cotton 20% poly) but want to pre-wash it first to reduce shrinkage after quilting.  I have something special in mind for the backing to go along with the signature blocks. I'll show you that next week and then you'll understand why I am calling this quilt Snowballs in Vegas.   As soon as I figure out how I want to quilt this, I'll be right at it.  Then to find an interesting piece of fabric for the binding, I'm thinking stripes....  This is an original design. 

Last week I told you that Mom and I bought pieces of this fabric and have challenged each other to try a specific technique.  Well, I thought about it and went back to the store and bought a piece for a friend.  She doesn't know it yet, but she is going to join us in the challenge. 

I love when I hear from my readers that they are enjoying my projects and also that they have been working on theirs.  Be sure to leave a comment this week, as I will be selecting one reader  commenter to receive a postcard with the image of a quilt.  This is a printed card, not one that I have made. Remember to include your email so that I can contact you should your name be drawn.