Lots of sewing, some knitting

I've been very busy since the fair.  I decided to make 4 I-Spy quilts, for 2 families, for Christmas.  2 are for girls, 2 are for boys.  I ordered 2 sets of "I Spy" 10-inch fabric packs from 2 different shops (Missouri Star Quilt Company, and Keepsake Quilting).  One had 40 pieces, one had 20.  I cut those in quarters, for 5" squares.  I also ordered a 100-piece set of 5" I Spy fabrics from an Etsy seller, and the rest of the fabrics came from my stash.  The two girls' quilts have different colors for sashing and cornerstones, as well as borders and backings; the boys' quilts will have matching sashes and cornerstones, but different border fabric and backings.

I have two of the tops pieced.  The other two have the rows pieced, and I'm still working on sashings. After those are done I will iron the rows and sashings, attach sashings, and then hubby will help me arrange the rows before sewing rows together.  While I finish that, we are waiting for fabrics to arrive for borders and backings.  I have ordered border and backing fabrics for the girls' quilts, and border fabric for one of the boy's quilts.  I still need one border fabric (something with trains) and two backing fabrics (one trains, one guitar-related).

The four quilts will have about half the blocks in common - the ones I cut from the 10" squares.  Some of the blocks from my stash will be the same.  The rest of the blocks will be different.

I also had a class last weekend at the Portsmouth Fabric Company, to learn more about using my new Bernina sewing machine.  It was pretty much an all-day class - 10 am to 3 pm, with a break for lunch.  There were 8 students (including myself), plus the instructor, and it was very helpful, and a lot of fun.

On Sunday, hubby and I went up to Rochester for the Cocheco Quilt Guild show.  That was a fun couple of hours!  It was smaller than in previous years, but there were still a few really beautiful quilts that stood out.  These were my favorites.

This mystery quilt was made and quilted by Pamela Heller.

This is the quilt guild's raffle quilt for this year.  The colors are fabulous!  The pattern is Hunter's Star.

This is Star Fantasy, made and quilted by Elaine Vanier.  The pattern is by Judy Niemeyer.

This is a Lancaster Diamonds quilt, made by Beth Munson and quilted by Kate Fitzgerald.  The Lancaster Diamonds is a pattern by Ann Holte.  (I have this pattern, and intend to make this one someday.  I don't believe this quilt uses all of the Lancaster Diamonds patterns.)

This is called Tiny Dancer, and was made by Rhonda Souliere and quilted by Linda Bevins.  The tag reads: "I made this quilt for my youngest grandson, Logan.  When I asked him what he wanted on his quilt he replied "zombies, Grammy".  So with great difficulty, I found some zombie fabric and put some other "boy" prints into this hexagon quilt."

This is a close-up of one of the fabrics in the quilt.  Hubby fell in love with this one , and I'll be getting some to use for a future quilt backing!

I've gotten a little knitting done as well, but not nearly as much as I'd like.  I managed to get the second set of place markers on the Perimetera shawl.  I really need to put more work into that as well.  I'll have to see if the grandson will let me knit when we're in the living room.  I know I can't sew then; sometimes I manage a few hand stitches (backbasting some blocks) but I haven't tried that recently either.  He is certainly a very busy boy!