Day two - freeform quilting

I made some squares from slices off the strips I created yesterday:

This was the first... a simple border using strips from two solid color fabrics. You can see the original strip above the square.

On this one, I cut a slice in two and inserted a strip of purple hand-dyed fabric after flipping one side top to bottom. I'm sure I will do more to this one... maybe add border(s).

I cut a slice of the original strip here, then added borders to all 4 sizes, log-cabin style. I'm really loving that I can use both commercial and hand dyed fabrics to create these blocks!

I'm not going to give away all of Rayna's secrets, 'cause I really think you should buy her book, but at least you can see a little of how easy these are going together! I have no idea if or what I will use these for... right now, I'm just enjoying the process!

Time for a new project!

Last week I got my copy of Rayna Gillman's new book:

It's a real easy read, with lots of great photos to go with her instructions, and it's available now at amazon.com.

Today, I started to follow her instructions on cutting and stitching strips. First, I cleaned my workroom, putting away lots of things that had accumulated on my work table, sewing machine, etc. I forgot to take a picture afterward, and there's little chance it will look that good for some time to come! Here's how it looks now, after I pulled a bunch of fabrics, organized them by color, then started to put together my first 3 strip sets:

I'm real glad I have a door I can close when I leave the room... it's utter chaos now!

But I did get 3 strip sets cut and sewn so far:

I have no plan yet for how I will use these... just getting used to cutting and sewing them. There are some other techniques I will be learning which I haven't tried before, so I'm pretty much in play and learn mode right now. I do know that I am enjoying 'therapy sewing'! I have so much stash I have accumulated over the years that it's really nice to be using some of it up! And I'm getting a chance to combine some of my hand dyed and surface designed cloth with commercial fabrics... I like how they look together! So stay tuned... I will be posting more pix as I go along, and I hope you will buy Rayna's book! She makes everything so fun, and her instructions are easy to follow, which is saying a lot for me, since I don't usually do instructions very well!