Chester County Criswell and Scrappy Cheddar Squares

I finished making all the extra blocks for my Chester County Criswell quilt this week.  Some of the blocks in the quilt are repeated and since I have chosen to make my quilt more like the original I decided to go ahead and make the extra blocks so I would be up to date when the new year starts in September.
I went ahead and washed this years blocks and removed the starch and glue that I used to prepare the pieces.  Teresa from Fabric Therapy has an excellent post today about the process of removing Roxanne's glue from your fabric. This is basically how I remove the glue from my blocks.
The only thing left to do is square the blocks up to the correct size.
I haven't decided how I want to layout my quilt and I really hate squaring up appliqué  blocks so I will put this off as long as possible.

I also managed to get the binding on my Scrappy Cheddar Squares quilt.  I  used wool batting in this quilt and I really like the way it makes the feathers stand out.  If you would like to read more about how I made Scrappy Cheddar you can go here and here for previous  posts.

I hope you found some  time to stitch this summer.
Nancy  

Calico Paradise Progress

I have been making good progress on my Calico Paradise quilt.  I purchased the pattern from Dawn at Collector With a Needle .  It's a lovely pattern and Dawn has been a tremendous help to me in selecting fabrics.

Calico Paradise is going rather quickly. Once I got my mind around the fact that I was not going to be able to find fabrics exactly like the original it became easier.  I am happy with the ones I have been able to find and although it will not be like the original it pleases me.

Once I got the overlay made I used it to place several pieces at one time stitched them and then placed some more.  Holding this large piece of fabric in my hand to stitch became easier once the two large center pieces were finished.

There is still much to do but I must say I just love this quilt.  It is so bright and cheerful to work on.  I  have the pinks to add and they will really make it sing.
Happy stitching,