More donation blocks. I keep making them.
Not as many as last month, but each one counts.
Commentary about works in progress, design & creativity
More donation blocks. I keep making them.
Not as many as last month, but each one counts.

I can’t believe I forgot to show you the pillow I received in the BAM Pillow Swap.
Rhonda made this pillow for me and I know she chose the fabric be cause I adore Philip Jacobs prints.
Thanks, Rhonda!

I found a pile of squares the other week and decided, Sunday, that I would quickly sew them together for another donation quilt. Fortunately, I had 42 and a 6×7 layout is a great size.
I got more than half sewed. It is super easy sewing, so I might get a few seams in here and there during the week.

I hope I don’t remember why I cut these and kick myself for sewing them together in another project. Fortunately there is no shortage of dots on white at my house.

Mary put out her Color My Quilt directions at the last meeting and I was able to get it done while I was working on Who Am I? a couple of weekends ago.
I am still going with long thin pieces as I think they help people put the quilts together, though most don’t know it yet since only two finished pieces have been sewn.

I totally forgot to post the finished version of my merit hexie pillow. The last time I posted about this was on April 4!
I don’t know exactly when I finished it, but it was not long after April 4.
I had to take all the papers out before appli-quilting them on to the background.
I also forgot to show it at the guild meeting. I’ll bring it with the Walking Foot WOW pillow (another thing I forgot to bring to show and tell) to the next meeting.
Outside of the Sisters Retreat, I have had very little time to sew. We have a lot of house stuff to do and we can only do it all on the weekends. None of it involves a sewing machine. :(.
Saturday, we had a party to attend, but I a had time between a haircut and making food for the party to sew a little. I also had almost all day on Sunday, so I got a bit of work done. It was awesome.
I worked on finishing the Ends Donation Quilt n.5, but I also worked on some donation blocks. Since I haven’t had much time to sew I also haven’t had much time to make donation blocks. I’ll have some time before the next meeting to get a few more finished.
I made the black with the leftover black scraps from the back of the Ends n.5 Donation back. I used the greys as the alternate and I know that isn’t very popular, but it is a good way to make some other people push their own envelopes.
I think I’ll use the aqua block for part of another Spiky Stars donation quilt.

I finally finished the Ends Donation Quilt n.5. It seemed to take me forever, but as I said yesterday, I haven’t had much time to sew. I spent time arranging the yardage on Saturday. I did a bit of sewing, but mostly just arranging. That helped me finish relatively quickly on Sunday.
I think the borders made this piece look better. It looks more like a picture with a frame. It is so hard to tell when one of these quilts needs a border and when no border is required.

On the back I used some leftover black yardage, some of which is black-multi. Some of these blacks had never been cut into, so it was time to use them for something. Then, I used some of the leftovers from the border.
I haven’t done a leftover batting project yet. We’ll see if I have the time. Whoever quilts it at the guild may only get a back and a top. There might be enough of the back to make a straight of grain binding.

This process is going painfully slowly, but I took some time during the week to sew on the last two borders. I think the addition of borders looks good for this quilt. It kind of frames the strips and makes them look like a picture.
As I have said before, I am kind of thrilled that the leavings from backs can become something useful. Yes, I added some half yards of fabric to the dark grey and black leavings. I was going to donate that fabric anyway, so it is a win overall.
I can’t believe I have done five of these quilts so far. There are probably more in my future. You can see them all:

Some time ago, I wrote about the shard I made for Joelle. Last Saturday I went to the guild meeting and Joelle brought her finished quilt to the meeting.
This is a fantastic piece. I love the way Joelle pieced the shards together. Also, the colors go really well together.

My shard is on the top towards the left next to the circle piece. Joelle said she cut the shards up in a lot of cases. You really have to do it to make the quilt fit together. I think mine survived intact. It is so exciting to see the quilts finished. I hope Joelle enters the quilt into a show.

I kept looking at the latest donation quilt after posting about it last time and feeling like it wasn’t completely finished. I finally decided that it needed a border.
I was kind of surprised, because the Ends n.2 quilt really didn’t need a border. I guess each quilt has its own requirements.
I have put on two of the 4 borders. It has taken me forever it seems, as I haven’t had any time to sew since I returned from Sisters. I’ll get there.
I’ve done five of these quilts so far. You can see them all:

I saw Tim at the meeting and he had finally finished quilting the Ends Donation Quilt n.2. I wrote about this quilt top last in November. I thought the quilt was done a long time ago and Tim said I had taken several photos, but I can’t remember and can’t find any posts about it after the November post.
Tim did a great job and looks really good. While we are finding another place who will take quilts made by the group, we are saving these for the San Jose mayor’s gun buyback program. Those people who bring guns will also get a quilt.
Ends n.3 quilt
Ends n.4 quilt
Ends n.5 quilt
Yes, I am behind in reporting on June. Life is busy and I am heading to a week long quilt retreat with Friend Julie, so I am preparing to have a whole bunch of posts for you to peruse.
It is fun to see all the different blocks I make. I like remembering where the fabric came from and what I used it for.

The group of blocks are the blocks I turned in at the June meeting. I know you have seen all of these blocks before, but I thought it would be great to show all of them together.
My donation block production has slowed as my work schedule has ramped up. I am spending less time at the machine, which affects my production. Still, I have money, which is nice. Don’t worry, I am not giving up, but other guild members will have to step up and fill in the gaps.ell

I got up Sunday morning feeling a little sore and slightly disgruntled at my computer still being in the shop.
Fortunately, the Spiky 16 patch blocks were front and center on my design wall and wanted attention.
I found the formula for creating setting triangles and corner triangles and set about doing math and then cutting up squares. Large squares.
After not too long, and only a few cutting errors, the top was finished and I wasn’t as disgruntled. I like the way this turned out and hope someone will get it who really enjoys it.
My SILs said it was sweet.
I have more HRTs, so I will be making more of these blocks. I may more quilts with them, we will see.
In the course of putting away fabric and other supplies from the Stepping Stones n.2 project, I came across some rich looking prints that I didn’t think I would use in a quilt, but would make a great donation quilt. One was an Anna Griffin print from the Bailey line (or perhaps the name of the print was Bailey?). The other had a kind of scrollwork design on it. Both had kind of a blood red background.

I thought these prints would not only go well together, but also with the ends of the Triple Star. Happy to distract myself from tidying, I started in on a new Ends top. I finished the top last night and will make a back soon.

Ruth gave out her sheet of instructions for her Color My Quilt at the last meeting and I got right down to business. I was going for sparks of color on a dark-ish background.
I may not be quite done with the piece. I wanted all the color contained so I am contemplating that plum/burgundy strip. I have a few weeks to decide.
Again, all of these were from my scrap pile or bins.