As mentioned in yesterday’s FOTY post, I need leaders and enders. Donation patches inevitably end up doing the job. I made a bunch and have an idea for a red and white donation quilt. I don’t have all the details in my head yet, but I am working on blocks using red fabrics to go with the plain whites.
Donation Blocks – April 2016
I don’t have an unlimited selection of red 2.5″ squares cut, so I am also making donation blocks using other colors. I will donate those blocks to the Charity Girls and they can do something with them unless I have enough blue and green blocks and enough time to make a second donation top. We will see.
It was fun to make the donation blocks. I am playing with the arrangement of colors and different fabrics. The recipients may not know but I have fun and I hope the quilt absorbs my joy.
The layout of FOTY 2015 is satisfying in some ways – it is great to see the piece emerge from a pile of patches. It is not satisfying in that no piecing gets done. I am trying to take Mark Lipinski‘s Slow Stitching to heart and enjoy the layout process.
Donation blocks – late April 2016
I am only sort of successful. I want to see blocks emerge from scraps of fabric! In between moving patches around FOTY 2015, I sewed more donation blocks.
As you can see I am sort of making monochromatic blocks. Of course, to say monochromatic is a big stretch of the imagination, especially for the green on in the upper left hand corner, but I am trying out the idea. I really would like to put together an all red version of a donation quilt. At this point, I don’t have enough red squares, but I can always cut more.
Whether this concept will go anywhere, I don’t know. I am going to keep making blocks and we will see.
I know I must be boring you to tears with these donation blocks. Still I have more.
I think it is interesting to put the fabrics together in different ways. I also like the idea of using a bunch of the same fabrics and then combining those blocks with blocks in the same colors. For example, taking that red and white block, making other red and white blocks and combining them all into a top.
I put the blocks together (as leaders and enders) that I talked about last week into a top. The center is made up from the simple postage stamp/16 patch blocks. As you know I have been working on them for the last few weeks.
The border is from the Sugar & Spice collection from a few years ago by Amanda Herring of the Quilted Fish. I bought that line and even though it was fine fabric in nice colors, I decided it wasn’t really my style. It made a great addition to this quilt, though.
Sugar & Spice back
I saw the group of fabrics in my fabric closet and decided to use the plaid for the back. I needed a bit more to make the back larger, which was when I was inspired to use some of the fabric on the top’s border.
Someone asked in a comment how I select patterns for a donation quilt. This is an interesting question and I am so glad the commentor asked. I never thought of the topic and it is a great one!
The biggest issue to consider for me is what kind of sewing I want to do. I have to judge my mood and my interest level. After that there are a couple of things I think about when selecting a pattern.
First, I have some go-to patterns. I use these patterns over and over. At least I am still using them. Even though I have made several tops using the patterns, I am still interested. One is a 16 patch, which is a basic, easy block that the guild always encourages.
Charity blocks – April 2016
FOTY-made Donation Blocks
Black & Grey Donation Top Complete
Multi-color Donation Quilt- April
Cheryl’s Donation Quilt
Orange & Grey donation quilt
Donation Blocks – June 2014
Pink Donation Quilt
Yellow & Pink Donation Top
Pink & Green Donation top
4 Pink & Green Donation blocks
Pink Donation Top #2
Yellow Donation Top – no borders
Blue Donation Quilt
February Donation Blocks
Good Fortune Donation block
Donation Blocks – My Scraps
Purple Donation block
Scrappy B&W Donation Block
This is a good pattern for all levels of quiltmakers and can be made from pre-cuts. You need 8- 2.5″ foreground squares and 8-2.5″ background squares to make the block. 16 blocks with no sashing make the quilt size we donate to the NICU at Stanford. It works very well with the leaders and enders technique.
There is also a lot of opportunity for creativity and variety. The photos above show quilt tops as well as blocks. There are a couple from the guild that I did not make. Sometimes I have a lot of fabric in the same colors (just finished a quilt), so I’ll cut up the leftovers into a usable size and make a set of blocks in those colors and put it together into a donation top.
I also will just pick random squares in a variety of colors and put them together into a block. I always want to be working on a leaders and enders project as it makes my productivity so much more.
I am also cutting 1-2 2.5″ squares from each fabric I was and press so I have a variety of squares to use as donation block leaders and enders all the time.
These blocks can be set together in a variety of ways as well: sashing, no sashing, on point, straight set, etc. If I make scrappy blocks, I sometimes have a hard time finding a suitable sashing color, so I might use scrappy sashing.
Sometimes I add borders, sometimes I don’t. I don’t think I have begun to explore all the possibilities for setting the 16 patch blocks.
Flower Sugar Donation Top
Orange Donation Top
Pink T Donation Quilt
Green T Donation Quilt
Second, the T Quilt Pattern is another go to pattern that I keep returning to. Peggy, one of the Charity Girls gave us this pattern at a Charity Sew Day. It is easy and it makes a good break from the 16 patches. Again there are quite a few options for variety that can be employed with this pattern. I do think the T design discourages sashing (what would be the point?), but scrappiness works very well.
Cutting Corners Donation Top
Third, as with the Cutting Corners Ruler, trying something new is a good opportunity to make a smaller piece until I feel comfortable or know I want to commit to a larger piece. The Cutting Corners donation top is one of those tops. I wanted to try out the ruler and making a donation top was a good option.
Fourth, very occasionally I will have orphan blocks. If they don’t get used for journal covers, they are donated to the Charity Girls to make into donation quilts or I will make them into donation tops. Most often, I just want them out of my hair.
Black & Grey Donation Top Complete
Fifth, rote sewing. Sometimes I need a project that allows my mind to wander into non-quilt territory. The Black & Grey Teenaged Boy Donation quilt was a good example of just sewing something that required few decisions.
BAMQG Mystery Quilt
Sixth, tops or blocks sometimes don’t quite work out. I don’t mean they are ugly or unusable. I meant that they didn’t work out for *ME* for some reason. These pieces can be any fabric, any pattern, any design, any layout. Anything. As I said in the blog post, I like the fabrics in the quilt above. I also like the pattern, but together they didn’t work for me.
Seventh, fabric that didn’t work out. A lot of times I will use fabric to make a donation quilt that I don’t want to use for my own quilts. This doesn’t mean it is crappy or fabric. It might mean that it isn’t my style anymore or the color is just off enough to make it not fit with other fabric choices. It could also mean that I bought a lot of it, because I loved it, used it a lot and suddenly didn’t love it anymore.
Star Donation Quilt
Eighth, periodically the Charity girls will come up with a block of the quarter (or of the month). For a time they will collect blocks in that design and then the group will make a series of quilts in that design. The Star donation top (above) is a great example. I put the blocks together and made the back. I didn’t make the blocks. Although, it has been awhile, I am still inspired to make more of these blocks and put them together in another quilt.
Ninth, too many scraps is a good reason to make donation blocks. They can be mosaic pieced like the journal covers, trimmed to size and then put together in an appropriate size and layout. They can be made into Sawtooth Star blocks or other blocks with a large center. The microscopic scraps I use for journal covers would take too long to sew together into blocks.This works better for donation tops with larger scraps.
I also cut larger or smaller squares into usable sizes and shapes, depending on what I have, and make a top from those. If I use smaller sized pieces, such as a 2″ square, I try make a whole top or enough blocks for someone else to make into a whole top. I try not to leave the Charity Girls in the lurch by making just one block, though I have known Peggy to run with one block and come up with a great top.
Also, if one of my scrap bins (I sort them by color) is overflowing I will cut a bunch of squares or other shape and make some blocks or a top.
Stars & Stripes blocks
Tenth, sometimes I will start a project with great enthusiasm. This often happens with class projects. At some point (too late to abandon) I will lose interest or realize I don’t like the results. It is a good opportunity to turn it into a donation quilt.
It could be that the fabrics are just fine and the technique makes me cringe. The above Stars & Stripes blocks were made using paper piecing. Not my favorite.
I was kind of surprised at the different ways I choose patterns to make donation quilts.
I do my best to use patterns I like and try very hard not to make ugly donation quilts. The beneficiaries of these quilts don’t care about matching points or perfect layouts. I am sure they are looking at the pretty fabrics and softness of the object they have been given. Everyone deserves some beauty in their life.
I got two new-to-me round robins last Friday. I didn’t have enough design wall space, so I took them out and looked at them. Different elements caught my attention – the squares in Annemarie’s and the applique’ on Michelle-Nicholle’s.
My addition to Annemarie’s piece – detail
I started with Annemarie’s after I finished the Cutting Corners donation top. I decided to add the other corner to the top left. My corner has the same look at the corner on the right side. I wanted the elements to be related, but not to be derivative. I wanted to use more of the Alison Glass fabric, but there wasn’t any left in the packet.
I looked at it after I had finished the squares. They looked too square. I had to make up some space (see the bottom strips where the blueberry fabric is?), so I added some strips and kept adding until my addition was large enough to fill the space. The strips look more improv than the squares. I can’t blame my hand for the cutting as it is much better. Habit, I guess.
Michelle-Nicholle’s Improv piece -before
Michelle-Nicholle’s was harder, mostly because it had the structure of a very traditional round robin. All the pieces in the round robin are getting quite large and Michelle-Nicholle’s is no exception. It is also, I think, the largest piece on which I have worked. There were also only a few motifs I could use as inspiration, none of which were very exciting to me. More applique’ would have been logical, but I just wasn’t in the mood. It was very difficult to think of an addition. I reached back to my early days of quiltmaking when I learned to do improv curved piecing. I added some of that. It is a simple addition, but effective, I think. I may add something else as my addition does seem like much, nor does it help the next person as a jumping off point.
Michelle-Nicholle’s IRR after -detailMichelle-Nicholle’s IRR after
I talked about some donation blocks I made last week. As I worked on the Cutting Corners Donation Top, I made more of the postage stamp/16 patch blocks using leaders and enders. I love how much I get done when I use that technique!
Charity blocks – April 2016
I now have 12 blocks on the wall. I have a few more to make, but I think that I might as well sew them together to make another top for the Charity Girls.
I know I promised I wouldn’t post any more donation quilts “for the time being.” The time being is over and I have another top and back finished. Things are kind of coming together with finishes lately, which is nice.
Cutting Corners Donation Top
I worked on the Cutting Corners Donation top on Saturday. I was able to finish the top, the back and the binding. It occurred to me that I should make a Frankenbatting as well. I haven’t done it yet, but I have time before the meeting.
Cutting Corners Donation Top detal
I know I said I was struggling with the corner pieces last time I talked about this top. I decided to move along by sewing together as much of the top as I could. After putting the entire top together, I found that the corners I had made and discarded actually fit in the corner spot. I was pleased and shocked to see how much the quilt shrunk up when I sewed it together. After all of these years, I shouldn’t be surprised, but I was. It is nice that quiltmaking can still surprise me.
Cutting Corners Donation Back
I definitely like the way this top came out, but I am on fence about the ruler. I am not sure that using the ruler was the easiest way to get to the finish. I will probably try it again with different fabrics.
Yes, this is donation quilt week. I promise this is the last one I have for the time being.
Last August, I talked about the Flower Sugar Donation top. I made the top out of leftover fabric from the Flower Sugar Hexagon (Attack of the Hexies) quilt. Gerre offered to quilt it. I got the finished piece back from her at the BAM meeting. She hadn’t completely done the binding, but had sewed most of it by machine. I had given her a piece of binding that was a bit too short, so I added to it. Then I sewed it the rest of the way on to the quilted piece then spent the time hand stitching the binding down.
Flower Sugar Donation back
I was feeling like a bit of a slacker, so I was glad to get this piece done. It felt like I had FINALLY finished something.
The fabric I used was, again, called Flower Sugar by Lecien. I still have bunches of it left even though I also used it for the back. I warned Gerre that she might be seeing another one with the same fabric.
I also used some Bonnie and Camille greys/taupes for the background pieces. They are from various lines. Compared to the cool greys I am using for the Flying Geese, these background pieces look really, really brown to me.
So, yay! A finished piece. I am so pleased it is a donation top.
I got a brief glance at my Improv Round Robin piece before Ruth whisked it away to work on.
More of the Philip Jacobs print is showing up and that is creating some interesting results. I do think the piece needs more space, so I will add more solid or, perhaps, someone working on it will add more solid.
I came across the mystery quilt I made at the BAMQG retreat a few years ago. When I found it it was in pieces. I decided I would put it together and give it to the Charity Girls. I sewed 2 seams max, put it in my bag for the meeting and handed it in. I love the fabrics, but they didn’t work out very well and I was glad not to have another UFO to clutter up my mind.
BAMQG Mystery Quilt
This mystery quilt was not successful for me. That statement has to do with me not with the designer of the mystery quilt or the organizer of the BAMQG mystery quilt project. It has to do with the fabrics that I chose. I wanted bold fabrics. I chose bold fabrics, made bold choices. They didn’t work. I’ll try again
I spent last Sunday finally working on the Cutting Corners donation top. I was fiddling around not knowing what to do. I pulled out a piece of Dear Stella orange dot fabric and was inspired to use it as the sashing. Off I went.
Using Cutting Corners Ruler
The Cutting Corners ruler is not an easy ruler to use, especially for someone like me who is pattern reading challenged. I finally got the critical information and worked on the sashing. The picture above shows the first steps of creating the lozenge shape.
I am not sure this is the easiest method to create this type of sashing.
I am having problems with the corner triangles. The directions for the side triangles are ok. The corner triangle directions are abysmal. There is one line about how to make the corner triangles. I have been emailing back and forth with Mrs. K, but I think I am going to have to call her and get more info.
I probably would have used a different sashing fabric if I had been thinking more. I went with my intuition, though and I kind of like the effect of the orange.
I hope to be able to finish at least the top soon. Perhaps this weekend.
As I said yesterday, I spent Sunday making the Peacock blocks. In between I made donation blocks. I had taken 3 kits from the BAMQG meeting on Saturday so I made those up first. Those blocks are the 2 on the right and the one on the top. After I was done with those, I made up a few more from my own fabric. I sewed them as leaders and enders in between the parts of the Peacock hexagons. I used them to keep track of the various parts of the blocks. They are all the same colors, so it is easy to mix of pieces. And the bonus was all the donations blocks I finished as well.
Donation Blocks for Cutting Corners Ruler + a Lobster
It took me forever to get these donation blocks done and I am only marginally closer to having a finished quilt.
Mrs. K’s Cutting Corners Quilt
These are the pieces I am going to use to try out the Cutting Corners Ruler a la Mrs. K’s quilt.
Now that I have the blocks, I have to figure out the ruler. I took a quick look and it seems to make sense. I am going to start with the sashing and decide about the checkerboard border later.
I am making a smaller quilt to start with and may use the ruler to make others later.
I don’t actually have any IRRs right now and I wasn’t at the BAMQG meeting, so I couldn’t take another. I had three in quick succession, with Cheryl’s being the last before my brief hiatus. Ruth‘s and Claire‘s pieces were the other two in the trio.
Michelle and I met at Trader Joe’s again and exchanged IRRs. I took Claire’s to pass along as she wouldn’t be at the meeting either. I headed up to the North Coast again with DH for NSGW/#politicalwifery events and Michelle was headed to Spain. Rhonda was kind enough to take both bags to the meeting for us and I gave them to her at the CQFA meeting.
All of this meant that I had to get Cheryl’s done in time to get it to Rhonda. I had about a day once I figured out all of the timing, so I got down to business.
Cheryl’s IRR – before
Cheryl’s piece looked great when I got it and I was loathe to wreck it, but Michelle had added half a row, so that missing section was perfect for me to complete.
Cheryl’s piece is turning out really well. I love it, thus the feelings of avoiding wreckage. I really wanted to use the Paris map fabric, but couldn’t really fit it in once all was said and done.
I walked around with it on my design wall for a few days and decided to add some Flying Geese. Yes, I am still in love with Flying Geese.
I also needed to add my signature fabric, but I didn’t want to add a large patch or strip as I have on other pieces, because I wanted to preserve the mainly white and turquoise color story.
There were a few small strips left over from other piecing, so I pieced a few of those together to make another strip large enough to handle my signature fabric. I wanted something that would look like it fit in.
Cheryl’s IRR – my part
I made some Flying Geese. Since those were the main parts, I started working getting Michelle’s strip completed. I added some white and a strip of the black and white stripe, which came to me after looking at the piece.
After making my piece, I think the white on the edge needs to be corralled, but someone else, or Cheryl, will have to worry about that. I am pleased with how my part came out and I think my signature fabric piece fits in well without overwhelming the whole design.
Cheryl’s IRR – finished with my part
I also think the piece needs some space at the top. The bottom is getting to be quite breezy while the top is looking a little cramped. Not fatally so, but a little. It will be interesting to see what happens.
