Commentary about works in progress, design & creativity
I am making good progress on the Green Strips donation top. It might be a little hard to see, but I am sewing sashing strips to the blocks. I have some of the top sashing cut, but haven’t decided what color to use for the cornerstones. I keep thinking red as that is opposite to green on the color wheel, but I don’t want a Christmas look at all. These blocks remind me of a leafy green tree and I want to keep that feeling. More green, I think. Or a blue tending towards green.
I worked diligently on the third of my Diagonal 9 patch quilts using the green donation blocks as leaders and enders. The donation blocks kept piling up until I could finally focus on sewing a green donation quilt with these blocks. I haven’t had a lot of time lately, so it is slow going. Also, the smaller the strips, the slower I am to finish blocks.
The good news is that a green donation quilt is going well and I should be finished with it before I attend the next meeting. I have enough blocks to make a second quilt with green strip blocks. I have also started on an improv donation top with the smaller, non strip scraps. At this point, I don’t know how large it will be. I don’t want a small piece of ‘made’ fabric hanging around like the black improv piece and the grey improv piece seem to be doing.
Now that the Green & Grey Diagonal 9 Patch is ready for quilting, I started another donation top. This time I am using the green blocks I have been making.
I am planning to use the thin strips between the blocks again, but I haven’t sewn them yet, so we will see.
I also did some math and think 4 x 6 blocks will make a good sized quilt. The rough size will be 35 x38 inches without a border. I don’t want to make another skinny quilt like the recent Black Strip #2.
This is #2 of all time. The first quilt in this series was made with green. I don’t use much green so that really strikes me as weird. It is interesting to see the differences. I didn’t sew smaller pieces into larger to make the strips long enough like I do now. Back in the day, I just used strips that were the right length. Perhaps that is why my scrap drawer got so full so quickly.
There is so much green in my blog lately!
At the meeting the other day, Erin showed the Black Strip #2 donation top, which was quilted and she had finished binding. Hooray!
I finished the top in January so it hasn’t been that long. She wanted to pick up the blues in the blocks, so used more blue than I would have in the binding. It looks nice however!
My green scrap drawer has been full for awhile and now that I have made FIVE quilts from my black-grey-brown scrap drawer, it is time to move on. I really can’t get over how many quilts I made from the black-grey-brown scrap drawer. It is somewhat shocking, especially since I haven’t finished the grey improv piece or the black improv piece.
I have already made a couple of green blocks and have several in process. I am also working with smaller scraps to start the improv donation quilts now. It may turn out that I use some combined smaller pieces in the strip/chunk blocks. We’ll see.
The original green strip donation top was one of the first in this series. It is interesting to see how the various quilts, using the same sort of blocks has developed. I think I didn’t completely empty out the bin when I made that quilt, but I don’t remember. I am much more diligent about using every scrap now.
I am not really wicked nor am I green, but some of my post titles have been super boring lately, so I thought I would shake things up.
The green scrap drawer is too full, which is good, because I can move on to a new leaders and enders project. It is bad, though as I have plenty of other things I want to do as leaders and enders. Still, I was enjoying making strip blocks, so here we go.
One burning question is WHY do I have so many green scraps. I can remember making things out of a few of them, but not most. How are all of these green scraps multiplying?
On a side note: that large green Pointillist Palette piece is going to get cut up into smaller pieces to be part of a Niece-phew quilt.
Do you get the Wicked reference? 😉
I put some of the last grey strip blocks up on the wall to make into a quilt. They have been there for about a week and I have made no progress.
I need at least two more blocks to make this square or rectangular and I have made a desultory effort to make them.
I really just haven’t had a lot of time to sew. The items I have finished recently have been done in small snatches of time. I’ll get there!
I am using this project for leaders and enders, so it isn’t progressing as quickly as it might otherwise. Still, progress is good.
These are the additional blocks I made, some of which were rejected from Black Strip [#1].
It has that weird shape again and I don’t have enough additional blocks to make it wider. Not having additional blocks is a good thing in terms of scraps as it means I am working through my scraps (making room for more!). On the other hand, it is a not ideal situation for actually using the quilt. I might have to go with wider sides and narrower top/bottom when I do the borders.
I am going great guns on clearing out that black-grey-brown scrap drawer. This is the second quilt I have started using scraps to make blocks.
I want to get it done quickly, but vacation is over and work takes time, so I’ll work on it as I can.
I spent some time yesterday, before I started cooking and wrapping, cutting sashing strips and cornerstones. I thought about putting colors in the cornerstones, but ultimately decided that I would stick with black. My goal, after all, is to clear out that scrap bin.
I wanted to get all the pieces cut so I would be able to sew if I had a few minutes in between the crazy. I tried all day yesterday to press a gift and that hasn’t gotten done, so I doubt I’ll find the time. Still, I am making progress.
Even though I finished enough blocks to make the Black Color Strip donation top, I continued to make blocks. After all, I had more strips. I don’t have quite enough for two donation tops, but I am getting there.
I am nearing the end of my stash of black strips, but I still have a few blocks coming together. As I finish these new blocks, I have replaced a few of the original blocks you saw in the previous post. I thought I would show you a comparison and see what you thought.
I have added the dates so you can see the difference. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
I have been busy making these blocks. I should have been doing other things, but I wasn’t. I just sewed after work, then sat with my DH.
As you can see, I have enough to make a quilt. I am going to start sewing the sashing on soon.
I am thinking of using pink cornerstones and a thin pink border. I like the black and pink color combination. The problem is that this would be a great boy quilt and pink would ruin that. Red might be a good alternative. I’ll have to see.
I still have more strips and am still working on making the grey blocks. My black/grey/brown scrap draw isn’t empty, but it is much emptier. That is a huge bonus as I can actually close it now.
I rearranged the blocks I have made and put them up on the design wall. I like this arrangement much better, but am wondering if I should add another row on top and another column on the side?
I have more scraps, so I think I will just keep making blocks for awhile and see. I can always make a second quilt where this size block has more chunks than strips. Or I can add more blocks to this quilt. We’ll see.
I finished enough blocks since I last posted on Saturday to look at this top as a rectangle.
One thing I noticed when I was looking at the last donation top I made was that the blue top was a weird shape and I had to adjust it with a border. In this case, the number and arrangement of blocks I have made are the same as that blue strip top. I don’t want to end up with a weirdly shaped quilt, so I need to figure out if I have enough strips to make 5 more blocks of if I should put the top row on the side and save one block for another rainbow version?
First, I already know that black is not a color. Black “results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.” (Wikipedia) I chose a Wikipedia link, because I am lazy.
Next, I have made 27 of these blocks and my scrap drawer is still pretty full. Granted, the scrap drawer in which I keep the black also has brown (very little) and brown related fabrics, like taupe, as well as grey. I’ll have to make an improv version in black to use up more of my scraps.
Third, I was on the fence about making a black donation top. I thought it would be depressing. I am not finding this collection of blocks depressing. It isn’t primary color cheerful, but I think there is plenty of white, which is good. Someone will like it, right?
I thought 27 blocks would be the right amount, but I need at least 30 to make a rectangular quilt. I may add another column, as well. I still have strips sets in progress, so I know I can make at least 3 more blocks, then we’ll see. If I only have chunks and odd shaped scraps left, I’ll have to leave it at 6×5 and start the black improv version.
My last strip donation quilt was blue, so this is a change.
Finally, yes, you are going to see these blocks in the end of the month donation block post, but I bet you’ll forget by then.