New Sidewalk Blocks

Sidewalk #2, block 1
Sidewalk #2, block 1

I have started to make the blue strip donation blocks I sewed in June into the second Sidewalk quilt.

I have more than plenty of the blue color strip blocks to make another Sidewalk quilt similar in size to the first

This is the first block I have put together with the white background and I think the block looks nice.

Sidewalk #2, block 2
Sidewalk #2, block 2

I made a second one using some darker blue strip blocks.  It looks nice, too and the sewing is going pretty quickly in between the Chain Link and Triumphant piecing.

I need to finish something as finding the time to finish four projects is making my head swim a little! LOL.

Blue Strips

Blue Strip blocks
Blue Strip blocks

I finished enough of the blue strip blocks to make another Sidewalk quilt. This will be the third blue strip donation quilt I have made! Apparently, I use a lot of blue. I am really excited to try the Sidewalk pattern with these strip blocks.

This is not all of the strips blocks I need. It is the group I put up on the design wall as I was making them. 

I have made a little dent in my blue scrap drawer. I can probably close it now. I plan to keep making these blocks until I have used most of the strips. I did find that a lot of the scraps are smaller than 4.5 inch strips, so another blue improv donation quilt is in my future, too.

Finished: White Strips #3

No joke!

White Strips #2 donation top - finished
White Strips #2 donation top – finished

I finished White Strips #3 and was able to hand it in to the Community Quilts Committee at the Retreat.

I was not surprised, but rather disappointed that my white scrap bin does not seem to be emptier. As I said before, I have a lot of plain white scraps so I have to decide what do with the plain white scraps. I am going to work on some other scrap quilts until I decide.

White Strips #2 donation back - finished
White Strips #2 donation back – finished

I did make a back for this one. Nothing fancy.

March 2025 Donation Blocks

The donation blocks continue with more Color Strip blocks, though we all know white is not a color. I am getting down to the solid white strips and am not sure how to continue. I don’t want to make a whole block of just white strips. I am thinking that I will need to leave some of the strips for another time or incorporate them into another white improv quilt. At the moment I am trying to decide if I want to make another white strip quilt or if one is enough at the moment.

White Strips #3 Progress

White Strips #2 in process
White Strips #2 in process

I am making excellent progress on White Strips #3. Since I couldn’t get it done for the meeting, I want to get it done for the Retreat. I only had snatches of time between work and taking care of my mom. Even small bits of time make progress.

After sewing the cornerstones and sashing together then sewing to the blocks, I was able to assemble the top. Chunking really makes the whole process go fast.

Now I plan to put some small borders on. It is already, without the borders 43 in. x 47 in. I like my donation quilts on the larger side. I also need to make the back.

More White Strips

White Strips #2 in process
White Strips #2 in process

I made a little more progress on the White Strip #2 donation top. I have most of the top sashings sewn. I have started to sew the blocks to the sashing, as I show in my chunking tutorial.

I started working on it a little more diligently after I put my aunt’s Superbloom together. That project isn’t finished, but I only had a few minutes and needed a break. I think I’ll be able to take the quilt to Sew Day and hand it in.

White Strip #2 Back Again

White Strip #2 in process
White Strip #2 in process

Today is the guild meeting and I thought I *might* have this top done and ready to turn in. No such luck.

I did stop making new blocks and focused on sewing this top together. I could do both new blocks and the top, but leaders and enders is easier for me if I focus on one project as the leaders and enders piece at a time. Also, I have enough blocks for this quilt and don’t need any more.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I am using the back of a fabric as the sashing. I haven’t turned over all the cut sashing yet, so the pieces near the top are still on the right side. I think it looks good.

As per my ‘chunking tutorial,’ I started at the bottom by sewing a block to a piece of sashing. I quickly realized I had forgotten to cut cornerstones. I am backfilling those as it becomes necessary.

More on White Strip #2

I was thinking about the quilt I talked about a few days ago. I am not liking the gold. The fabric is nice as yardage, but in a white quilt it is pretty overwhelming. I really want this to read as a white quilt and the gold might interfere with that.

Checking out the back
Checking out the back

I checked out the back of the fabric and the gold comes through, but is much more subtle.

The vertical sashing on the right is the back of the fabric while the sashing on the far left is the right side of the fabric. I think the back of the fabric might work.

I am letting it sit for a day or two to see what I think.

New White Color Strip Donation Top

White Color Strip donation blocks #2
White Color Strip donation blocks #2

I finally have enough blocks to get a top on the wall. Well, it isn’t a top yet, but I am getting there.

I am using the fabric I got in the Sew Hungry Hippie box at Christmas as the sashing. It has a lot of gold, which isn’t white, but it might be interesting.

I also planned for the sashing to be 1.5 inches finished. That is a little larger than previous versions of this type of quilt.

Finally Rest for the ‘Wicked’

Green scrap drawer - Oct 2024
Green scrap drawer – Oct 2024

Back in April I started cleaning out my green scrap drawer. While I didn’t work exclusively on this project, it was a constant companion. I made progress through the summer. Finally, I have cleaned out my green scraps as much as I can.  The pieces left, which I have sewn together, are not big enough to make anything, but will be the basis for a Journal Cover or the next Color Improv donation quilt.

Of course, this clean and clear state of affairs won’t last for long. As I work through other projects, this drawer will fill up again in a never ending cycle. It’s the nature of the beast, I guess.

The good part is that I made a few quilts, mostly from the scraps in this drawer, for people in the community. These aren’t super large quilts (approximately 40×40 inches), but there are still three of them. These three help me meet my goal of 12 donation tops for the year.

In another part of the never ending cycle, I need to decide which color is next. I might want to work with blue, for example, but really need to choose the drawer that is the fullest.

Finished: Green Strips #3 Donation Top

I worked hard over the weekend to clear out some projects. My workroom and my brain was getting cluttered and I needed some space.

Green Strips #3 donation top
Green Strips #3 donation top

The first one was the Green Strips #3 donation top and back.

The top is finished. It looks a bit weird, but I was trying to accomplish a couple of things. I wanted it to be mostly square, thus the borders only on the sides.

I also didn’t have enough fabric to make the side borders all one fabric. It is more interesting, or it looks weird.

Green Strips #3 donation back
Green Strips #3 donation back

I also made the back.

I was a little sick of this top by the time I got to the back. It has just been hanging around for too long; it isn’t a bad top or anything. I couldn’t find any large pieces of green I wanted to use for the back in my green bins, so I dug into my pile of backing fabrics. I found that stripe, which I know would make  great binding, but I wanted to finish it. That piece of fabric has been hanging around for awhile, so it is time to use it for a good cause.

This is ready to go to the Community Quilt ladies.

Green Strip Donation Top #3 Progress

Green Strip donation top #2 in progress (v.1)
Green Strip donation top #2 in progress (v.1)

I have been fiddling with this quilt for awhile, ever since I finished #2. My design walls are full of the grey improv, the black improv and the Pantone Project. I basically had no space in which to put it up and look at it.

Design floor to the rescue.

I finally decided to lay it out and see what needed to be done. I finally laid it out and inventoried the different blocks that I had available.

I am farther along than I thought.

The image above shows my first layout with what blocks I had. As you can see, I have been adding sashing to certain blocks even though I have not seen them up on the design wall.

Green Strip donation top #2 in progress (v.2)
Green Strip donation top #2 in progress (v.2)

I had enough blocks to add another row, so I did that to see how it looks. I know it is going to be a weird shape again, but I decided that using up the blocks was more important than my worries about shape. If I were really worried about shape, I would make square blocks.

I have sashing cut, so I prepared sashing and cornerstone strips for the last blocks and see how far I can get in the next little while. I really feel like I need to get this quilt off to the Community Quilt ladies.

More Green Strips Progress

Green Strips Donation top #2
Green Strips Donation top #2

Yes, I am making progress! The top is finished and I am pretty happy with it. I am running out of larger pieces for borders and backings. This does NOT mean I am running out of fabric. It just means the pieces I have left are, mostly, not large enough for the border of a 40 x 40ish quilt. I am not sure what I am going to do about that.

Much of my green, as I may have mentioned, is of the chartreuse and yellow-green variety. I remember buying a lot of chartreuse and icky green as TFQ called it, but I am still surprised I have as much as I do.

The borders I added are some Riley Blake fabrics (I think) that are neither chartreuse or yellow-green or dark green. These are more of a light blue-green…maybe? I don’t know what to call that color. The borders give the quilt a different look overall. Still green, but not as yellow, I think.

Green Strips Progress

Green Strips progress
Green Strips progress

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.

June 2024 Donation Blocks

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.