I finally dug out the white strips blocks I made last year and put them on the design wall. With the Patchwork Palooza no longer taking up valuable design wall real estate, I am able to work on this project.
I haven’t started on sashing yet, but did decide to just make my normal strip quilt rather than another Sidewalk quilt. However, since I haven’t started the sashing yet, that could change.
I am thinking about red sashing as I have at least two bins of red fabric. I could use more by making a Sidewalk version. We’ll see. I know I don’t want to make another white on white strips quilt.
I haven’t really decided to make 12 quilts for the guild this year. I am giving enough time to the guild. That doesn’t mean I won’t make donation quilts. It just means I don’t (yet?) have a goal.
My donation block making has stalled a bit. I am working feverishly on other projects, some in preparation for the holidays and some just because. Still, I have a few to show.
I started another Sidewalk quilt with 4.5″ x 8.5″ panels I cut when I processing scraps a month or so ago. I haven’t made a ton of progress, but I like what I have done so far.
While the ‘panels’ are the same size as the pieced units, this top feels like it is going together much more quickly.
I finally found that someone else had created a pattern for, what I call, the Sidewalk Quilt. Jennifer Jones of Penelope Handmade has a pattern for the Dorothy Quilt, which is, essentially, the same as the Sidewalk quilt. She has a long blog post from 2023, which includes links to her YouTube Channel. She uses all solids in her examples – at least the ones I saw – and they look quite good against a white background.
Almost immediately after finishing her quilt, my Mom took a donation quilt from the BAM selection to finish.
I didn’t really look at it until we got home and she took it out to start the binding.
The first thing I noticed is that it smelled bad. I took it outside and hung it on a bush to air it out. That didn’t work well, so I ended up washing it (yes, in the machine on delicate and in the dryer on low). It smelled better after that. Before I washed it, I sewed around the edge so the edges wouldn’t ravel more than they already were.
Amazing 1940s quilt-detail
As I worked on the quilt, I noticed how amazing it is. It is hand pieced and hand quilted and the work is beautiful. It is also in great condition. The maker knew what she was doing.
I think I might want to make this quilt design using EPP.
I started off the month continuing to make white strip blocks. The bin really was not organized well and I found a whole new selection of strips I could use to make blocks partway through. I was up to a total (not just the ones made in October) of 40 white strip blocks early in the month, but continued to make them. I like my scrap bins to be as empty as possible. The white bin is proving to be a challenge to empty.
I definitely need to think about less white in the Half 16 Patch blocks. This quilt is VERY white and you don’t really get the sidewalk effect with so much white.
I have been working on some green and blue Sidewalk blocks with white and I may use a different color for the background.
Sidewalk #4 back
I was very surprised at how well this back went together. I didn’t worry about eeking every little inch out of the fabric. I got enough pieces out and cut there where I needed to. It means I have more scraps to cut up as well as a finished back.
The stripes in this piece are really striking. The rainbow stripes from Chain Link make this piece less depressing than it might be if I had excluded them.
I am pleased that I finally finished this piece. It has been on the design wall for more than a year and it is a relief to get it to the Community Quilt team.
I am pleased with the way it came out. Most of these improv quilts are hard to pass along.
I worked on the Black Improv a lot, which doesn’t really have blocks, so that means fewer for this post. I added a few blocks in green and white to my stash of pieces for the next Sidewalk.
I finished working on the Black Improv top quicker than expected. Since it was already out and not completely empty, I kept the Black-Grey-Brown scrap bin out and made a few blocks from brown and grey. I just wanted to lighten the box up a little bit more. I don’t have much brown and I used all the strips to make the brown strip blocks you see below. I also made a couple of grey blocks and one black strip block. I’ll save these for another rainbow strip quilt or when I get enough Black-Grey-Brown strip blocks.
Once I was done with the Black-Grey-Brown strips, I got out the white bin, which was overflowing – again- and started in on white strip blocks. I don’t know whether I’ll make a white strip quilt like the last one or make a Sidewalk quilt with a color for the background. I like the idea of a blue background.
Brown strip donation block #20
Brown strip donation block #21
Brown strip donation block #22
Brown strip donation block #23
Grey color strip donation block #102
Beige strip donation block #1
Beige strip donation block #2
Grey color strip donation block #105
Black color strip block #10
Green Half 16 Patch #2
Green Half 16 Patch #3
Green Half 16 Patch #4
Green Half 16 Patch #5
Green Half 16 Patch #1
Green Half 16 Patch #11
Green Half 16 Patch #10
Green Half 16 Patch #9
Green Half 16 Patch #8
Green Half 16 Patch #7
Green Half 16 Patch #6
Green Half 16 Patch #12
Green Half 16 Patch #13
Green Half 16 Patch #14
Green Half 16 Patch #15
Green Half 16 Patch #16
White strip donation block #67
White strip donation block #69
White strip donation block #68
White strip donation block #70
White strip donation block #71
White strip donation block #72
White strip donation block #73
White strip donation block #74
White strip donation block #75
White strip donation block #76
White strip donation block #77
White strip donation block #78
White strip donation block #79
White strip donation block #80
White strip donation block #81
White strip donation block #82
White strip donation block #83
White strip donation block #84
I have numbered the black strip block as #10, but I don’t really know what number it is. I suspect it is about #41 since I made one black strip donation quilt. Still, the other blocks aren’t numbered, so here we are.
I started Sidewalk #4. As you can see from the photo, I am using my design floor. The design walls are full. I can’t take Country Revival/The Sad Quilt off the large design wall until I get more sewn.
Sidewalk is too big for the small design wall so design floor it is. Not my preference, but needs must. Too many projects on the go, so I needed to get one of them off my list.
I have been randomly sewing Half 16 Patch blocks to the white background pieces as leaders and enders, so I have a small start. I have a lot to do, however. The Community quilt team for the guild really needs backs, so that is an extra step. I know I normally do it, but was considering being lazy this time. More fabric used, however.
I have been working diligently on the Black Improv. Surprisingly it is getting quite large. Not king-sized or anything, but large for one of my donation quilts.
After having this piece languish for a long time, I thought it would be a chose to finish it. Even though I am not finished yet, I am having fun working on it. So many stripes!!
I am using the strips I cut for color strip blocks to make the quilt bigger and to make the piecing a little easier. I know I will make more black scraps at some point, so why not?
At the widest and tallest points in the photo above, the piece is 38w x 35l. It is getting to be the size I like giving to the Community Giving project.
I haven’t made much progress on this piece, but I haven’t given on it either. After I posted about the most recent Color Improv finishes, I got some nice feedback and decided to get back to this piece.
I had a couple of the strip blocks and I decided to add them to the piece so as to make it larger sooner.
I quickly completed Cosmic Crazy over the weekend so it would be ready when I went to Sew Day. I didn’t know how much time I would have to sew after my mom’s surgery.
I didn’t have the kind of gold fabric I was imagining, so I used this yellow with red dots. I hope that it isn’t too ugly.
Cosmic Crazy Back
I used some greens as the back and am calling this one done. Not a great work, but someone will like it. At least that is what I am telling myself.
Mostly, I am trying to stock up on Half 16 patch blocks so I can make another Sidewalk quilt. A couple are from Sew Day. I am cutting some 4.5 x 8.5 inch rectangles from larger scraps and yardage to make another Sidewalk quilt from plain pieces of fabric. I am not including those ‘panels’ here as they are not really that interesting since there is no piecing.
