Commentary about works in progress, design & creativity
This is quite a few donation blocks! I am pretty pleased with how many blocks I made this year. I know you saw many of these yesterday. Scroll down to revisit the ones I made earlier this year. I made 149 donation blocks. That is less than half of my goal, but it is still a significant number. I hope to do better in 2025.
Again, I worked on some strip donation blocks in anticipation of a new donation quilt.
Tim got his longarm up and running again. To test it and practice, he quilted some donation quilts, including the one I talked about the other day. He showed them to me when I stopped by a few days ago.
The good thing about these quilts is that they are actual quilts not just tops. The bad part is that I can take no credit for any of them. Still, like the designs he used for quilting and the patterns are fun, too.
This one uses a similar block to my Corner Store quilt. The arrangement is different than the one I used and makes me want to revisit the block. Maybe it would be a good idea for a donation quilt?
On both quilts Tim used different quilting patterns in the foreground and background. I think that adds to the quilts.
The testing was good as he is ready to quilt his Courthouse Steps quilt. It also means more quilts for BAM to give to those in need.
I went out the other day and encountered some random quilt stuff. I wanted to share some things with you.
First, at the Granary, I saw some interesting patterns. I have Organizational items on the mind as that might be the theme of the guild’s next swap. (N.B. Click the ‘join here‘ button so you can participate, too!). I saw a couple of interesting ideas. I thought they would be a little different than the Desktop Cube type project I made recently. One was a pouch for reusable silverware. I saw the larger one made up and it is a little on the large size, but the small size might be really useful.
Next, was the Atkinson Designs Pockets to Go** pattern. As you can see in the pattern, there are two sizes. The larger size looks like it would be great for a car trip or to corral personal items in a hotel room. Obviously, this would work very well for Sew Day. It is a little like a purse organizer for things other than purses.
The smaller size would fit very well on desks and next to sewing machines.
This is more like the Desktop Cube type project I made recently, but the handles and pockets make them a little more useful .
The larger size reminds me of the Oslo Tote I made for a swap several years ago.
Second, also at the Granary, Julie pointed out a tote bag kit where the fabric is a printed panel. The various pieces of the bag are printed on the panel and labeled. For example the long strips at the top are labeled ‘straps’. Sadly, there was no picture of the finished bag on this package. Still, this is a great idea for new bag makers or if you want to make a quick bag as a gift.
I had to go out and do some research to see if I could find out more about this product. I found the Quilt Trends site. On it was the following description “a 36” panel featuring Lazy Girl’s popular Runaround Bag pattern, you’ll be able to make two bags with this versatile panel. The pieces are printed, just cut them out. Basic directions are printed on this panel. If you would like a more complete pattern, the LGD Runaround Bag Pattern is available on this site.”
I also found out that the panel is part of the ‘Madelyn’ line of fabric from Joan Hawley. The site describes this fabric as “Madelyn is Joan’s latest collection for QT Fabrics. The Madelyn Collection is anchored by a Jacobean print in Joan’s 11 piece collection done in her signature colors of aqua and purple. Supporting fabrics contain florals, scallops, tossed leaves, geometrics and a stripe.”
Well, I am impressed that Joan or QT Fabrics thought a great panel to include would be a bag. Good work!
Third, from the MOMA is a fun little sewing machine called the Axe Yamazaki. I don’t think it is really that useful, but it is cute and I would love to take it for a test drive.
Again, I wandered around the Web and found the Axe Yamazaki website, which has better pictures of the machine. “This lightweight, only 4.6 Pounds,
cordless machine can be used anywhere.” The machine’s size is given as 4.5″D x 11.5″W x 10.4″H. Cost is $168 and the machine comes with a cell phone stand.
**N. B. : Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
Tim is getting his longarm back in order. In order to test it, he quilted this quilt, then handed it over to me to bind. I didn’t know he would do that, but I don’t mind.
He has had this quilt in his pile for a long time and doesn’t remember who made it. I think it is an interesting design.
I plan to cut off the excess back and use that for the binding. It’s small and shouldn’t take me that long. No fabric usage for me from this quilt.
I did finish the Ends n.20 top and back in time to take it to the guild sew day to hand in.
I cut the piece in half and rearranged the strips as I described the other day. I think it looks a little better, but it isn’t perfect. I know someone will like it and it is certainly improv!
I used a large piece of a sea green solid with some added white strips to make the back.
I have only one more set of strips to use up, though I should be getting some quilts back soon.
I finished Ends n.20 the other day, but I am not sure the top is really finished.
I don’t like the distribution of the strips. It looks unbalanced to me.
I know it is a donation quilt and I shouldn’t care that much, but I don’t like sending ugly quilts out into the world. It isn’t ugly, but it isn’t right either. It also isn’t good for me to not do my best. I use these quilts as a design exercise and need to do my best.
I am thinking of cutting the quilt as shown and sewing the right edge to the center. That is flipping the cut off piece 180 degrees. The dark and the grey ‘L’ will be in the middle if I do this.
Friend Julie posted about binding Green Strips n.2. Someone else quilted it, possibly Laura, and Julie bound it.
I am glad to see it is done, especially since I only finished the top and back in about October.
The green drawer is still relatively empty, though I have a huge pile of unprocessed scraps on my cutting table, so I am sure that won’t last. I need to find some time to deal with them. Maybe Sew Day?
I am trying to use up all the ends from various quilts. This is another group of fabrics from the BAMaQG IRR quilt with a few from Pointillist Palette n.4 thrown in. The pieces seem to be a random assortment of sizes, so I am doing a bit more fiddly piecing than I normally would.
The PP fabrics on the right are a little heavy, so I may move one of the pieces to the left. It will kind of ruin what I have going with the grey strips, but maybe I can create something better.
I hope to get this done before Saturday’s meeting, so I can hand it in. We’ll see.
I finished the latest Ends donation top and handed it in at the last meeting.
This fabric is mostly from Jennifer Paganelli’s Queen Street line. I talked about it briefly when I started the BAM IRR project. I have bits and pieces left, but I think this is the majority of the scraps.
I am pretty pleased with how it turned out.
The regular monthly posts are a bit out of order this month due to the American Thanksgiving Holiday. Enjoy more donation blocks! I am back working on a Color Strip quilt, though we all know white is not a color. 😉
I need 40 of the strip blocks to make a nice sized quilt, so I have a few more to sew.
Maria bound Ends n.18 and brought it to the meeting on Saturday. I was so pleased to see it again! I finished it in September so it hasn’t been floating around very long.
I think this must be one of my favorites.
Cyndi gave me a few yards of white from an estate sale trove of fabric she got, thus I decided to use white on this quilt.
I know white for a donation top is a bad idea as it will get dirty, but a design wants what a design wants.
I have one more section to sew before I decide if it needs to be larger. Without the left hand section sewn, the top is about 40 in. x 40 in. at the moment. I might not want a white strip on the end. We will see.
As I work through some sewjo challenges, I decided to make another Ends donation top. I have already handed in two donation tops this month, but an empty design wall doesn’t work for me.
I had various ends laying around the workroom and slapped a few up on the wall to see if I could make anything.
Ends n.18 was finished in September, so it is time for another one. I want to use a background fabric with the pieces shown, but I haven’t decided what color yet.
I am pretty pleased that this quilt is done.
My brown and beige bin was out so I used a beige dotty sort of fabric that has been hanging around for a long time. The sashing uses various cream fabrics, so I thought it would coordinate. The backing was another plain brownish and white fabric. Nothing special, but a large enough piece so I only had to piece one seam. My stash of large fabrics is getting low, so borders and backs are becoming more work.