Commentary about works in progress, design & creativity
Peggy took a bunch of quilts to a longarmer, Laura, who quilts some of our donation quilts for practice. One of them was my American Jane Plus Quilt.
It is not yet bound, but having all the small quilts quilted by a longarmer makes the process much shorter. Tim is the only one with a longarm, that I know of, in the guild and he has been busy recently so hasn’t been quilting.
I like the pattern Laura used for the white and red thread was kind of inspired.
The Rainbow Color Strip donation top has been stalled, mostly. Since the last time I posted about it, I have added some blocks, but the top is not done. I haven’t made much progress, which is frustrating.
I blame yellow.
You might remember I finished the Yellow Improv donation top in April. When I made that piece, I used every speck of yellow scraps in my yellow scrap drawer. I don’t always use a lot of yellow, so that was years worth of yellow scraps. Since April, I have cut only a few, oddly shaped yellow scraps. In order to make the above blocks into a true rainbow quilt, I need yellow.
I can just cut some from yardage, right? What’s the problem? That is definitely the problem. What is holding me up from just cutting a few strips from yardage and making the dang yellow strip blocks?
I have no idea, but that time is coming to an end. I want these blocks off my design wall and into the hands of a quilter in the guild. I need the space for another project.
As a side note, I don’t put these donation tops on my UFO or WIP or to do list. I only work on one at a time, mostly, and I never take them off my design wall until they are done. You are probably thinking “hey, what about the American Jane Plus top and the Ends n.14 (Typewriter) top?” Yes, I made both of those while this Rainbow Strips top was on the design wall. That is why I said ‘mostly’.
I got back on the donation block bandwagon this month as I was finishing up the Ends n.14 (Typewriter) donation top. I didn’t make many, but every little bit helps, right?
I left work early on Friday and spent the time sewing. I hadn’t worked on this project since May and wanted to get it done. I thought I could make a start.
As shown in the previous post, I had a bunch of pieces for this community quilt cut and blocks sewn together. I still really only needed to find one 5 inch square to finish the last block and put the quilt together.
I started rummaging through fabric and found a piece that would work fairly quickly. If charm packs would add 3 more squares I would be super happy. Of course, who knows if I will ever make a Plus quilt again?
Once I finished that last block and cut some background fabric, I was able to finish the top pretty quickly. I had time, so I went rummaging for fabric again. I wanted to find some pieces for the back. I was hoping for one piece, but my hopes were dashed. I found a large piece of yellow solid, but it wasn’t large enough so I added some red and green. I finished just as my DH texted to tell me he was coming home. Perfect!
I am going through my charm packs and trying to use the ones I like, but don’t think I will use for my own projects. As soon as I select one, I pull it out and start thinking about (or even deciding immediately) what I will make then I get busy. This one was inspired by one of my quilts that Joelle quilted. I saw it finished and thought “I should make another one of those”.
That one used the donation squares that Peggy requests, so it was smaller. This quilt is about 41×41 inches. Nice size.
Frankly, I almost never use charm packs so I don’t know why I buy them. Well, I do know. I want just a little bit of the fabric, so I buy a charm pack.
Charm packs make great Chubby Charmers. How many Chubby Charmers does one girl need? I have three already, after all. I have a Lintott Girls book, Layer Cakes, Jelly Rolls and Charm Quilts**, so I should look there to find some patterns I might like to make. I might make another HST Sawtooth Star quilt. I don’t think I am quite done with that pattern.
**Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops. However, I use 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.
I finally put the black, red and gold ends together to make a quilt. There is some leftover typewriter fabric in the top, thus the Type writer moniker. I have to distinguish between these ‘Ends’ quilts somehow!
The main parts of the fabrics used in this quilt come from the first Stepping Stones quilt I made for my nephew for his graduation in 2013. Yes, they have been hanging around for a long time!
I didn’t have enough to make it quite as wide as I wanted, so I added the red and gold solids.
I didn’t have enough to make the back so I had to rummage for fabric. This quilt might work for a boy quilt.
See all of the Ends quilt on their own series page.
After seeing one of the donation quilts quilted by Lee Ann last month (? or maybe the month before?), I decided to make another of the Plus quilts with a charm pack I have had for a long time.
The piecing is done with a charm pack from American Jane. I am working through charm packs I don’t think I will use in other work.
I like American Jane, but the colors are just dull enough that they don’t go with other fabrics I use. This charm pack has been hanging around my workroom for too long. It is time for it to go.
Because it is a charm pack and I am not using a pattern, I am missing 3 5inch squares needed for one more 9 patch. The sticking point for moving on with this quilt is finding fabrics that will do with the others so I can finish the last 9 patch.
My goal for this weekend is to find 3 charms (or 5inch squares) that won’t look out of place with the other fabrics. I am sure I have a red I can use, and probably a cream, but will have to look for a third fabric.
I took some time to choose fabric for my Mom’s piece and was able to finish on Saturday. It is ready to hand in for quilting.
The batik is not an obvious choice, but I think it works. I chose it because of the bits of gold included in the surface. I also didn’t want an exact match to any of the other fabrics because they would blend into the border.
That particular batik, and its sister on the back, have been hanging around my fabric closet for a long time. It was time to use them up.
I don’t get a lot of fabric usage bang for my work, because the main part of the quilt was Mom’s fabric and work. Still, every little bit helps and the point is to make something beautiful so someone knows I (or someone) cares.
This is another piece donated by my Mom.
In the course of looking at the other pieces, we decided that we (meaning me) would put a border on this one and call it done. The pieced rows that are not joined to the larger piece will not be used for this quilt. There is something wonky about the piecing and we will repurpose them in the yellow and blue piece I talked about yesterday.
The hardest part will be deciding which fabric I should use for the border.
I know its May, but I didn’t have a chance to post the donation blocks for April yet. I didn’t have a lot of time to sew donation blocks this month, but my commitment is still to the guild’s community quilt project.
I made the green blocks for the Rainbow Strip donation quilt. I realized that even thought I made a green strip donation quilt and a green improv donation quilt, my green scrap bin is full again. Sigh.
As mentioned the other day, I missed the March Guild meeting, but Joelle’s kindness and effort in posting the show and tell PDF allowed me to find a few quilt tops I made that were finished. I mentioned the 16 Patch Plus quilt the other day. I also saw that Joelle quilted the Charming Donation Quilt. It shows up in my 2020 donation quilts and blocks post as well.
I feel so happy when I see the finished quilts which were my tops and backs. Thanks to Joelle for quilting it! She used really intricate and interesting quilting motifs.
I missed the March Guild meeting, but Joelle was kind enough to post the PDF of show and tell. There I found a finished donation top I made in 2020, the 16 patch Plus quilt. It shows up in my 2020 donation quilts and blocks post as well.
I feel so happy when I see the finished quilts which were my tops and backs. Thanks to Lee Ann for quilting it!
Cindy made an amazing Improv top during Sew Day also.
This one is super cheerful and I love the way she used those curved blocks.
I am always amazed at how different the Charity Sew Day quilts look.
Mary and I did finish the top at Sew Day. I brought it home to make a back and will be handing it in today at the meeting.
I am pleased with how this came out. The ugly bits we started with turned into a really great quilt. It isn’t made from the colors I would normally use, but I am pleased with the result.
I am also pleased with how many of the orphan blocks and chunks we were able to use up overall during Sew Day. Sadly, none of the shards I brought were used. There is always next time.
Mary wants to do another with me next time, which I think will be great fun.
Cathy went straight to work almost as soon as we arrived. She brought some of her Pointillist Palette chunks to work with.
I keep looking at this one and seeing different things.
It is great to see other people’s work in the quilts. Two of my donation blocks were included. Cathy also used Joelle’s word chunk from a previous swap.
Maria started with some blocks and sewed a fantastic quilt together.
In real life, it looks like the magenta comes forward and it looks like the blocks are behind the window. The blocks really recede.