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.
Since I had some free sewing time, I spent as much time as I could grab sewing this quilt top together. I concentrated on the half 16 patches first. I had been kind of limping along sewing them in between Triumphant block 2 pieces and was sick of it. I only needed a few more half blocks, so I sat down and sewed them.
I had a few hours while DH was out one evening so I started sewing the blocks together and just continued snatching time wherever I could. Once the half blocks were together this was a relatively easy quilt to sew together.
Sidewalk back
I decided to use red for the back. Shockingly, the back went together very well. Instead of fighting with pieces like normal, this back went together really easily.
I am glad this is finally done! I have some ideas for other versions, but want to get Chain Link and Triumphant pieced.
I decided to call this quilt pattern ‘ Sidewalk’. There are other quilt patterns called ‘Sidewalk’, but this one looks more like city blocks surrounded by sidewalks than any of the other others. Besides I can’t keep calling it Half 16 Patch Sashing quilt. That name is too much of a mouthful.
I am making good progress. I have sewn the blocks together and am working on sewing them into pairs.
This top is taking forever and, again, I need the design wall space, so I’ll need to spend some time this weekend churning out half blocks.
That being said, I haven’t been a slacker. I have made some progress and the quilt top is coming together. I also like the way it looks, though it is a bit dark close up.
There was no way I can finish it to turn in tomorrow at Sew Day, but maybe I’ll be able to finish it for the meeting in a few weeks. Work sure does get in the way of sewing!
Well, I thought I had done more than I have actually done. Or that’s the way it feels.
Half 16 Patch Sashing top #1 – more progress
I put this quilt up on my large design wall and it turns out I have a whole bunch of sashing/blocks left to do.
I put the sashing/blocks along the outside so I could see the full extent of what I had. With so much white, the outside of the quilt melted away into the design wall.
It turns out that I have one full sashing/block on the machine, but I still need about 13. I have more than a week until I want to hand it in at the guild meeting.
It has an interesting look. I think when I make the next one I need to be more selective about the colors I choose. I need to have one color used as alternate patches in all the blocks.
I have made good progress on the Half 16 Patch Sashing Donation top. I used the 2.5 inch squares as leaders and enders as I worked on Old Town. It was getting too big for the small design wall and that helped to spur me on to get Old Town finished. I wanted to see this top on the large design wall. I feel like I am almost finished!
This quilt showed up at the guild meeting on Saturday. I didn’t make the top, but I think I made all of the blocks. I would have to look through all of my donation blocks posts. They all look like familiar fabrics.
I really like the turquoise with the blacks and whites.
Cyndi has been working on the donation top that she and Tim made when we had our Sew Day at her house.
She brought it to Sew Day last week so we all could see what she had done.
Cyndi’s donation quilt
OMG! She did a fantastic job quilting it. The improv grid is a perfect quilting design. The quilt came out so much better than any of us ever anticipated.
It really is made up of parts that Cyndi was going to toss. This is such a great outcome.
I made some effort to make some blocks this month, but spent most of my charity time on the Grey Improv donation quilt. I also started working on the sashing blocks for the quilt I saw at the Sonoma County Fair. I have about 3 half 16 patches done.
I finished the latest two Dogwood pouches the other evening. I really like the way they came out.
I was much more careful this time about fussy cutting, so the butterflies are whole. I did a good job on the Hindsight Dogwoods, but the print was much larger, so it was harder to select a part of the print.
Dogwood Pouches F & J – open
The lining is the same as the Butterfly Superbloom, which makes these part of a set.
I like the way the zipper is handled in this pouch. I might have to talk about that in the future.
These are the same sizes I made before. I wanted to make them again to cement the process in my mind. My printer is also acting like a jerk, so printing is iffy at best.
Dogwood Pouch F – front
Dogwood Pouch F – back
When I make pouches I always think about how I would use them. Pouch F is the larger one and would be great for chargers and other small electronics. I have several pouches in my work bag so I can keep things organized and think I would use this pouch for cords and chargers.
Dogwood Pouch J – front
Dogwood Pouch J – back
Pouch J is the small pouch and would be great for hand sanitizer and lip balm. I didn’t make these with vinyl on the inside so I have to think about keeping them clean. However, the pouches are washable, so that is a bonus.
I wash the pouch and bags I make in a lingerie bag to keep the handles and other pieces from getting into the workings of the washer. I have already washed all the fabric in hot water, so any temperature is ok. I recommend cold, but you can also wash them in hot.
Last year I went to the Sonoma County Fair with friends from Austria. They
2.5 inch square sashing quilt
have something similar in Austria, but it isn’t exactly the same. Of course, I visited the quilts and found one that I am going to try as a new design for a donation top.
I don’t know what to call this design and don’t know if it is actual pattern or not.
2.5 inch square sashing quilt – detail
The piecing is in the sashing and the blocks are plain. The maker of this quilt, Elysha Ozanian, did a great job making the sashing really stand out. I drew out the quilt and found that instead of making the normal guild donation block, I could make half of one and that would be the pieced part of the quilt. I tried to make a block out of the plain block and the pieced sashing, but it didn’t work, so I will just build the quilt using individual units of the small plain block, the large plain block and the pieced portion using chunking.
The units comprising one plain block, 4 small plain blocks and the pieced sections are over 14 inches. I am not quite sure how big I will make my version. Maybe 4 plain blocks wide with the sashing units on the outside? I’ll have to see.
This might be another option for the guild to make as a donation quilt design.
I have finally finished the Grey Improv donation top and back. It has taken awhile, though much of the time was it hanging on the design wall going nowhere.
I did a good job working through my odd sized grey scraps, which is the whole point of the exercise. I am even more convinced that improv works much better in a monochromatic palette. I think that a complementary color scheme would work as well. I haven’t tried that I think the quilt would end up being bed sized.
Grey Improv back
This quilt is about 45 in. x 45 in., which is on the large size for a baby quilt, but definitely kid sized. Also, in this color scheme I could imagine it working well for a boy.
The guild is changing the way they make pet beds. The pet beds filled with schnibbles have been hard to wash and some shelters and animal rescue sites refuse to take them. I can understand the problem with washing. I, however, produce a lot of schnibbles and want to put them to good use. Erin and Michelle found another project where schnibbles are packed into a cube and used as seating for children. I can now fill up a bag with schnibbles and the team will fill the cube, called cubies (pronounced cube-eez). Cyndi offered to get me one when she heads down to the shop that hosts the group who coordinates them.
We will still make pet beds, but will fill them with more batting and leftover polyfil batting and less schnibbles.
I cut out some more Dogwood pouches the other day. I am using the same sizes (F & J), mostly because I didn’t want to take the time to print more templates. The organization to whom I wanted to donate the set is having their luncheon soon and I wanted to make as many bags as possible. I have only the Superbloom and the Cotton Candy so far.
