Tag: Doing Good

More Red Improv

Red Improv Donation Top - end of May 2019
Red Improv Donation Top – end of May 2019

I spent a couple of days working on the Red Improv donation top in between the Chubby Charmer and other projects. I am getting towards the end (perhaps one more row along the bottom?), but making the rows takes time, because they are made from small bits of fabric that have to be sewn into larger pieces.

I have done a good job clearing out the red scrap drawer. There is definitely a lot less left. I do have a couple of pieces that were already sewn together that I may not use in this piece. I am thinking about cutting some blocks out of it and making a multi-colored donation top when I am done with all the colors.

Red Chunk Donation Top

Red Chunk donation top
Red Chunk donation top

I finished the Red Chunk Donation Top and back on Monday morning. Hooray!

I am pleased with how it came out. I thought the border was rather perfect. I would have preferred to have enough fabric, so I didn’t have to have different corners, but it looks nice, so it is all good.

Another top for the BAM Community Quilt Project and another 3 yards used up this year.

Three Strip Donation Quilts

I wanted to look at these three quilts together. I can’t actually see them since I don’t have them anymore. I am interested in the differences in these tops as well as the similarities.

These tops display one reason why I love quiltmaking so much. Essentially, these are the same pattern. They, however, look very different. They don’t look so different that you can’t tell they are the same pattern, but they still look different enough for the viewer not to be bored.

 

Another Blast from the Past

It seems like my donation quilts are coming back from the past. For me, once I give the top and back to someone else to quilt and bind, I am done with them and don’t really think about them anymore. Last week Kelly contacted me about a donation quilt and now another crops up.

Food Donation Quilt
Food Donation Quilt

The guild meeting was last Saturday and Cyndi was sitting near me. Peeking out of her bag was a quilt with some food fabric in it. I thought to myself, Oh! I used that fabric in the Food Quilts. It turned out Cyndi had finished a food donation quilt that I made in 2016. I didn’t even remember making it, but I looked it up and, yep, there it was. I know I made it to use up the fabric from the three food quilts.

Red Improv Donation Top Progresses

Red Improv Donation Top, mid-May
Red Improv Donation Top, mid-May

I spent a happy afternoon on Sunday working on the Flying Geese Exchange quilt and the Red Improv Donation Top. The latter has exploded in size from the small piece it was when I last wrote about it to about 30 inches now.

I am thrilled to say that I am seeing the bottom of the red scrap drawer, too!

I used this project as leaders and enders for the Flying Geese Exchange. I wanted to concentrate on that one, but can’t work on it without leaders and enders.

Red Strip Donation Blocks

Yes! It’s all about red lately!

Red Strip Donation Blocks
Red Strip Donation Blocks

I finally finished all of the blocks for the second Red Strip Donation Top. As mentioned before, not all of these scraps were strips, like in the Green Strip Donation Top. There are a lot of chunks. Perhaps I should call it the Red Chunk Donation top? That would differentiate it from the first one.

One of the things I like about working on a design wall is that I see different things after I put the blocks (or pieces) up. In this case, I saw that the quilt looked pretty good with thin white strips in between the blocks. I may cut strips and try that as a layout. I’d use cornerstones as well. More scraps to use up.

The quilt won’t end up as large as the Green Strip, the Purple Strip or the first Red Strip Donation quilts, but it will still be big enough for something. The layout will be a little different than the first red version.

New Red Improv Donation Top

Start of Red Improv Donation Top
Start of Red Improv Donation Top

I am still working on the second Red Strip Donation Top, but I needed a leaders and enders project, so I started on the red improv version of my series. Yes, I have a lot of red scraps.

This doesn’t look like much. I hope it will look like the center of the green improv donation top when I am finished. I haven’t taken out any yardage yet. I have some large strips in the drawer and am using those before I dig into yardage.

I want to use as many of the scraps as I can. Strangely, I am fascinated by how much I can make from a drawer full of scraps. I haven’t yet made anything with  just the scraps. I always add yardage, but I am still making my way through the scraps.

Donation Blast from the Past

Black & Grey Teenaged Boy Donation Quilt - quilted
Black & Grey Teenaged Boy Donation Quilt – quilted

I was surprised to get an email from Kelly about one of my quilts. I had no idea she had the quilt or intended to quilt it. I finished this quilt in 2015 and figured it was off keeping someone warm all these years.

Kelly has quilted the Black & Grey Teenaged Boy Donation quilt.It looks like she did a basic all over meander. I am used to more complicated quilting, working with Tim and Colleen, but I am sure whoever gets the quilt will enjoy with simple or complex quilting.

Kelly will bind it, then she will donate it to a UK charity that takes such things.

Heading to the Finish Line

24 Red Strip donation blocks for second red quilt
24 Red Strip donation blocks for second red quilt

I am heading to the finish line making blocks for the second Red Strip Donation Quilt, but it is painful. The other day I had 7 left to make and I still have 1 left to finish. It is almost done. Maddeningly, it needs a very small strip on the top or bottom to make it the right size. ERGH!

I thought I would be able to finish by the meeting, but I doubt it now. Fortunately, there is no deadline except in my head.

Finished: Red Strip Donation Top

Red Strip Donation Top- Finished
Red Strip Donation Top- Finished

I finally finished the first red strip donation top. I say first because I am well into making the blocks for a second. I have a lot of red scraps. I haven’t even started the improv red scrap quilt yet. So many donation quilts to make!

I used a variety of Bonnie & Camille aquas for the background. My choice of border looks fine, but I was going for a fabric that would blend in more with the background. I didn’t have enough of the others left. Still, someone will like it.

It is fun to be making this series. I enjoy reducing my scraps, but I also enjoy seeing how the same pattern looks in different versions.

New Red Donation Quilt

New Red Donation blocks
New Red Donation blocks

I am nearly finished with the first Red Strip Donation Quilt, but started blocks for a new one anyway. I am still trying to use up red scraps.

I have pretty much decimated my stash of red strips, which is why the new blocks won’t all be made from strips as the others have been. I also find that there is also no point in doing something I have already done. I know I make the same patterns over and over, but somehow I feel like this change is needed.

Red Strip Top – Ready Set

Red Strip Donation Blocks - ready to set
Red Strip Donation Blocks – ready to set

I worked very hard on the red strip blocks and have as many as I need for a quilt. They are on the wall and ready to set.

I am pleased with how they look and am thinking of setting them with aqua or turquoise.  I have also started in on making some new blocks for the Red Strip n.2. As I said before, there is no appreciable diminishment of red scraps.

The meeting in on Saturday and I may be able to finish the top by then. We’ll see.

Bonnie & Camille Donation Top/Back (Ends n.8)

Sewing on Tim's machine
Sewing on Tim’s machine

I spent the day sewing with Tim yesterday. I went over to his house, so he wouldn’t have to crate his dogs all day.

I didn’t bring my machine, which was really nice! Tim has a couple of machines, one similar to my Janome 6600 and I used that one all day. He worked on an old Kenmore – not THAT old, maybe early 2000s. Despite the sort of tight space, we worked together very well.

 

Ends n.8 - Bonnie & Camille
Ends n.8 – Bonnie & Camille

I had some Bonnie & Camille ‘ends’ from the Stepping Stones n.2 quilt, I think, that were bugging me, so I took them plus my Bonnie & Camille fabric and made that my project. I brought other projects as well so I would have enough to work on, but only got this piece done.

Ends n.8 (Bonnie & Camille)
Ends n.8 (Bonnie & Camille)

Tim said he would quilt it and wanted me to make a back. He prefers plain backs, so looked for some wideback fabric in his collection before we decided I should make the back.

In the course of assembling all the supplies for this quilt, I realized how much Bonnie & Camille fabric I have. I am pretty much done with it, so if you want yardage or charm packs of some of the older collections, let me know and I’ll tell you what I have. Contact information is on the About page.

New Red Strip Donation Quilt

Red Strip Donation Blocks
Red Strip Donation Blocks

So, this is the third in my strip quilt donation series after the Green Strip and the Purple Strip. Apparently, I am creating a series, though I am really just cleaning out my scrap drawers.

I worked on this Sunday as leaders and enders as I worked on the Fabric of the Year 2017 top. I made good progress on both. I am about 4 blocks away from having enough blocks to finish up this top. The sad part is that there is no appreciable lessening of my red scrap drawer.

I also forgot to take photos of the blocks as I finished them, so now I need to go back and figure out which ones are new.