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.
I am behind on Bonnie Hunter’s Old Town Mystery Quilt, but trying not to stress. I thought I would get more done at Sew Day than I did. As much as I love Sew Days, it isn’t a good environment when I am trying to concentrate. I am also trying to remind myself there is a LOT of piecing in Bonnie Hunter Mystery quilts and I’ll get there.
Friend Julie has made really good progress. Pam is, of course, up to date.
I did sit down on Saturday and Sunday and really work on various pieces. I decided to focus on Clue 1, so I could at least say that I was finished with one clue.
I am making progress on the Flying Geese, though I haven’t made many. One thing I had to do was figure out what pieces and parts I needed to make a set of four Flying Geese. That took a little time. I really got going once I reacquainted myself with the steps. It was helpful that I had already cut the pieces I needed. The picture above is my progress on Saturday. I had other stuff I needed to do, like make gift bags, so I couldn’t focus on this project all day.
I pressed some of the strips sets for Clue #2 that I made at Sew Day and was able to make a few of the Four Patches.
Hooray for progress.
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.
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.
There were 34 people at the Sew Day/Meeting the other day, which is some kind of record. I am not sure what generated the interest, but I am glad so many people came. We have four new members and they came, too.
The swap was really successful. I was amazed that almost 20 people participated!
Some were wrapped and some weren’t. Mine was very popular and got stolen twice. It finally ended up with the guild president.
People did nice work, too.
I chose a pouch made by SueG. It matches the Poolside tote I was gifted by Angela a few years ago.
I worked hard at posting different patterns on our member forum and trying to generate interest. I guess it worked!
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.
Old Town is the latest Bonnie Hunter Winter Mystery Quilt. In case you don’t know, you need to grab the directions while you can, because she takes them down sometime in February. You aren’t out of luck as Bonnie, later, makes the patterns available for sale.
I have done Frolic! and En Provence. I have the directions for many more, but haven’t quite gotten around to them. Bonnie’s directions are amazing and both of my quilts have come out very well.
Right now, the group is in week three or four. I did not get started until after the second clue had been posted. Instead of my usual practice of saving all the clues and deciding whether to start sewing later, I just started on Old Town. I didn’t have a quilt going, though I needed and wanted to start on the Sad Quilt. Also, I had posted the information about the mystery quilt on the guild site and thought I might need to sew a long as well. The colors Bonnie posted appealed even though I know I can choose whatever colors I want. It is easier when I like the colors she chooses.
I did make a small change in the colors. I am using pink instead of red. Why not? I like pink and I am acknowledging that I do.
Friend Julie had a good idea to try out all the different techniques Bonnie Hunter provides in the directions. She shows at least two methods of construction of the units in each clue. These Mystery Quilts are a great way to practice different techniques, try out different tools and get practice on accuracy in the process.
Anyway, I thought I would try out the different techniques as well. Then I panicked when the second clue was posted and I was lounging around in the sun on vacation. I cut up a bunch of squares to make Flying Geese using the Wing Clipper** and just went with it.
**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.
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.
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.
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.