Getting Started on Old Town

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.

Old Town clue #1 - cut
Old Town clue #1 – cut

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.

Progress on Ends n.20

Ends n.20 nearly finished
Ends n.20 nearly finished

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.

Ends n.20 where to cut
Ends n.20 where to cut

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.

Finished: Green Strips n.2

Finished: Green Strips #2
Finished: Green Strips #2

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?

Started Ends n.20 Donation Top

Ends n.20 start
Ends n.20 start

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.

November 2024 Donation Blocks

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.

Ends n.19 in Process

Ends n.19 in process
Ends n.19 in process

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.

New Donation Top: Ends n.19

Ends n.19 start
Ends n.19 start

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.

Finished: Rectangle Donation Quilt

Finished: Rectangle donation top
Finished: Rectangle donation top

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.

More Ribbon Friendship Stars

Ribbon Friendship Stars - second batch
Ribbon Friendship Stars – second batch

I said I would make a few additional Ribbon Friendship Stars to make up where someone bailed out. I was supposed to make another 5, but only had the fabric for another four. I hope that is good enough, though I can whip up one on the special Sew Day next week if we need an extra.

Rectangle Quilt Progress

Rectangle donation quilt - no borders
Rectangle donation quilt – no borders

I made good progress on my Rectangle quilt, though it does seem to be taking forever.

I am not sure why I am sewing so slowly, but I am. I plan to put a border on this one. I haven’t decided what kind of border or what color yet.

I like the idea of using larger scraps for this type of quilt. I might start collecting such shapes again as I come across larger scraps. It’s a good way to use them up.

Ribbon Friendship Stars

Ribbon Friendship Stars
Ribbon Friendship Stars

I made the blocks I promised to make for a group quilt. Most people are making 6 blocks, but I agreed to make more since I suggested making the quilt larger.

I am not a huge fan of the Friendship Star block in general. I like them smaller than 12 inches, which is why I made the Friendship Stars in Flying Around so small. I also like them better when combined in wreath format.

For this quilt, I liked the sentiment of the Friendship star and thought the addition of the ribbon (the green and the blue) was an interesting element. When I put all the blocks next to each other on the design wall, I though they looked great. It looks a little boring with just my blocks, but the group will use different red-violet fabrics for the centers and that will make the whole quilt more interesting.

These blocks are easy to make and would be great for a quilt for friends. I copied the design into EQ8 and created a pattern so you can make blocks for your friends, too. If you need a reminder of how to make Half Square Triangles, you use the Leah Day 2-at-a-time tutorial or my Triangle Technique (8-at-a-time HSTs) tutorial, if you are making a lot of blocks.

Julie is also making some of these blocks. She sewed a practice block, which I think is a good idea, even though I didn’t do it. She also has a great post about her process and the tools she used. I forgot about the Seams Easy marking tool, which I have, but always seem to forget about.

These are the blocks I agreed to make for the project, but I have more fabric, so I thought I would make more blocks so that the quilt can be bigger. We’ll see if I can get them done.

Rectangle Donation Top

Rectangle Donation Top
Rectangle Donation Top

I started this rectangle donation top informally awhile ago. I decided to clear off some of the lingering, half finished projects and this was one of them.

It was a collection of rectangles I had cut from larger scraps. I used the same 4.5 x 8.5 Creative Grids ruler** I use to trim my strip donation blocks.  As I cut them I pinned the rectangles randomly to my design wall. Over the weekend, I got myself together to organize them and the few additional cut the few additional pieces I needed.

For once I used the one fabric for the cornerstones. I had enough of one fabric and it had a lot of variety so I thought ‘why not?’

I am in the process of sewing, but it has been slow going. I’ll get there.

 

 

 

*N. B. : Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and support small businesses whenever possible. 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.

Finally Rest for the ‘Wicked’

Green scrap drawer - Oct 2024
Green scrap drawer – Oct 2024

Back in April I started cleaning out my green scrap drawer. While I didn’t work exclusively on this project, it was a constant companion. I made progress through the summer. Finally, I have cleaned out my green scraps as much as I can.  The pieces left, which I have sewn together, are not big enough to make anything, but will be the basis for a Journal Cover or the next Color Improv donation quilt.

Of course, this clean and clear state of affairs won’t last for long. As I work through other projects, this drawer will fill up again in a never ending cycle. It’s the nature of the beast, I guess.

The good part is that I made a few quilts, mostly from the scraps in this drawer, for people in the community. These aren’t super large quilts (approximately 40×40 inches), but there are still three of them. These three help me meet my goal of 12 donation tops for the year.

In another part of the never ending cycle, I need to decide which color is next. I might want to work with blue, for example, but really need to choose the drawer that is the fullest.

Finished: The Swamp Thing Top

Green Improv #2 (The Swamp Thing) top
Green Improv #2 (The Swamp Thing) top

I finished the Swamp Thing (Green Improv #2), which puts me close to 50 yards used (net). Yes, I have sewed quite a bit in the last 2.5 months. I am pleased.

It is mostly green, but very light. I thought it might be the photo I took, but I took a second one and I think it just looks light. As mentioned before, I seem to have a lot of light greens and yellow greens.

This is finished which means it is time to select another color.