Tag: Group project

Finished: Blue Strip #3 Donation Top

Blue Strip #3 Donation Top
Blue Strip #3 Donation Top

I finished the Blue Strip #3 donation top and back in the nick of time to take to Sew Day on Saturday.

As I mentioned, it was a weird shape, so I made an effort to widen it by making the side border strips larger than the top and bottom border strips.

It is still very much more rectangular than square, but more of a bed shape than a weird shape.

I’ll have to work on a blue color improv quilt like the others as I still have quite a few blue scraps. They seem to multiply when I am not looking. LOL!

Peggy, as usual, was very complimentary and happy to receive it. I plan to make another one using greys or blacks or both. The scrap drawer with greys, blacks and browns is very full.

More Julie Pantone Blocks

Pantone Project blocks from Julie April 2023
Pantone Project blocks from Julie April 2023

After the meeting on the weekend, I cleaned out the Chubby Charmer I take to the meeting and found a bunch of stuff leftover from Retreat in the bottom. Among the items was a bunch of Pantone Project blocks that Julie made. She must have handed them over at the Retreat.

This group looks very Fallish/Autumn-like to me.

I feel terrible that they have languished unremarked upon for weeks. My only explanation is that I left for a business trip only a few days after I returned from the Retreat and really didn’t do a great job of putting everything away.

I have some fabrics chosen for some blocks for Julie and I am determined to get some done.

Color Strip Donation Blocks Ready

Color Strip blocks laid out
Color Strip blocks laid out

I am ready to put the Blue Color Strip blocks together. I have made all the blocks and laid them out on my small design wall, ready to sew. I hope to get the quilt ready to hand in on Sew Day in July.

I looked at the previous quilts and didn’t want to do the same thing, but also am not up for a lot of fancy piecing.

It came to me in a flash to add some pink cornerstones!!

Spiky 16 Patch #5 Ready for Quilting

Spiky 16 Patch #5 with border
Spiky 16 Patch #5 with border

I put the border on this quilt and made the back so it is ready for quilting now. I’ll be able to take it to the meeting on Saturday and hand it in.

It isn’t very exciting, but finished is better than perfect. I think the important thing is that I uncovered my sewing machine again and am sewing.

Spiky 16 Patch #5 back finished
Spiky 16 Patch #5 back finished

I used up some fabric for the back as well.

More Pantone Selections

Pantone 142 + fabric selection
Pantone 142 + fabric selection

I have decided (today) that waiting for a chunk of time to select fabrics for the Pantone Project isn’t getting selections made, which means I cannot make blocks for Julie. I think that if I select even one fabric I am much closer to handing more blocks over.

I am pretty pleased with the yellow selection. I know it doesn’t look exact int he picture, but the card is more of the same color in real life.

Pantone 152ish + fabric selection
Pantone 152ish + fabric selection

Last week, on my lunch hours, I selected one or two fabrics. This orange is also a better match in person.

Julie and I both acknowledge that this is more challenging than we thought it would be.  Still, I think doing it in small chunks is worth a try. I hope I can make some progress using this strategy.

Julie and I meant to go over her technique for foundation paper piecing and we didn’t get around to it. That lack gives me a reason to get together with her soon.

Pantone Blossom and Coral Haze + fabric
Pantone Blossom and Coral Haze + fabric

These two are pretty similar. I remembered this peachy fabric, but had to get it out to see which one works better. I think I will use this fabric for the Coral Haze and find something else for the Blossom.

Rainbow Strip #2 Donation Top Started

I started, sort of, the next Rainbow Strip donation top. I finished the first one in September of last year. Mostly what this means is that when I am delving into a scrap bin and come up with strips, I make a Color Strip block from it.

Recently I have been making blue strip blocks and I have a lot of them. I think I will have to make a blue Color Strip donation top.

I don’t know if I will use all of these since 6 is a lot of any one color. We’ll see.

This group adds to the yellow, green, grey and pink blocks I already have.

Finished Orange You Glad

Finished: Orange You Glad
Finished: Orange You Glad

I finally finished Orange You Glad’s sleeve. It took forever considering I got the quilt back from Colleen in February.  The real problem was that I put off making the sleeve for awhile. I know I should have made when I finished the quilt, but I didn’t.

This quilt doesn’t look square, but apparently it is. It is 63×63 inches.

I am pleased to have another finish.

March Donation Blocks

I was really pleased to see a bunch of quilts that Peggy made for donations at the meeting the other day. She called them her “Jaye collection”, which I thought was very kind. I was confused until she talked about how she made them out of bits and pieces I sent to her. I sent her a couple of stacks of HSTs during the pandemic as well as many 16 patch blocks and she turned all of them into great quilts.

I made a bunch of donation blocks this month. Some are 16 patches and some are the pink strip blocks. As a result I am feeling better about my contributions to the guild.

Pink Strips Together

Pink Strip donation top with borders
Pink Strip donation top with borders

I moved all the blocks to my larger design wall after Who Am I? went into the ‘to be quilted’ bag. While I was little lazy about walking across the room to use the donation blocks for leaders and enders, I finally put the quilt top together and put the borders on.

I got inspiration from the Red Strip donation top I made a few years ago. I really liked the cornerstones and the way the white sashing separated the blocks so viewers could see each one distinctly.

This one is larger than the Red version. I did end up adding a column to the quilt, but I still think it is a weird shape. I didn’t do any of the ratio math I suggest my students do to make their quilts the right shape. I plan to put more borders on, so maybe I will make the vertical borders a little wider than the top and bottom borders.

So far so good and I am on track to bring it to Sew Day or the next meeting.

Finished: BAMaQG IRR

Finished: BAMQG IRR
Finished: BAMQG IRR

I finished another old project. As mentioned, I started this project in 2015, so it is only eight years old. Still, old enough to get on my nerves.

Someone compared my dislike of UFOs to someone I really don’t like who has no UFOs. That annoyed me, because I don’t think I am like her at all. I just don’t find that **my** projects improve by sitting around. I can’t imagine never having any UFOs, but I think they will be projects for which I have cut fabric, but not started sewing. Once I start sewing, it is pretty easy to continue.

Finished: BAMQG IRR (back)
Finished: BAMQG IRR (back)

I zoomed through the binding on this quilt. Using good fabric really helps. I was pleased I remembered not to use a batik in the binding! I didn’t expect to finish it so quickly, but it went really fast.

 

Quilts Return: BAMQG IRR

BAMQG IRR; quilted
BAMQG IRR; quilted

This is another quilt that I had returned to me for finishing. This has been a long time in coming. The start of the project was in 2015! I know Rhonda, who was also in my group, was working on hers recently as well.

I probably won’t keep this one, but for the moment I don’t have a recipient. I’ll need to check my Niece-phews list and see if it would be appropriate for anyone on it. I have an idea, but would need to make another for a sibling.

BAMQG IRR back
BAMQG IRR back

I remember my excitement at using the Queen Street fabric in this quilt. I think the solid turquoise dominates more that Queen Street, though the Philip Jacobs shell fabric is no slouch either.

Queen Street really shines on the back. You can see all the prints, but they aren’t highlighted by piecing.

More binding!

New Pantone Project Blocks

Pantone Project Blocks - January 2023
Pantone Project Blocks – January 2023

I received some more blocks from Julie a week or so ago.

These are the result of the postcards I sent to her. It is interesting to think about the choices I made and the result that I see in the blocks Julie made.

I can’t imagine how the blocks the blocks will come together as a whole but I am excited to see how they come together.

I have not made any other blocks since my last batch. I need to get one that.

First Finish 2023: Friendship Star

Finishing a donation quilt first in the year has to be good karma, right?

Friendship Star donation top
Friendship Star donation top

I had been saving some 16 patches to make a donation quilt and decided that New Year’s Day was the day. I combined the 16 patches with pieced sashing and cornerstones from an article in Today’s Quilter issue 91. The information was in the Essential Guides sections, which is great for tuning up your skills.

I wanted to try the technique out, so I took out those donation blocks and got to work. I, mostly, used up some Pure Elements Linen for the sashing background and used a solid for the cornerstones and the back.

It felt so good just to do some easy piecing and I am pleased to have a donation quilt to bring to Sew Day next week.

New Pantone Project Blocks

Pantone Project Blocks - November 2022
Pantone Project Blocks – November 2022

I received a nice package of blocks from Friend Julie the other day. It is so interesting to see these blocks. Julie mentioned that it looked like a real project now when she posted about the blocks I sent to her last week.

I can’t really see what they will end up looking like, but I can see that they will end up as something. I can see the possibilities now.

I have received more postcards and need to match them to fabric. I might be over the hump of fabric selection being a big barrier. We’ll see how it goes with the next group.