Commentary about works in progress, design & creativity
I was able to finish this quilt on the 29th. I was happy to get it finished before the New Year.
I probably should have put another border on it, but I was just too lazy. I think it is big enough without one. It just doesn’t look quite finished.
I realize that most of these are black or light grey. This is a result of working through my black, grey and brown scrap bin.
Unfortunately, I was being odd when I first started naming these blocks and so they are all called Dark Grey…. I will probably end up making, at least, two quilts out of the blocks you see. I think I will make a light grey and a black quilt, but it depends on how much light grey I have. The drawer was full when I started and I still have quite a few scraps, though most of the straight strips have been used.
I was able to make so many because I used a strip piecing method and just zoomed them through the machine. I also didn’t have to worry about matching any seams since I trimmed them to the right size once I had a large enough piece.
I have been busy making these blocks. I should have been doing other things, but I wasn’t. I just sewed after work, then sat with my DH.
As you can see, I have enough to make a quilt. I am going to start sewing the sashing on soon.
I am thinking of using pink cornerstones and a thin pink border. I like the black and pink color combination. The problem is that this would be a great boy quilt and pink would ruin that. Red might be a good alternative. I’ll have to see.
I still have more strips and am still working on making the grey blocks. My black/grey/brown scrap draw isn’t empty, but it is much emptier. That is a huge bonus as I can actually close it now.
I finished enough blocks since I last posted on Saturday to look at this top as a rectangle.
One thing I noticed when I was looking at the last donation top I made was that the blue top was a weird shape and I had to adjust it with a border. In this case, the number and arrangement of blocks I have made are the same as that blue strip top. I don’t want to end up with a weirdly shaped quilt, so I need to figure out if I have enough strips to make 5 more blocks of if I should put the top row on the side and save one block for another rainbow version?
I am sure you can imagine that I was super careful when sewing this project back together. After all the ripping I had to do, I hope I learned my lesson.
It didn’t take me very long to sew the top together, but it would have taken me less time if I had paid better attention the first time.
It is now off with Laura the quilter.
This quilt was returned to the guild’s community quilts project at last month’s meeting by Lee Ann. She named it ‘Leftovers’ after I told her the story of the three food quilts and how I make the Ends quilts.
I am really pleased that a number of my quilt tops have been finished recently.
I am getting to the part of the year where I cannot show all of my progress on various projects. It simply means I need more time to sew! Here are some donation blocks for this month. I might make another QST 16 Patch quilt with some of these. On the other hand, I have an overflowing black scrap drawer that needs some attention, so I am back to making more color strip blocks in blacks and greys.
I am trying to organize the patches in the gallery above so they don’t look as random and weird.
Stay tuned
I did a lot of ripping last week and the result is that I can resew the QST 16 patch #2.
I had to rip more than I originally thought. Here is the layout I will use. The stripes are all going in the correct direction and the secondary pattern is in order.
I sewed this top together quickly the other night. I thought I was being super careful to keep everything in the right place.
WRONG!
Not only did I mess up the dark and light triangles, but I also put blocks with the stripes going in the wrong direction in the wrong place. I can live with the stripes, but I have to fix the secondary pattern.
Yes, I’ll be ripping.
I don’t normally transport quilts for the guild, but I am this week. Claire is out of town and I agreed to collect the quilts. There are about 30 quilts and the bag on the right is super heavy. I needed the wagon to bring them to the meeting.
I decided that 2-in-1 Cases would be great to use for the gifts going to the guild officers. I am, once again, in charge of organizing that effort. I think it is important to thank the officers, but I seem to be one of the few who wants to organize the effort. Sue and Carrie are helping, which is great. they are sensible friends who offer excellent advice.
In the past I have made large bags and then had people make small gifts to fill the bags. I didn’t have time for that this year, so I am gathering cash and gift cards. I needed something to hold cards and gifts and the 2-in-1 cases are the thing. They are useful for sewing supplies, but also the right size for cards and gift cards. I am gathering quite a hoard, so I hope they are large enough.
This strategy also means I do not have to cajole people into making large bags or small gift items. I was prepared to make all of these 2-in-1 cases, but a few people volunteered. I was very grateful for the others efforts. I am making one, as you see.
I had to take a break for some seam ripping on the Kit Supply Tote and do some handwork on the other bags I worked on over the weekend. That meant I was able to start sewing this bag. I cut it out at Sew Day earlier this month. It is going together much more quickly than the first ones.
One of the things I did was try a magnetic snap, which is recommended in the pattern. These are different than the other snaps, installed with a Snap Setter, that I used before.
Except for being quite large, I think the magnetic snap came out pretty well. The instructions in the book for installing it were a little vague, but I used some pliers to bend the arms of the snap down. That worked for me.
Here is the second of my new series, apparently. More orange, though i didn’t have quite enough and had to use some pink blocks. We’ll see if they stay.
I hope to have this done for the meeting on Saturday.
Carrie is having fun making door prize collections.
This one has a picnic theme, which I think is very clever. She is using some contributions from other team members, such as an interesting pouch that Tim made. The basket is from Amazon**, but there free patterns* for rope baskets, too. They are a good project for using up fabric scraps.
*N.B. I haven’t tried this pattern so your mileage may vary.
**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.
The big question is whether I will make another QST 16 patch donation quilt with these blocks? Of course, I can’t make much with so few blocks, but hope springs eternal.
Stay tuned for the answer!
Perhaps I subconsciously made Halloween themed blocks this month?
Mary and I talk about bags all the time, which is super fun. I was pleased and surprised to see that she was working on various projects for the guild Door Prize team.
First, she is making a couple of bags from Aneela Hoey’s Stitched Sewing Organizers** book. I reviewed this book a few years ago. I also made the 2-in-1 Case from the book.
She wanted to change some of the fabrics after she already started the Fold-up Sewing Folio, so that project is in a bag like the I Spy pouch waiting for another day. I am not sure of the designer or the name for the I Spy-like pouch. This will be a set.
She is also working on the Book and Tool Folio. I love the fabric she chose for this pouch. I think Mary’s choice of the flower fabric paired with some tone-on-tones. It is a great combination of fabric.
I feel like I should try the Book and Tool Folio now. Mary is fearless when it comes to making bags. She just tries and works through the challenges. I am impressed and inspired.