Tag: Improv

Blue Strips #2 Sashing

Work has been busy and I am tired at the end of the day, so sewing has not been going as quickly as I would like. To add to the drama, the SD card in my phone failed, so I lost a ton of photos. It’s my own fault for not backing them up, but it still means a few posts I had in mind can’t happen. There is some hope that one of my nephews will be able to resurrect it, but we will have to see. Thus, my blog is being slightly neglected. I don’t want to post junk, so there may be some skips.

Blue Strips #2 sashing continues
Blue Strips #2 sashing continues

I am working hard on this next donation top. It is not as satisfying to finish these tops since I can’t really show them at meetings. Still, I am motivated enough to clear out scraps to continue making them, so I continue.

As I said before my blue scrap drawer is still pretty packed so I wonder how many blue scrap quilts I will make. This is the second with this type of block. The first had a yellow border and yellow sashing, so it has a very different look. After I finish this one, you will be able to compare the two on the page where I am posting them all.

I have some quilts to send to one of the members to be quilted and I plan to send this one along with that group. I’d like to send everything on Tuesday, so we will see if I can finish this piece by then.

Blue Strips #2 Donation Top Sashing

Blue Strips #2 top with some Sashing
Blue Strips #2 top with some Sashing

I cut up the fabric I found the other day into sashing strips and had been waiting for some miracle to sew them together. I found another piece of a similar colored batik and was able to move forward yesterday. I sewed sashing pieces to the tops of all of the blocks and am now sewing the blocks together into rows. I am not adding corner stones so I am not chunking.

Blue Strip #2 Donation Blocks

Blue Color Strip #2 Donation Blocks
Blue Color Strip #2 Donation Blocks

By piecing FOTY 2018 together I was able to get the blocks for my next blue color strip donation quilt finished.

I know I have used a large portion of blue scraps, but I still have a full blue scrap drawer.  A lot of them are small or not strips, so I will be making a blue improv version next, though I still have to sash this one. I used yellow for the last one, which was unique. I am thinking about white, but that might be too conventional or too boring. I haven’t started cutting sashing, because I don’t know what to use.

Finished: Improv Donation Top

White Improv Top
White Improv Top

I finally finished this top to the point where I felt good about handing it in. I was rather sick of it, but I also have enough pride not to donation a too-small top.

That is all I handed in. I just provided the top and will let Peggy find backing and batting. I know I could have gotten a bigger hit on my Fabric Used spreadsheet, but I wanted to move on.

I haven’t started anything new for donation, but I will soon. It will be either blue or pink. Both drawers are overflowing. I don’t feel like I made much progress emptying the white drawer, though the White Strip Donation top and this one clearly used up fabric. Since I have more white to use, I could combine it with some of the blues. I know I have more than enough blue scraps to make more than two quilts. Combining some blues with whites will spread the use of blue and make for an interesting variation.

Community Quilt Bonanza

Cheryl agreed to help me with a few projects, so the other day I received a large-ish box from her. At first I didn’t realize it was from Cheryl as it seems like boxes are arriving at our house 3 times a day. The YM is sending stuff here, DH and I plus gifts from out of town relatives are also being sent here. It’s crazy.

Anyway.

In addition to stuff from the project on which we are working, were three community quilts.

She asked me to bring them to the meeting in January. I am happy to do so, especially since that means I will have something to show! HA!

Clearly #2 and #3 are related. Also, #1 and #2 are in the same format as the Color Group Donation Quilt I worked a few years ago. I can’t say whether she was inspired by (or even remembered or saw) that quilt. It isn’t as thought that layout is novel in Modern Quiltmaking circles.

So, these will be the first three quilt tops for the 2020 BAM Community Quilt Project. YAY!!

 

White Improv Donation Quilt Progress

White Improv - November 2019
White Improv – November 2019

I have been making some progress on the White Improv piece. I am not working as fast as I would like.

It is looking good, I think, different than the others, but interesting in its own way.

The pieces I have in my scrap drawer are a trial, however. There are many, many pieces of great fabric in stupid lengths. They seem to always be wrong. I am making it work, though.

White Improv Progresses

White Improv Donation Top - November 2019
White Improv Donation Top – November 2019

Now that I finished the White Strip Donation Top, I can work on the White Improv Donation Top in earnest.

I spent time on it this past weekend and the slabs are getting bigger.Except for the middle, the piece is still very much in process. The strips I have are very uniform in size and I feel like the other pieces are all triangles, so this isn’t an easy piece to put together.

There is a large-ish slab in the bottom of the drawer and I don’t know if I will make a journal cover or if I will use it in this piece.

White Donation Strip Quilt Progresses

White Strip Donation Quilts - November 2019
White Strip Donation Quilts – November 2019

It is a slow process, but I am making progress. I have all the sashing cut and placed. I have also started to sew the sashing to the blocks.

It is hard to see because of the color, but I think you can make out the blocks.

 

White Improv Donation Quilt

White Improv Donation Quilt start
White Improv Donation Quilt start

No, I am not finished with the White Improv Strip Donation quilt, but I needed some leaders and enders, so I started sewing bits of white fabrics together to start the improv version in my series.

Some of the bits were not used for the strip blocks and some were long enough to be added as the shard grew.

Orange Improv Donation Top Finished

Orange Improv Donation Top Finished
Orange Improv Donation Top Finished

Yes, I sewed the last piece (bottom row??) to the top and it is done. I need to make a back, but I haven’t done it yet. The top is 41 in x 43 in, slightly smaller than the others,  but in the range.

The funny thing is that I have, perhaps, 5 orange scraps left and they are super tiny shards. I might as well just toss them out.

Even More Orange Improv

Orange Improv - September 3, 2019
Orange Improv – September 3, 2019

When I do a lot of work on Flying Around, a lot of work gets done on donation quilts or other projects. You already know that this Orange Improv quilt is currently on my small design wall as my leaders and enders project. I made a lot of progress over the weekend.

The size is about 34″x34″ right now. I like to make these quilts about 45×45, but I am really running out of orange scraps. I have 3 large, marginally orange at best, scraps left in my scrap drawer and a handful of scraps that SIL #2 gave me on Craft Night.

Orange Improv Donation Top Progresses

Orange Improv - Late August 2019
Orange Improv – Late August 2019

I mentioned the Orange Improv donation top yesterday and realized it had been awhile since I showed it. I just finished adding a major piece, so it was time to post it again.

It is progressing. The orange scraps in my drawer are significantly fewer than before. I have some large-ish pieces and am wondering if I should add them as is or cut them up. I like the look of the piece now, which is mainly small pieces.

More Orange Improv

Orange Improv Donation top in process
Orange Improv Donation top in process

Over the weekend, I worked on Flying Around and on the Orange Improv donation top. I am pleased with how the Orange Improv top is looking.

I am trying not to insert big strips in as I didnt’ like the effect with the Purple Improv Donation top. I am inserting bits of strips in. I don’t think the ones I have added take the focus away from any other part.