Next time I do this (and I have a lot of fabric that I can cut up), I think I will make a light colored side and a dark colored side. I have a very large piece that is made up of mostly fabrics with a lot of white in them. I will also probably cut it into 4 1/2 wide strips and make one of my "go to" baby quilt patterns with on point four patches alternating with the strips.
Saturday, July 2, 2022
More Finds!
Friday, July 1, 2022
Finishing Up the Fat Quarters!
Tuesday, June 21, 2022
You Win Some, You Lose Some...
For some reason, I don't have a picture of all the blocks done for this quilt top!! This is using the strips I cut up a few days ago. I decided to look at the quilts I had done (in Pinterest) and pick some that would look good with these strips which I was not overly fond of!! This top turned out much better than I expected and looked a little like a "modern quilt" when done! I still had a big pile of strips and decided that I would do the "tumbling blocks" quilt that I had done before with the smaller block inside the bigger block. I took out what I thought was a 60 degree ruler to do these. I cut all the triangles in the six different configurations that are required for this quilt!
It appeared that the ruler I used was something other than 60 degrees. I pulled out a 60 degree diamond ruler that I had and laid it on top of the supposed 60 degree ruler.
This is the ruler I used. I found out on the internet that it supposed to be used to make "peaky and spikey" blocks which for some reason don't use a 60 degree ruler but something like 55 1/2. When I make those type of blocks which I do frequently in my house quilts, I just use a plain old 60 degree ruler (unfortunately my good one is at the beach) and the blocks come out just fine so don't see the need for this "specialized" ruler which will go on a free table!My biggest problem is that I can't seem to find any fabric in my stash to match these colors but I will look further as I do need to do some borders and binding!
Thursday, June 16, 2022
Quilt as You Go Quilt is Done!
My method was modified a bit for putting the rest of the rows together for this quilt. I had already decided to add another 1/8 of an inch to the back sashing but it was still not quite getting all the stitches to fall outside the sashing on the front. I finally decided that when I sew down the first piece of the sashing on front with the folded piece in the back, that I will make that first seam very slightly less than 1/4 inch -- more like 7/32, just a 1/32 of an inch less than 1/4. I also decided that ironing that back piece of sashing in half made things go easier as well. Before I was just finger pressing. Attaching the front sashing on the adjoining piece, I still go with the full 1/4 inch. When I make that final stitching down of the back sashing, I pull it so that it no longer sits on the bump (the seam on front) and sew it down. It takes some concentration but it really worked almost 100 per cent of the time. It is also important to line up those vertical pieces of sashing when sewing the horizontal seams which I missed on a couple of rows but too much fussy stitching to take out and do again!
It really went together very quickly once I got going and it is nice to not have to baste and machine quilt. I would definitely make larger blocks if I was doing it again however but that will have to wait until I get south where those bags of strips reside. If I never see these particular strips again, it will be too soon!!
Just a Short Post to Show the Finished Quilt
This photo shows a bunch of 2 1/2 strips I cut from this random fabric I found while doing the above destashing. It was all fat quarters and in this
This is our neighborhood doe named Eloise. She noshes frequently right across the street when the neighbors are quiet. Both husband and I think she is pregnant so hopefully we will see the fawn in the future. Our next door neighbor is not a fan (although he named her) as she devours his roses and other veggies he grows!
Sunday, June 5, 2022
Trying Something New - Quilt as You Go Technique
This is the end of Day 4 and all the blocks are done and the quilt will measure 42 x 42 as the sashing will not add to the width or length and I am not adding borders. I got the timing of the blocks down to about 9 minutes each.
The sad part is that the pile of strips looks as big as it did when I started which just confirms that those scraps breed at night when the lights are off!
If I ever do this kind of quilting again, I will do much much larger blocks which I think would be more time effective. These blocks are 7 x 7 which is the size of my potholders.
Friday, May 27, 2022
Last Day of Quilt Show Pictures (I Think)!
Unfortunately I don't know who did this wonderful Pelican. I have seen this pose by pelicans many many times at the beach!
Another one by Jean McCready!Another one by Antonia Herring.This was one of my entries into the quilt show -- Great Egret.
These were both made using the stack and whack technique with panels.
It will probably be a few days before i get back to some quilting as I am trying to gather "stuff" to sell at quilt club including a lot of hand dyes and books. I have already gathered up a mountain of things to donate to Afghani refugee women here in Rochester and so have several empty plastic sets of drawers. You can almost see my sewing room floor and sewing table again! Next on the agenda is more pot holders for my youngest daughter!