Found More of the Charity Quilts +

 

These were all neonatial quilts.  This one was haxagons and probably for a girl!

Just a lot of 2 1/2 inch squares leftover from some project.  I would usually do a "potato chip quilt" rather an all the lissle squares although I did do them as four patches..

These. next twp used up more four patches and 5 inch squares.  It is called the "chandelier" pattern.

Still using up the octogons fromd 30 years ago.  The bag is actually getting smaller!

Another one using some scrap strips from some other project.  All of these quilts measure 40 x 49 inches.

This is all those hourglass squares sewn together.  It still needs a border, basting, quilting and binding and will measure about 40 x 60 when done..

Really Neaat Way to Make Hour Glass Blocks!

This is a really simple technique to make the hourglass block.  I sw it posted on Facebook I think posted by "Teresa Down Under".  I had never seen this technique before and saves time as you don't have to do any marking.  I chose to use random scrap squares -- 5 inch ones of course.  You could be more controlled if you wanted to be.

You make two four patches and then place then one on top of another with the dark blocks pinned over the light blocks.

You then sew all the way around the outside -- 1/4 inch of course.

You then just slice from corner to corner and voila -- you have four hourglass blocks!

These were really random and I think I will add more blue, green and purple.  I really like this technique and will look for some patterns that use hourglass blocks...

No,I Haven't Died! Just Been Busy Making Charity Quilts

 

This one is now all finished and ready to give away. ! It is really a simple block but not obvious from looking at the quilt!  It is basically two half rectangles with a middle that is a square with two half square triangles on either side!  You really need a design wall to put it together though to make sure everything is aligned right.

This is one of two neonatal quilts that is basically an I Spy made with 5 inch squares.  I have tons of these all cut out from children's fabric!

This is another of my "posey" quilts which ended up to be pretty big!

I am still using up triangles from the purple quilt I made close to 30 years ago!!  I pile if sinally beginning to look smaller and there may be only one more quilt from the batch!

Another "posey" quilt.  Haven't finidhed quilting either of these posey quilts but do have the batting and backs cut out.  I hate basting more than any other job especially with these big quilts.  The smaller ones are much easier but still no fun!

I finally finished this one and gave it away!

I know there are several others that I have pictures of somewhere and will try to post as I find them!

A New Variation -- I Wonder Whether I Created This Particular Variation...

I found this block and a bag full of strips to made more of this block so decided to keep going.  It was obvious that I did this a long time ago as I never would put such closely matched fabric together.  I cut a bunch of squares from one of the strips of fabric and soon realized that I had cut them wrong and it did take me some time to work out how to correctly cut them, but only after several mistakes!!

I sewed up a bunch of the fabrics that make up each of the four squares that make up this larger square.  I stuck them up on my design wall and decided I didn't like them at all and figured there must be a better way!

H

Here are the two squares cut from the same strip and you put these on top of one another and make a diagonal cut. You then get wthe proper squares to make up the block.  As I mentioned, it took me a while to get this right!

I

   This is the arrangement that I came up with, using the blocks individually.  I am going to reorganize them again before I sew them together but I like this a lot better than the origianl. block.

I think I have discovered a much quicker way of making a common block too.  It is really fast to sew long strips of fabric together, cut them into squares and then cut them diagonally to make a block that looks like a square with strips around its.  I only need one seam instead of 8 seams per block.  I don't know wheether anyone has come  up with this variation before but I wanted to document it and will embark on making a quilt that shows this arrangment better next!  

This is the single block.

This is the final top except for some borders.  I had a few extra blocks so they will become potholders as well as some 16 patches I made with the leftovers when cutting the strips!

It's Been Forever Since I Posted but I Have Been Busy With Donation Quilts!

 

This is just a 10 in square of the fabric that I used for the next two tops.  I thought it would be okay for a "stack and whack" but was a bit disappointed when I got the two done.  The repeat on this fabric was 24 inches so I had a lot of blocks!

This is one of the two quitt tops I made.  It actually looks better in person but still a bit like Halloween with all the orange! 

This is the second one where I spaced the blocks a bit further apart.  I will probably put a small border but I don't add borders until I am quilting these days!

The next three are baby qults made with already constructed four-patches and some of my 5 in squares that I had to cut down to 4 1/2 inches.

This was also four-patches but Ihad to create most of these as t had no four-patches that had three darks or three lights together.

I have been trying to find uses for all those orphan blocks I  have accumulated and this was created from blocks from 3 different quilts.  I think I had to make a few more of those outside blocks to fill in the space.

This is another of the bagel quilts made from purple pieces I had on hand.  I probably have made four or five quilts from these leftover purple triangles.  The original quilt they were cut for was finished 25 years ago!!

 

Still Making "Comfort" Quilts for Charity With All My Already Cut Strips and Pieces!!

 

This is my latest Quilt As You Go quilt using more of those brown 2 inch strips and a bunch of "frankenbatting". Each block is 10 inches square.  I have since bound it with a medium brown fabric which finished it off nicely.  The quilt is 60 inches by 80 inches and will be donated this coming Thursday to my guild up here.  As I don't have batting up here and my guild in the south provides batting for donation quilts, I will again be making a ton of tops and take them south.  I prefer machine quilting on my Juki but it had some serious issues so I took it in for repair and I still haven't gotten it back and I may have to ask them to replace the machine as I am beginning to think they lost it!  

This is one block of a new bunch of stack and whack blocks.  The picture shows the block in its best light!  All the blocks are pretty dark although they all have good patterning so trying to decide how to best present them so 31 sit on my design wall waiting for inspiration.  They are only 4 inches finished.  I have been thinking bags or purses at this point as they needed to be seen closer up than a quilt althogh I have also considered using in a jacket of some sort  We shall see.  I atisll have a bunch of fabric that i haven't made into squares yet.

This was a far more successful choice for making the stack and whack blocks.  It is a fairly small print but amazingly the repeat was 16 inches which is rare for a small  print. 

Here are the 70 blocks that I constructed.

This is the latest one I am constructing using triangles leftover from a quilt I made almost 30 uears ago.  This is about the 4th quilt I have made from these triangles.  I am going to make this quilt to be full bed sized.  The center of each "bagel" will be yellow and i haven't decided whether  to use anything but the plain bege in the center of the "stars".  Ufrotunately, the bag of purples doesn't seem to be getting any smaller!

 

Back to the North for Awhile!

On my way back north, I stopped in Pennsylvania at my friend Dianne's and we did a day of dyeing.  We both wanted to have light values and this was the result.  I was pretty happy with it and I am sure I will be able to use  For so long, I have done a lot of dyeing things pretty dark. 

We started with Sun Yellow, Golden Yellow, Tangerine, Grass Green and Neutral Navy with 1 per cent solutions  We then overdyed with Intense Blue, Navy, Turquoise, Mixing Red and Dark Green (all ProChem colors).  The second set was half per cent solutions.  I think the tangerine and Intense Blue might have been a little over the hill as they seemed lighter than usual which was okay!

Altogether, we each ended up with 35 yards of dyed fabric.  We had all different kinds of fabrics -- a couple of my really light ones obviously were not PFD!  That is okay as I have found out that you get really even color with these iffy fabrics!  Each "pot" had 12 yards of fabric in them so we used old empty kitty litter boxes of which I have a bundle!!

I am finally using up the incredible amount of PFD fabrics I  had accumulated over the years but still have some!!
 

Something Scrappy!!

I was asked to give a demo on "Something Scrappy" at our guild meeting this  month so this is the gist of it along with some additional pictures.

I should start off by saying how I define scraps.  They can be leftovers, random scraps picked up at a free table, fabric that I can't stand looking at anymore, fabric that I couldn't pass up because of the price but for which I don't have much use, fabric that was included in a fat quarters pack that I didn't use and of course the "what was I thinking " fabric!

I think there are three important things to make a successful scrap quilt --VALUE (contrast), unifying element which could even be sashing or borders and a few surprises (1, 3 or 5}

  Organizing Scraps

 Solids and Solid Substitutes i I keep these sorted by color  

 Patterned

 Black and White = I consider these separately as patterned black and white really needs a quilt nof its own.  It doesn't play well with others.  I use colors as the accent usually some kind of four patch.

 Cutting Solid and Solid Substitute Scraps

 45 Inches Wide – 2 ½ in strips and 2 in strips. If you have enough, cut 6 2 ½ in strips and use as binding. If you have some that is about 5 inches wide, cut charm squares (5 x 5) Less than 45, just cut strips or charm squares

 Cutting Patterned Scraps If wider than 10 inches, cut “layer cake” squares (10 x 10} Narrower, cut “charm” squares. Cut strips if anything that is left

 Cutting Black and White Personal preference but I cut mine 3 ½ x 6 ½ for two .patterns I usse aloy

 Easy Patterns.

 Potato Chip Quilt - 2 ½ x 4 ½ strips.  First sew two strips together.  Then add contrasting strip to the top and bottom.  Then make two strips by sewing together two of the 2 1/2 x 4 1/2. Sew those two long strips to either side.

This show a variation where there is a light  piece in alternating corners.

 Disappearing 4 patch – 4 charm squares Sew a 4 patch alternating dark and light Make 4 cuts, 2 horizontal and 2 vertical 1 ½ inches from either side of center 

 Delectable Mountains – 2 layer cake squares {10 inch square} Make 2 half square triangles out of one dark and one light 10 in square

. Place 1 half square triangle with the light side on the bottom left and the other half square triangle with the dark side on the lower left Cut top to bottom each 2 3/8 inches apart across half square triangles

Sort each so that the 4th to the right is now first, third is now second, second is not third and 1st is ow 4tt. Sew back together in new configurations

A Little How To for the Many Bags That I have Made

This is one of the simpler bags you can made and I have made it in many sizes.  Below are directions for constructing the bag which you can make the size you want.

1. Assemble the fabric.  You will need enough of 2 fabrics to cut out a front, back, 2 sides and a bottom,  You might want some for additional pockets as well. You will also need some fusible interfacting.  I also cut out two 2 1/2 in x 22 in strips of interfacting and fabric for the handles,  This is pretty consistent for straps no matter the size of the bag.

2.  Decide what size you want the bag. For instance, say one that is 18 in high, 12 inces wide and 4 inches deep.  You would then cut fabric for back and front, then sides and then the bottom,  You need to cut the lining, main fabric and the interfacting the same  size,  I add a alf inch to each dimension so I would cut 19 x 13 inch pieces for the front and back

 19 x  5 inches for the sides and 5 x 13 inch piece for the bottom, 

3. Iron the interfacingt onto the front and back pieces.

4.  Iron the interfacting onto the straps.  Fold the straps in half and fold over the sides so that they are one inch wide  Sew down both sides,  Attach to the main fabric by laying the strap facing the bottom of the bag and sew down.  Fold up so the straps are facing the top and sew around a once inch square.

5.  Place lining fabric on top of the main front and back right sides together making sure straps are not caught along the top.  Sew along the top and then open up,

6.  Do the same for the two side pieces.

7.   Pin the lining/main fabric pieces together so they don't slip, then sew the side pieces to the main pieces leaving a 1/2 inch opening at the bottom,  Pin the bottom on and sew all the way 

to about 1/2 inch from the sides.  Trim all the seams to 1/4 inch.  

8.   On the right side sew about 3/8 of an inch at each seam.  This is so there will be no raw edges in the bag.

At the beginning, you might also decide to add a pocket to the lining or the outside and this should be done at the time you are adding on the straps,

.  

More Baby Quilts!

I am very happy with how the quilt made using the unusual block turned out.  My version ends up with blocks that are 10 1/2 inches before sewing together.  It is made up of 4 in squares, 4 1/2 squares that I use to make half square triangles, and 5 in squares which I use to made the quarter square triangles.  I will be making more of these as I have lots of squares in ll these sizes.  I showed the basic block in my last blog post,

  

This quilt and the previous one are the same as many others I  have done as I have lots and lots of black and white prints.  The blocks are very simple - made up of 3 in finished 4 patches and 4 3 x 6 finished strips, half dark and half light.  I found out the hard way that you have to be careful to add the strips in exactly the same way each time and I ended up with mirror images in the next batch I was doing!  

This is kind of an "I Spy" which is why I blew it up a bit.  Again, I used many of thpse 5 in charm squares that I  have accunulated.  I try to be really good now about cutting up any leftover backing fabrics into squares.  I do squares with this type of fabric as it generally is highly patterned and not great for strips.  I cut solid substitutes for the most part into strips  This keeps the random scraps to somewhat of a minimum. 

Each of these baby quilts is 40 x 40 are are distributed to the Neo-natal unit at the local hospital,I am also working on some larger quilts which go to various charities,  I contributed 4 quilts to the Hurricane victim out in western North Carolina,  

I have also finished a challege wall hanging for our quilt guild challege -- triangles.  I call my "Somewhat Obtuse" and will post it after it is shown -- it is a secret for now!!