One Block is Not Like the Others!

I found these blue strips and I had a few triangles left from the quilt top shown in the last post so I combined them into another quilt top which is like one I did probably 20 years ago.  The strips were left over from that! and I uncovered them when cleaning out a bookcase of dvds of all things!  It measures 42 x 64.  I called this one "One Block is Not Like the Others:"as there  is one triangle that is horizontal instead of vertical!

I couldn't help myself but had to start putting together some of the kaleidoscope blocks that I cut from the same fabric from which the posie quilt was made (last blog entry).  I am amazed at how different these all look.  I am thinking I may make a large quilt from these.  I find them so pretty, I probably won't combine them with the posie blocks but will choose a different set and will use white instead of black surrounding them.

I am getting my boxes ready to head to warmer climes for the winter so probably won't blog for awhile

 

Three Finished Tops

This is the final quilt top from the Alexander Henry Fabric.  I will be using black for the binding.  I am very pleased with this one.  It measures about 42 x 62.  I may keep this one!

I finished the first of the quilts with the Christmas fabric that I was not crazy about.  I decided to use black as the sashing after using red around each block.  I will use more of the red for the binding. I have enough of these posies to make 6 of this quilt!  I will have to come  up with some different sets so I won't be bored to death!

The above is a pile of half square triangles that I found while trying to clean up.  I had 123 of these triangles so put together some blocs to see how it would look and was quite pleased so I finished it up.

Here is the top all done.  That is a navy blue/green fabric in the border.  I may add a little paint to those light blue pieces as they stad out a bit too much for me.

 

Still More...

Here is the beginning of using up some of those 4 patches from the purple fabric.  I didn't have any more of the purple I used in the previous quilt so decided to go with white on which I will quilt purple motifs of some kind.  Will probably quilt in white on the green squares.

All done!  I found this random purple print which turned out to be a great choice for the border.  This quilt is about 42 x 55 finished.

This and the next are snippets of a Christmas fabric which has a 24 inch repeat.  I forgot to take a picture of the whole repeat.  I ended up making 144 sets of posie blocks.  I had 8 repeats of the fabric but it was from two different bolts obviously as they didn't line up.  I was really  unsure about how these blocks would look as 4 patches but was really pleased.  I cut the strips into 3 1/2 width as there is a lot of black background in this print as well as very large flowers.  

This and the next picture are some of the blocks that I have made.  I am very happy with how they are looking.  Am currently thinking I will surround each block with a red border.  There are some that I think will need a green border so we shall see how they all come together.  There is enough to make quilt a few quilt tops - 6 reasonable sized quilt tops.

I found this fabric in my stash, again in two pieces.  It is an Alexander Henry from many years ago which I got for $2.50/yd from a now defunct variety store.  I have 12 repeats, 4 on one piece and 8 on the other.  The repeat is a huge 24 inches too.  I couldn't help myself and had to try out a few blocks.

These are the first 24 blocks I made from the sets.  There are 72 sets altogether.  They are bright!!  I cut the strips 3 1/2 inches wide like the Christmas blocks.  This way, 5 across with borders and sashing makes a quilt top that is about 40 inches wide by 60 inches long and good for a charity quilt.  I may hold off on giving away a few of these quilts as there is a quilt show next year (I hope).

I decided that I would surround each of these blocks with black and then I will do white sashing with some sort of cornerstones -- to be determined.  I think they float on the black and I may re-think using black on the Christmas blocks instead of the red. Hmmm...

 

Finishing Up

This and the next three are pairs of posie blocks.  I had cut 8 repetitions and then rearrange the resulting pairs of four to get two very different looking blocks!

Here all the posies are done and the octagons are started.  I have arranged the posies in their pairs.  You can see one duplicate pair.

Here are all the octagons finished.  At this point I was going to do the same set as the last quilt I finished, putting posies between each of the octagons.  I auditioned up on the wall and decided for some reason, it was just too busy with this fabric so abandoned this idea.  The green fabric that had inspired me to use this fabric I decided would look good between each of the octagons -- just a square.  However, it was just too jarring so I searched through my stash and found a purple hiding in a bag that was supposed to go with some other fabrics for a jacket -- guess not!!

I alternated the purple and the green and then repeated them in the border and called it a day.

Closeup.

The top is finally done and I even found a nice fabric for the back which incorporates a lot of the same colors.  I may hold onto this one!
 

The Stack and Whack Queen or So They Say...

Well I finished the mixed kaleidoscope block and posie block top and am quite pleased.  Still have enough left to make several more quilts this size or one bigger one with a smaller one.  Haven't decided yet what to do.

Finished the top with the Christmas fabric as well.  It is okay and thankfully I used up all the fabric!!  It is not as boring as I thought it would be so that is the good news!

This is the second and final quilt top not all the way put together made with the flower blocks.  The green is a little strong but the yellow instead of the white used in the other quilt tones it down a bit.

Trying borders here.  First is the green, then the yellow and haven't decided whether to use the lavender again or not.  I am going to search and see if I have any of the pink as I think that would be a better choice.

I had a two yard piece of this fabric which I liked but the repeat was only 8 inches.  However, I persevered and cut out pieces for  42 posies and I think 48 octagons.  The fun part is that I cut out two posies from the same stack of 8 and see how different I can make the 2 blocks.  Even I can't identify the pairs sometimes after they are done!! 

 Even though I haven't finished the flower quilt top, I just had to try out some of the posie blocks!  These were kind of boring ones I pulled out but think I am going to like a lot.  I was inspired to cut up this fabric by the green fabric in the flower quilt which was a perfect match for the green in this fabric.  I cut out 3 strips of 2 1/2 inches wide for the posies and 2 strips 3 3/4 inches wide for the octagons.  It was a close call and there was just fuzz left in the fabric where I had torn it!  The bottom two blocks are a pair made from the same four pieces.

I am getting around better all the time and have had two sessions of physical therapy now and I can finally see some progress although I continue to call them torture sessions!  I am religious about doing my exercises though and I have given up wearing any ankle brace.  By the end of the day I feel it though!

Finishing a Top or Two for a Change

Auditioning the green to surround the hexagons.

After looking at some of my previous quilts using this set, decided to surround the center hexagons with white instead of the green.

Finished the center of the top.  Had forgotten how I filled in the sides but remembered a template I had and realized it was for the half hexagons at the sides!  So that is what fills in the rows of three hexagons.

Top is all finished now with more green, a 1 inch white border and a 3 inch lavender border.  The quilt ends up about 44 x 65 which is a decent size.  I have enough to make a second quilt from the blocks although will have to use different background and borders.

This is the next one in process.  I will use a 1 inch border around the 4 patches and white corners on the kaleidoscopes and the set will be on the diagonal.  I have enough to make at least two quilts, maybe three!  

 

Oh No, Not More Stack and Whacks!

This is the first half of the blocks made from the flower fabric which I did find and is pictured below.  

The repeat is about 12 inches.  It surprised me how well the blocks turned out as I really thought there wasn't enough variation and difference in value.  It is more subtle and I really like it!

This is the very boring Christmas fabric I had.  I think I have a bunch more but am not sure I will do more hexies as I do think they are more repetitive than I like.  They are not as bad as I thought they would be though.

This is the fabric used in the above hexies.

 This is the same fabric but in a different colorway than the blocks in the last post.  I do like these better and have enough to make one heck of a lot of blocks!!  I may not give this one to charity although I may have enough to make a couple of big ones as well as some smaller ones.  this was the really cheap fabric I got at Joanns so bought what was left on the bolt as I thought it would make good stack and whacks.

I started doing these kaleidoscopic blocks many years ago at the suggestion of an email pen pal who discovered them.  I got completely hooked and swore them off for years.  I had one heck of a lot of fabric that I bought to do these and have been trying to use up this fabric.  My favorite fabric for these blocks is fabric that is not pretty but has lots of contrast and a fairly large repeat.  I found some gorgeous fabric that I probably intended for these blocks but have decided to keep it whole and use it for backs as you  usually have to buy quite a bit of fabric for stack and whacks.  My only exception recently was the Birds of Paradise fabric that I made into blocks.

I am getting around these days with a big black heavy boot and a cane.  I am back in my sewing room for a couple of hours a day.  My daughter hoped I was cleaning -- but not!  At least I am sleeping in my own bed again which is a great relief!  I have put my walker and my scooter in the basement for now.