Variations on a Theme

With all of the blocks for my last Bordered Nine-Patch together and in the process of being assembled into a flimsy, I still have tons of 2.5" squares to play with and am in need of a new hand piecing project, so more Nine-Patches it is!

This time I'm using 8 squares all in the same colour family and then a neutral - not necessarily plain white - for the centre of the block.

It's fun, but fairly quickly I was back to cutting down either some of the 2.5" strips in my box or strips from yardage to get the 8 squares of one colour that I need. And so the pile grows!

I only have 7 blocks together so it's early days in terms of layout, but I'm thinking of maybe putting the blocks on point with a narrow sashing and bright cornerstone(s) and then maybe adding a border or two. That would mean fewer blocks to make. Time will tell....M

Lots of Ooohs and Ahhhhs

When I visited with Sandy recently she gave me a lovely bundle of goodies to include in our Quilts for Survivors shipment this fall, the main one being this fantastic Postage Stamp quilt.

It's made from tiny 3" Nine Patches made with 1.5" squares. 

If you do the math, she's got 9 Nine-Patches per block (81 tiny squares) and there are 20 blocks - all hand pieced - so that makes for 1,620 squares!

Apparently she was channeling me and trying to use up as many of her tiny scraps as she could in this one. I'd say mission accomplished! It sounds like there were several times when there was a fair bit of blue smoke as she worked her way through this, but finish it she did, and it's just gorgeous.

And she didn't stop there. It's machine quilted and bound and, after they add a label, ready to be shipped to a survivor.

Yesterday I shared it with our circle of quilters at the church and they were completely gob smacked, not only that she put all of that work into this beauty, but that she was prepared to give it away. That butter yellow border was a huge hit. Several doubted that they could be quite this generous.

Thank you so much Sandy; someone will receive and enjoy a real treasure to help them along on their healing journey....M

No Longer Sewing in Circles

My effort at completing Jan's Double Wedding Ring flimsy has worked, and no one is more surprised than I.

Thanks to some very rainy weather over the August long weekend I was able to hide in the sewing room and slowly work my way to a finish, and I'm tickled. More than once I was convinced that this just wasn't going to happen, but happen it did!

Remember that corner that I ripped off the existing panel? Well, I decided to try and use it to help minimize the yellow on the 'new' side of the quilt, and it worked. I ripped the vertical seam between the rings so that I could add the circle segments to the columns that I was creating to help complete that big 'S' curve that I needed to.

When it came time to sew that S seam I matched up the seams at the corners and then found the middle of the cream centres of each block, finger pressed them and then attached them to the relevant arc. It meant that half of the time the cream curve was facing me and the other half it was the pieced arc. Surprisingly, both systems worked well as long as that centre point was accurately marked and pinned.

I don't think I've seen a Double Wedding Ring lap quilt but it's very sweet at this size. And the strong colours are lovely, a very different look from the one that our quilting circle finished off earlier in the year.

This one is scrappy with a capital 's', so lots of treasures to unearth as you work your way through it. These vintage cherries are a favourite that show up several times...

as is this sweet almost checked green, which is modern day.

I found a piece of the cream fabric in the project box large enough for a backing so I will send that along to the folks at Quilts for Survivors as well.

Interesting that in all of the years that I have been quilting, this pattern has never been on my list and yet this year I've worked on two of them! Can't wait to let Jan know that her project will now find its forever home....M 

My Nine-Patches Take a Getaway

Wanting some hand stitching to do during a short getaway, I got busy and threw the scrappy Nine-Patches that I've been working on lately for another QFS quilt up on the design wall. I wanted to lay everything out and then pin the rows/columns so that I could easily stitch in the car or as we sat and gabbed. 

Not sure just how many I had made, I discovered that I needed a few more. I also decided that I wanted it one row longer (you know my aversion to square quilts!) so I whipped up a few on the machine in order to meet my deadline. The blocks weren't in any particular order and I made very few tweaks to the final layout, which I really like. Those 3 1/2" border blocks make me happy. I snapped a photo for insurance so that I had a reference in case I got myself messed up.

I made a rough sketch of how everything would go together, numbered and pinned each row/column, and everything was tucked into a bin with thread and scissors. Time to hit the road!...M

It's Decided

I've taken the plunge - the Double Wedding Ring quilt will be a lap quilt and not full-sized. My intention when picking up Jan's WIP was to make it for Quilts for Survivors and that's what I'll do. It also makes it much more likely that it will some day be a finish. I haven't let my mind move forward too too much as to just how to finish it yet - just dealing with the bits and bobs in front of me - but I'm counting on the quilting gods to have my back.

So, I've taken the panel that is all sewn together and ripped out the seam that joins the bottom two rings to the rest of the top, planning to make it 4W x 5H rings.

And I'm left with a corner piece that looks like this. It may be the start of something else but for now its removal has helped move me along. I've just parked it in a corner of the design wall.

Then I started puzzling just how this baby is to come together. I've been referring to Christine Baker's tutorial and the goal is to have columns come together in an elongated S seam. But because I jumped into this midstream, instead of having two consistent shapes, I'm working with an interesting combo of partial rings, like tops of rings...

right sides of rings, and ...

corners of rings (if that's possible...).

I'm just talking myself through it like someone trying to convince a jumper not to jump, but progress is being made....M

My Little Dilemma

Off and on I've been assembling more ovals for the Double Wedding Ring quilt that I showed you in May. Jan left us a full box of bits and pieces before she moved and I'm keen to avoid it being relegated to a life on the shelf, never to be seen again. I decided to put the piece that is assembled up on the wall and see how many more I need to make and then make a plan of action.

This will be a Quilts for Survivors flimsy and they like lap-sized quilts approximately 48" x 64", so if I go that route, I'm thinking I need four circles wide by five long. You can see by the puddle of quilt on the floor that if I make up the entire quilt using all of the bits that have been prepared it would be considerably larger.

It's really quite striking when you get it up on the wall.

After placing two more columns of ovals it looks like I'd need only three to make this work for the lap size, which was a very pleasant surprise as it's proving to be a bit challenging working with pieces that aren't always consistently cut to come out with a good product. The dilemma as to whether I go small or large with this one seems to be tilting in favour of the small size.

So I'm sewing the missing three ovals and hope that a decision will be made along the way.

I pull ovals randomly from the box to work on (many have already been organized and pinned to a small cream oval piece) and it's interesting to see, now that they are on the wall, how so many have yellow in them compared to the circles already sewn together.

Pretty soon I'll have to figure out how to assemble complete circles. If you're old enough to remember, it's feeling sort of like cracking the secret of how they get the caramel into the Caramilk bars 😉....M

Inching To a Finish

It was a bit of a pokey process but Second Hand Clothes has inched its way to the finish line (at least to a flimsy).

I thought that having it in full view in the kitchen would prompt me to get it trimmed up and ready for borders in short order but that didn't really happen. Eventually, as I was cutting a few small squares for my Nine-Patch blocks, I bit the bullet.

The border strips were already cut and sitting in the same bag as I found the blocks in so the next day I grabbed everything and within about an hour they were attached.

It was nicely pressed at one point but this morning I took it to share with our quilting circle at the church, hence all of the folds that you see. Regardless, I am very happy with the final product.

What started out as an excuse to use up that brown border fabric resulted in three quilts like this (two last year and this one) but I can now say, with the exception of a few 3 1/2" and 2 1/2" squares, mission accomplished!

The variety of fabrics in this one really appeals to me. And what looks like a sold cream from a distance is actually a soft print, so a nice accent. You might need to click on the photo to get a good close-up as it is subtle.

All of my Uneven Nine-Patch blocks are hand pieced but recently I came across a quick machine method for making them using four 5" squares, so there may be more of this pattern made in the future. Not that I minded sewing the blocks - it's always great to have hand piecing to pick up - but sometimes there is the need for a little speed 😉....M

Some Slow Summer Stitches

July is always a busy, busy month for us and this year has been no exception, so I'm not sure why I'm surprised that we're closing in on its end. After the blur of the last few weeks it was time to find a deck chair for some quiet hand piecing. Out came my scrappy Nine-Patch blocks. 

I had lots of fabrics paired up so I was raring to go. It should be noted though that a comfy chair on a warm day does make one prone to napping so, as much as I got a quick start, things tapered off pretty darned fast.

Eventually, my first block made it to the finish line.

And just to make myself feel productive 😉I made a second block. Not the busiest sewing day that I've ever had, but certainly a very relaxing one....M

I'm Cutting Instead of Sewing

So, that Second Hand Clothes quick finish that I was imaging? It has yet to materialize. I've got the centre all together but it's still waiting in the laundry room for a good press and the border to be added. So close, and yet so far.

Instead, I've been cutting scraps for a little workshop that our church quilters are planning for the end of the summer. There will be more details to come but for now I will just share my fabrics. These are for the first quilt.

And these are for the second. Very similar but fewer greens and purples and more turquoise in this one. 

There are a few pieces that need to be pressed but by and large I have all of the makings for two quilts in this Ziploc bag. Hard to believe but it's got me thinking that it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a bag or two in reserve for those days that you just want to sit down and sew....M

Trying to Get Out of My Own Way

We are well into July and I had thought that by now I would have switched gears away from making Quilts for Survivors flimsies to working on a few of my own projects, including a few items for the Holly Bazaar in the fall, but it's proving a little harder than I had hoped. It seems like every time I turn around there is another project that just needs a little more attention. This Second Hand Clothes is the latest case in point.

I found the pieces and blocks for it lurking in a Ziplock bag and once I knew that it was there I couldn't unsee it. Last year I hand pieced lots of blocks - enough blocks for three quilts - but only got two together for our fall shipment so the third was bundled up for later. The simplest thing to do was just get everything up on the design wall and try for a quick finish.

The fabrics for this one are very traditional - beautiful, rich hues - and it's fun seeing it come together.

I've only got this corner left to assemble, so it shouldn't be long now.

There are more large squares cut and one pieced block as well so I suspect that at some point there will be another quilt cut and stitched, but not right now. 

The brown fabric on the bottom will be the border (another piece that I'm dying to finish up) and it looks like there might be enough of the red to make the setting triangles for the next one. Fingers crossed! If not, I could always combine it with one or two other reds since the quilt is very scrappy...M 

I Made It to Arkansas

I made it to Arkansas! Arkansas Crossroads has been in my sights for the last couple of weeks and now it has moved over into the finished column. Yay!

It's a pretty little quilt, but I am genuinely surprised at how light in colour it is. Not that I mind, but I thought that the grey corners in those Xs would make it much darker. Definitely what I would call a 'summer' quilt.

Such a dreamy palette; it's filled with a number of calicos that I am trying to use up, particularly the peach floral, which I think might be a VIP print. That's going waaaaay back. I think only one piece was completely used up but at this point I couldn't tell you which one.

The secondary pattern made with the grey corners is very effective but after sewing three or four quilts this winter/spring with stitch-and-flip corners it's time for a break from them.

The brighter hits of turquoise and mauve give it a great little bit of interest throughout.

I thought that I had a photo of the entire flimsy but apparently not - I'll try to remember to take one for you. 

This is another one for Quilts for Survivors; it will be interesting to see how they quilt it....M