'Tis the Season...

To take long breaks from blogging apparently! Honestly, I've been having a particularly difficult time this winter. It's very frustrating. But on a happier note, I have been working inbetween bouts of incapacitation. I made more six inch Bow Tie blocks for the newest quilt project. Wasn't thrilled with what they were doing by themselves so I played around with other arrangements:

You may remember I am planning a horizontal row quilt. Originally I figured I would use the bow ties as two smaller rows but I quite like them as alternating 12" blocks of X's and O's!

I have also made up some new nine inch blocks. There are a few simple Shoo Fly blocks, but I also made up these two liberated stars:

I just have to be careful to keep this from becoming a full-on dog quilt!

Meanwhile, I have also sewn the binding onto Sunshine & Blue Skies and run the quilt through the washer and dryer.

I could not be happier with the way it fluffed and wrinkled up! It's a wonderfully cozy, happy quilt now.

Just what stressed out folks left homeless by Hurricane Sandy can use at the moment. I only wish I could work faster to get it to them.

I have taken to using Fast Finish Triangles for labelling my quilts. I sew them in place before stitching the binding down and then just have to secure that long loose edge. I used two on this quilt, on opposite corners. One will have the facts about the quilt (maker's name, date, etc.) and on the other I will write a message of hope and encouragement. Coming up with those words has been the hard part.

I had hoped to get this shipped so that it would arrive in time for Christmas. I'm not so sure that's going to happen now but I'm going to do the best I can. I do need to send it on its way and move on to the Christmas gifts I promised to make for family members. Time is runnning short!!!

Out of the Drawer

Hello Friends. I'm fighting a big headache today but I know it's been a while since my last post. And I have been sewing... ;- )

Sunshine & Blue Skies is already back from being quilted (by my son!). I have the binding ready to put on but just can't face that task yet. You may remember that I threatened to begin another quilt right away. That's because my Parts Drawer looked like this:

Full to overflowing. So I sorted through the various baggies to see what theme would rise to the surface. Turned out to be blocks with ecru and ivory backgrounds or elements. Those that I put on the wall first also put me in mind of a masculine quilt.

I was thinking of another attempt at a medallion format. The arrangement above didn't really thrill me so I replaced the smaller blocks with different small blocks.

That looked better but I would have had to make many more five inch Churn Dash blocks. I wanted something less labor intensive. I slept on the problem for a night or two and then it dawned on me to try a horizontal strip format. That allows shorter rows of many different block patterns. Yippee!

The first thing I did was to turn the rest of the 5" Churn Dash blocks I had on hand into ten inch stars.

After that I was on my way. I've been making a variety of blocks out of blues and browns and deep reds, all with the beige-y backgrounds.

The last couple of days I've been making the 10" blocks you see at the very bottom of my design wall in the photo above. Maggie Malone's book 1001 Patchwork Designs calls that block Butterfly at the Crossroads. Living in tulip country as I do, they look more like a bunch of tulips to me!

I don't have any idea what I will do between the rows of blocks yet. For that matter, I still have to figure out what to use to sash the blocks together in each row. Right now I'm just enjoying the process of making blocks. Piecing really is my most favorite part of the quilt making process. The irony is that my Parts Drawer is nearly as full as it was when I began this project! I didn't really have all that many beige-based blocks as I prefer bright saturated hues and crazy prints. These more subdued colors suit my circumstances at the moment though. I'm seriously hoping I feel better by this weekend so I can fully enjoy putting up and decorating our Christmas tree...

Sunshine Flimsy

Work has continued on the quilt I'm making for a victim of Hurricane Sandy. As I stitched on the long sashing strips it occurred to me that I would have to figure out how to deal with the corners where the Hourglass blocks in the final border would come together. You may remember that this was what it looked like as I was auditioning design choices:

I finally decided to make four Diamond in a Square blocks for the corners:

You may be able to see in the picture below (double click on it to make it bigger) that I had two different blue prints coming together in this corner. It took a little bit of time to decide how to handle that!

Here's a full-on picture, as much as I could get anyway.

The quilt should finish at 65" x 85." I found this print on sale at Delta Patchwork; it's perfect for the back and binding!

I'm thinking of calling this Sunshine & Blue Skies. As it turns out I will be able to send this quilt almost directly to a couple whose home was one of those burned to the ground in Breezy Point, NY courtesy of connections my sister has through her job. And then I'll probably begin another top for someone else who needs a quilty hug. :- )

Thankful for Progress

Happy Thanksgiving Day to my readers in the USA. :- ) I hope you all have a holiday season that warms your heart.

Among all the other things for which I am grateful this Thanksgiving Day is the fact that I believe I have a plan for turning the collection of old yellow and blue Shoo Fly blocks into a quilt for someone affected by Hurricane Sandy. While this may not seem like an epic struggle to you, my attitude is, "finally!"

After my last post I dug around in my stash for potential sashing fabrics. There were some that would have been good choices but of course I didn't have a big enough piece. These two could have worked:

I also tried out a blue and yellow check:

I like to let things sit for a bit before making a firm decision but eventually the check won out. I put it all the way around my central square and started auditioning blocks and possibilities for the next round.

Originally this was going to be a square, full size quilt top. The more I worked with it however, the more difficult it seemed to get. Eventually I decided to try for a rectangular format for a twin size quilt. Pretty quickly that led to taking the check print off of two sides of the central square. Once I'd done that I found I still needed something to divide the central panel from the next row. (I don't have enough of the blue and yellow check to use it more than once around the top.) I made some 2.5" Hourglass units to see whether I liked that look:

Nope. I tried various prints again too. One was a bright medium blue with tiny little white circles in it, sort of like bubbles. It was too strong for a middle sash but I quite liked it closer to what will be the outer edge. That led to this arrangement:

I'm pretty sure this is the way the top will go together now. The second band of the check print at the top is a piece that came off one side of the center square. I will sash the 7.5" Shoo Fly blocks with narrow yellow strips, add the strip of blue and yellow check, then put the strong blue down the sides and finish the whole thing off with an outer border of 5" Hourglass blocks. That should turn this into what Luana Rubin (eQuilter.com) refers to as a small twin size quilt, 65 x 85 inches. Once I come up with backing, batting, and a volunteer quilter I can then turn my attention to a project that, hopefully, will be less challenging than this one has been! Although, to be fair, probably the only reason this top has seemed so challenging to me is because I'd like to get it done as fast as possible. I've always been, and always will be, an impatient soul. ;- )

Step By Step...

I have sewn the next ring of Shoo Fly blocks around the central panel:

I'm purposely using as many values of yellows as I can because of the variety of values in the collection of blocks that started this project. In the corners where the flying geese border comes together I ended up with three light patches and one medium value patch. Those light patches really stood out, and not in a good way. I think I knew I would have to replace them but I avoided the task as long as I could.

In the end it was worth the effort even though it was a bit tedious to do.

At this point the top would finish at about 50 inches square but I'm shooting for a quilt that will fit on a double bed. The question is, what to do next?

More flying geese?

               Simple sashing?

                               Frame up the remaining 7.5" Shoo Fly blocks to make them ten inches each?

In the end I decided to make a bunch of five inch Hourglass blocks, thinking they would make a good transition from one round of Shoo Fly blocks to another.

Not so much. It's too busy. The blue triangles in the Hourglass blocks overwhelm the Shoo Fly blocks.

What happens if I turn every other block?

Not much better. Guess I need to reconsider my options...

Meanwhile, I can't believe we're halfway through November already. And Thanksgiving - for us Yanks - is next Thursday! Does that seem early to anyone else? ;- )