Now What?

Now that I've got the friendship blocks together (finally!) I'm not sure what I want to do about the border(s). In the back of my mind I've always pictured a simple whole-cloth frame of one fabric. In fact, I've purchased three different pieces of yardage for that purpose over the course of the last couple of years. I've already eliminated one as a possibility. The black & white print that was in my last shipment from eQuilter (in this post) is a little busier than I'd like. There was another black & white print I debated about buying when I placed that order. It was a larger scale floral print, sort of Jacobean in flavor. Now I wish I had that one instead. My other option at the moment is this pink stripe.


I like the stripe because it ties together all the different pinks in the blocks. Maybe I'll figure out a way to use both of them. I may have to invest in a nearly-solid black for an inner border. I'm pretty sure I don't want the border treatment to get too involved. Mostly because I'm basically lazy, but also because the top itself already has a lot going on in it.

In the course of assembling the friendship top I managed to sew up all the patches I'd cut previously into Bow Tie blocks. I've also made up a few more Shoo Fly and Churn Dash blocks and even some flying geese units. Building my very own Parts Department I guess. ;- )

This is a 10" block I made out of some patches I'd cut years ago and just recently unearthed.

There are a couple of small challenge pieces I'm working on too. The Priority Quilt for Terry Pratchett has not moved forward at all but I have pieced another top in honor of another friend of mine who has recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer's (or some form of dementia). {sigh} I will no doubt be doing handwork again soon. That seems to be what I do on these small quilts. I had to venture out into JoAnn Fabrics this morning for supplies, and while I was there I picked up a copy of the premier issue of Art Quilting Studio. Toward the back there's an article showing the results of a challenge to make an 8" quilt/block based on something found in your purse. The next challenge is to use something in your refrigerator as inspiration. There's an intriguing idea! I don't know whether anything will come of it but I am seriously tempted to play along.

Happy Camper

I got the pictures in reverse order (again) so to keep it possible for you to click on them to look at bigger images I will start at the end of my story...

The temperatures have returned to something approaching normal for this time of year so I was able to sleep under my Flower Garden quilt last night - hurray! I also have an extra pair of hands around the house for a short time so we went out in the backyard to take pictures of the big quilts I've been making recently. Here's a full shot of the Flower Garden quilt:

In case you're new to my blog, the block is a 12" Shoo Fly (the white patches) and the blocks are all set right up against each other. This quilt ended up about 78" x 88".

Even better, my friendship blocks are all set together into a top. Woohoo!

I thought this was going to be a rectangular nearly-twin size quilt when I first laid out the blocks but it has turned out almost square. Without double checking the measurements I'd say it's roughly 68" x 70". It's going to have borders so I guess it could end up being legitimately bed size when I finally declare it done.

What I am intrigued by is the fact that I'm making so many large quilts these days. In the past it was a rare event for me to make a quilt that would fit even a twin bed. Lately that seems to be all I'm doing! I'm sure part of the reason for this is that I am home practically all day, every day. I also have dedicated work space. I have the time now to dig out those old projects and leave them out while I wrestle with them. I have more experience too. I am usually able to solve the problems that caused some of those projects to become UFO's in the first place. I have enough self-knowledge to recognize what I can realistically finish and what is beyond my abilities or interests. I have freed myself from the Quilt Police to the point that I can combine orphan blocks and bits to create serviceable quilts out of things other folks might discard or think unworthy. I have made the conscious decision to make quilts for my own pleasure and amusement, not to achieve technical perfection. In the end, I'm a pretty happy camper these days, in spite of the restrictions imposed by my chemical issues.
:- )

It's HOT!

Which is unusual for this area at this time of the year. Some places broke long-standing heat records today. Not sure whether we did or not. All I know is I've had the windows closed and covered, did most of my "heavy work" early this morning, and will be sleeping with the fan running all night again. I'm happy to put up with the discomfort because I know it won't last long. All too soon it will be wet and chilly once more ;- )

There has been minimal progress on the friendship quilt. It's too hot to have the iron on for any amount of time, and I don't sew without the iron on and ready to use. However, my Flower Garden quilt is back from the quilter. Yippee!!!

If you recall, these are the two blocks that didn't get along together:


This is the correction I made:

I chose this quilting pattern in part because I think it looks like a breeze blowing through the flowers. It's sort of a loose feather.

I wasn't planning to put a border on this quilt but in the end I wanted it just a bit wider to cover the bed more completely. That solved the problem of what to use for binding too. It will be the same fabric as the border :- ) I splurged on this quilt and just bought extra wide backing fabric instead of trying to create a back from remnants or something. All in all this is going to make a very nice birthday present for myself!

Progress Report

I have about two thirds of my friendship top together at this point. The top row you see here is not yet attached to the bottom section, but the bottom section is all one piece now. Whew!

I still have the two columns of blocks on the right side to deal with (they're not visible in this picture). I may take all the parts off the sheet now and try to make them fit on the design wall proper. I need to see those righthand columns hanging straight and flat to see how they're going to fit with the rest of the quilt top. Wish I felt more energetic today. I don't know if it's the prolonged heat (ha!) or some new trick my body has come up with, but I'm not feeling quite up to speed this morning.

Meanwhile, DD bought this yardage some time ago and left it with me to create a "big girl" quilt for DGD#2.

Reading in Freddy & Gwen Collaborate Again has given me some ideas for the project. Working with all this black and white has me hungering for more color too. This will very likely be what I tackle when I finally have the friendship top done. DGD's birthday is early in September; surely I can finish a twin size quilt for her by then!

More Snow?

The cottonwood tree seeds are blowing in the wind. Pretty soon our evergreen bushes will be covered in white. And this stuff doesn't melt! I use the windshield wipers on my car to remove pollen and other plant debris almost as much as I use it to clear raindrops!

Slowly, slowly I'm making progress with the friendship blocks. Discerning eyes may be able to see the differences between these shots and those in the last post. I have big chunks sewn together but still have some fine tuning to do as I assemble those chunks into the final quilt top.


Overall I'm pleased with how it's coming together. I am getting antsy to get it off the design wall, though, so I can play with something else. It's unusual for me to spend this much focused time and energy on one project. Normally I jump around between two or even three smaller projects.


I had a six inch hole to fill so I made this block using bits of a Project Runway print:

I've also been using up those patches I cut for Bow Tie blocks a while back as I've been working on this project. I'm going to have to cut some more before I go much further. (Guess that can be my other project for the time being...)

My most recent order from eQuilter.com arrived today. Nothing like buying presents for yourself!

All of these fabrics were on sale. I had to have the bright tropical print on top - someday there's going to be a quilt using that palette. The next three under it are for future preemie quilts. The green was another one I just had to have. The black is a possible border fabric for this friendship quilt.

I'm thinking I may have to start a new stack in my stash just for the prints I've been collecting for preemie quilts. My collecting is getting ahead of my creating ;- )