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last report July 19,2023

I try to work on these 5 quilts until they are done. Their turn in the UFO closet is over, and, they need to be finished one way or another. 

There has been some rotation of projects as I have finally finished a few. I look forward to new Ufos that have come out to play with me.

1. wensleydale a jen kingwell pattern - twosies have turned into foursies. I have not taken this quilt out to social sewing. I feel it requires more focus. But, it takes longer.

2. Block of the month UFO ...

Carole, of From My Carolina Home, has shared a local guild project: Cradle Quilts. You can LEARN MORE about it here.

As soon as I saw her post, I thought about some particular stacks of possibilities in the sewing room. Ah, yes, finally I have the right idea.

I may have gone a little berserk, but I was having a really good time. Really, you can put together an 18″ quilt in nearly no time at all. It is a great way to use up various leftover bits.

NOTE: I do not have process pictures for all, but am happy ...

I had a stack of leftover riley blake fabrics that coordinated rather well. I decided to cut another trip around the world donation quilt. I wanted to cut a bigger size than my last one. This time, I cut 4 inch strips. I want to see the difference. I was cleaning up a spot, and had this leftover pile waiting for an idea. I am not sure when I will start on it. But, the pile is gone.

I hope my reds are different enough

This quilt was inspired by a yard or so of fabric found at the thrift store.

Unusual for a baby quilt, perhaps, but it seemed perfect. I am certain someone will love it.

I’ll get a full tutorial later, but know that the blocks are made from 4-1/2″ squares. The points of the stars are 3″ squares using the stitch, trim and flip method. If none of that makes sense, feel free to ask questions or, as I said, a tutorial is coming.

I am certain this quilt, which will be donated, will find just the right home ...

 Christine and I got together this week for a few hours to sew and chat.  Christine cut out squares for a disappearing nine patch baby quilt and I finished sewing my Overlapping Tiles quilt top.   I have not trimmed it yet--I may even do that after it is quilted to avoid all those bias edges as I quilt. The backing fabric is ready--it is the turquoise with the pink flowers that is the constant in the quilt top.  My husband held the top for me to take a picture --it was a bit breezy!

I bought myself a Half Rectangle ...

I am sure I saw a similar idea somewhere online, but this is my version. It uses the NO POINT STARS made famous by cluck-cluck-sew, resized to make a perfect 36″ baby quilt.

It went together quickly, and I enjoyed it so much I am making some variations and size suggestions into a tutorial. If you have charm packs or a layer cake laying around, it might be just the idea.

It is called Halfway because it started with a pizza box full of half-square triangles.

HALFWAY QUILT BLOCK

The secret is that there is only ONE set of cutting directions, but you can lay it out FOUR different ways. Of course, you can just do it one way for the entire quilt. There is nothing wrong with that. If you use more variations you will get more movement in the final quilt.

Here you can see the difference between FOUR variations on the left and TWO layouts on the right. It is up to you! Just get to work on ...

The rectangle squared pattern is versatile. Great for focus fabrics or large-ish prints.

I had a stack of miscellaneous scraps. Just added some matching colors and a black for the sashing (to look a little like streets).

The piecing was good enough to take geometric quilting, which I usually avoid. But this time it felt right and adds to the traffic/construction feeling.

It finishes at 45″ square. I used leftovers to create the back. And into the donation pile it goes. YAY!

 last report june 23, 2023

I try to work on these 5 quilts until they are done. Their turn in the UFO closet is over, and, they need to be finished one way or another. I decided that for 2023, rather than work a little on each one at a time, I would concentrate on just one. I still use the list to plan and look ahead. 

I feel like I have cheated on the 5 quilts, and, dabbled too much with new shiny projects. I played with my hsts drawer for sugar grove, I played with fractured squares ...

The baby is due soon. Nothing for inspiration like a deadline.

So much fun! Carrots and a Tractor. I do love the feeling of activity.

Does this mean the baby will be a carrot top (red head)? That would be delightful, but the most critical item is that Sparkle Jane and her good husband will have a new baby to hold. Will update when we have more information.

The quilt finishes at 36″ square. It has nearly 900 pieces. Slightly crazy, but just right for the son of a farmer.

 I bought a large crochet hook years ago with the idea that I would use it and fabric strips to crochet a rug. You can see it in the photo below at the top right of the photo. Fast forward about 10 years, I found the unopened crochet hook! I decided it was time to give this a try. Instead of using scraps I decided to use a fun batik fabric from my shop. I got two yards, ripped it into 1" strips, made the fabric yarn and started crocheting. Well, two yards doesn't go very far!

Sorry for ...

It was a UFO, set aside since 2021.

But, now it is complete.

This is a different version than the original Halfway Quilt, using only two of the four possible block variations. It has a little less movement, more stability. You can decide which one you prefer.

This version uses 56 blocks and finishes at 84″ x 96″. Promised tutorial coming soon.