Star Patch QAL

Not that I already don't have enough to do, but I joined Amber Johnson's Star Patch Quilt Along. 

I saw the original post back in October and really liked the quilt. I decided that I had too much on my plate to join the QAL, but knew that I'd make the quilt some day. I was just too busy to commit to joining the group at that time. I kept seeing Amber's posts and how beautiful her blocks were, but I stayed strong - until last week. 

I was packing for a retreat and decided to take only one project (Elephant Abstractions by Violet Craft) so I could concentrate on that. Plus, I was one of the facilitators of the retreat and knew that I really would not get as much done as I always hope to.  :-)

Long story short, as I was looking around my sewing room I noticed my tub of 2" squares. Hmmmmm, That's the size used for the nine patch blocks of the Star Patch Quilt. 

Right next to the tub was a large neutral background fabric that had not been put away from a previous project. I took that as a sign that I should start the quilt because it could be a great (and mindless) leader/ender project during the retreat. I packed up some of the 2" squares and the background fabric and off I went.

At the retreat, as I suspected, there were times that I could not work on my project but I wanted to be doing something. I cut the background squares needed and started sewing nine patch units. I decided to go really scrappy with these because I really want to use those squares and I didn't want to have to think much when putting the blocks together. (Remember that I said I wanted a mindless project!)

I finished all 60 of the units last night and am caught up with the QAL group. YAY!

I did give some thought with a handful of the blocks because I had fussy cut the original squares. I placed those pieces in the center of the blocks. I'm glad I did that because I think it will be fun to see them while snuggling with the quilt - almost like a seek and find quilt.  :-)

Since each of these fussy cut centers were used for quilts that I've given away, not only will I enjoy the fabrics, I'll be reminded of the person to whom I gave the original quilt. That's a win/win for me.

I'm toying with the idea of enlarging the quilt and making it rectangular. That will require more nine patch blocks but that won't be a problem, as there are plenty more 2" squares left in the tub. I'll make that decision later. 

Have a great week!

Design Wall Monday

Jack's quilt is sewn together and I just need to find time to quilt and bind it. I am very pleased with how it turned out and think I found the perfect backing fabric. It is white with black/grey words on it that all relate to music. (Jack sings in a couple of groups, has played the guitar, and loves to play the keyboard with the grandkids.) I have not shown him that fabric because I want it to be a surprise.  :-)

I've been playing with some new ideas that use pre-cuts (fat quarters, strips, charms, etc.) and this is one on which I'm working now.

I originally made this using strips (2 1/2" x WOF). Two jelly roll strips makes two opposing blocks. Easy Peasy!  :-) I like the looks of that, and it made piecing go very quickly. (I REALLY like that!) Here is an example of opposing blocks. 

The quilt becomes very scrappy and unlike the red, white and blue quilt above, I alternated the blocks so there are no matching block seams. By doing that, it completely changes the look of the quilt. I can't find the picture of the quilt right now, but I think you get the idea. Here's a sketch of the quilt with the blocks rotated.

Saturday evening, I was gifted a big piece of neutral fabric (3+ yards of a cream-on-cream print) and I thought it would be a perfect fabric for a QOV project. I'd been playing with the math to make the above blocks using fat quarters so I decided to pull a bunch of red and blue fat quarters (and scraps) and use the new fabric too. I used the neutral in all of the blocks and just made blue and red blocks. I sketched before I sewed and I'm glad I did. I didn't love how it looked to rotate the blocks. I decided to NOT make opposing blocks and line the blocks up straight across the quilt. I think it creates a fun chain-like effect. In order to make sewing the blocks together easier, I pressed all the blue blocks to the rectangle and all the red blocks to the pieced units.  Very quick to piece, and I like the result.

I have 6 of the 10 rows I'll need to make this the size I need for a QOV, and I have plenty of fabric to do that. I'll finish piecing this later this week and it should be ready to use this for the QOV presentation I will be making on Veteran's Day at school. I think I already have enough for the presentation, but I have to double check numbers. Besides, I like to take a couple of extra quilts just in case there was a mix up in the count. I don't ever want to be short and have someone not receive a quilt! :-)

What's on your design wall today?

Check out the eye candy at

Judy L's Patchwork Times

and

Monday Making

Stash!

Tomorrow is the last class for my latest Beginner's class and that got me thinking about the questions that I hear most often from beginner quilters. 

Of course there are always the questions about how to get an accurate 1/4" seam allowance, how to get rulers to stop slipping while cutting, how much fabric should be purchased when you simply like the fabric and have no specific project in mind, etc.

But lately I've also been asked about building a stash.

I remember when I started quilted, I didn't have much stash because I didn't know what to buy that wasn't for a specific project. What I did do though, was to buy extra for every project I made. I did that for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, I was worried about making a mistake and wanted to have extra on hand in case I needed it. Another reason I bought extra was because I loved all of the fabric I bought and I just knew that I would use it in another project.

Well, I think we can all relate to that last statement. Not only did that fabric get set aside and not used (usually because although I still loved it, I didn't have enough for the project I wanted to make and I couldn't find it again so I bought a whole new bunch of fabrics). I justified my continual buying by telling myself that I could use the extra in a scrappy quilt. I have always been intrigued by scrappy quilts, but I was never confident enough to actually make a scrappy quilt. Without even realizing it, I was building my stash. And oh what a stash it is!

I have all kinds of fabric and although I have pretty much rectified that fear of scrappy quilts, I still have a very large stash. (I was going to insert a picture here of the stash but decided that I was a bit too lazy to actually take the picture.)

Here are some pictures of various quilts I've used that are from scraps. They are all made from scraps with some background yardage used for some of them. Although many of these are pictures of quilt tops only, I do have most of them quilted and already gifts.

Lots of strippy triangles were pieced for this quilt.

 Left over jelly roll strips were used for these two quilts.

I had some large chunks of solids just begging to be used. I have always liked this quilt!

This quilt is one in which I look at some of fabrics and wonder why I bought it. Seriously, there are some very strange fabrics in this quilt.)

This was my first Four Patch Galore quilt using scraps. I have always liked this quilt and had to think long and hard about giving it away.

I liked the other one so much that I made a new one and it's much larger than the last one. This was pieced entirely on my Featherweight and was perfect for me because it was new and I was just learning how to use it.

Another quilt that was made from left over jelly roll strips.

And this fun quilt used up a bunch of my bright and cheery fabric scraps.

I even made to many blocks and ended up with them on the back.

So, I am in the process of re-organizing my sewing room because I was gifted a Koala sewing cabinet and it just seemed like the right time to do it. This is giving me a wonderful opportunity to not only see what I have, but also to thin it down a bit. I have decided that if I don't love a particular fabric any longer and I've had it for a while (time frame is yet to be determined), I am going to find a project for it or find someone who does love it and give it to them. I just started this and so far I've kit up four or five projects AND given away fabric. That sure does feel good!

  

Because I certainly do not feel that I am an expert on fabric stashes, I started to look around on line and see what I could find. I am happy to report that I found Sherri at A Quilting Life and she is in the middle of a series about building your stash. So far, everything has been good and I'm learning as we go along.

In the first post, Sherri talked about Background and Low Volume Fabrics, while in the next post it was about all kinds of prints, including polka dots, gingham, checks, plaids, floral, small geometrical, and stripes.

The latest post is about Novelty Prints and I really enjoyed that.

Hop on over to Sherri's and spend some time reading. Afterwards, come on back here and let me know what you think.