Cut the quilt to suit the cloth

Once in a while the scraps we have on hand dictate what we make from them.

My friend Pat made these framed pinwheels for our Prayer Quilts group recently.  The pinwheel blocks in the centres finish to 5” square – why that size?  Because that’s what worked with the triangles she had on hand.
We framed each one with strips cut 2 1/4” wide. This seems an unusual width, but Pat had on hand some muslin she wanted to use, and it was already cut in 4 1/2” strips, so she simply cut them in half.
The blocks will finish at 8 1/2”.  We expect that 20 blocks plus borders (let’s see what’s available in the cupboard) will make a quilt the perfect size.  It will look like we planned it that way! 

Technorati Tags: scrappy,pinwheels,prayer quilts

Reversible Basket

At Scrappy Club last week Helga showed us a charming basket that she had made with her sewing group in Holland.  She very kindly demonstrated how it was put together. 
It is reversible, and it makes a wonderful container for all those tools on the sewing table.  Or it could be a thread catcher.  Or you might use it in the bathroom to hold odds and ends.  You are sure to find many other uses for one of these. 


See the tutorial page (at the top, right hand side, of this blog) called “Helga’s Reversible Basket” for instructions.

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On the Design Wall

 

I’ve been working on “use ‘em up” type scrappy projects for the last few weeks, and it’s time to do something else.  Remembering my vow to start using “the good stuff” in my stash I pulled out a bin of lovely shweshwe fabrics from South Africa. 

Not much sewing done yet, but I’ve constructed two blocks.    I’m using the directions for Smoothing Iron as found in Gayle Bong’s book Trouble Free Triangles.

The rest of the time I’ve been busy with cutting and counting the pieces I’ll need.  I have a couple of days lined up to sew with friends in the not-too-distant future, and I’m looking forward to pulling out my pieces and doing a lot of stitching.

I’m linking up with Design Wall Monday over at Patchwork Times – so hop over and be inspired by what other quilters are doing this week. 

 

Technorati Tags: Design Wall Shweshwe fabrics