Saturday, May 30, 2015

Spring Cleaning Challenge

So what’s a quilter to do?  The UFO list runneth over, several group challenge deadlines are approaching quickly, a stack of tops for donation quilts cry out for batting/backing/quilting/binding. 

And then Electric Quilt posts their Spring Cleaning Challenge.

I was strong and resisted for a couple of weeks.  Then decided that it certainly couldn’t hurt to simply download the files and LOOK at the projects. 

Doomed!  Of course, looking at the projects led to playing with the projects (just to see what would happen if….)

And that of course led to my most recent finish.

Here is my Peekaboo Pinwheels top using the “Scrappier” layout.
Peekaboo Pinwheels


I do have a complaint, however.  The instructions clearly said this would help “use up” scraps.  It definitely did USE some scraps – I stopped counting at 50 different fabrics, and some of them were very old  – but USE UP?  Not that anyone could tell by looking at what remains!

Update on June 1
I received a very nice email from the folks at Electric Quilt to tell me that my entry was one of the winning ones!
http://doyoueq.com/blog/2015/06/spring-cleaning-scrap-challenge-winners-announced/



Tuesday, May 26, 2015

In the mailbox

Look what has arrived!
Quiltmaker July/August 2015






And guess whose quilt appears on the Spotlight page just inside the back cover!



The quilt was made for Scrap Squad 2014 and you can read all about it on Quiltmaker’s blog here.  But you will want to check out the magazine, too!!


Sunday, May 24, 2015

Group project rail fence

When the Sew Scrappy Club members celebrated the coming of summer with a Sew Day recently, they worked on many different projects, but they also found time to contribute blocks to a group project. 

We constructed six inch Rail Fence blocks using 2.5” strips.  Each person used white fabric for one of the edge strips in her strip sets.  When we pooled our blocks and put them up on the wall we had colourful rails like this:

8_group project rails blocks

Once all the blocks were constructed we divided our arrangement into three sections and with only a little re-arranging in the corners of the layouts we produced this set of tops the perfect size for Preemie Quilts for the NICU at our regional hospital.

8_group project rails top38_group project rails top1

 

 

8_group project rails top2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, May 11, 2015

Audition time

The Leaders and Enders project is coming together nicely.  It is on my design wall while I consider borders.

blog audition border

The original plan was to add the strip-pieced triangles in the corners, like those on the top right.  But I also like the way that the plain corner emphasizes the “on-point-ness” of the blocks.  Decisions, decisions.  Luckily, there are no wrong answers, just different ones.  At some point I will choose pieced corners or plain corners and get those borders sewn in place.

It was fun to watch the fabrics come together.  There are some very old fabrics.  The spool print in this block is from the 1950s.  The sweet pink beside it was used in a baby quilt for a child who is now in university. 

blog spool fabric

 

On the other hand, the black swirl was a fabric I purchased last year for a Scrap Squad quilt.

 

blog fabrics

 

With this quilt top nearly ready for the to-be-quilted pile, it is time to decide on another project for leaders-and-enders.  A bin of two-inch squares is at hand…..