When "Mindless Sewing" Requires Brain Work

At QuiltCon in February, I picked up a 1-yard cut of a cute ivory/multi star print. Low volume but with a lot of color variety. 

Last week I was in the mood for a little mindless sewing. Nothing complicated, just something that could use the star print and solid colors to go with it, small, for a baby quilt. 

While searching in a drawer for something else, I found an old windmill template I had made years ago. Ah-ha, perfect! I drew the quilt design up in EQ to make sure I had enough yardage, liked the result, and started cutting. 

And that's where the brain work did not kick in when needed. I had forgotten that asymmetrical pieces need to be cut with the fabric all face up, not with the fabric folded together as it comes off the bolt. Not a problem when using solid fabrics, so my seven colors, cut with the fabric folded, turned out okay. 

But definitely a problem when I cut the print with the fabric folded. Half of the cut pieces faced the wrong direction - wrong side up when facing the right direction - and were not usable. Yikes! 

Plan B, find some more prints in my stash that I could use for alternate blocks with the star print and the solids. Back to EQ to design where to place them. With a final plan I could recut the pieces needed and kit up the blocks. 

With different background prints in some of the windmill quadrants, I had to follow the printout carefully, to sew up the right quantities of the correct combos. So much for "mindless sewing." Then I had to lay them out exactly as planned, no possibility of moving colors around because the backgrounds wouldn't match. 

Now, instead of having the star print for all of the background, there are three prints: the stars, a pale yellow batik and a light cream/multi that has yellow, blue, and orange in it. 

It's a baby quilt for donation. It's fine, even though it's not quite as originally intended. Maybe it's more interesting because of the varied background prints? 

Next time I'm in the mood for mindless sewing, I think I'll stick to strips or squares.

PS - Those wrong-side-up cut pieces of the star print are just large enough to eke out a 2-1/2" square, so I'll find another use for them. The cute fabric won't go to waste.

Link up: Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Almost Postage Stamp Blocks

I took the previously made Almost-Postage-Stamp blocks with me to retreat but did not get a chance to work on them. Since I've been home, I put them up on the design wall so I can make sure the same fabric isn't next to itself. I also made sure the blocks were arranged so that all the seams would nest. 

(Pardon the poor photo. My new can lights are wonderful

for working but not so great for photos.)

This project was originally started back when PCQ was pushing to make twin bed quilts. Since we no longer need such large quilts, I held out one row of blocks to make it smaller. The blocks on the wall will come out to 60 by 72". With borders, this quilt will be 69 by 81", still plenty big for a throw. 

My husband commented that he likes all the little squares. I think I'll keep this quilt for him. All the fabrics used are my own, not PCQ's, and the planned backing is a fabric I purchased in 2010. If I use my own batting, not the club's, then I can keep this quilt; it won't have to be a PCQ charity quilt. 

Since this is smaller than originally planned, I have six blocks left over (I had one extra block to start with). I'm thinking about what I can do with them, so they don't go to waste. I might alternate them with print squares and then add borders for a hospice quilt. Just need to find the right prints. 

Link up: Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

An Old UFO, Finally Finished

Do you take an extra project to retreats, just in case you run out of things to work on? I've been taking the same small, simple baby quilt kit to retreats for years, but I've never gotten around to working on it. 

Back in the early teens I was making donation quilts for kids with Circle in the Square Quilters. The quilts were given to first responders in University City MO and to Operation Shower. Wanda of Exuberant Color sent me a package of 5" squares in bright vibrant prints to make kid quilts. Some of the squares have found their way into several quilts over the years. Thanks again, Wanda! 

Years ago, I laid out selected squares in a Plus design and kitted them up. The kit has been to girl scout camp, Sew Me St. Louis, and Ritter Ranch retreat multiple times. 

One of the reasons I haven't pushed very hard lately to get this kit sewn up is because so far, PCQ hasn't had a charity that wants small quilts or baby quilts. That recently changed with the approval of Luke Air Force Base as a recipient for baby quilts. PCQ has lots of members who like to make smaller quilts, so I think we'll be supplying the young families at Luke for quite a while. 

So, rather than let this kit languish any longer, I sewed it up last month and quilted it on my domestic machine. It's ready for donation. I hope a young Air Force family can use it. 

41 x 45" baby quilt

One more UFO finally finished! 

Link up: Alycia Quilts

Finishes, with a Little Help from My Friends

Back in February my friend Cherie visited for a few days, to go to QuiltCon and to sew together. PCQ's old long arm machine was officially dead at that time, and the new one wasn't in yet. It would be a couple more months before it was installed and we could be trained. Cherie has a long arm at home in Pennsylvania. She graciously offered to quilt two of my charity tops that were finished but not quilted yet. She took the tops, backs, etc. home with her. 

She came back to AZ to go to retreat with me in July. She had such a good time last year that she was excited to go again. We had such a great, friendly, and eclectic group of quilters this time. It was the best retreat I've ever been to. 

Anyway, Cherie brought back the quilts she had quilted. Since retreat, I've bound and labeled them.

Another shout-out goes to blogger friend QuiltDivaJulie, who has very generously sent some de-stashed fabrics from her "resources" to PCQ on several occasions. Some of the fabrics in the tops Cherie quilted were from Julie. 

Without further ado, here are two finishes thanks to a little a lot of help from my friends:

Storyboard Stacked Slabs
This is a large throw suitable for a teen boy. Many of the fabrics in it are from the Storyboard collection by Seth Apter (plus some additional prints from my stash). Thanks, Julie, for donating the fabrics to PCQ. 

Black, White, and Bright Lozenges

This was inspired by a Tula Pink quilt I saw on Pinterest. My attempt to make something similar to the original was a disjointed jumble, but reorganizing the lozenges in vertical columns of medium, light and dark helped. Many of the black and white fabrics were donated to PCQ by Julie and others. 

One of the charities PCQ supports serves victims of sexual violence. They occasionally have a need for boy quilts. Both of these quilts are suitable. The Storyboard one measures about 58" by 68" and its masculine palette should appeal to a teen boy. The Lozenge quilt measures about 60" by 74", large enough for a tall teen, and is gender neutral in design and color. 

Thanks so much, Cherie, for quilting these for me. Thanks also to Julie and others for donated fabrics. These quilts will be shown at the August PCQ meeting and then donated. 

Link ups: Alycia Quilts 8/1,  Small Quilts and Doll Quilts 8/4

July Stash Report and Goals Update

Wow, July was a pretty incredible month, with almost no blogging to show for it. 

I came down with Covid when I returned from vacation in June, so I quarantined at home until I tested negative and could go on retreat. During my time at home I repurposed a PCQ kit and assembled a long-kitted-up baby quilt UFO. 

Cherie joined me for retreat and we worked on a confidential project. When she was here in February when PCQ's long arm was down, she took two of my charity tops home with her to quilt on her long arm. She brought them back and I bound and finished them. Story to come in a separate post, but here's one of them.  

All of this used some yardage, but I also acquired some, too. I invested in some much needed low volumes using a gift certificate my students had given me in thanks for teaching the color class. And of course I couldn't go to Ritter without buying something from Shiela's shop!

The biggest accomplishment for July was the pink Scrappy Serendipity and its pattern. 

July Stash Report:

IN this month: 5-3/4 yards (3 yds low volume prints from Prickly Pearadise. 2-3/4 yds from Ritter.)
OUT this month: 13-1/2 yards (Backing for Stacked Slabs - 4 yards. Backing for Lozenges - 4 yards. Binding for Stacked Slabs, 5/8 yd. Binding for Lozenges, 5/8 yd. Binding for pink Scrappy Serendipity, 1/2 yd. Sashing for black & red churn dash, 1/2 yd. Top for bright Plus baby quilt. about 2 yards. Backing for same, 1-3/8 yards. binding, 3/8 yard. )

IN YTD: 44 yards
OUT YTD: 79-5/8 yards
YTD Net Change: 35-5/8 yards out

Nicely moving in the right direction, and I'll have more to count out yet this year as I finish the teal project and some other WIPS. 

Speaking of the teal project, assembling the top is one of my goals for August. 

Goals Update: 

July Recap: 

1. Finish the last two blocks for the teal value study project. DONE. Also pieced the border blocks. 

2. Repurpose a kit from PCQ Community Service and make a top. DONE, red & black Churn Dash. (No photo yet, story & photo later)

3. Plan for and attend retreat at Ritter Ranch. YES!!! Best retreat ever!!!

4. Quilt the pink Scrappy Serendipity quilt. Yes, quilted, bound, and finished. Needs PCQ label for donation. 

5. If possible, quilt the Cherry Jubilee quilt. No, I only had one time slot on the long arm so this will have to wait until August. 

Other: Pieced Orange Plus baby quilt UFO, long kitted up, and quilted it on my domestic machine. Photo and story to come later. 

I need to take some photos of some of these projects and post about them. Stay tuned! 

August Goals: 

1. Quilt Cherry Jubilee next time I have a time slot on the long arm. 

2. Assemble the Teal Blocks into a top.

3. Test a smaller scale Scrappy Serendipity block for a baby quilt.

4. Make a back for the red & black churn dash.

5. Work on the confidential project from retreat.

6. Start thinking about a new complicated long term piecing project. 

Perhaps I should add something about writing blog posts to my August goals. The hold-up is getting good photos. The sunlight is brutally strong and the shade is deep dark, so I've been having trouble getting decent photos lately. Plus it's 110 degrees here in the afternoons, not fun to be outdoors wrestling with quilts. I may have to make do with indoor photos. 

All the Teal Blocks Are Finished

Whoo-hoo! I finally got those last two blocks for the teal project done, the ones with the hourglass units. Still don't love those units, but I'm getting better at squaring them up. 

And do you see what else I got done? All the border blocks!!! The top row (not in this photo) and the bottom row are sewn together. The sides will be added to each row as I join the blocks in to rows. I don't plan to get this to the finished flimsy stage this month, but maybe next month. We'll see. 

Linking up with Alycia Quilts 7/11 and Small Quilts and Doll Quilts 7/14

Pink Scrappy Serendipity Top, and Pattern

Before I went on vacation in June, I finished another Scrappy Serendipity top. I swear, these blocks are addictive. The fun comes from selecting the fabric combos one block at a time, not knowing exactly what the final quilt will look like. It's amazing what I found in my scraps and my stash that I had forgotten I had! 

My first version was totally scrappy. My second version was curated scrappy, blues and greens. Both versions worked well. Now my third version is curated scrappy also, in pinks and purples, but this version features one consistent background fabric. 

I wanted to use one consistent background fabric in this version instead of a scrappy background. Both options work, but I do like the constant background here with all the variety in the pink and purple prints. The fabric is a confetti print on white that I had in my stash. Because there is a lot of cutting involved, by using a constant background fabric I was able to die cut 2-1/2" strips which made the cutting go much more quickly.

The block is 10 inches finished. The earlier quilts were 6 by 8 block layouts for 60" by 80" quilts. The pink version is a 5 by 6 block layout, 50" by 60".

Making this version also served as a test for the Scrappy Serendipity pattern. The pattern is ready to go now. 

I will be sharing the pattern with members of PCQ. While not specifically developed as one of our community service charity patterns, it would certainly work. I am offering the PDF for any charitable purpose. It looks great in patriotic prints! 

If you would like the Scrappy Serendipity pattern PDF, leave a comment. YOU MUST INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL WITHIN THE TEXT OF YOUR COMMENT, otherwise I have no way of sending it to you. 

Linking up with Alycia Quilts 7/4, and Small Quilts and Doll Quilts 7/7