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 8/18 and Alycia Quilts 8/22

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