I started this project more than a year ago, but apparently, I didn't post about it until this post in April. It started as an attempt to use this border fabric and my extensive yellow-green and olive stash. 9 yards of this fabric were purchased in 2010 for backing for a green quilt, but the shade of green turned out to be wrong.* So the yardage has been languishing in my backing stash ever since, taking up space I could use for other fabrics.
I also had an overflowing bin of yellow-green and olive fabrics. My plan was to use them with neutrals in a checkerboard design. Along the way I added some greener greens and some accents of purple and orange.
I die-cut 2" strips from all the dark fabrics, and from as many low volumes as I could pull together, both white-based and ivory-based. As usual, I cut way too many strips.
I made strata alternating light and dark strips; cross cut the strata; and assembled checkerboard blocks. Each block has 64 squares and finished at 12".
The squares finish at 1-1/2 inches, so not truly a Postage Stamp quilt. But almost!
This was started back when PCQ was making twin bed size quilts for one of the charities we support. Since we don't need twin size now, I set aside six of the blocks and made the quilt a large throw size. It will comfortably cover a grown man, 68 by 80". And the masculine colors make it suitable for a man or possibly an older teen boy.
I used up a lot of that print for the backing and used the backing offcuts for the binding. I still have some left, so it will go back in the stash until I can find another use for it.
The six unused blocks will go into another charity quilt, probably to be assembled at a future retreat. And the leftover strata are also being used for another charity quilt, in WIP status now, which I may work on at social sewing after the new year. Die cutting is always helpful, but in my case, I always cut too much!
*Expensive lesson learned: Always take swatches of the fabrics used on the front of the quilt when shopping for backing.
Link ups: My Quilt Infatuation 11/13, Alycia Quilts 11/14, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts 11/17
You are not the only one to cut too much! Especially when I’m cutting my shirting fabrics. If I’m cutting the sleeves or fronts, I cut the whole piece because it’s hard to judge just how much you actually get from a sleeve or front, lol.
ReplyDeleteI love simple patchwork quilts. Yours is really nice and will be well loved. I don’t understand how people buy so much fabric online. I like to touch fabric and match colors. Reds especially are hard to match.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the finish and hopefully for using up most of the 9 yards of languishing fabric. We used to have 2 really lovely quilt shops in town, but one retired and closed at the very beginning of Covid, and between Covid and a WalMart opening, the other closed shortly thereafter. The other quilt shops in ~1 hour drive from me have also closed, so I'm left with the reality that I need to order my fabrics (and find out they don't match). Maybe a LQS will open to fill the gap in a few years.
ReplyDeleteGreat finish there. I do a lot of " not quite postage stamp quilts" too! The extra are just seeds for another project.
ReplyDeleteIt was a righteous mistake on the color, but now it's found its reason in this quilt. I should be inspired to grab my box of 2" cuts and just start sewing them together, but I already have a L/E project that I need to finish. LOL
ReplyDeleteSuch a beautiful quilt here with the dappling sunshine!
ReplyDeleteAnd if you don't have actual swatches to take along, be sure to have good digital photos of the fabrics - I've found that very helpful when choosing backing in the shop.
ReplyDeleteIt definitely doesn't look like a "use up the leftovers" quilt. Congrats on a very cool looking finish.
ReplyDeletemy patchwork is all 2.5 inch squares cut from scraps. I had to pop over and take a closer look at yours
ReplyDelete