Yesterday I took my grandchildren back home. It was a bittersweet time, for sure. Their reunion with their parents was so sweet. I consider it an honor to have had them. I will miss the little nippers. I rarely think to take pictures. Just not wired that way.
I have been making major inroads in organizing my sewing room. I found this box of irregularly-shaped triangles. They are mostly from bindings that are sewn together at right angles. Lots of them have the selvage fabric on one edge.
I have gone back and forth. Pitch them? Save them? Donate them to someone else? I just finished my Wild Goose quilt and gave it to my son recently. That is what I used the other ones for, but I really did not want to make another one of those.
I made up one of these blocks this AM. It will finish at 5" square. It involves a LOT of precise cutting, which I would rather skip. Is there a way to make wonky star blocks with triangles instead of squares or rectangles? I really like this, but the construction is so time-consuming. I am putting the box away until I hit upon a faster idea.
Here is a close-up of my tumbler quilt. I will be adding 4" borders all around next, then piecing a backing and machine quilting this. It measures 90" x 110" now and has 3,300 tumblers. I will keep this one to use on one of our guest room beds. We don't have many that are large enough.
The close-up shows some of the details of the piecing and the wide genre of fabrics used. Notice the middle row. The brown tumbler on the far left is pieced from 2 of the same fabrics. The one on the farthest right is Tigger in blue toile. The one next to Tigger is cut down from a 4-patch. There are Civil War prints, baby prints, I Spys, shirts, and anything one can imagine.
I am helping a friend with her son's rehearsal dinner for tomorrow night. That means today is making cupcake picks, garlands, etc. as well as taking everything over for baking and cooking tomorrow.
Praise the Lord for the strength to carry on!
6 comments:
You have found free time again now that your grandchildren are at home. You are making good use of it with your quilting.
A dear friend is making dog beds for the local shelter to sell in their thrift shop. I now toss all such small pieces into the bag for her to use as stuffing. We only have one lifetime to use up our fabric. It's okay to let the small pieces go. Beautiful tumbler quilt. Thanks for sharing.
I've seen stars with intentionally wonky points on lots of blogs. I like that they look really twinkly to me, but I have never tried making them myself.
Love the patchwork tumblers!
I've seen stars on other blogs that were made with intentionally wonky star points. I love they way they look more twinkly than regular stars, but I have never tried them. I think even Bonnie Hunter may have a pattern for them.
Love your patchwork tumblers!
Ahhh, lucky you, living within driving distance of your grandchildren.
You know, I gave up on the trimmed off triangles. I probably just didn't try hard enough. But now, I avert my eyes and drop them in the trash can.
The wonky stars are a favorite of mine, too. Altho' I think mine are a little wonkier than yours. ;-) I just sew that chunk of fabric on --the chunk size dictating the wonkiness-- and give it a quick trim with my scissors, ala Bonnie Hunter.
I really like your tumblers. So far, I have resisted the tumbler trend, but yours have made me a convert. I resonate with the pieced fabrics and the cut-down 4-patch. I have some leftover blocks that could easily be cut down into tumblers. Add a bit of interest. I like that idea. I make lap quilts for one of our local hospitals and I like to make them as pretty and fun and interesting as possible. --still keeping an eye on the expenses. Tricky with today's cotton prices.
Blessings!
Linda
We are far from some of our grandchildren too, but plan to visit them soon (I hope). I have a plastic bag that something came in - maybe sheets - that is stuffed with triangles. Sometimes, I make pinwheels out of them or HSTs and then put them into a bag that just has HSTs. I can't stand to throw any fabric away. Your tumbler quilt is amazing!
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