I noticed something unusual...I get more done on a quilt when I only work on that quilt. What a concept! But I find myself working a bit here and there on other quilts while the main quilt is in process. That's usually because as I am cutting for the "main quilt", I cut pieces for other quilts I plan to make in the future. Plus, there's the whole leader/ender thing. Ironically, the future is now (I think that's a quote from some famous historian, but I don't know who)...I can barely wait to see how one block of "future quilt" looks, and next thing I know, I'm zipping up a couple blocks, then another...
It's a vicious cycle. But I was looking back at my recently finished quilts. Florabunda. Bow Ties. Two I Spy baby quilts. Scrappy Trips Floral/Plaid/Thimbleberries scraps. Hmmm...there's a pattern here.
All that to say that I finished MOST of the piecing for my Fair & Square quilt last night. I need to add the black 1-1/2" wide sashing to about 20 blocks, then I'm ready to lay this quilt out on the design wall. Finished piecing, starching (it pains me to even type the word), and removing paper foundations from the last 29 string blocks. So if I can find some piecing time today, this might be ready to lay out next week.
Here are the last 11 1-1/2" strip 4-patch blocks. In spite of having few shirts, there is a lot of variety in each block. Once again, my goal was to separate the attention-getting fabrics (you know who you are!).
Here is my design wall as of last night.
In the back are a few of the finished sashed and pieced string blocks. On the right are the two outer border pieces I have done so far. They are folded in half and are much longer than they appear. They are pieced from 2" strips.
What is that on the left side? Oh...that's what I was referring to earlier in this post. As I am handling all these plaids, I have been cutting strips for a scrappy bargello plaids and stripes only quilt. Nearly all are shirt strips. I just HAD to see what one panel would end up looking like. I had a picture in my MIND, but I wanted to see one on the WALL :) This is the result of 40 2-1/2" strips. The panel is 80-1/2" long and 12-1/2" wide.
There are only 6 panels in the quilt I plan to make, so I am 1/6 of the way there! If it weren't for the cutting of all the strips, I could have one of those made in a day, I think. Quilted and all! Sooooo fast. Truly, as with any good scrap quilt, ANYTHING goes!! No matchy-matchy fabrics. Just toss it in there. I might use a jelly roll that's been languishing in my fabric storage for one of these. They are just that fast and easy.
I thought it would be difficult to cut the tubes of squares from the original panel. It wasn't. In fact, I was fairly frightened about the process because instead of cutting my strips 18" as suggested (I couldn't stand to throw away such a large chunk of fabric), I cut mine 16", giving me only 1" total of waste. So after I straightened up one side, I had just a smidge to trim from the other. All was well. Perfect, in fact. It didn't pain me at all to throw away <1" of fabric total from each strip. If I had the 3" piece, I would have been racking my brain to come up with a way to USE it! Really! Just ask my daughters :)
Off for a busy day. Graduate brunch, airsoft war, and opening season for the baseball team my son is on. Glory!
~Joan
