Second Chance Quilt: Leftovers Shoot For The Stars

Friend Cheri shares her leftovers with me from time to time. It is always exciting to get a new bag of possibilities.

Sort and straighten and ask, “What do you want to be?”

Somehow, I was seeing stars. And that gave me a place to start.

I added a few fabric scraps from stash and adjusted as I went along. I don’t know how I would write a pattern, or even a tutorial for something like this. It is an interesting process, though. A discovery every step of the way.

And the, Ta-dah! A quilt!

Finished size is 33″ x 38″. It has been gifted to a co-worked expecting a baby girl soon.

4040, And Counting

When I first had the idea to create a Film at Five quilt based on 1-1/2″ squares, it seemed so innocent.

At this point, using it as mostly a leader-ender, there are 100 25-patches for the centers and 220 sashing strips for between the blocks. Yep, 4040 pieces later, and there is still a long way to go.

Ah, well, quilting requires not so much patience as persistence. After all, the longest seam stitched so far is only 5-1/2″. Mere seconds. You just have to be willing to do it a few thousand times.

It shall be finished, but not for a while. Perhaps sometime during the summer.

Second Chance Quilt: Have A (Few) Hearts? That’s A Great Start!

You know by now how these things get started: someone gives me something. In this case, as part of a larger bundle of possibilities, there were three matching 6-1/2″ applique hearts. Much too cute to trash. I did consider pot holders, or a table runner, or a banner. But what they wanted to be was a baby quilt.

I had a little bundle of fat eights that “happened” to match perfectly. I love it when that happens. All that was needed was some background fabric and something to make centers for 6-1/2″ star blocks. I really wanted to make the centers as 4-patches using the bundle fabric, but there just wasn’t enough.

The strips of fabric are cut at 2″. Four of them create a 6-1/2″ block of color. This would have been much easier with straight cut quarter yards, but with enough fabric-stretching, the fat eights just made it.

There is a small background piece between (1″ finished), 3″ and a border around.

It is such a cheerful quilt, bringing joy to the heart. And it all started with just a few hearts!

4″ Squares Quilt: Tipi

This is another of the charity quilt kits Sparkle Jane and I created several years ago. One of my goals this year is to get them all put together and delivered to people who can use them.

The colors scheme came from the tipi print–too cute! Some colors are all the same, and some are mixed scraps. Works for me!

There is nothing wrong with simple quilts. They have their own appeal.

Eye Spy + Quilt COMPLETE

I KNOW I saw a tutorial for this, but now I can’t find it. If you know of it, please tell me and I will update the post.

So, the point is that I had this pile of novelty fabric squares that needed a job. An Eye Spy quilt is the obvious solution, but I felt that there was something more possible.

I love the way this turned out. I had yardage of this interesting green, and it seems to highlight without overwhelming. (More of it will be featured in another upcoming quilt.) If you squint, you might recognize that the squares are laid out (mostly) alternating dark and light squares. It adds another layer of interest.

It is definitely an Eye Spy +. Plush “sashing”, plus diamonds, plus color arrangement…The quilt finishes at 45″ square. And there is so much to look at!

Second Chances Quilt: Friendship Stars

I really like hand-me-down projects. They introduce an element of mystery and challenge my skills and assumptions.

The bag held a pile of friendship stars. Some had names written on the seam allowance, leading me to believe they were part of a long-ago block exchange. Some spin one way, and some another. Maybe that is what held the original maker back?

They finish at 6″ square, so, to make something of a usable size, something would need to be added. Sashing is an easy go-to. But, what color? Not white. Not cream. Not black. None of them worked. Oddly, as I dug through my stash of solids, this dark green stood out. Interesting, but not overwhelming.

The quilt is still small (34″ square), but there is a baby out there somewhere that will be warmed because the work of many hands is finally a finished quilt.

ps–Looking at it now, I think I would extend the sashing around the outside, still keeping the binding the same color. More balance. And a few more inches.

Ice Cream Sandwich Quilt COMPLETE (And Mini Tutorial)

This quilt started as an experiment with fat quarters. I had seen a few similar quilts and wanted to give it a try.

This version uses 9 fat quarters. Three prints and 6 solids. The quilt finishes at 40″ x 48″. Each block has a center cut at 4-1/2″ x 4-1/2″, some plain squares, and some created as hourglass blocks made of two squares starting at 5-1/2″ x 5-1/2″. The outside of the blocks is two rectangles 2-1/2″ x 4-1/2″ and two rectangles 2-1/2″ x 8-1/2″.

It went together quickly and is finished and delivered to a neighbor as a spring surprise. She seemed very pleased.

I acknowledge that the instructions aren’t a lot to go by. Feel free to ask questions. Enjoy!

Mad Dash Quilt COMPLETE

Any quilt with 100 blocks is going to take a while, and this one did.

But, it was worth it! Every block uses a unique fabric for the “dash” and a unique fabric for the center. The backgrounds and sashings have some duplication, but all came from the scrap boxes. These blocks are based on 2-1/2″ squares, and the borders started at 1-1/2″, giving 7″( finished) blocks.

I love the alternating borders around each block.

And the pieced (not perfectly, but fun) sashing.

A tutorial for the block, in ANY SIZE coming soon. So, dust off that box of random squares, and get ready!

Recap: National Quilting Day

Saturday the weather here was not out-doorsy type weather…high, gusty wind all day. Oh, YAY! I don’t even need to make up an excuse to spend a little more time than usual indoors quilting.

First, I finished the top of a new Second Chances quilt I call “Have a (Few) Hearts.” Yes, it was inspired by the three applique heart blocks that were gifted to me. More information coming on that one soon.

And, there were tiny pieces left that didn’t want to be trashed. They became this improv log cabin-ish pin cushion.

And, another Windspinner block for the Big Diehl quilt. This makes six (out of 25 planned).

While all that was going on, my leader-ender project (a Film at Five quilt based on 1-1/2″ squares) made progress, too. This is 50 (out of 220) sashing strips. Good thing I am not in a hurry.

Some non-quilty things also got done, practical things for the house. Husband is feeling better every day and wanted to work on a project he started right before the surgery in January: a remodel of the closet in the downstairs bedroom. I’ll share pictures of that when we get there.

All in all it was a great day! Hooray for quilting!

“Life is less a quest than a quilt. We find meaning, love, and prosperity through the process of stitching together our bold attempts to help others find their own way in their lives. The relationships we weave become an exquisite and endless pattern.” ― Keith Ferrazzi

Big Diehl

I am an admirer of Kim Diehl and her designs–geometric, creative, small scale, lots of pieces.

But, sometimes I want to make a big quilt, and most of her designs are mini or small quilts. I get it. That is a lot of pieces.

But, I am making a Big Diehl. The Windspinner pattern it is based on is in the book Simple Whatnots III, which contains several others that are on my “someday” list.

Why Big Diehl? Because I plan to make the block 25 times, using the suggested border as sashing to join them. I have four blocks complete. It is going to take a while, but don’t you think the results will be worth it?!