The Halfway Quilt has 56 blocks. I have 29 complete.
There are 14 each of 4 different blocks styles. Here are styles ONE and TWO, all together.
I will keep pushing along. It will be finished soon.
PS–Can you see what makes this quilt unique? TIP-all the blocks have the exact same pieces–28 HST.
Some of you know that my school offers children a learning experience known as Intensives. The week before Christmas and the last week of school in the Spring, students don’t attend regular classes. (Honestly, what really gets done in classes at that time?) Rather, each student selects from a menu of classes and attends that one course for the entire week. Offerings include theater, music, rock climbing, engineering, local history, and…sewing!
While on Spring Break this past week, I prepped samples for the Spring Sewing Intensive. SEW much fun!
There are still a lot of details to work out, but this part is finished.
I am including links to tutorials the projects are based on:
Tote Bag (The handles could be shortened)
Potato Chip Block (Part of a larger service project. We will use 2-1/2″ x 4-1/2″.)
Small Bear (Reduced the size on this one)
Potholder (Changed the dimensions on this one to 10″ for foundation and 9″ for backing)
I expect that a great time will be had by all.
Now, for an appeal: If you have leftover precut squares (2-1/2″, 5″ or 10″) that you would like to be rid of, I would use them for these student projects. I am not asking for free, but would pay for them and shipping if we can make a deal. You can leave a comment or email me. Thank you so much for considering us.
This is the second quilt finished while watching Conference this past weekend.
It is based on THIS tutorial (She calls it Sunburst).
It will be delivered to our Assistant Principal who has a great love for Africa and does much good there sponsoring the education of children.
I hope the rich colors will evoke that beautiful place, and the star will demonstrate the light she shares.
It was an intriguing idea. And it helped address the overflowing basket of small scraps of light background fabric.
But, I had no idea how much I would love the finish.
Very different from my usual quilts in some ways, but with some common factors: small pieces, many different fabrics, etc. And it is finished, always a good thing.
ps–It is 72″ square. Contains 144 6″ blocks, 2304 pieces. More information and a tutorial can be found HERE.
A pile of scraps and THIS VIDEO TUTORIAL got me started.
In no time at all I had a quilt. It uses 36 blocks and finishes at 35″ square–a nice symmetry there.
I can see using this pattern again. It would work for many different applications.
For now it goes in the donation pile. YAY! No bored babies if they sleep under this quilt.
I found the idea in a book and made a baby quilt version some time ago.
There were good intentions of doing a quilt along, but that just isn’t happening right now. Better to share the finish, than hope for change soon.
But, if you have a jelly roll laying around, this might just be the idea.
SO, here is a mini-tutorial: Each block finishes at 10″ square. The sashing is cut at 2-1/2″ and the outside border at 3-1/2″. It finishes at approximately 64″ square. It will be gifted to a teacher friend this week. Seems like she could use a lift and this cheerful quilt might be just the thing.
I received a plastic bag mostly full of 2″ squares.
It felt more like a bag of scraps than a Second Chance possibility until I noticed that quite a number of the squares had been sewn together.
Some pairs, some 4-patches, some strips…Really quite a variety. And that is where the challenge came: Use EVERY seam that had already been stitched and create a quilt. Hmmm…
There were assorted pieces–quite a few 4-patches and then miscellaneous.
Solid rows of squares first.
Then add 4-patches (I had to make several more)
Then solid squares.
And a border.
A small, but serviceable baby quilt.
And I have more squares leftover for a future project. YAY!
CROSSROADS BABY QUILT (mini) TUTORIAL
33-1/2″ x 33-1/2″
MATERIALS
244 2″ squares
3/4 yard background fabric
1-1/8 yard for backing
batting
1/3 yard for binding (depending on if you use 2-1/4″ or 2-1/2″)
ASSEMBLY
Yes, this is a small quilt, but it would be easy to enlarge it. Contact me with any questions. I’m happy to help. Enjoy!
My first version was called the Trash Quilt, because I literally found the fabric in a trash can at church. I tried to rename it, but the first one stuck!
This is a great pattern for scraps, or you could use fat quarters. If the fat quarters are perfectly cut, you will need 16 of them. If they are a little short, add a few more to make up for it.
TRASH QUILT
60-1/2″ x 80-1/2″
MATERIALS
384 3″ x 5-1/2″ rectangles (Have fun with colors and possibilities. This is a great time to experiment)
batting
1/2 yard binding
4 yards for backing
ASSEMBLY
2. Create a total of 192 blocks. UNFINISHED size should measure 5-1/2″ x 5-1/2″.
3. Lay out the blocks 12 x 16. The layout should alternate blocks horizontally and vertically.
4. Assemble
5. Ta-dah! A Trash Quilt top.
6. Layer, quilt and bind, as desired.
TRASH QUILT Gallery
your beautiful creations here…
I don’t mean that I don’t like the quilt, or that I am going to throw it in the trash, but that is where I found it.
Our family helps clean our congregation meeting house from time to time to prepare the building for sabbath worship services. Apparently, an activity had been held in the building and there was a pile of (more than just) scraps in a trash can.
After reviewing the fabric, I settled on rectangles 3″ x5-1/2″ as the best use of fabric. In all, 112 rectangles were needed.
These were sewn into pairs.
And assembled.
And quilted.
And, ta-dah! A quilt. 35″ x 40″
It was such fun to find this small treasure in the trash.
Sometimes you have a good idea that doesn’t quite work out. But, it did require effort and fabric and time…you hate to throw it away.
I was fortunate enough to inherit some such items. It appears the original maker was working towards a wonky coin quilt of some kind. Foundation pieced. But a little odd…
First I squared them up and trimmed to a standard size: 5-1/2″ x 46″.
It felt like a border would both make them more stable and give definition. Added 1-1/2″ strip all the way around. Now they are 7-1/2″ x 48″.
Then, because the piecing was already a little wonky, I added strips top and bottom to give that movement to the entire quilt. I started with background fabric cut into pieces 7-1/2″ x 13″. I then cut those into pairs: 3″ and 10″, 5″ and 8″, 7″ and 6″, 9″ and 4″, 11″ and 2″. These were added to the top and bottom of each coin strip. (Only four strips shown in this picture, sorry) That brought the total length of each strip to 60″. Finally, I added pieces 3″x60″ to the sides and between each coin strip. The size was selected by using half the width of the coin section finished (5″ finished /2 = 2-1/2″. Then add the seam allowance of 1/2″.) TIP: When adding components, consider using fractions or multiples of a chosen “base” component. The final result tends to be more balanced and finished feeling.
Total finished size 50″ x 60″.
Quilt and bind.
And a surprise backing–that panel that I didn’t know what else to do with.
Consider how this might work for you on a future quilt. It is fun to take great-ideas-that-didn’t-quite-work and treat them as raw materials. They can be the start (foundation) of a successful quilt.
Wedding Dress Blue 