Monday, July 24, 2017

If it's Summer...

...I must be working on quilts.  I don't know why, but when it gets hot outside, I want to create quilts.

At the moment, I've joined a couple of exchanges on FB.  In these exchanges, you make one 12" block for each person that has signed up and then mail them out to each person.  Here are some of the squares I made for the June/July exchange.  The colors were chosen but we each got to pick out what block to use them in.


I chose the Wagon Tracks block from QuiltersCache.com.  These were the last ones I needed to do for June/July.

For August, there were so many of us signed up, we got divided into smaller groups.  My group has 11 people with one person doing 2 blocks so I had to make 11 blocks total.  Our group was totally random for the colors and the block choices (as long as it finishes at 12").  This time I picked the Mosaic block from PatchworkSquare.com.  Since I had been running behind on the previous exchange, I wanted to make sure I was on the ball for August; my blocks are already done!  Here are the blocks I did:




These were a lot of fun to do!  The big squares in each block are 5" and the little ones are 2".  I have bins of both those sizes already cut so that saved a bunch of time.


I've been trying to tame my fabric stash while I've been making these quilt blocks.  I'm also doing a leader/ender project as described by Bonnie Hunter.  I've folded almost all of my fabric yardage (again, using Bonnie Hunter's technique) and rearranged it on my shelves.  Here are the before and after photos:



Now, I just have to deal with a few more yards and all the pieces that are less than a yard:



The first photo is mostly yardage.  The second is my "fat quarters" and scrap pieces.  Not all of the fat quarters were fat, they were smaller.  True fat quarters (18" x 22") are all getting folded the same way and put in a drawer together.  All the other pieces are getting cut up into:

  • 5" squares
  • 2" squares
  • 2½" strips
  • 2" x 3½" bricks
  • strips narrower than 2½ for string quilts
  • little bits smaller than 2" for crumb quilts
As I'm working on managing all these fabric chunks, I'm doing the Caroline Chain from Bonnie Hunter's book Addicted to Scraps as my leader/ender project.  It's the first one in the book.  I'm thinking about just doing every one in the book.  I'll get back to you on whether I do or not.  Here's what it looks like in the book:


I've been cutting a lot of the 2" squares and 2"x3½" bricks for this one.  I've been cutting 5" squares from my fabric chunks first and then I do a bunch of the smaller squares and bricks for this quilt.  I've been throwing the dark and light sets into these two baskets on the floor but I guess I needed some help from Spooky.


The shoebox tubs have the brick and squares in them and I just grab them at random to piece together.

Happy Stitching!

Stacy

2 comments:

Goofin' Off Around the Block said...

Stacy, It looks like you've gotten yourself into some fun FB exchanges. Your blocks all look fantastic...and a bonus whenever you can use those pre-cut scraps. Every once in a while I go through and cut my scraps into 2-1/2" squares and strips, 5" squares and strips, etc., just like you. I'm glancing over at my fabric stash and can see it's time to do that again...maybe after I finish the current quilt I'm working on. Happy sewing! --Andrea

Leonore Winterer said...

So much quilting going on! It's a fun way to spend summer I'm sure, I have yet to try and I really want too, some day! I love your blocks, especially the ones you did for August. And you have so much fabric! Good for you to get it organized.