New Blocks

I finished 9 more blocks yesterday. I am working a little faster since I got things organized better. I started out making one or two blocks at a time. I usually work that way and then decide how to be efficient. I cut all the strips in the lengths I would  stitch together and paired everything up so now I don't have decisions to make for every block.   That seems elementary, and it is, but I don't have many big blocks of time anymore. It just takes me longer to get to the efficiency mode.

These are all nine new blocks.

 I was looking for something in 3 baskets I have on the top shelf of the bookcase and found the prints that I used here. They were bundled up as projects that I started as something to work on when I met with friends. I had no specific plans for them and there was almost no progress made on any of them (I was always too busy talking to get anything done.) so they just got set aside. 
While I was taking the bundles apart and cutting for these blocks, I also cut for Donna Poster blocks and double or triple 4 patch blocks. I put a few blocks from those bundles in my "odd blocks box"

I found enough fabric in those bundles to make more blocks of  these prints I had already used.





I have 65 blocks now and 34 to go for a full size quilt. I found working on 9 blocks at a time was tedious, Maybe I like the diversion of making fabric choices. I think I will cut that down to 4 or 5 blocks at a time. As a diversion, I might start sewing some of  the strips together for the borders. Or, I might get out one of my portable design boards and lay out some Donna Poster blocks. There are a lot of decisions and agonizing of fabric choices to be made for those projects.

Efficiency serves a purpose but sometimes it gets boring.    

Five More

These are the 5 blocks I sewed this morning.

The solid fabric in the green block is really much more purple or fuchsia than it shows here.
I had only enough of the 2 for one block each of the 2 print fabrics on the top right. Of course they are now my 2 favorite blocks. I think I like the combination of the light blue green with the light floral print better than the other 2 solids (pink and green)  I used with that print.

I am probably never going to really like the small scale brown print no matter what solid color I pair it with. It doesn't look terrible among all the other blocks because it doesn't call attention to itself so it will stay.
The purple fabric, along with 2 other purple monochromatic fabrics were left over from juvenile quilts. They were just right for the juvenile quilts but I am not enchanted with the  combinations or purple with pink and yellow, they will also stay.

Maybe I am getting a little too critical of each block. I like the way they are all looking up on my wall.  I am looking forward to getting the blocks finished and putting it all together. At the rate I'm going it will not be this week.

More Blocks

I have seven more blocks finished; that makes 49 locks.  I haven't yet decided what size I will make the quilt; after thinking about making either 23 more blocks or 50 more blocks, I am leaning toward a twin size.

When I put the blocks up on my expanded design wall I got a better sense of what colors I need.  I am using leftover pieces and scraps and I am determined not to buy any fabric for the blocks.  Well, maybe I will buy some solid fabric. I have a lot more that I thought but there are 3 or 4 colors  or shades that I am lacking.  For each block I cut only a 12  X 2 inch strip of solid fabric. I know what ever I add to my stash will be used because I like using solids with prints and I have some other ideas. I am looking forward to using up my scrap stash.

These are the blocks I made right after I finished my design wall.  I am not a lover of brown but I though I needed something that kind of stepped back instead of trying to grab attention. I also wanted to use some blue and green and purple solids.
These are not my favorite blocks but they will be used, maybe!

I finished these this morning. I wanted to use some of the purple prints from my scraps. It was hard to make a decision about the solids with which to pair them.

I am usually drawn to prints that have many colors and shades and mostly steer away from monochromatic prints.  Floral fabrics always call my name from the shelves in the quilt shops. I had a huge stash of florals from the time I made colorwash quilts. I decided to use them all up and I did pare that down to almost nothing and I have missed them every since.

These are not my favorite blocks either but I will also use them. They will probably play nice with the more flamboyant "Divas".



I usually wait until the body of the quilt is sewed together before deciding on the border.  I may use a solid red for a narrow inner border and a scrappy pieced, random strip, piano key border.
That has been in my mind from the beginning. We'll see.

Design Wall Addition

When I put up the panels for my design wall I knew that I really needed to add more flannel covered insulation foam panels.  I never got around to it until I ran out of space for the Framed 9 Patch blocks I've been making. As I finish blocks I put them on the wall and rearrange what has already been put up. I want to keep  an arrangement that requires tweaking but not a complete "start over".  I ran out of design wall width though there was room for 4 more rows in length. It seemed like it was time to add those flannel covered panels. A trip to Lowes for the panels and Joann's for the flannel and I was ready to DO IT.

These are the four new flannel covered panels; I added 2 up  and 2 down. I already have one vertical row of blocks up.
They will be behind the door when the door is open. Here it is closed and you can see the tote bags that I have hanging on Command hooks on the back of the door.  I have to take advantage of every inch of space in my room and they never show when the door is open.

My wall is not very elegant. Some of my earlier panels were left from another room and covered in off white instead of white.  I do not have all of the drywall screws in the new panels. I secured them with enough screws to hold them and the two end panels would have stayed up by themselves anyway because they were pressed tightly in place. I could only reach so high from the first step on the ladder so someone else will have to put in a few more screws. Jack would have done a much neater more professional looking job if he could have done it but there are a lot of things he can't do anymore.  At least he doesn't criticize and he does give good advice.

These are all 42 blocks.
 I think I will add one more vertical row and 3 or 4 more horizontal rows. I am not yet sure what size I will make.
I know that I will be rearranging the blocks; with everything up on the wall I can see what solid colors I need to  use for the remaining blocks.
I am rolling around in my mind the idea of a narrow solid border with a scrappy random strip piano key border. I have been saving strips of piano keys for a long time and I have a lot of strips left from these blocks.  We'll see.

Another Possibility

I have been cutting a few more strips of print fabric and pairing them up with solid strips. Now that I have made a number of blocks I am getting into a routine. I want to get sets of prints and solids paired up so that all I need to do is sew and press.
Getting things ready to just sew seems to me like good progress, even though I have only made these 3 sets in the last few days

This morning I got another idea for the pattern and solid blocks from Mary Huey's blog,  Quilting through Rose Colored Trifocals

This is what I worked out in EQ7.  In Mary's pattern this would have been made by combining the 9 patch blocks  with another block but this is the look that would be achieved.  The quilt would go together faster because there are also solid background squares. Check out Mary's pattern here. You can purchase the pattern on her Etsy shop and it is a bargain.
Sh is a good teacher and has great ideas for simplifying the piecing.

This may be my next solids and prints project. After all, I am still in love with the 9 patch block and I still have a huge amount of leftovers and scraps..

Two More Sets of Blocks.

I was able to sew 2 more sets of Framed 9 Patch blocks. They both sewed up without problems. These are really easy blocks but some of the previous blocks gave me some small problems, all user error. There are always some mishaps that happen when I haven't done much sewing for a while. It is really because I don't pay enough attention to precision. 


A long time ago I realized that what frustrated me the most was when everything did not fit together without "fudging".  I identified the habits that led to imprecise cutting and I pursued the precise quarter inch until I had it down pat. I make it a habit to check my seam allowances after each step instead of waiting until the block is finished.  I like knowing that all my blocks are "right on" when it is time to sew them together. It just  makes things so much more enjoyable.

However, some days for one reason or another my skills are not up to par and I spend more time fixing that I consider fun.

Today was not one of those days.😊 

26 Blocks

I now have 26 blocks. They don't take a lot of time to sew but it seems that I can't get more than 2 pairs done in a day.  Nevertheless, I am making progress.   

These are the 9 locks I finished in the last 2 days. The all measure exactly 8 inches square though the photo doesn't look like it.

I am missing photos of 4 more blocks. I had 13 in my last post and now I have 26. I thought I had shots of all the new blocks........ oh well, I guess not.














Here are all 26 blocks. The more blocks I make the better I like them. I can't believe that I have usually avoided solid colors in my quilts except for narrow inner borders or sashing.

After I had a few blocks finished to put up on the wall, I thought I would have to make sure that I had a fairly equal number of each solid color. With a small number of blocks the yellow seemed to stand out too much. With more blocks that no longer seems to be a problem. I am beginning to think that there are not going to be a lot of  picky rules about the final layout.  I am also finding that I don't have to agonize over each choice of the solid color to go with the prints; the solid only needs to contrast enough to show up well.  This shot of all the blocks doesn't show the contrast as much as the ones in the collage of the newest blocks; in real life the colors of all the fabrics are much more vibrant.. Blame the photographer!

I am already starting to cut solids and prints for Double 4 Patch blocks. I have had a long love affair with the Triple 4 patch quilts and I have made at least 3 for myself (which have somehow all found new homes). I made many blocks for the monthly request for members of the Friendship group. I cut leftover fabrics for the blocks all the time and I have a box of squares cut for Triple 4 Patch blocks and instead of making the smallest 4 patches with black/dark and white fabric, I will use 2 1/2 inch squares in a variety of solid colors.

Three More Blocks

I sewed 3  Framed 9 Patch blocks even though I am still cutting for them. I just want to sew and see how they look. So far I have completed 13 blocks and I realized that I need to see them all together in order to make color choices for the solid fabrics.

These are the 3 blocks I sewed today. I think from now on I will  use different solid colors for each block when I make 2 or more of the same print.

These are the 13 blocks I've completed.

Wow! Lots of green prints so far.  I consider green a neutral and I apparently like it but I am not aiming for a predominantly green (or blue) quilt, I see a lot of blue too. I have a lot of both in my scrap and leftover bins. However, it is early in the process and now that I have this up on the wall I will be  better able to make those visual decisions.

I am also noticing that the smaller scale prints look better, for the most part, that the medium scale prints,  I know that for overall interest I need to use different scale prints in my fabric choices so I will not be eliminating the blocks that look a little chunky.  I am, after all, working mostly from my scrap supply and my objective is to pare it down to something manageable.

 I am having fun doing it

Fussy Cut or Not?

I have bee busy going through my scraps and left overs and cutting for 3 different blocks.  Every so often I have to just sew something.  The Framed 9 patch blocks are the easiest to "just sew" because  fabric choices have already been decided, I don't have to put them up on the design wall and play with them, they go together pretty fast even when I am only doing one at a time. Once I get the cutting finished I will not be working on one at a time but when I need to sew and see something finished "one or two at a time" works.

I found some sizable left overs from these 2 fabrics and decided first to fussy cut the green.

 I wanted the roses to show up more but after I sewed the block I didn't like it so much. I didn't fussy cut the pieces  for the one on the right and I like it better.







I had 4 fabric sections of the blue cut 3 stripes wide in lengths that must have been for borders. I don't remember what I cut it for or why I didn't use them.  I had enough to cut up any way I  might need. The stripes were not quite 2 inches wide so I cut about an eighth of an inch into the opposite shade stripe.
This time I was happy with the results.

I believe  the reason the fussy cutting worked better for the blue is the scale of the pattern in relation to the  size of the block. The block will be 7 1/2 inches in the quilt and the roses fill a 1 1/2 inch patch I think the fussy cut green looks kind of clunky.

I will probably use them all because I think overall when everything is put together in the overall look it will be the solid fabrics that draws the viewers eye.

We'll see!

OOPS!

Our quilt group at church met last Saturday and I brought home some odd sized/shaped pieces of fabric to cut into squares and strips. This time I am concentrating mostly on 6 inch squares trying for multiples of 4 or more  that will coordinate for large 9 patch blocks for quilts that will go to Jamaica. I was able to use some of the small scraps from cutting for the Donna Poster blocks and 8 inch Framed 9 patch  blocks.

Today, I made these 2 blocks with smaller odd pieces of one purple print and some of my own solids.

Oops!
I made the one on the right first and I didn't like it as well as I thought I would. I had enough small scraps to make another with a different color solid; when I compared them I saw my mistake. I hesitated to fix it because it meant unsewing 5 seams and moreover the block had measured a perfect 8 inches.  I had lunch and did the dishes and came back to my sewing room and picked up my seam ripper and I did it!

I was bothered enough to know that if I waited to do it and forgot and sewed it into the quilt I would end up taking it out and it would be more work in the end. It went together almost as perfectly with about 1/16 of and inch space where  the side strip was sewn on. Because it is not on the corner it will not be a problem.

The background purple is really dark but it comes across as purple and not navy.  I was happy to  be able to use the small scraps because my own stash is not heavy on purple.

These are some of the 6 inch squares I cut. The unicorns were pretty far apart as were the bunnies and birds so I only got 2 unicorns and the bunny square is only 4 1/2 inches but it can go into Donna Poster scrap blocks that is kind of an ongoing project..
I think the purple shows up a little better in this photo because I found some dark gray fabric to put beside them.

I will be making more of the Framed 9 patch blocks. I love the way they look in the quilts on Lynn Dykstra's blog. The solid fabrics in the blocks add cohesiveness even though the solids and prints as all different.
After I cut the rest of the 6 inch squares for our church group I will  get back to some sewing of my own again. 

Inspiration or Obsession

Yesterday while visiting  Wanda (Exuberant Color) on my usual morning list of blogs, I was led to Lynn Dykstra's  blog, klein keisje quilts.  Oh my goodness; I am enchanted by her use of solids with prints.  My sewing room is in total chaos with piles of scraps to be cut and organized and piles of squares and strips that I had cut and sorted.  In the midst of all that, I cleared a space to work and put together 3 - 7 1/2 inch  blocks. I think I have a new obsession.















I started out thinking I had to pull multicolored prints and these were close at hand. When I took another look at Wanda's blocks I saw that I could use monochromatic or 2 color prints. That will give me a lot more choices.

I started with the Framed Nine Patch blocks because I have had a love affair with nine patches since I learned strip piecing but there are so many more blocks to explore. I like simple traditional blocks and I am addicted to scrappy quilts so who knows where this will take me.

If you visit Lynn's blog you will find "solids on prints" on her labels list.  Be prepared to spend some time as there is so much to see.

Not Much Sewing

There hasn't been much sewing going on in my sewing room. I finished some things for church up to getting the top and backing made and passed them on to someone else to finish. Arthritis in my hands has been a problem lately and I have concluded that large quilts are more than I want or am able to quilt.  I am still thinking about how I might quilt some larger quilts in sections if I plan hem right. I am probably going to stick to smaller things.

I have been going through all of my scraps and odd blocks and leftover components. I am sorting and  and purging and cutting strips and squares and rectangles. I started putting together pieces to make Triple Four Patch blocks and blocks that Donna Poster demoed on Simply Quilts. They are both good blocks for scraps and I have made some of my favorite quilts using them.

I can only cut and sort for so long before I start thinking about how what I am cutting will look in a block. I made these 4 Donna Poster blocks over several days time. I cut some pieces and put some up on the wall and cut some more and went away and did other things and changed some squares or rectangles when I came back. I finally sat down and sewed them together.
This is an easy block because there are no matching seams within the block and not too many when the blocks are sewed together.

4 Donna Poster inspired blocks

I like to use a light fabric in a specific place in each block so they a scattered throughout the quilt. I put most of the blocks together in the same format but sometimes I change the components in one half or the other.

After I looked at these on the design wall I wasn't sure I liked them. I left them on the wall and went back to my cutting marathon. This morning I took a break and visited some of the blogs I follow. Julie Sefton, quiltdivajulie , is working on scraps and she has narrow pieced strips separating sections. I put some pieces together for narrow strips and stuck them up on the wall between my blocks and I think I like it.  I think it will breakup the predictability and help to unify the sections. The plus is that I will be using some of the scraps that were not big enough for the squares or rectangles.

My goal has been to get all of my various odds and ends organized and have some sort plan the either use them or give them away (or dispose of them). This is probably going to keep me busy for a while.  I still have a lot of cutting to do but now I can have have some playtime as I go along.

My time lately just seems to get sucked up in the other things going on in my life. If I can have short periods of playtime here and there I might just keep on quilting instead of getting rid of everything and turning my sewing room into another bedroom or TV room.  I have entertained that thought.