My Hands Have Been Busy

While my fingers have not been clicking away here on my laptop writing blog posts, my hands have been super-busy with a couple of projects.

I have a whole lot to say about my Grandmother's Flower Garden, but I will hold that for the next post. Today, I will quickly share a fast and super-easy layer cake project.

Sharon inspired me when she made this pretty throw-sized quilt from a layer cake of French General fabric. She created this beauty so fast - like in two days! - and the result is so pleasing that I just knew I had to make one, too. 

Of course I had many options, as my supply of layer cakes is bigger than I care to admit. I selected the newest one in the stack - one I bought in Daytona at the AQS Quilt Show. This is Lydia's Lace by Betsy Chutchian/Moda. With little to no effort I had mine completed.

I know there are patterns you can find on the internet, but one is not needed.  It's very easy; beginner friendly, for sure. And there's absolutely zero waste. That's almost as good as having a super-fast quilt.

Step 1: A layer cake has 42 fabrics in it, so match up 21 pairs consisting of a light and a dark. From each pair, cut in fourths. You'll have 4 stacks of  5" squares. Take out a light and dark square for the center of the blocks. 

Step 2: Cut 4 light and 4 dark of these sizes: 2.5" squares and 2.5" x 5" rectangles. Refer to the pictures if you need a visual.

Step 3: Working with the predetermined pairs, put all the dark squares with the light rectangles; put all the light squares with the dark rectangles. Stitch like you would any 9-patch block.

Step 4: Arrange the blocks to suit your eye. Sew rows for a quilt that will be 6x7 rows total.

Now, let me tease you with an update on Grandmother's Flower Garden. I have the center portion all together! I began stitching the flowers to the paths in January and have worked on it in earnest ever since. Here we are in mid-May and I have it all together. Now on to borders.

This is the very last flower to be sewn into the quilt top. I am now searching the stash to come up with a pretty solid to use as a border. And one more thing - I have a gazillion hexi papers to remove, too. *grin*

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne