William Morris Flimsy

Big reveal! Big freakin' deal! For whatever reason, finishing this quilt top became almost too much for me. Maybe it was knowing that my star points and triangle tips were "off" or maybe it was just so darn big - whatever, I really had to give myself a stern pep talk to get back to the sewing machine to finish it.

It has been laid out on the guest bed for most of this month. The troubles were many. First, I ran short of light fabrics, but determined to stay true to my promise to use the existing stash. Then, I found I hadn't made enough star blocks, so reverse myself and finish up 7 more of those. The outer borders which appear at the top and bottom needed to be made with lights and darks in specific order, so with limited lights, I managed to figure that out. Then the sheer size was daunting, too. 

 

Well, it is now done and hanging on the quilting room wall. I do love it, too. I see a lot of blue, which does not bother me in the least. I pick out some stars that seem pretty, and then I find others that are equally pretty. Gosh, I am glad I made this!

The pattern is Lil' Orphan Scrappy by Lynn Wilder of Sewn Wild Oaks. I bought it 3-4 years ago, and have listed it as a goal for most of those years. This year, it again appeared on my list as did a goal of using my existing William Morris stash. When it occurred to me to join those two goals into one, a great light bulb came on! What a beauty this would be. And, finally the goal is accomplished in 2022. Feels like a huge accomplishment.

Here are a few more random photos. And here are a couple of my earlier posts about making this quilt - here and here.

Can you believe I still have a lot of William Morris fabric left? How can a person make such a big quilt and not use more of this fabric? (I ask rhetorically, heh-heh.)

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Plans for the Week

I've spent the morning watching coverage of the Queen's funeral. What a great show of respect. I was moved to tears more than once. 

And now I need to redirect my focus to figure out what will be my week's priorities. On Friday we have Frankfort Girls, so it is always nice to have a finish to share with those sweet gals. Maybe I can make that happen this week.

If I find myself being super-industrious, I could have this William Morris top put together.

I haven't touched this green/cream snowball project in about a month. This would be super-easy and fast to stitch together.

Any available stitching time over this past weekend was devoted to hexies. I am really motivated to make more of these, yet I don't have a precise plan at this time. 

Rather than to work on any of the other starts I've made in recent days, I think I MUST focus on William Morris and Snowball.

Check back in with me through the week to see how effectively I maintain my discipline. I really will try!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

William Morris

Don't forget about William! 

Yes, I am still plugging away on my scrappy William Morris quilt, and it has been really tricky since running so low on light/neutrals. I must just accept that this quilt will look very little like the Lynn Wilder quilt Lil' Orphan Scrappy, and I must be okay with this! I am okay with this. My quilt will be lovely, and I am using a big ol' collection of scraps. Win-win.

In the photo above, you see several things I will note. First, some blocks have outer triangles that are dark, some have outer triangles that are light, and one has a mix of light, medium and dark. I will attempt to place the blocks in such a way as to make them look evenly sprinkled throughout the quilt. 

Another thing to note is the outer border - that pointy, zig-zag look. I am trying really hard to maintain this around the entire quilt, thus keeping at least this one feature true to the original.

I've made bunch of border units with the 3 neutrals I still have. They are in short supply! Now I am beginning to stitch the quilt top together. I have it laid out on our guest bed and move blocks around to get the look I want. 

More than likely there will be a gazillion little 'tweaks' as I sew the top together, but I vow that this quilt will be finished with the existing stash. And it will be a beauty. These fabrics are just so freaking luscious!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Goodbye August!

Sharon was here to sew with me yesterday! This is worthy of exclamation because we have been unable to coordinate our schedules since late June, as best we could recall. All manner of vacations, illnesses, appointments and family time kept our calendars so densely packed that we could never carve out a sewing day. 

So yesterday was special in that we were able to catch up, but we also got a lot of sewing done, too. Sharon worked diligently on a puff quilt for her 5-month old nephew. She made a lot of progress but needs just a few more "puffs." She plans to back the quilt with flannel, and it will almost be like a weighted blanket for the wee one, as it has quite a bit of heft to it. I did not take any pictures of Sharon's work, but you can click back here to see what a puff quilt is. That was my introduction to puff quilts.

I worked on Lil' Orphan Scrappy by adding economy triangles to my 6.5-inch stars. From the very start, I veered from the pattern by not bothering to fussy cut for the centers of the stars. As I get further into the construction of this quilt, I am finding it necessary to veer even more extensively. I am running out of light fabrics. Look at the picture below and see how much it relies on distinctions of light and dark. I expect I am going to lose this with my overload of dark and medium options.

 

This will be fine. Originally, I wanted to make this quilt because I loved how it looked, but my decision to use the scraps tied my hands a bit more than I expected. Look at that F8th pack - not many light/neutral options. I took out the 4-5 that would work and added them to my scrap stash, but still, I am woefully lacking in lights.

Realizing this, I had to adjust my thinking. Fine. Those WM fabrics look so amazing that this quilt will have its own unique "look" and I will love it. Here are a few pictures of blocks with the economy triangles added.

Note that this layout does not match the layout in the pattern picture. When I have all the triangles attached and trimmed, I will lay the quilt out properly. For now, this look pleases me and motivates me to continue. I have plenty of triangles cut, yet I think I need more red, so I will probably cut some of those today and begin blending them into the mix. And perhaps, when all blocks are made, I can work on placement in such a way as to achieve just a hint of mimicking the look of the original.

According to the pattern, this quilt should finish at 77" x 86". I have yet to consider what to do about those light triangles that are intended for the outer edge of the quilt. I won't worry about them now, though. Somehow it will all come together; I vow to use the existing William Morris in my stash (translation: I won't buy more). 

Remember these wise words: done is better than perfect.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Progress on Lil' Orphan Scrappy

Quilt retreat was a huge success, and I am happy that I took that brave first step in starting Lil' Orphan Scrappy. I believe I bought the pattern in 2020. I put the quilt on my goals list for 2021, pulled a bunch of fabrics for it, and ultimately, did nothing with it. I believe the first mention of it on the blog is here, and the reference is woefully brief I regret to say.

Mostly undaunted by my inactivity on Lil' Orphan Scrappy, I put it on the 2022 goals list, and finally, I have found myself brave enough to start it. It was as if I'd psyched myself out of it by overthinking my fabric choices and fear of facing such a multi-block effort. This quilt has 70 stars which measure 6.5 inches. And those stars are then turned into economy blocks with surrounds of triangles.

I used this picture in a previous post, but it is the best one readily available which shows the pattern. Lynn Wilder of Sew'n Wild Oaks is the designer, and I have followed her blog of the same name for years. I watched her make the original Lil' Orphan Scrappy way back in the mid-twenty-teens - maybe 2015? - and absolutely loved the variety of her blocks and the use of the scrappy fabrics.

I determined that progress on Lil' Orphan Scrappy would be my main effort at our retreat this week. I now have 40 stars made, parts cut for many more, and would like to think that I could get the remaining 30 stars made in a week. 

Earlier I mentioned that I had been overthinking the fabrics to be used in this quilt. On my goals list for this year, in addition to wanting to make this pattern, I also wanted to use my supply of various William Morris fabrics somehow. I had an "ah-ha" moment several weeks back in which I thought to pair this pattern with these fabrics. 

I am quite glad for the decision. I am loving how these stars look. Here are a few select ones to get an idea of the variety this quilt will contain.

Making the stars is the current and ongoing task. After all 70 are constructed, I will then go back through my fabrics to select the fabrics for the outer triangles - those are to be a precise mix of light and dark fabrics with the end result having the darker triangles helping to form a border on the quilt. 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Getting Started on Lil' Orphan Scrappy

Lil' Orphan Scrappy is one of those quilts that I've had plans to make for quite a few years. For sure, it has been on my goals list for at least 2 years prior to this year, and possibly 3. I just never could pull the trigger on what fabrics to use. Basically, it has been 'marinating' for a good long while.

My first block is nothing special - looks a bit washed out - but I will use it. I need 70 stars with varying light and dark fabrics surrounding them, so this will meld in with the overall quilt most definitely.

 My second block has a bit more interest; I am going to enjoy seeing how all these stars and their surrounding triangles come together. 

I have quite a lot of remnants of Morris Apprentice/William Morris fabrics from a quilt I made years ago called Tapestry. Check out this golden oldie from 2014. Then my quilting friend Becky handed off some of her Wm. Morris remnants to join mine, and I bought a fat 8ths bundle, so I have plenty to make this quilt. 

Happy as a clam over here, selecting pretty combinations to make these 6" stars. I will do a lot of those for now, and then think about adding the surrounding triangles later.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Making Plans

In recent posts, I have alluded to all the ideas I am having for new quilts to make. There seems to be no end to the possibilities, and as long as I can continue using up fabric in my stash, I see nothing wrong with starting all these new projects.

Sitting atop my list are two in particular that I have set nearby for relatively immediate attention. First, let's talk about a 2-color Double Irish Chain made with solids. It so happens that I have a healthy stash of white and cream from which to pull. That takes care of the background.

For the color, I've been wanting to make a blue and white quilt, so I turned to some sale fabric I bought about three years ago. This color is Regatta, a Kona solid; I have 3 yards of it and seeing this combination come together in the classic Double Irish Chain will be a true delight.

Sharon is making one, too, also blue and white, and has already begun hers. We are using the Eleanor Burns pattern from - what - 30 years ago? One of the very first quilts I ever made used this pattern, and Sharon was actually able to find her pattern from all those many years ago. It was meant to be, right?

The second quilt waiting in the wings is Lil' Orphan Scrappy from Sew'n Wild Oaks. My cyber friend Lynn Wilder is the designer. I have admired this quilt for years - I remember when she was making it and showing her progress on her blog. I finally decided it was time to take action last year some time when I bought the pattern. Since then, I have been setting aside fat quarters and perhaps I will "git to gittin'" on this beauty come summer time.

But first, I've got some things to finish, so I must restrain myself. First, the T-shirt commission is my most urgent finish. It needs quilting and binding. Then, I need to finish some of the WIPs I seem to have accumulated lately: the red and white stars, the blue Kaffe Fassett stars, maybe quilt one or two of the Spring Dreams Sew Along quilts, too. The 4-patch scrappy quilt needs more blocks, and there's always Lake Effect.

Whew! I never seem to run out of projects. And isn't that a good thing?

Happy Quilting, Friends!