Sew Along Update - Week 16

 

We find ourselves entering the final week of the sew along, and I wonder how everyone has enjoyed making this quilt? 

Its ease of construction cannot be beat, quite honestly. The 2.5-inch block and strip are just the easiest sizes with which to work, and the resulting design is as fresh and clean as can be. If one were trying to teach a beginning-level seamstress to quilt, this would be a most appropriate pattern to use. A newbie to quilt-making would learn simple block construction, seam nesting, pressing options, matching intersections, and color placement. And a big quilt would provide plenty of repetition for honing those skills.

Today I have a partially finished quilt top to share. If you recall, I was working on Pioneer Dreams - the same pattern as our Spring Dreams, but done with reproduction fabrics. I was curious as to how the pattern translates to other "looks." 

I had enough blocks for a quilt that will be square - 9 rows by 9 rows. My background fabric is a fairly old piece of yardage from my stash. It paired well with the Pam Buda layer cake of one of her older lines called On Maple Lake.

In an earlier post, I explained how I prefer to sew smaller sections of a quilt top together and then wrestle just once or twice with the big bulk of the entire top. I currently have all my rows and sashing strips ready to connect; a few, in fact, are already connected. Shown above is a section of two block rows and three sashing rows sewn together for a unit. 

 

Today's work will involve putting all the rest together. I have everything hanging over a bar of the long arm in the order they will go together. It should be a very straightforward effort today to put them all together.

The final installment of the Sew Along will be next Monday! The Grand Finale! I will have a special guest this week, which will be a surprise for our finale. In that final post, I am planning a Spring Dreams Parade, so if you want your quilt to be included, please shoot me a photo and you can march along with us!

Have a great week, dear readers!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

 

It's Just The Way I'm Wired

Over the past 24 hours - give or take - I have worked on three different quilts, drafted for two different blog posts, and dreamed about scheduling the next half-dozen or so quilts on my to-do list. I know it appears to be utter madness to some, but I truly think I am wired operate in this sort of chaos. Flitting from task to task doesn't seem to impede my productivity. I suppose it could be more efficient to stick to one thing at a time, but what's the fun in that?!

First, I have a quilt to bind. I quilted it on Thursday (click here for details), but I'd not prepared the binding nor trimmed the quilt. That was among my first tasks yesterday. I am currently half done with hand stitching it - two sides done, two to go.

Still pretty much spread out across my sewing space is the reproduction version of Spring Dreams. (Since it's so clumsy typing out 'reproduction version of Spring Dreams' all the time, it's new name is Pioneer Dreams.) I am in the row-sewing phase of the process; it is easier to manage sections rather than the entire top, so I will make three sections that will then go together to form the top.

One section is done (above). Two rows and three sashings as of Friday morning. I sewed together one more sashing and two more rows, and have attached a sashing and a row (below). Next I will add the other row and then make and add another sashing for a second completed section. (Talk about chaos! Did you follow all of that??) Pioneer Dreams will soon be a quilt top!

The third quilt I worked on is a brand new one. I've only referenced it very briefly here - the Frankfort Girls are all making the same quilt, so we are doing it together next week in a 3-day mini-camp at Terry's house. In order to make the most of our camp time, all the cutting is done beforehand. That means pulling fabrics. Let's have a look at what I came up with.

First, note this picture of the quilt we are making. I have my book ordered, so I can only show you a picture of a picture from Becky's book, County Seat Quilts by Julie Hendricksen and Vickie Gerike. Based on that picture, here are my fabrics - all from the stash.

Some of these fabrics are very old - aged to perfection, wouldn't you agree? Some are cut into, others are in-tact fat quarters, other still are remnants of yardage cuts. That dark piece in the mix is gray - even though it looks sorta' blue. I hope it will look gray in the quilt.

Here's another view - I think this will be quite pretty. I am not typically one to make Halloween-themed projects, but this is subtle enough to suit me. I like that each pumpkin has a star in it; that makes it seem more quilty than Halloween-y. *eehh??*

So, welcome to my normal, squirrel-like stitching and planning - that's what's going on over here. *smile*

Hope you are having a super Saturday! It is absolutely gorgeous here today!

Happy Quilting, Friends!