Snow Shoo Quilt Top Finished

When one goes for several days without internet, one tends to get more work done - that is true for me, at least. Maybe others have more control about limiting their time on their devices, but not I. *smh*

What I accomplished is a quilt top! Yippee!! and Hooray!!

Snow Shoo is now a completed top and I have to say that this finished better than I expected. I just love how it looks.

This is a very deceiving quilt to figure out without a lot of study. Last year when I was photographing my friend's antique quilts, one of her treasures was this same pattern, and I had a devil of a time figuring out the blocks. Once you know, though, it makes such simple sense. Here's the link with a picture of the antique I copied.

The quilt is made by alternating a Snowball block and a Shoo Fly block - thus the name Snow Shoo. I love the chaining effect that results with the two blocks combined. I was concerned during my construction that my scrappy blues and neutrals would not mesh well together, but I think it looks absolutely gorgeous! I am thrilled with how it has turned out.

 I will not allow any quilt police to have a crack at evaluating this quilt. The fact that a few of my points have missed their marks does not detract in the least from the overall look and I am NOT seeing the flaws - only the beauty. Everyone is with me on this, right??? *wink*

 My quilt is 14 rows long and 13 rows wide. The dimensions are 82"x76". My blocks are 6.5" shoo fly and 6.5" snowballs (finished at 6"). I had intended to make the quilt one row wider and one row longer, but as I put this on the bed I realized that this was plenty big. As a result, however, I have a stack of leftover blocks to find a way to use. We shall see what happens with them. No rush to do it soon, for sure.

So, my journey with Snow Shoo has concluded until such time as I get it quilted. Be sure to stay tuned to see Sharon's Snow Shoo finish. We began this journey together and we will have pictures of hers very soon.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Snow Shoo Update

I purposely have not written or shared much on Snow Shoo as I am still in the grunt work phase. All 105 Shoo Fly blocks have been done for awhile and I have been focusing on the 105 Snowball blocks. To date I have 62 finished.

To break a big boring job down into doable parts, I generally try to make 10 blocks at a time. I sew all the corners onto the snowballs, and do an extra seam for the HSTs I am saving for later.

Then I take all 10 to the cutting table and trim off the HSTs. I also trim any wild threads from the chain piecing.

I get a nice big snowball and 4 tiny HSTs for my efforts. Fun in small doses. I just don't have the mindset to sit down and chain piece all 105 blocks. And, really, do I have a deadline?? NO. I can sew as I please in whatever method I please.

This stack is all 62 of my Snowball blocks; my method of doing 10 at a time somehow is off - must have miscounted two extras somewhere along the line.

I throw all the HSTs into a basket under the cutting table for a future project. I know what it will be and I will be eager to work on it. I may try the "leaders and enders" method of Bonnie Hunter.

Today Sharon and I are sewing together; she is hard a work on Shoo Fly blocks; perhaps I will get 10 or 20 more Snowballs done.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Finally...My 2018 Goals

Gracious! This month is nearly over (already!), and I have yet to post the sewing and quilting goals I want to accomplish this year. Talk about being remiss. I am reminded of that old phrase "the hurrier I go, the behinder I get." That suits me better than I care to admit.

Early blocks made for Snow Shoo - Item #1 on the list.

A block for item #12 on my list.

A couple of weeks ago, I did sit down to formalize the goals I want to work toward this calendar year. Having a defined list always seems to help me stay on track; I could get so distracted by all the pretty patterns and all the pretty fabrics and all the pretty sew-alongs and all the...well, you get the idea - I am too easily distracted. The list is definitely necessary to help  me maintain my focus.

My current focus is Snow Shoo (shown at the top) - item #1 on the list - and I have not done too much on it this week. Not enough hours in a day, I suppose. With the new semester of school now in full swing, and a book to read for book club, I had distractions that I could not ignore. My little stacks of Shoo Flies and Snowballs are waiting ever so patiently over on the cutting table. I hope to sew on Monday with Sharon, so they won't be ignored too much longer.

Thimbleberries/Retreat Quilt - Item #9

My list contains no UFOs; 2017 had enough of those, so I am backing way, way off. One might think that item #9 is a UFO (cover of book above), but I prefer to reference it as a WIP (work in progress); this is a fine distinction, I know, but it makes sense in my brain. *grin*

Item #10 is also a WIP - I never have 'fessed up about the idiotic mistakes made trying to finish that jelly roll quilt back in September. It's embarrassing...just wait; it's on the list, so it will get done, and I will tell all.

Above is a sample Great Granny Square (item #13) block that I made several years ago. I had come to possess a small amount of vintage feedsack fabrics, and decided this is how I wanted to use them. I have collected a few more vintage pieces and I now have enough to get a quilt top finished. The solids are taken from the collection in my grandmother's items, which seems fitting since we are talking vintage and granny squares (although she detested being referred to as Granny!).

I am gradually getting back on track with things around here! Slow and steady, right?

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Snowball Block and a Bonus

In the process of making Snow Shoo, I discovered that with each of the Snowball blocks I would have four identical cut-away corners that could be saved and used in some future blue and white beauty. Maybe you'd like to see my process.

For one snowball block, I begin with a 6.5" neutral square and four 2.5" navy squares. I place the navy squares on the corners of the neutral square, right sides together. Normally, one would then stitch and flip. To save some time later, I am making the extra effort now to go ahead and stitch those cut-away parts into an HST. See the picture below.

Since the corners are lined up and already under the presser foot, I figure I can take the extra few seconds to sew that extra line. I work hard to be consistent in my stitching so that all cut-away HSTs will be the same size.

I cut between the two stitched lines, and put the small triangles aside for future use. I press the Snowball corners out. The small HSTs come out to just a tad under 2" - a very usable size.

The Snow Shoo quilt I am making will require over 100 Snowball blocks, so I should have 400 little HSTs when I am finished. And, yes, I do  have a plan taking shape for them. I will play around with them a bit and let you know all about it soon.

I am joining Linky Tuesday over at Free Motion by the River.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Snow Shoo

I knew Sharon and I would come up with a good name for this quilt. After deciding that the one block is a Shoo Fly block (and not a Monkey Wrench), we added it to the name of the other block - Snowball - and came up with Snow Shoo. We like the little play on words - it's fun and these blocks are definitely fun to make. It just works. And with all the snow that has fallen across parts of the US, perhaps the name is even more fitting.

I have mentioned the plan for making this quilt here before, inspired by the beautiful vintage quilt I photographed last March at a friend's house. Here is a link to some back story. If this quilt design already has a name, we are unfamiliar with it, and we like the name we invented.

I am using a wide variety of blues and creams - it will be scrappy, yet stay within the blue and white family. All the fabric will be coming from my stash, too, which makes me a very happy quilter.

I still have cutting to do, but I just had to stop and make a few blocks. So far, the scrappy factor is not too prevalent, but as I continue cutting into the stack I pulled, I will achieve that scrappy look I am going for.

The blocks measure 6.5 inches unfinished. I actually did some calculating and decided that my goal is to have a quilt that is 14 blocks wide by 15 blocks long. Further calculations gave me a projected size; I will let you know if my actual quilt finishes anywhere close to that projection. I am terribly math-challenged, so we shall see.

I am linking up today with Confessions of A Fabric Addict and her Whoop! Whoop! party. Click on over to join the fun!

Happy Quilting, Friends!