Patriotic Dreams

A spurt of creative energy has me making Spring Dreams Sew Along quilts one after another. Yesterday, I finished the patriotic version, and gosh, it looks so festive! 

While sewing it, I was struck by the chaotic nature of the fabrics - almost garish in the variety. Just keep on stitching, I told myself. It's supposed to be a celebration of the USA! Think fireworks, banners. parades, streamers - all the stuff of the Fourth of July. So, I think this works quite nicely.

Draped over the front porch settee, I like the way it pulls out the red of the shutters and chair cushions along with the white of the wicker. This quilt is square (6 blocks x 6 blocks) so will make a nice porch throw.

And if I don't use it as a porch throw, I can always use it as a table cloth. I won't have to work too hard to decorate for the Fourth; this quilt will go a long way to adding a festive punch to the decor.

The fabrics that make up the 9-patches are all from a jelly roll with a couple of minor exceptions. The sashing and the cornerstone fabrics came from my late grandmother's stash. She was exceedingly fond of patriotic quilts, so there was a hefty collection from which I could pull.

Here is Patriotic Dreams all folded up and waiting her turn in the long arm queue. (That's a long, long queue, but she might get bumped up.) This photo gives you a closer look at the fabrics. Busy, isn't it? With so few blocks (36), this throw-sized quilt went together quite fast. I love making this pattern!

You can see earlier renditions of this quilt through these links. They will also provide information about joining us in this sew along.

Original Spring Dreams Quilt

Scrappy Spring Dreams

Sharon's Paris Flea Market Spring Dreams

Lulu Lane Spring Dreams

The Inspiration Picture from blogger and Instagrammer, Helen Philipps.

Important note: I am double-checking my math on the chart provided in a couple of those links. I have a sneaking suspicion that I may be off with some of my numbers, so proceed cautiously until I provide an update one way or another.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

Surprise Quilt

Little did I know that when Sharon and Dee presented the idea of doing a virtual sew along, I would gearshift into mega-hyper-mode and crank out quilt tops like this. The quilt we are making is so daggone E-A-S-Y! And, as I keep repeating, makes up so daggone cute!

The newest member of the sew along family is Lulu Lane Spring Dreams. I hatched the idea a week ago, and now I have a quilt top to show you.

I dug into my remnants of Village, made in 2018, and to my utter delight and surprise, because I had a jelly roll squirreled away in there, I had enough fabric to make the beauty you see above. How excellent is that!?!? I call this a surprise quilt in my title because before the middle of last week, I had zero plans for using this fabric, and zero plans for making this quilt.

Happy Accident - that could be another name for it. *smile*

The excitement that came over me as I realized this quilt's potential propelled me to stay in the sewing room a little longer working on it. And I say work - nothing about making this was work. It was so much fun! I am using fabric that was just taking up space in the sewing room, and the resulting quilt makes me so happy.

If this doesn't convince you to dig into your fabric stash and get started on making this quilt, then I don't know what will. A project this simple is sure to motivate and inspire, yes? Stokes all the sewing and quilting mojo, for sure. 

When we first introduced this quilt along, I provided a chart for making the quilt in various sizes. I am re-running the chart here for any of you who are "rear'n to go" - numbers at your fingertips for whatever size quilt suits your fancy.

My Lulu Lane Spring Dreams is made with 72 blocks, just like my original one was, which I am just now realizing I have not shared yet here on the blog. *Ahem.* Well, instead, you can click here to see my table topper size with just 9 blocks. Coming up on Monday, I will show you two additional finishes: my original Spring Dreams Quilt and Sharon's beautiful finish in a size not listed above. Hers is made with 16 blocks. The pattern is certainly adaptable.

Hope you are having a great day. RAIN here. But I hear the birds chirping and the robins I see in the yard are certainly happy about all the worms.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

Sew Along Update - Week 3

Welcome to the Week 3 Sew Along Update! Are you enjoying some pleasant time pulling fabric or stitching 9-patches? I sure hope so! I simply cannot get enough of making this quilt. Anyone interested in making a quilt and also gaining some instant gratification - well, you've come to the right place. This sew along will make that happen!

I shared in my last post that I'd had a light bulb moment at Old Town Fabrics, which led me to digging out my old stash of Corey Yoder fabrics. I discovered not only a bin of scraps and remnants, but an entire jelly roll! THE most perfect thing for the Spring Dreams Sew Along!

I went straight to work on making 9-patches. Refer to last post for a bit of an introduction to that process. The photo above shows me near the end of the 9-patches. I'm at the point where I don't have a lot of variety left, and I am squeezing every last quarter-inch of fabric out of a remnant in order to complete a block. I made 73, and I only need 72, so I have an insurance block. 

I will add this detail for anyone who is using a jelly roll for this quilt. I easily got my 72 blocks made with the jelly roll and the yardage. (Sadly, I did not measure how much yardage I had of the neutral.)I also have leftover strips, so it looks like it would be entirely possible to get an even bigger quilt out of a jelly roll, as well. I have about 10 full and partial strips leftover. I will measure out what remains, and report in a future post.

I have since cut out all the sashing strips as well as the cornerstones and now find myself in quilt top construction mode! Here's a look at the yellow sashing strips and the blue-green cornerstones. The 9-patches are entirely made with Lulu Lane fabric; the yellow is either Moda Bella Solids or Kona Solids  - it was purchased so long ago I have no recollection of it. The cornerstones are Corey Yoder, but from a different line - Flower Mill, I believe. Anyway, I hemmed and hawed about using it, but decided to go for it; why waste time on senseless worrying about a "match" when I am the only one who will know?

I will wait until next week to show how the rows are coming together. I have only just begun and there's not much to see. Not a lot of impact with just one row completed. I do have a sashing and cornerstone unit stitched there at the bottom of the pic.

Let me instead show you this table topper flimsy that I was working on last week. It  is super scrappy, and I was really lucky to have found the dotted sashing fabric - it makes for a very fun little quilt. All the 9-patch fabrics came from my scrap basket - and so did the cornerstones. This is very much a bonus quilt in that it consists entirely of scraps and remnants.

One more note to share: Anita, who I ran into at the quilt shop last week, sent a picture of her fabrics for the sew along. She is using flannel remnants! What a different look she will have! Feel free to send your fabric selections! I will post them here to provide inspiration to others.

Have a great week! Sew up a storm!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Another Tangent

 I shopped on Tuesday at our local quilt shop, Old Town Fabrics, in Chillicothe. Sharon met me there and we really cased the joint! I had a few specific things I wanted to investigate, and all the new fabrics were really enticing. I took my time and soaked in all the goodness! (And bought just a little bit, too.)

But the most exciting thing to come out of that trip to the fabric store was a wonderful light bulb moment while I was checking out Corey Yoder's newest line. You see, I still have fabric from her early lines left over from when I attended a class she taught, and another class taught by Carrie Nelson, in which I used CY fabrics. My idea is to use my remaining fabrics from Lulu Lane, Flower Mill, and Sundrops in the quilt along we are doing. Won't this make a fun, spring-inspired quilt?

And when I looked in the tub, well, hello jelly roll! I'd forgotten about you. It will make the construction of yet another version of our quilt come together in no time. I was so stoked to make 9-patches that I went straight to work on them. So far, I've used only the Lulu Lane Jelly Roll and yardage.

Look closely at this pic and you'll see the neutral Lulu Lane yardage for additional background in the 9-patches. It's as if this were meant to be, I tell you.

Here are my first 20 blocks all stacked up and clipped together in groups of 10. I plan to make a pretty big quilt - so this will be my work for awhile longer. I am not rushing, but I am eager to keep going.

I have to show you these 2 blocks - mistake blocks. I am so used to making 9-patches with 5 darks and 4 lights. That has been my preferred "look" for years. The opposite is used in our quilt along; it requires 4 darks and 5 lights - and I am forever checking myself to be sure I'm getting it right. 

I missed on these two. Corrected now. Sewing continues.

If you are trying to let me know that you are sewing along with us, there might be some issue with my email link. A friend told me today that she was unsuccessful at contacting me, so I will have to dig in further to see what's up with all that. Technical issues give me fits; I am slow to figure it out.

Happy Quilting, Friends!