More quilts, nothing spectacular

More giant conversation prints.

Another Around the World.

More of the hourglass blocks.

A UFO-- FINISHED!

More conversation prints

It's always a challenge using fabric that people have given to me. I had pumpkins and cats and turkeys and corn, which I made up in a very simple framed pattern with 7 and 1/2 squares. Used up some orange fabric that was giving me fits as well.

Then, I had some fabric with people. I cut all that was there into 5 inch blocks, and created two patterns to use all of it up. The blocks that were more warm colors got the yellow, orange and red solid blocks, and the cool blocks got a nice, bright blue. And yes, that's the Jewel Box pattern-- I sewed 2 and 1/2 inch blue blocks to the corners of the 5 inch white blocks.

Lobsters and giant bunnies

Meh. I was a good thing that I went through my stash today and sorted it. Any fabric that made me irritated went in the giveaway pile. None of it was fabric I had bought!

The nice thing about both is that they were quick pieced in strips, but they are not very inspired.

Hourglass

Someone gave me a nice piece of Debbie Mumm holiday fabric, so I picked out some of the colors in it and did about 100 of these hourglasses. I cut five inch squares (because it was easy to do with my rule), drew diagonal line across them, and sewed on either side of the line. I rotary cut diagonally the other way in order to make the triangles. The first ones were a little lopsided, but they got better.

Of course, I ran out of fabric, so added a dark blue border to the second quilt, then used a light fabric. I had cut some 3 and 1/2 inch squares out of a lot of green and rust fabrics, so used those to border out the 12 extra hourglass blocks that I had left over. Well, I had 14, but two were really crooked.

It's fun to play with different color combinations with one set of blocks, and using "planned over" pieces makes the quilts go together very quickly.

Jewel Box

This was super easy. Took a bunch of 4" squares, then added 2 and 1/2" squares to the corners. I normally don't like to sacrifice entire squares and cut off half of them, but sewing the corners this way made them square off beautifully. I had border fabric already cut, which is why two sides are maroon and two are blue! This is great to make with all sorts of scraps.

Summer 2011

I only quilt in the summer, and last year my library was being renovated, so nothing got done. Since I've been quilting since 1980, and have a huge stash or fabric, I'm trying to use it up. I donate the quilt tops to My Very Own Blanket, an Ohio organization that gives quilts to foster children. I'll try to include pattern information when I can.

My favorite pattern is Around the World. I use 3 and 1/2 inch squares, arranged in an 11 by 11 pattern. It helps to pin a finished top up when I'm selecting new fabrics-- I keep slips of paper with the number of

pieces I need for each position of the pattern. These go together quickly, especially since one of my standard sized scraps to cut at the end of a fabric piece is a 3 and 1/2 inch square. Conversation prints are good for this.

My son's baby quilt is in this pattern in yellows and blues, with a lot of fruit and vegetable prints. He used to lie on it for hours and talk about the fabric.

This one used up a lot of random Christmas/Winter fabric that I had. Hopefully, it's bright and cheery enough that no one will mind!

Two down, forty eight more to go!