Assembly required

     In trying to get a handle on the new year and kick the can farther down the road, I gathered the bags containing all the pieces for a comfort quilt, but were not arranged and clipped for web construction piecing. There were more than a few. Yikes. 
     My mother can sew small straight seams and is bored a lot. I try and give her pieces to sew that I can trim later or don't have to match. Making kits for her is time consuming and then I need to trim, arrange and finish- a reason the pieces get bagged and piled up. 
     Every once in a while, Missouri Star reels me in with a great deal on a layer cake. If I cut the white 10" squares myself, my mom can sew the color and white squares on all four sides so I can make HSTs and trim them. I have to glue the corners with Elmer's washable glue because she won't use pins and pushes the fabric through zoom, zoom. Glued corners or seams work for her and they make less work for me ripping in the long run.
     The first one is the Disappearing Hourglass from MSQC. The blocks were from Kaffe and white HSTs. Once arranged on the wall, I realized I royally screwed up the blocks in rotating the centers most of the time incorrectly. I have made this pattern before- I must have been brain fried. I am not ripping out as the bias would kill the blocks. So, what you see is how it is going. They are clipped by column, numbered and ready for web piecing. It will have a 3" border.

     I have about 12 blocks left, so I will use sashing and cornerstones with a big border for a second one. I like to make my adult comfort quilts about 60 x 72-80" to actually cover them. 
     Next, I had batik and cream HSTs. I chose Supernova that Sarah shared. I had made one before with all kinds of blue and white. However, when I pinned these up and asked my husband what he thought, he said it was confusing and awkward in spots where it changed direction. Because this will be a comfort quilt, I want the design to be calm and comforting, so I took it apart. Sigh.

     I looked through my pins and drew up an idea giving a star look. Trusty old graph paper.

     Put this one on the wall and I think it is a winner. Some colors maybe need rearranging, so I will let it hang for a while. It used 120 HSTs- the exact same from the quilt above. There are about 48 HSTs left, so I will have to figure out another idea for those. This one will be about 60 x 72 with no border or maybe a thin one. I have to number and clip it together because I need the wall. Another one ready to web.