Webbed finishes

      At the quilt retreat, I was able to sew two entire quilts by webbing and then, at home, I sewed on borders. I don't like to have a lot of seams in the binding, so I will put even thin borders on to help the quilt be more secure and less bulgey.

All sewn Disappearing Hourglass

With thin white border to bind against

All sewn at retreat

Dragonfly border sewn on at home. This completes the swap block quilt from years ago!!

Moving some forward

     Looking through my bags of projects, I moved some forward. I finished the blocks for two quilts, arranged on the wall, and got them ready for webbing, clipping them in colums, and bagging them. Quilt retreat is at the end of March, and I find if I take quilts that need webbing and assembly, I get them sewn as there are no interruptions and they feed us. These two will be assembled there.
     First, I finished the black and white Oh my Stars swap quilt. A friend gave me enough B&W prints to finish it. My order from https://ineedfabric.com/ never has arrived. I have to try and get a refund. I did about 20 arrangings, but settled on this. I know I will use a border, but undecided how to do it yet.

     The other quilt was Rolling Stone, a free pattern from Jordan Fabrics  I still need to sew the sashing on before I take it off the wall and clip it for webbing. Border unknown yet also. Great use for a layer cake with little waste.

Black and White, but not all over

      Long ago, I participated in a star swap with Barb Vedder. It used black and white prints in the center and solids for the stars. They came out lovely. I made some extra. And then they sat until I figured out what to do with them to make a quilt.

     Adding another row of flying geese all around, making a star within a star, looked appealing to me. I had to scrounge to find enough different solids. I make my Flying Geese with the Easy Angle and the Companion Ruler. If I cut right, no trimming, YAY!

     However, I arrived at the point where I ran out of Black and White prints to not repeat. I only need a 3 1/2" WOF strip, but no more in the stash. So here is where it sits. All the solid color pieces are cut out to finish.

     The quilt should be 6 x 7 blocks and I am short. I looked for prints online, but it was like one here, another there (all those shipping $$$). I found a huge collection at https://ineedfabric.com/collections/black-white-fabric-collection. I ordered them on Jan. 15th, and have heard nothing so far. I have never ordered from them before. They said they would send me a notice when it ships, but so far nothing. Anyone have experience with them? Sure would love to finish these blocks. Not sure why black and white prints are so hard to find. I thought I had a decent collection, but I need 42 kinds, but only at 3 1/2" WOF strip.
     Stay tuned.

Moving Oh my Stars Along

      I won't even say how long I have had these Oh my Stars swap blocks in a bag. Suffice to say, I am embarrassed. I finally figured how to add to them and make them into a quilt. I started to cut the B&W prints and the solids to finish the blocks, but not finished cutting as Christmas stalled this plan.
     Here are my 4 sample blocks. Hopefully, I can get back on track and cut the rest of the pieces. I hope I have enough B&W prints and solid variety to make it work. I use a 3/12" WOF B&W strip and a 2 1/2" solid color strip for the geese using the EZ angle ruler and Companion Ruler.

The Pile

The Plan

Block swap, 4 patch

 

    These two blocks represent two sets of blocks, 24 each set. My guild did a block swap share using 3 1/2" squares  made into 4 patches. I was first introducted to block swaps when I took a workshop at Quilting by the Lake and shared a dorm suite with Lynn Roddy Brown, who has books on the subject. Later at Houston, I got to take a trunk show class she offered with the quilts from the books. I lent my books to the program chairs and they decided to do these blocks. 24 people signed up, so I ended up getting 48 in return.
     Some of the blocks did not have the specified contrast, so I ripped them apart and added the lights. I also had to make a lot of extra blocks because some people had trimmed them to finished size, so half were not the right size. I wanted to do something a bit different, so I set the blocks on point with a plain block of a taupe with dots. By making the setting triangles a darker gray, it gave the quilt more contrast. I lined all the squares up so that the color prints went up and down like a beaded curtain. Lastly, I auditioned a whole lot of border choices- trying to stick with a dot theme, and chose one to add as the border. It is a nice size and now I need to find a back. All those disparate color squares nicely jell. I really like it. I guess I am just a simple person and scrap lover.

Scattered Block Shots

      Trying to meet deadlines for challenges, exchanges, etc. means doing a lot of different blocks, fabrics and sizes. That means fabric shrapnel all over the place and now facing picky cleanup. However, I did get done all I promised.
     My guild is doing a block exchange- sets of 24. I did two sets of 24.

     The guild is also doing a twin challenge- two people each making the same block in their own fabrics. In my case, it is three of us. The block was PopRocks. I did two because I usually do better on the second one.

     Our guild show is next year, so we are working on the raffle quilt now. The organizers chose Lucky Star and I did 2 of the blocks they kitted up. All batiks.

     I promised Lynne that I would make a bird block for her collection. It took me three until I got the bird with the attitude I wanted. The top bird is going to her.

    The second half of the blue bargello still needs to be sewn together. It is waiting not so patiently pinned up.

     And finally, Elvira (Gudrun Erla) is on the longarm. I found a person in need of comfort due to health issues who just loves lots of crazy color. I think this quilt is all her.

All tied up

    Finally done, the Bow Tie Top from a block swap. All quilted, 55" x 62", bound and ready for a home. Glide Celery thread, top and bottom.

Back

Modern stars swap complete and mailed!

     Every once in a while, I will participate in a block swap. I have to know it is going to be run well before I commit and I have to love the blocks. I am doing the O My Stars Swap with the modern version. They are due on Jan. 11th and I am thrilled to have mailed them out Tues. 7th, because the last time I tried to do a swap with Barb, I had a heart attack and had to drop out.
     I have no idea what kind of quilt I will make. I had to make 32 for the swap and I made an extra 10 for myself, but it won't be enough to make a quilt.

All of the solid colors I used.

We were instructed to press the last seam open.
I used my Seam Stick to do this as it works fantastically when there are lots of interesecting seams.

O my stars swap

    I have not participated in a swap for a long time. The last time I started, I had a heart attack, so I thought when Barb put it out, I would go for it and do the modern blocks.  I don't like making the flying geese in the big square with little squares method, so I used my Easy Angle and Companion Angle ruler. I have made about 20 so far. After it dawned on me that I have a 2 1/2" triangle die. I am going to recut the rest of the triangles on it so I can be really, really precise. I will still use the Companion Angle for the white triangle and they are all cut. 
     I am also using the Acorn Precision piecing seam align glue I bought at a quilt show for Precision Piecing instead of pins or hanging on tight. Works terrific on the small pieces.

Thinking hard, looking for a pop

     I finished the side triangles for the double hourglass. They are light blue, which does not show up well in the photo. It has been very gray here, and even with the lights in the house, it does not show up well. White was too stark and darker values took away from the diagonal play in the blocks.

     I participated in a batik star block swap with the Treadleon group. I made eight extra stars so I could make a 4 x 5 quilt, 12" finished blocks. My blocks are at the top and bottom and one is covering a very green star. My original 20 on the wall looked fine because the backgrounds were light value batik, but this grouping of stars needs some help. So I have been thinking of maybe skinny dark blue batik sashings, or not putting them all together. Just don't know what to do to make the stars pop. Again, poor lighting.

Block Swaps, all sewn!

     I try to participate in at least one block swap per year. It forces me out of a comfort zone and it is neat to get back different blocks. Last year I did bow ties with Barb Vedder. This year, again with Barb,  I made broken dishes blocks. We had to use only solids, one red and another choice. I made two sets of 30. I used my Accuquilt Studio die to cut the triangles. It blunts the points and then there is no trimming. They are going in the mail hopefully tomorrow.

     This year, I made Batik Star blocks with the Treadle on group. We had to make a 12.5" block with batiks, sewn on a treadle (mine is a 1910 Singer 15). I used made fabric as the centers. I did the flying geese with the Easy Angle ruler and the Companion Angle ruler. I love these rulers as there is no trimming when sewn. We had to make 12 for the swap but I made twenty because I am going to make a comfort quilt with the blocks I receive and the extra ones I made. They went in the mail today.

Block Swap, not stock swap

    When I told my husband I was participating in an online Block swap, he thought I was talking about a stock swap and was instantly agitated. When I showed him the blocks, he calmed down. I made 80 bowtie blocks to participate in Barb's bowtie block swap. I am making the modern ones. I had to buy gray fabric, but had plenty of brights for the bowties. I made an extra 40 so when I get the blocks back, I have enough to make something a little bigger like a lap quilt. I have them all in ziploc bags ready for the post office tomorrow. 
     I have always wanted to be part of a block swap since I met Lynn Roddy Brown at a quilt workshop and bought her books on block swaps, but couldn't interest anyone to do it with me. I would love to do a 4 patch swap.

One group of 40

Another group of 40

My extras, one block of all the colors used