Around noon I sewed the new pieces that I had cut earlier in the morning. I have 125 blocks sewn now and need 144 minimum for the baby quilt, for a 36" square quilt.
Now I'm working on ideas of how to sew this quilt. I have 4 different triangle fabrics. One idea was to sew identical strips using the 4 triangle fabrics in the same position in every strip. There would be many different sets of 4. The strips would then be spaced out throughout the quilt.
The second idea was just random groups, still using one of each of the triangle fabrics in each strip of 4 blocks, but not necessarily keeping them in the same order in every strip.
Maybe a combination of both methods would work.
Meanwhile I cut some other fabrics for future projects while I did another load of laundry. I have lots of cutting to do for the future quilts so it will be taking up a couple hours every day. For people who don't make quilts, they don't realize how much time goes into fabric choices, pressing, and cutting the pieces.
13 comments:
Oh you are so right, choosing, cutting, pressing--all take a whole lot of time and energy, too.
I am right now still figuring out how to quilt Strawberries runner. all over just doesn't feel right. And, I. cannot just do outlining alone as the berries will get all pouffy..thinking my usual ojos method of quilting a line inside each strip then outlining echo style...using color match or all white?? I know what you mean about decisions...I've already cut out initial quilting stitches once...!!!
22.6 here this early morning...awakened thinking about the above decisions...;)))
Hugs, Julierose
One reason I like to make kitchen sink scrappy quilts is so I don't have to make fabric decisions. And I like to sew blocks together randomly most of the time because I don't like spending time dithering about what blocks should go where. And I don't like pressing either...I have a little box of about a year's worth of HSTs that need pressing. I've worked on them as leader/enders and have emptied numerous baggies of HST parts that were both mine and given to me by others and have just thrown them into a box. So, yes, you are right...a lot of folks don't realize that all those things take time. My happiest times are spent sewing together scraps and looking at all the fabrics as they go under the needle!
At times, pressing and cutting are all I want to do and it does take time. Other times, I’m like Cathy, I just want to chain sew scraps and still other’s where decisions have to be made, lol. No matter what though, I’m usually never in the mood to sew borders ;-)
Fabric choice is my weakest link in making quilts. I dither so much. I admire the way your put your fabrics together. I would never think of some of the pairings and they look fabulous!
These are great fabrics for a baby quilt. It will be fun to see your layout decisions. We are expecting another day in the mid-80s here.
When I made Spoondrift, I used the larger fabric as my "sorter" for the rows and treated the various corners (monochromatic) as the same (letting scrappy happen on its own random way). I can see the appeal of making four block units - will be fun to see how you proceed!
I wonder how the blocks would look having the same main fabric laid out diagonally?
I think sets of four will stand out better than all scattered. My initial impression is squares (2 x 2) rather than strips (1 x 4).
that is so true - all the cutting and then figuring out arrangement of pieces which way to turn this or that and standing back to look and start all over again so you can see another look
You know I’m not a quilter but I always can see the many hours you put into them. From selection to cutting its a major job, not to mention the stitching. You do all so beautifully. And this baby quilt shows it all. I truly love it ❣️
Simply delicious! You have made this quilter click bait! Is that Kaffe Fassett fabric?
I saw one calculation of the cost of creating a quilt and it was around $1,600, when you add in quilter time. That time would include the creative process as you mention. There is the process of choosing the fabrics, and then the layout (which may change as the project progresses). The piecework time, and then there is the quilting time!
Your work is beyond superb and should be showcased as one of our country's best.
You're so right that choosing/cutting fabrics is time consuming but fun and then deciding how to arrange the blocks takes more time. So worthwhile!
As wonderfully busy as this baby quilt will be due to the happy fabrics, it probably won't matter what you sew to what, as long as identical fabrics aren't too close together. Our younger son's "Purple Haze" quilt is all HSTs and when I was arranging the block units, that's the conclusion I arrived at (ahhh, preposition at the end of a sentence!), and block placement really didn't matter for this quilt.
Working on a future quilt already? How do you think so far ahead? Wanda, you're a wonder!
Hugs!
I have a stack of 5 inch squares that I've cut from small scraps. One day I'll have to join them. I hate wasting fabric. I'm looking forward to seeing your ended project.
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