Wednesday, September 12, 2012

W.I.B.W.O.

An update on a couple of finishes.

The past few years, members of our monthly hand-sewing group/guild have each taken on the summer goal of finishing a healing/comfort quilt for a given organization.  This year's designated group was "Rebuilding Together Philadelphia."  Previously, I had planned to make a zig-zag pattern which used scrap nine-patches alternating with plain cream-on-cream squares, as shown in a book I own.  So, as a leader/ender project, I had already made a bunch of nine-patches from scrap 2.5" squares -- you name it, it was in there: novelties, florals, batiks, everything.  To move the project along, I decided that this would be my donation quilt -- after all, I already had I had I-forget-how-many dozen blocks ready to use.  I tried out the arrangement on my design wall.  Didn't like it.  At All.  My re-thinking process told me that half-square triangles lent themselves to so many possible arrangements that I was sure to find something I liked.  So I paired the plain squares with the made bunches of HSTs.   On the last St. Paul's Quilt Day, I laid out the top in this barn-raising setting.  Machine quilted this one myself, first on the neutral, echoing the seamlines several times, and then zig-zag across the sliced nine-patches.   As I still have a lot of these nine-patches left, I will eventually make up more HSTs and try another arrangement. 

The entire gallery of Uvulati quilts is found on Nancy's blog.




Last spring I caught granny-square fever (it was going around) and dropped my then-current project in favor of making a dozen blocks out of scraps, each with a single color and a coordinating small print background.   My original plan was to sash with a stripe of some sort to frame the blocks strongly.  I took this project to our spring retreat to audition some stripes from my stash, and even ended up purchasing some additional fabric, based on comments and advice from fellow White-Oakers.  (Yeah, I know, it was a chore to shop...)  

But somehow, whenever I'd put the blocks up, nothing that I tried "felt" right.  One day a few weeks ago, I was reorganizing my stash, happily fondling fabric, when I discovered a yard of white fabric with large brightly colored dots.  Excited, I spread it out and put the granny square blocks on top, and it was clear that I had a winner for the sashing!    More prowling in my "geometrics" drawers provided the check that had been a recent acquisition on my first trip to a new LQS.  They were having an end-of-bolt sale and the bolt with the last piece of this bright summery check just jumped into my arms!  The result is, I think, a much more "airier" quilt than if I'd used a stronger or darker sashing with any of the stripes I was considering.   My talented long-armer quilted "bubbles" (circles of different sizes) on this, which I absolutely love!   "Sherbet and Gum Balls" is a gift for a friend who has had some recent health problems.  Hoping it will both add some cheer to her life and stand in for some warm hugs from me. 

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