Is it big enough?

Or should I add a border?

It's 56 x 76 inches (142 x 193 cm). I have only small scraps left. In fact, some of the rectangles were pieced together from scraps to get enough for the rows. So I could go out and buy something for the border. Nothing suitable in the stash. Or leave it as is. I don't think I'd like the look of a border, but I'm not sure about the current size even though it's just a dorm quilt. Opinions?

Blogging the process

The top was done during my blogging break.


Pandora, 63 x 63.

I have pictures of the process so I thought I should share them. I was inspired by Victoria's post. Planned to make a couple blocks from scraps for fun, but then I got carried away rummaging through the scrap box for the next block.

Arranged triangles until I liked the look of the block. Didn't sew the corner triangles on because I wasn't sure about them. Thought I'd make a few blocks or so before deciding.

After making a few blocks and liking how they fit together without the triangles, I made more.

And more.

Until I got to the point where it was either make more or eliminate some blocks to get the right number for a top. If I'd added the triangles at the beginning, I might have ended up with a different setting.

I opted for eliminating a few of the early blocks as they were a bit poofed up in the middle. I ended up trimming my sewn units a bit before putting them together, and this helped with the poofiness, but didn't always work well for point matching. This won't be a show quilt so I can live with it despite my usual tendencies toward anal retentiveness. I'm learning to let go.  

Then I tried pastel setting triangles, but didn't like that too much. I thought white would be too stark, but in the end that was the best choice.

For the border I didn't want to just slap a single fabric on four sides. Plus everything for the top came from the scrap bin except for some of the white, and I wanted to continue that if possible. And the more I took out of the scrap bin, the more likely I'd be to get the lid back on.

I'd been playing around with the leftover triangles and really liked this arrangement. Thought I'd make a table runner or something. It's these little tangents that contribute to my UFO collection. But I needed these traingles for the border so no table runner. I also had to cannibalize the leftover blocks to get enough triangles for the border so those went to good use and not into the orphan block box. The scrap bin can be closed now. ... Barely.

Pointless Lone Star

Pointless Lone Star, 86 x 86, pattern by Sarah Fielke
from Quilters Newsletter August/September 2011.

Another finish from the last few months was the quilt for the couple whose favorite colors are purple (him) and pink (her). Again quilted brilliantly by Maggi Honeyman. This was a fairly easy pattern because there are no set in seams, some strip piecing and only four very large blocks.



Back of Pointless Lone Star.

Here my husband models the back of the quilt, made up of the prints that didn't make the cut for the front. They helped shape the direction of the colors for the front, but didn't work in the blocks themselves.

On the design wall

For my niece from a fat quarter bundle of Texas A&M and coordinating fabrics ordered online. The challenge is making it all work with a limited amount of fabric ... and getting it done before she graduates. Her sophomore year will end soon.

Back to blogging

The whole point of this blog for me is to record my quilting activities and sometimes other things so I can remember when I did them. The last three and a half months were an unintentional blog break. It's not that I haven't been sewing, but that I haven't been inclined to spend time on the computer (or life keeps you from it). Before I forget what I've done lately, I'm back to blogging.


Transformer Stars, 76 x 81 inches, original design by me.

Transformer Stars came back from my longarmer, was bound and mailed to my nephew. I've already gotten a cute thank you card from him, and I hear that he really does like it. Thank heavens. I was afraid that it took me so long he may have lost interest in Transformers before he got the quilt.

Detail of quilting by Maggi Honeyman.

Maggi Honeyman quilted an all-over star pattern that is exactly what this quilt needed.


Back of Transformer Stars.

One of these blocks is not like the other

Three more of these blocks. Although that dark green one is both my and my husband's favorite, the fabrics in it have a completely different feel from the others. Seems the biggest pieces in my scrap bin are brights. 

I was trying to fix the color on the first pic (fail) and accidentally turned it black and white. You really get a sense of value. That dark green block doesn't match the others in value either.It may need a project of its own.

Weather forecast is -15F / -26C with windchill. Guess who's staying inside and sewing today. Maybe I'll do some laundry.

Playing around

I couldn't quite squeeze the scraps from this quilt and a stash re-org into my scrap bin so I used them in my version of Victoria's block from this tutorial. This might become something more than a couple orphan blocks. We'll see. In the meantime, I've made a couple more millennium blocks and some units for this oldie and some binding. Anything to avoid making the backs I should be making for this and this and this and. ...