Pink Cornerstones

I make 4" Crumb blocks as Leaders and Enders.  They have been steadily building up in a tin for a while so I decided it was time to use them. I decided on making a 4 patch block and using white 100% Egyptian cotton as sashing with pretty flowered 2.5" cornerstones.  All from stash.  The Egyptian cotton is from a bundle I bought at the Festival of Quilts last year. Each bundle consists of pieces of white cotton, very long 6/7" strips or quite large pieces which I assume are off cuts from making bed linens.  Beautiful quality.

I started making the blocks a couple of weeks ago at my Patchwork Group but yesterday I really got stuck in and completed the top apart from the final border which I have done this afternoon. Although I had a tin full of Crumb blocks I still had to make an extra six to have enough to make 25 blocks.
The top finishes at 52" which will be a good size for a Siblings Together quilt.

 

Close up showing the sashing and cornerstones

 

 

I have seen a couple of ideas using 4 patch units made from 1.5" squares so made a few as Leaders and Enders as I constructed the quilt top.

Here's a lovely small scrappy pink star I discovered yesterday, hidden away amongst my Crumb blocks. I knew I had acquired it in a Swap and went through my Flickr page to find out its origin.  From Valerie in Canada, sent as a little extra in a Block swap I participated in back in February 2012!
As it's Pink month for Angela's So Scrappy RSC 2017 I thought I should include it. Really beautifully made.

And two more Roman Stripe blocks.

So a profitable weekend's sewing.  I have had a dreadful cold since Tuesday evening and spent a lot of time in bed feeling rotten but yesterday I really felt like sewing and it was great medicine!

 

Linking up with So Scrappy RSC 2017

No more hoarding or procrastinating!

I was so pleased with the Lucky Stars Quilt I created from a set of blocks received in a swap at the beginning of 2012 I decided to delve into my box of UFOs once more.

This time out came a set of 13 blocks which I collected during a Flickr Swap during April and May 2011!

Here are two of them.  I have added hearts to both blocks because they had a lot of solid fabric in them compared to the other blocks I received.

 

 

 

I am using a Kona white for sashing the blocks, with 3" cornerstones found in my 3" squares stash.

 

I have had great fun this afternoon sewing the sashing strips onto the individual blocks and am now halfway through sewing the sashed blocks into rows.

 

Watch this space as another quilt comes together which again I will be donating to

Siblings Together.

 

Hurrah! I finished my WIP!

Earlier in the year I decided to use up some of the MANY 4" square Crumb Blocks that had been accumulating in my tin.  There were so many I couldn't fit any more in.
So I created a quilt top by sewing four Crumb Blocks together and decided to use sashing and corner stones to complete the top. All the fabrics came from stash: a lilac Kona Cotton for the sashing and two fabrics for alternating corner stones.

Recently I decided it was time to turn this WIP into a quilt, thinking it needed a couple of borders to finish it.  Then I decided to just go with one lilac Kona border and get it finished.

I machine quilted in the ditch and then hand stitched in a variegated pink Perle cotton to add more interest and stability. I also did a few stitches in the centre of the Crumb Blocks to make sure the quilt top was well anchored.  This is a baby quilt which will get lots of washing so it needs to be firmly quilted.  It's a good size for a baby quilt, measuring 40" x 48" so it's big enough for the cot when she is older and can even be used as a top on a single bed.

And, here it is!

Jazzy Squares: showing the backing

 

Jazzy Squares, resting on the sheep we have in our garden!

 

This quilt is going to live in Leeds, as a gift for Rebecca, born in March. Her older brothers Robert and James already have quilts from me so Rebecca had to have one too.

 

I am really pleased with this quilt.  It is bright and pretty and girly.  Lots of interesting snippets for Rebecca to find as she gets older: there's a tiny rabbit, a cat's face, a rhinoceros, an elephant, flowers, stars, hearts etc for her to find.

 

I made Jazzy Squares completely from stash - including the backing and binding which had been given to me by Sue, one of my patchwork group friends.

 

When we went to New Zealand I took some white acrylic yarn (which had been hanging around for too long) and a pretty woven basket style baby blanket pattern I had found on the internet.  I almost finished it before we came home but I ran out of yarn.  I knew I had more at home so when we came back I finished the blanket and put it away.  I now have a recipient, our step Granddaughter is expecting a baby and has a Baby Shower in August so I will gift the knitted blanket then.

 

Knitted blanket:

 

 

 

 

Completing a WIP

When I was putting away fabrics and part finished items a couple of days ago I was surprised at how much fabric, scraps and threads I had.  Too much to put away unless I have a big sort out.  I don't have time for that at present but it will have to be done in the fairly near future as I don't always know where certain things are and I will be wasting time hunting for a certain bit of fabric, notion etc.

That made me decide to definitely finish some WIPs that are already neatly stashed in a plastic bin in my sewing room.  There are also sets of blocks in there - some were from Bees I took part in a few years ago.

Yesterday I took out the almost completed top which was on top of the pile in this box.  It only needs borders to be finished. For the backing I decided to use a lovely piece of fabric recently donated to me by a patchwork friend. It's a good sized piece, measuring 56" by 70", more than big enough to back this quilt, with some sizable pieces left for a future project.

Here is the top, backing and possible border fabrics:

 

 

 

I added the first border using the same lilac Kona Cotton I had used for the sashing.

 

This measure 40" x 45", already a good size for a baby quilt.
Now I am wondering if I really need to add a second border and, if so, which of the four fabrics should I use? What do you think?

As I won't be doing any sewing for the next 10 days or so the decision can be left on the back burner - or in this case, laid out on the bed in my sewing room! I will bind the quilt with the backing fabric and I think that may just be enough of a pop of colour to pull together all the colourful Crumb blocks and define the edges of the quilt.  .....................  I think I have already talked myself out of adding another border and that will help me finish the quilt faster.  I have a baby girl in mind for this quilt and as she was born a couple of months ago I do need to finish the quilt.

 

Using up Crumb Blocks

As an avid follower of Bonnie Hunter I am always making Crumb blocks as a leader and ender project.
I usually cut them at 4" square and collect in an old biscuit tin.  The tin was overflowing so I decided to put some together to make a quilt top, combining  ideas from Gwen Marston's book "Liberated String Quilts" and, of course, Bonnie!

A year or so ago I made a Cornerstones Quilt ( Gwen Marston' s idea) using single 4" blocks and sashing them as suggested in this pattern:

 

I am sure I have seen 4 small crumb blocks made into a 9 patch ( Bonnie's blog, Flickr, not sure where) so I pieced together pairs, just as they came out of the tin, no over-thinking as this is a Scrap Quilt!

 

 

Here's my string of 4" blocks sewn into pairs:

 

 

Then I snipped them into pairs of 2s, left them 'webbed' and easily put them together in a 4 patch block.  I did pin the centre but it really wasn't necessary as this webbing idea gets the blocks lined up beautifully.

 

 

Can you see the 'webbing"? It's the tiny thread holding together the pairs between the left hand side of the joined pairs.

 

 

And here they are, all sewn and pressed, a really colourful bunch:

 

 

I am now finishing the sashing of the blocks to make another Cornerstones Quilt.

 

I am using a lilac Kona cotton and a couple of scraps which tone well with the lilac to make my 'cornerstones".  I am assembling this exactly as Gwen Marston shows in her book. But as my blocks are larger I have cut the sashing and cornerstones at 3" instead of 2.5".

 

The cutting didn't take long - even cut up the remaining cornerstone fabric scrap into some 3" squares and a strip for my Scraps Stash - and then chain pieced the sashing onto the blocks.

So far I have only completed one of the cornerstone-sashed blocks but I accomplished so much in a short time yesterday.

 

This is where I got to:

 

And that's where it stays at present.  I'm off to London with my husband for the weekend, setting off for the train station quite soon. We are going to a couple of exhibitions at the National Gallery and the Dulwich Gallery, plus a bit of shopping and sitting and reading in book shops!  Loads of walking of course, catching lots of tube trains where you walk miles along underground tunnels so my Fitbit will be working overtime.  I'm hoping to get some amazing totals on my weekly report next Tuesday!

Happy sewing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oops, made a quilt top whilst I was tidying

Last Thursday when I linked up with Clare's Brit Sewing Thursday Linky I expressed the idea that I would tidy my sewing room and perhaps continue the Mr Scarecrow quilt.

Did it happen?  Well, yes ....... and no......................!


I started to tidy my sewing room and came across a pile of fabrics I had been adding to in readiness for a Scrap Republic Beeline Quilt.  It seemed silly to put that carefully sorted pile away into a plastic bag in a drawer.  Didn't it???????????

So, over the next two days I sewed the (carefully chosen) scraps into this lovely Quilt Top:

 

I love Emily Cier's book Scrap Republic.  Probably because I enjoy making quilts from scraps, something out of nothing sort of idea, and I LOVE colour and rainbows.

 

So, this quilt top is literally scraps, many that I have received in Scrap Swaps and others the remains of quilts made years ago but the left overs safely stashed away. I have increased the size of the quilt, more details when it is finished.

 

Thursday is also my Patchwork Group day and last week I was given a plastic bag of paired triangles(light and dark) which were off cuts from trimming blocks.  For my sins I have got the reputation (with good reason!) of being the person who loves to make Crumb blocks. However, as I made the Beeline Quilt top I used the paired triangles as leaders/enders and made Half Square triangles as I went along.  Didn't quite finish the pile so yesterday I finished sewing the triangle pairs and started to trim the squares to 1.75". Still not quite finished, but up to 100 already!  My intention is to make Pinwheel blocks and either make up a Quilt top myself or to hand them back to Wendy, the lady who donated them originally.  She is an absolute star, having made, or been the inspiration of making, literally hundreds of Linus Quilts. 

So, watch this space.

 

This has been another very happy and satisfying week on the Quilt Front.

 

Two baby quilts mailed last week and two baby quilts arrived safely and were loved this week!

Went to my Patchwork Group this morning - a lovely time as always! - and came home to a beautiful email from Germany, thanking me for the Cornerstones Quilt and attached was a delightful photo of baby Jasmine wrapped in a fluffy pink blanket, fast asleep in her cot. Underneath was my quilt, which fitted the cot perfectly! Wonderful!

 

Friendly frogs was equally well received.  Mum and Dad overwhelmed as they didn't expect a quilt and baby George's Granny was in  tears! This is why I make quilts.  I get so much pleasure making them and then that is trebled when I know people love them too.

 

As for Mr Scarecrow, nothing added to him, although I have carefully packed finished parts of borders into a plastic bag and neatly put them with the top as it stands to date.  Watch this space!

 

 

WIp turned into a finished Quilt top

Continuing with my New Year's Resolution to use up fabric in my stash and complete WIPs that were languishing in my sewing cupboard, I had a very profitable afternoon yesterday.

About a year ago I started to make a Plumb Quilt from Emily Cier's book Scrap Republic.
I made four of the six rainbow bands, sorted out the fabric for the other two bands and also some neutral fabrics that I thought would be suitable for the scrappy borders.  And then, for a reason I can no longer remember, it was put into a plastic bag and popped into my sewing cupboard.

And there it stayed until yesterday.  It only took me 3 hours to turn my WIP into a lovely little quilt.  I increased the width of the borders and the completed top measures 41" x 33", so a nice Baby Quilt size.

Here are some photos:

And two close ups of part of the rainbow bands and scrappy borders.

 

 

Many of the rainbow strips are fabrics I have received in recent Swapbot Swaps, the rest oddments from my scrap bags.

So I can honestly say that this quilt top has cost nothing to make ( apart from the cost of thread).

I was extremely pleased with the top; the neutral scrappy borders really show the rainbow bands off well.  My husband made my day when he told me he thought it was the best quilt top I had ever made.  He said it reminded him of an abstract work of art!  I love it even more knowing that!

Tomorrow I am going to a new Patchwork Group where there are tables to use for sandwiching your quilts. So I am taking my Rainbow Bands top with me so I can get it ready for quilting.  It will be lovely not to have to crawl around on my sewing room floor to do this job!

In a moment I am going to cut the binding for my current quilt, the Crumb quilt Cornerstones one.

I hope to machine the binding on so that I can take that with me as well tomorrow.  Who knows, I might even have time to start to hand sew the binding on the back of the quilt as the group meets for about 3 hours.

A productive weekend.  I hope you have been equally happy with your sewing output this weekend.