Fabric Friday: Mod Times Mendocino Quilt-Along

Mod Times Mendocino Quilt-Along a photo by clumsy chord on Flickr.

It's hard to imagine that these stacks of fabrics will actually make a quilt, but that's 65" x 83" worth of quilt top.

There are fifty rectangles and eight squares of Mendocino fabric. Three hundred thirty-six squares and rectangles in aqua. Three hundred ninety-three rectangles of purple.

If anyone is quilting along (Mod Times Quilt-Along) and wants to make their quilt larger, this is what I decided to do. I'm making mine nine columns across and six rows down, with no changes to the size of the pieces. It should come out about 65" x 83".

From the print fabric, you need:
50 @ 3.5 x 7.5
08 @ 3.5 x 3.5
From the border fabric:
049 @ 1.5 x 9.5
100 @ 1.5 x 7.5
108 @ 1.5 x 5.5
016 @ 1.5 x 3.5
120 @ 1.5 x 2.5
From the background fabric:
240 @ 2.5 x 4.5
096 @ 2.5 x 2.5

I very much hope that I got the numbers right when I was figuring out what to cut - I don't have very much spare purple and what what left I cut into 2.5" strips for binding. I really want to finish the quilt with that purple framing the edge, but I don't know if I'll have enough length left to do the entire way around. I may have to piece it with other scraps or to use some aqua (I do have a fair chunk of that left). I could try buying more of the purple, but I don't recall what colour it was and I'd be concerned about dye lot anyway. (Looking at the inventory at Simply Solid Fabric, where I bought it from, I think it might be Kona Raisin, but it could be Hibiscus or Dark Violet or some other very deep, dark purple.)

It took me a few hours today to cut all of that, and now my legs are tired, cramped, and sore, and I've got a headache to end all headaches. But hopefully I'll get started sewing tomorrow, because I'm excited to see what it'll look like.

WIP: Plume Quilt

This quilt top is one of my favourites that is finished. When I first saw Tula Pink's Plume, I think it might have been the first time I really loved fabric with a lot of pink in it. The turquoise and pink and lime together is just so luscious and it was love. I only bought a layer cake (and later a bit of yardage for the borders and also for the backing, which fabric I can't seem to find, hence not finishing it).

The pattern isn't very visible in this particular picture, but it was from a Moda Bake Shop project, though I can't remember what it was called. I don't think the original had borders, I added though to make it large enough to be adult lap-sized. Also, I felt like it needed a yellow border to make the single yellow block make sense. (Plume only has one yellow print, and I don't know why it has it at all...)

I do need to go looking for the backing fabric though because my mom wants to tackle the quilting as a evening project. She has done hand-quilting for me a few times and I'm happy to give her something to work on. I plan to have something really simple done in the center of the quilt and in the yellow border, and then to have a traditional feather pattern quilted into the larger green border.

Left to Do:
- (find and) piece the backing fabric
- baste and quilt
- create and attach binding

WIP: Pink Bento Box Quilt

Pink Bento Box a photo by clumsy chord on Flickr.

I say quite often that I don't really like pink very much, and then I go and do things like this.

Well, these blocks I didn't actually make, although I did request them from an exchange on Livejournal. There is a community there, Birthday Blocks, where the participants make a block for each other member for her birthday, so for my birthday last year I requested Bento Box blocks, done in pink and white.

The reason for the colours, despite my dislike of pink, is that I want to make a lap-quilt to donate to my work for the breast cancer fundraising we do every year. I didn't get enough blocks from the exchange (and a couple were too large and weren't actually bento box blocks) to make the quilt last year, so everything was put in a box in the closet and it has sat there since. I've received a few more blocks in the meantime, so I suppose I should do an updated photo with all the blocks, but... maybe another day. I think breast cancer fundraising happens in... October, so my goal is to get to this one in the summer so it'll be ready for this year.

To do:
- count the blocks and make additional ones to bring it up to size
- piece blocks into top
- sandwich, baste, quilt, and bind

WIP: Christmas Quilt Blocks

Christmas Quilt Blocks a photo by clumsy chord on Flickr.

This particular WIP is one without any clear plan. These blocks have been hanging on my design wall since... November, I suppose, but I can't quite mentally work out what to do with them.

These started out as 6-in squares in assorted green prints that I received in a Green Charm square exchange. I had a vague notion to do something Christmas-y with them, so I picked up four different pink/red Kona cottons (Pomegranate, Wine, Cardinal, and Tomato). I started cutting them up and sewing them back together with the strips of colour (which are 1/2-in finished), and started to think that maybe I'd make a tree skirt out of them. (We do have a tree-skirt at my house, but I think it's ugly. An update would be nice.)

But I couldn't really figure out how to go about making a tree skirt. Round is classic, but I'm not sure I'm up to working out the math for a round tree skirt, nor do I want to cut into the blocks in order to round the edges. So I have a vague plan for a kind of octogon (or hexagon? I forget.. I wonder where I put my drawing?) shaped tree skirt. These blocks are quite small (6-in), and I only have 36 and don't want to make more, so I think I'd have to either use sashing or frame each of the blocks (possibly with the colour that is already in the block or maybe with one of the other colours instead) so that they'd be a little larger and then cut setting triangles to fill in the edges.

I really should sit down and work out how to do it. Or else decide on something else entirely. Maybe I could do a wall-hanging (not that I'm terribly big on hanging quilts) or a lap-quilt (though I'm not big on Christmas themed items outside of Christmas) (or even during Christmas, really) or.... who knows.

I guess these blocks are not speaking to me too clearly.

To Do:
- decide on a project, finish blocks, piece top
- sandwich, baste, quilt and bind

WIP: Cherry House Quilt-along Quilts 1 & 2

Brown baby quilt a photo by hold your spin on Flickr.

Late in January this year Cherri House (of City Quilts fame - and if you haven't read that quilt book - yes, read it! it's worth it even if you don't do any of the projects - you really should) decided to do a quilt-along of a simple, but very lovely quilt. (All the entries about it are here. Scroll down the bottom and make your way back to page 2 to get them in order.) One of my favourite online shops, a Canadian one!, Mad About Patchwork, made up kits for each of the four versions that CH came up with.

I wasn't going to start any new projects this year, but somehow two of those kits made their way into my life. I picked up a kit in brown and blues and one in various pinks. They're both completed tops, at this point, but need to be quilted.

Pink baby quilt a photo by hold your spin on Flickr.

They're very small quilts, about 34-in x 36-in, which means they won't take terribly long to quilt. So long as I can talk myself into actually doing it. I have bought thread and decided on backings - the pink will be a plain pink backing, the brown will have a print with tow trucks and cranes and that sort of thing on it - and even picked up batting. I just need to stop thinking about quilting them and start actually quilting them.

These quilts are both made primarily with Kona cotton, though the pink one has some sprinklings of Back Porch Bouquet in Pink and Tan Dots. The colours in the brown top are: Espresso (background), Ivory, Aqua, Robin Egg, and Sky. The colours in the pink top are: Pink (background), Baby Pink, Carnation, Pearl Pink, and Garnet.

To Do Pink: Completed.

To Do Brown: sandwich, baste, quilt, and bind.