Posted on by agilejack

X & + Done But Not Done

I headed out this morning to play pickleball and had a fantastic time! I played from around 11:30 until a little after 3:00. And tonight I feel great!

I didn’t get much done after I got home. I sat out in the back yard in the shade and replied to comments on this blog, tossed the toy for the dogs over and over and over and over again. I think I was out in the back yard with the boys for several hours. Then at around 7 pm I fed all three of us and then hunkered down in my sewing room.

I had a bit of a conversation with myself… “You know, Anne. You could just go in there and sew one row of that quilt together and then call it quits.” I responded, “Get your ass in that sewing room and finish that top!” And I did!

All I had to do is square up and sew the blocks of the last two rows together.

Here’s the two finished sections waiting to be pinned together.

Then I carefully pinned that final seam and then folded it all up to get ready to sew.

I’ve mentioned this before, but I always fold up my quilt tops to sew those final seams. this helps me manage all that bulk. I really hate trying to manipulate all that fabric, spread out all over the place, through my machine.

I made a quick video tonight showing how I do this. After pinning I fold up the quilt pieces onto itself, leaving about four inches of the pinned edge above the folded fabric. Take a look at this video to get an idea of how I do this.

Then a final pressing and it all went back up on the design wall for a photo.

And a little bit of eye candy…

I was just going to walk away at this stage but decided to get it onto the bed in my guest room to see how big it is.

Hmmm. I’m liking the way it looks in that room!

Although the blocks are all sewn together, this top is not yet done. I still have to add borders. It looks like I’ll need another 7 or 8 inches of borders on each side. I’ll look more closely in the coming days, take some measurements, and decide on thickness of borders.

This picture shows the size compared with the quilt that’s already on that bed.

I’ll enjoy walking past that room and seeing this on the bed for a few days.

Once I got that done I realized that my design wall was free so I tossed the batik disappearing four patch blocks up to see how they look.

I still don’t love that this is square. I might add some borders to the top and bottom to make it rectangular. I’ll think about this for a few days. It will sew together really fast once I decide what to do.

Bender, ever faithful, waited for me to finish sewing.

52 Replies to “X & + Done But Not Done”

  1. Anne, you’re phenomenal. All that sewing after hours of Pickleball and ball tossing! The quilt looks so good and now I have choice distress about what to do with my gorgeous batik 1/2 metres. I was going to do the disappearing 4 patch as I like yours so much but now I’m wondering if I could do the 0&Xs…is it hard? My most recent pattern (Deco by Lo& Behold) has proved VERY challenging for me so I want an easy one next…
    Have a great week.
    Lindy x

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    1. I would say the X and + quilt is an intermediate level quilt. The pieces aren’t teeny. But it requires some skills that are above a beginner level. You should take a look at the tutorial and then make a block from scraps. That’s what I did when I started… just to see if I could make one turn out well.

      Anne

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  2. What a productive day you had! Both of your quilts are so pretty. A few ideas for you… Have you considered making 4 more blocks to add to the top (or bottom) of your existing quilt? If you don’t have enough batiks in your stash to make 4 more blocks, it would be the perfect excuse for shopping!!! Adding the additional row would give you a 4 x 5 rectangle. Then you could add your borders. If you just add borders to the quilt as it is now, you’ll still end up with a square quilt unless you make the top/bottom borders and the side borders different widths. Or, you could add a strip of fabric (half the width of your disappearing 4 patch) to the top and bottom of the quilt and then add your typical borders on all 4 sides. That would give you the same size rectangular quilt as adding another row. I can’t wait to see what your creative brain figures out. I know the end product will be gorgeous as your projects always are!

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    1. these blocks are so big that adding a full row would make the quilt around 90 inches long. that’s too long in my mind for a throw quilt.

      I’m considering only adding fabric to the top and bottom of this. Leave the sides as they are. I’ve seen that done before and it can work.

      I’m undecided. Might just put it away and wait to take action.

      Anne

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  3. Gorgeous, gorgeous! Looks like a good size to me already. Precious Bender 🥰 my question- curious about the hammer 🔨 what was that for? 🤣

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  5. I tried your quilt folding method on my last quilt top. Thanks so much! It sure made a difference in handling that bulk!! I love both of these quilts you are working on!

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  6. You are an inspiration. I love how you try to get alittle sewing done everyday to get to the finish. You seem like a fast sewer. Do you have any UFOs?

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    1. I’ve really been finishing up a good number of UFOs this year. This X & + quilt is the third large quilt that has been sitting for years. I still have two partially made quilts (I think that’s all). I may never finish one of them. I’ve really lost interest. I’ll finish the other one some day.

      Anne

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  7. What a fun weekend you had . Both quilts are so striking, so different from each other . Summer sure can be fun , nice to be active and be outside enjoy

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    1. I absolutely LOVE this time of year. But the arrival of the solstice last weeks makes me sad to think the sun is retreating to the Southern Hemisphere already. I would love to have these light evenings all year long!

      Anne

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  8. Bender is so darn handsome, you be sure and tell him so! I love your two quilt tops, I’m like you, I just don’t care for square quilts so I end up doing math to get more blocks lengthwise. I’m so impressed with your stamina, send some my way please.

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    1. For me a square quilt works really well on a queen size bed. But a throw quilt needs to be longer than it is wide. And it needs to be long enough to cover my feet and my shoulders. I don’t want to have to choose one or the other!

      I’ll figure out a way to add length to this. Somehow.

      Anne

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  9. love your quilts – all of them. beautiful work. how about putting the small 4 blocks on each corner when you put on the borders? anyway that is my 2cents worth 😊

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    1. The x & + quilt is beautiful. I love the way the yellow and browns stand out against the green background. That pop of purple is just fantastic. I love it when there’s one different detail in a quilt like the purple. Thanks for sharing this, I think this will be a fun quilt to make.
      That disappearing four patch in the batik is fantastic. I love the way the 4 suare block changes when the disappearing four square technique is used. Thanks for the blogs and tips, they are truly inspiring.

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      1. I think those little pops of unexpected color in a quilt are a big part of what make it successful! they make the hair on the back of my neck stand up!!!

        And the green background? It’s pretty magical! I tried a lot of different fabrics when I started making these blocks and the green gave me that same feeling… OOH! Yes!!!

        Anne

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    2. I like that idea, but it might require more measuring and planning than I am inclined to do at this point! I can barely make myself put plain borders on it! But I’ll keep it in mind.

      Anne

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  12. Absolutely love the plus n kiss colours. Kaffe n company are amazing & the way you put them together is as you say “eye candy”. Is the mirror in your guest room black quarter sawn oak that’s hand carved? If so I think I have the Queen to your King. When I dig it out of the garage I’ll post a picture.

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    1. That mirror is pretty cheap wood. I picked it up at a friend’s estate sale many years ago. I’ve thought about painting it many times.

      It’s a frustrating mirror.I tried for years to get it to hang straight on the wall with no success. I finally realized that it’s not square! it’s off of square by a full half inch! It’s pretty annoying! The glass is also a mess. I keep thinking I should make a wall hanging for that space and get rid of the mirror.

      Anne

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    1. Thanks! I need to move things around a little and then get it sewn together. I could probably have it sewn together in less than an hour.

      Bender is a good kid. happiest dog I’ve ever owned

      Anne

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  15. Anne, the quilt is just wonderful. I wish you would make us a kit, for you are good with color. Is this fabric you gathered or jelly rolls or what please?

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    1. I used a bunch of fabric from my stash. Sadly, these colors are a little harder to find these days. A lot of these fabrics are out of print. That makes this quilt pretty special.

      I often post a fabric list for quilts that I’ve made. Mostly as a record for myself, but readers find it handy too. It would be hard to do it for this because there are a lot of unorganized fab rico in there!

      Anne

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  16. X & +, Anne, I didn’t think I liked this quilt as you were doing it but it looks great. It’s different. Most of the quilts I’ve made have too much white. This has all color. I love it.
    Carol

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    1. I’ve only used white or off-white in two quilts. I really do prefer quilts that are all color. I do like a white with something going on.. black spots… lines… etc… But not solid white.

      it’s all about the color for me!

      Anne

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  19. Hi Anne, thank you very much for sharing the valuable tip with folding then accordion folding a large quilt when you’re ready to sew together the final two sets! I plan to do that myself, even with larger lap quilts! I love looking at your precision sewing and of course the quilts overall. I am also a Kaffe-a-holic! I love all Kaffe. Plus Tula Pink and more recently I began to notice Anna Marie Horner fabrics! Cheers to you, I am inspired by your energy and zest for quilting, Anne! Keep it coming, and thank you always for the shares!!

    Love your dogs, too!

    Warm Regards,
    Diane Gresham

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    1. I used that accordion method on all kinds of stuff. I tend to sew my quilt tops together in sections. So I will end up sewing two completed rows to two other completed rows quite often. this method even makes THAT easier to handle.

      Thanks for reading Diane!

      Anne

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  22. X $ + Stunning Anne. I loved this right from the start, beautiful colours and perfect on the guest room bed. Big thank you for posting the video of coping with the big central seam ,I shall definitely be using this in future, thank you

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    1. This is an unusual color combo, but I do love it. In person there are little pops of color that just don’t come through in the photos.

      Definitely try the folding method for sewing those final seams. It makes it co much easier!

      Anne

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  23. Happy 4th of July 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
    I hope Rico and Bender will be safe and undisturbed tonight. My girl has gone fairly deaf – at 14 years young. Even when she could hear, she wanted to go out and bark at the firework noise.
    Hugs to Rico and Bender 🥰

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    1. Bender doesn’t care much about fireworks. He’ll bark at the really loud ones, like he would bark when someone knocks on the door. Rico, however, does not like them. I have to do some management for him to make it less of a horrifying experience. the combo of some drugs, noise, and an isolated crate so he has a safe space helped him through the night. Luckily, the fireworks weren’t too bad this year. And we only heard them on July 4. Nothing since then so that’s nice.

      Anne

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  24. I always love to see others interpretation of the X-plus quilt… It’s a great pattern and was the perfect scrap buster for me. I lovingly gifted it to my youngest daughter… saving to make a second

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    1. I had wanted to make one for quite some time. Finally did it. And now I’m so tired of sewing on all those little green triangles… I’d like to make another more scrappy one, but I’m not sure I can make myself do it!

      Anne

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