Posted on by agilejack

And That’s a Wrap… Sort Of

We got a break in the rain this afternoon so at about 4:00 I headed out with the dogs before it got wet again. I’m so happy that my foot felt great and we walked 2.5 miles in a faster pace than I’ve done in many months! It feels so good to be out there moving around again. Bender and Rico agree.

It’s been raining most of the day. At moments it’s rained hard. Earlier this evening it was raining so hard I could hear it hitting the roof. And so could Rico. He was concerned about the sound. Bender was not concerned.

Rico is so sensitive. Dogs who are very aware of sounds can tend to get even more sensitive as they get older. That worries me for poor Rico. At least it’s not fireworks.

The rest of the day was spent pretty much just like this.

Really rainy days mean lots of dog naps.

We’re expecting snow here over night. Some areas are already seeing some accumulation. Snow is not a regular occurrence here and it’s always a big deal when a storm approaches. We just aren’t very good at handling snow. I just watched the weather and they’re saying we may get some freezing rain on Saturday. I really hate freezing rain. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for just snow instead.

I did hit my sewing room tonight to finish up the pile of Fresh Start blocks I was working on last night. And I did it. It’s a wrap! Seventeen more blocks are done… sewn… trimmed… pressed… squared up. (I’m dropping the link to my tutorial for these blocks here because I know someone will ask!)

I tossed enough of those 17 blocks up on the design wall to make a quilt top that is approximately 63×72 when it’s done. That’s 7 blocks wide and 8 blocks high. That’s a pretty much perfect throw size quilt in my mind. Here’s all 56 blocks up on my design wall.

They are basically up there in the order that I made them. I need to spend a little bit of time moving things around before I make it final and start sewing it together.

And I made a decision. I’m going to live with the asymmetrical nature of this quilt. I’ve made this decision based on a couple of things. #1. I don’t want this quilt to be any bigger. If I increase the width by one row, it will be a square quilt. I don’t like square quilts unless they are going to be used on a bed and I’m not going to make this into a queen size quilt. I’m just not. #2. No one but a quilter would probably ever even notice that this top isn’t symmetrical. It’s unlikely someone will end up hanging this on their wall. And if it’s not displayed like that, it will rarely be viewed as it sits on my design wall.

Decision made! I will live comfortably with asymmetry!

I’m happy to have these blocks done. I found myself tonight thinking I could take a short cut or two to save time. That’s a pretty good indication that I’m just about done making these blocks!

Since we are getting some exciting weather and my company is not coming, I will get this top done before the weekend is over. Maybe even before the weekend starts!

I ended up with seven more blocks than I need. I will probably incorporate these into the back of the quilt in some way. I already have an idea.

I have a couple blocks that I screwed up in my desire to work faster this evening… the sashing strips aren’t long enough to allow me to square them up at the right size. I decided to go with strips that weren’t quite as long as I had been cutting my strips, and I paid the price! So I will probably square these up smaller and incorporate them into a bag at some point in time.

Maybe a Frankenbag will be my next little palate cleanser!

I really do wish you could see this quilt in person. It’s so much prettier when it’s right in front of you. I’ll try to get some really good photos of the finished flimsy this weekend.

Here’s some eye candy!

I just love all the detail and color in those bright fabrics!

And one more because, well, just because.

Since my friend will be coming in about a month and we’ll be trying to make two quilts while she’s here, I have a goal to finish up a thing or two before she arrives.

  1. I want to finish this top and get the back made. Then I’ll fold it up and put it in my closet and save it for a future trip to the long armer quilter.
  2. I want to finish my Aboriginal Libby quilt. This one…

All the corners are made. I still need to trim them up and sew a stabilizing line of stitching across all those bias edges. Then sew the corners onto the center of the quilt. It’s probably only a couple hours of work. I just really don’t want to do it! My friend gave me the backing for this quilt as a holiday gift so I should get the backing made while I’m at it.

I’ve decided I’m going to use this Aboriginal quilt in my living room. It will look great in my room. The quilt I’m using now is a good number of years old. I might fold this old one up and keep it in my car. It’s a good idea to have a car quilt. You never know when a picnic might break out.

I made that very early on in my quilting career. It’s a very simple pattern made from batik fabrics that I collected over time. It’s gotten a lot of use over the years. I’m sitting under it as I type.

I can just picture that vibrant Aboriginal quilt on the back of my sofa… and on top of me!

I actually have to go into the office tomorrow morning for a long meeting. It will be interesting to see what the roads look like in the morning.

24 Replies to “And That’s a Wrap… Sort Of”

  1. Interesting that you mention the symmetry/asymmetry, as, looking at the left hand side of your quilt, it is symmetrical. There are no rules for which way up we use our quilts, so why not look at it sideways !!
    Love both of these quilts, you have inspired me to try my own – I have so many bright pieces of fabric that could be used in this way. Thank you. Best wishes, Val (UK)

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    1. the asymmetry is that the right and left sides edges are different. The left side ends with the X of teh design and the right side ends with the O.

      but I’m going to live with it!

      Anne

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  2. I’ve said it before, Anne, you’re a marvel at getting quilts made! It’s looking great.
    Cold snap here in the Uk too, very icy on the roads atm.
    Keep warm, happy finishing up!
    Lindy x

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    1. Well, I’m a marvel at getting them partially done!!! As you would know if you saw my sewing room closet!

      We haven’t had ice yet, but it’s going to be cold this weekend!

      Anne

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  4. Well done! Once again Anne, I admire your industry. I tend to get distracted and end up with 20 WIPs… Is your old couch, soon to be picnic, quilt from a Yellow Brick Road pattern? That is the first quilt I made after taking my first quilting clasess.

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    1. The pattern isn’t yellow brick road. I can’t remember the name of it. it was a free pattern I got from a local quilt store many years ago. it’s made from the same size rectangles that go together in a block of 8 rectangles. I’ll see if I can find the pattern and share it on my next blog post.

      Anne

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  5. Thank you for sharing your work. I have been so inspired to get back into quilting.

    The quilt is stunning, gorgeous and well just puts a smile on my face!!! Between the bright colors and the jumble print.

    Thank you

    Side ask…how much jumble print did you use?

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    1. Thanks! It’s been fun to make.

      I truthfully have no idea how much of the jumble I used. I always have at least several yards of that jumble in my stash because I use it a lot. I just started cutting and didn’t pay attention. I do know that I’m getting five 7.5 inch squares out of a 7.5 inch WOF strip. So some simple math would get you where you need to be on yardage.

      good luck!

      Anne

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    1. I assume you referring to the diagonal sashing seams. I’m not too concerned about the nesting. I’m not even concerned that those steps line up exactly. There’s so much going on in this quilt the the eye would never see if those strips don’t match perfectly. Since my piecing methods are more free form, it would be a lot to expect that the seams would nest. Nothing is squared up until I finish the block, so there’s probably a decent amount of variation from block to block on all the pieces.

      Yo could certainly press the seams on the sharing in different directions on the black and white squares. that might. help some of the blue but I’m not too concerned about it.

      Anne

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  9. Did you ever consider making it 6 blocks x 9 blocks for a 54” x 81” quilt? You’d have 2 blocks extra for your wonderful bags….could even include the bag with the quilt as a gift. And you wouldn’t have square quilt but it would be symmetrical. And still a great lap sized quilt. Kathy >

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    1. 54 inches isn’t wide enough for me. I like them at least 60 inches wide for a throw.

      In order to solve the issue os asymmetry, the number of blocks each way needs to be an even number. So I’d have to go to ten blocks or stay at 8. And would need to have an even number on the width as well. It just gets too big.

      Anne

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  10. I just love this new scrappy quilt. It’s going to be one I make this year as I try and use up all kinds of miscellaneous leftovers. Thanks so much for sharing this. Excellent inspiration!!!

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  11. Thank you for the tutorial! I read thru it and it looks great! I love your quilt you made. Hugs, Sandi 

    Sent from my iPad

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