Quilt Reveal: Pinwheels

I have finished my latest quilt. It is relatively small 12" x 36" so it a mini quilt or a table runner.  It is my mini quilt of the month for the month of July.

The blocks were started in October 2010. While some quilts are delayed because of some problem, this one was delayed because I thoroughly enjoyed making the blocks. Once the components are made, they can be switched around and placed in different ways to form blocks that look very different from each other. I planned on making even more components to find more ways to form these blocks.

In May, I pulled out the blocks again. I decided to finish these blocks off into a quilt and experiment with more blocks at a later date.

The original plan was a 2 x 2 layout, but once I saw that a 1 x 4 layout let each block shine on its own, everything fell in place and it was easy to make the quilt top.

Then some things happened and this quilt top waited for me to finish it.

Sandwiching it was easy, since the backing fabric and the batting were already cut to size.  I haven't used the sewing machines in a while, and I still had post traumatic shock from the last time I used them. I broke needles, and a needle holder, and when I took the one machine to the shop, it got waylaid in the coronavirus store closing, and then I had to pick it up from another town quickly. "Come today because we might shut down tomorrow and then we don't know when you will be able to get your machine back."

The quilting is simple to let the quilt blocks shine, and since the busy border wouldn't show the quilting much anyway.  Straight lines to avoid any trauma.  I was originally planning on quilting horizontal lines on the longer borders, but I was afraid that there might be some puckering where the lines crossed, and I wanted this quilt to be as stress free as possible. Straight vertical lines did mean more turning (since I didn't quilt through the pinwheels), and more rows to quilt, but it is a small quilt so it wasn't a big deal.

I didn't have enough of the backing / border fabric for a separate double fold binding, but I did have enough for a fold over binding. I haven't done that very often, but I did write a tutorial the last time I did it.  Since it wasn't planned, I did have to rip out some parts where I had sewn past the quilt top, but it wasn't very much. Since I quilted all the way to the edge, I trimmed the quilt slightly past the quilt top to avoid cutting the backing and kept the binding wide enough to cover that gap. Since it is the same fabric as the border, it looks great!

Linked with:

Finished or Not Friday

Three Weeks of Stitching

I've missed some weekly recaps so this is three weeks worth of stitching.

2020:  Week 17 of 15 Minutes to Stitch

Since my job disappeared for the entire calendar year due to school closures this spring, my employer offered me another stay at home that pays about 70% of my pay.  This week, I had finished the training and was actually doing this job.  There is a lot to remember and this is like a customer service job where you talk to lots of people who are anxious. While they are all nice to me, I picked up a lot of their anxiety, and with my anxiety about the newness of the job, and getting used to a new schedule, it took me a while to adjust.

This quote used to mean something different before COVID-19.

As a result, I decided to not push myself on the stitching front and was able to get one day's worth of stitching in. My perfect record was shattered, but it would have been shattered even if it had been a normal year, so I am not disappointed about that.

15 minute days this week -- 1 out of 7
15 minute days this year -- 111 out of 117 days
Success rate  = 95%

2020:  Week 18 of 15 Minutes to Stitch

I managed to get more stitching in this week.  I misplaced the patterns I had saved for the quote quilt.  Instead, I focused on making straight stitches, meditative visible mending that I had decided to do last year on a curtain that shredded when I washed it.  I blame a sharp curtain rod. You can see its other half in the background.

A lot of the embroidery on the quote quilt uses two strands of floss and a skein comes with six strands.  I can use additional strands elsewhere in the quilt, but then there are strands left that are long enough to use, but may not be long enough to complete the row or motif.  Instead of trying to save them or having anxiety about having enough, I decided to sew them into the curtain.

While the result is not pretty, this meditative stitching did heal my spirit and calm my brain.

15 minute days this week -- 7 out of 7
15 minute days this year -- 118 out of 124 days
Success rate  = 95%

2020:  Week 19 of 15 Minutes to Stitch

This week, I decided I want to make a mini quilt, to reward myself with a finish for the month. It doesn't feel right to start a new project yet, so I pulled some orphan blocks from October 7, 2010.

The picture was taken in 2010. Hopefully I will have good progress to show you in a not-to-distant future post.

15 minute days this week -- 7 out of 7
15 minute days this year -- 125 out of 131 days
Success rate  = 95%

Happy Mother's Day!

Quilting has Resumed!

Kate has posted the third step of the stay at home robin today.  I wanted to do this quilt.  I still want to do the quilt.  I thought that I should hurry and catch up on the blocks, because I think that doing each step in a separate month would help give it that round robin flavor.  All the blocks would look different, because the decisions were made in separate months.

The first week's step is to make a 6 inch block.  I flipped through my Sylvia's Bridal Sampler quilt and chose a block.   The blocks in the book are smaller than 6 inches, but I figure I could add a sashing to bring it up to size.

The directions are skimpy, but I studied the picture carefully and put my pieces together like a jigsaw puzzle to make sure I added all the parts in the right places.  It turns out that the template is reversed.  Maybe all templates are - it's been a while since I've sewn with templates. I sewed the triangles together so I was left with four squares.  Oops.   I can't make the block I set out to make.

Before I bring out the seam ripper, I try to determine whether there has been a mistake that needs ripping, or whether it was simply an alternate design choice.  There were many times when I was making the Jane blocks where I wished I could play with alternate design choices.  I decided to play.  How can I position these pieces where the resulting design looks intentional?

Like the four patch posie, I twisted the pieces around and around, and found several pleasing designs.  I've decided to run with this, and make some more blocks.

I'm not sure whether these will wind up in the round robin quilt, because they won't look like a different person made each block.  But I guess it wouldn't hurt to have some orphan blocks laying around.  Or maybe I'll make another doll quilt, using the same layout as my last one.

In other quilting news, I have finished making all of the tops for the Quilts for Kids quilts.  I am hoping to get them sandwiched and quilted soon.