Quilt Reveal: Red and White Hourglass Quilt

I have finished the Red and White Hourglass quilt for the Project Quilting challenge for this week . The challenge is to make a quilt that is inspired by an hourglass. It must be started and finished in one week.

I've actually wanted to make a red and white hourglass quilt for a long time, years. I saw one in a museum and the docent would not allow me to take a photo of it, even though it is a simple traditional pattern. I drew it out and shaded in the red parts so I would remember what it looked like, but I must have been on a No New Quilts Until the Old Ones are Finished rule, so I did not start the quilt and it stayed on the To-Do List.

I thought about making a red and white hourglass quilt for this challenge, but I wasn't sure I would be able to make a good one in time. I wanted one with enough blocks that the secondary patterns would show through and I also had the blog hop quilt to finish.

So I thought I would make one with one long hourglass block, and a quote on the other side. I got the bright idea that I could print the quote on fabric and that would make the words easy to get on the fabric.

Then I got the bright idea that I could applique an hourglass. So I looked for a pretty picture, and while I was playing in Canva, I thought I could make the whole design, print it on fabric, and make a wholecloth quilt with minimal quilting, easy peasy.

The printer didn't cooperate. I don't think it is the printer's fault. I think that with new releases of Windows and printer drivers, the printer is becoming obsolete even though it works perfectly fine. Or maybe I don't use the ink fast enough and it dries up before I get a chance to use it. This problem has been happening, so I don't think it is just this ink cartridge. There was some faint picture but not enough to see what it is.

So I went to Plan B, or is it Plan A? I used some solid fabric and decided I wanted a bigger quilt so I added other reds from my scrap pile. I didn't make the block with half square triangles that turn into quarter square triangles. I made stripes and set the squares on point.

I found some more red scraps when I went to look for a backing fabric so I made more blocks.

Since this is a quilt that I wanted to make for a long time, I wanted to make it right, so I quilted on both sides of the ditch so that the hourglass blocks are more apparent. The lines are organic sewn. I am hoping that the flaws in the points get hidden rather than accentuated.

I have always admired lightly quilted quilts and I really like the look of this one.

I trimmed the quilt. My original plan was to birth the quilt, but I decided to use the leftover red fabric I had. I didn't have the time to make the quilt bigger, but I thought it would show the quilt better if the backing fabric could not be seen from the front.

I machine stitched the binding to save time. This is a skill I am learning and have not perfected, but I guess I won't learn it if I don't keep trying.

I'll take some glamor shots later, but I wanted to make sure I got this blog post up. I missed the deadline on one of the challenges because I didn't have the blog post up.

Thank you for this challenge again this year. I finally got my red and white hourglass quilt made!

I will post a Youtube video about this quilt and give you a link here next Sunday.

15 Minutes to Stitch 2024

I I have definitely been quilting every day.

15 minute days this week --7 out of 7 days

15 minute days this year -- 56 out of 56 days

Success rate  = 100%

Linked with: Life in Pieces 15 Minutes to Stitch

Quilt Reveal: Boundless

Here is the formal introduction of Boundless. This quilt was started as a part of the Dust Off An Old Book blog hop. I started almost a month before my post day, but I ran out of time. I presented an unfinished quilt on my blog hop day.

I started with a jelly roll, some background fabric, and the book 100 Quilts. Although I could make a bigger quilt, I wanted to have a quilt that is a good size for my rotating display behind my couch.

I added some applique in the diamonds because it was a a fast and easy quilt to make and I wasn't finished working on it. It adds a little extra to make my quilt a little different.

 

Since I like to put interesting dates on quilts, when I realized it was April 1st, I decided to make a little push to get it done on 4/1/23.

 

Quilt Reveal: Boundaries

The Project Quilting Challenge this week was to make a quilt inspired by the 54-40 or Fight quilt pattern. When I saw the challenge post, I was all ready. Laundry and dishes washed, groceries bought, cooked food packed up in the freezer. I had just finished a whole bunch of triangles for the Aunt Daisy quilt. Since I had taken so much time making a quilt last time, I thought I should make something small and simple. Maybe an ATC for my ATC holder that hasn't been worked on for years.

 

Then I saw the challenge and I was in full panic mode. I couldn't think of a way to make that block into ATC size. I thought about just making one block, but that block is much more interesting when used in in a group. Plus, I had made so many triangles, and I have another quilt I want to make that uses these triangles that I just couldn't see myself making any more triangles.

So I decided to do something else inspired by the post. The 54-40 block is about boundaries and where they should be drawn. 

It’s about land acquisition, and in the 1840s many suggested the northern edge of Oregon should be drawn at the 54°40′ north line of latitude. And they were willing to go to war to make that happen. “Fifty-four Forty or Fight!”

Boundaries make me think of fences. Good fences make good neighbors. So I decided to make a rail fence quilt. A rail fence I can handle in a week. I made the rails bigger than my standard size of one inch. I thought they would make a bigger impact.I didn't take any in-process photos so you can see the finished photos throughout.

 

The 54-40 block is about where the boundary for Oregon should be drawn. I like that there are several rows of fences, so it does reflect the decision about where the boundary should be. I think I've used all three of the fabrics in other small quilts. 

The background fabric is in Aunt Daisy. I sure hope I am done making the blocks for that quilt and don't find out after I do the inventory that I need more blocks! It took some thinking and planning to make the lines go in coherent directions. I like how it turned out.

I scribble quilted in the red sections. To make it quick, I hand stitched the binding down with a running stitch. I like the way it looks.

 

2023: 15 Minutes to Stitch Week 5

 

I worked on the Project Quilting challenge this week. I also made some of my "daily" circle blocks. I will show them to you next time.

 

15 minute days this week --7 out of 7

15 minute days this year -- 35 out of 35 days

Success rate  = 100%

 

 

Linked with:

 15 Minutes to Stitch

 Project Quilting

 

More Red Quilts

The Color It Red blog hop is over now, but some of you may still want to see some more red quilts.  If you missed my red quilt, you can see it Red and White Portrait with Yo-Yo Trim.  Here are some red quilts I have made. They are all small quilts - too small to use as lap quilts. They are all taken with the same background - living room floor, so you may be able to estimate the size.

Lately, I have been enjoying seeing my quilts in different combinations - like a curator in a museum.