Once you get a spice in your home, you have it forever. Women never throw out spices. The Egyptians were buried with their spices. I know which one I'm taking with me when I go.
~Erma Bombeck
Quilting
I spend a lot of time using up my scraps. My small scrap bag is the first place I go when making blocks. I almost have to force myself to get into the stash. This past year I made a determined effort to draw down the boxes and now have five large shallow ones left: three for quilting fabric, one for clothing fabric, and one for UFOs. Although I strongly denied having any, quite a few were unearthed during our Swedish death cleaning. My quilting group and I have been laughing that we will be buried with our fabric if we don't get busy and use it up. We haven't decided whether it will piled on a Viking ship and lit up or wound around our bodies like the Egyptians. And perhaps my family will sprinkle some of my spices between the layers.
Anyway... using stash fabric means the scrap bag filled up again. Back to my old habit of starting with that stuff. And I need to because lots of friends are still having babies since DH works with many young people. I pulled all the blues, greens, and purples. There were a few black and white prints also but most of those came from Nann and were already cut this width.
Cross quilt 1 |
I admired the many plus blocks on the internet but didn't want to copy any exactly. These off-center crosses produced more ways to arrange the blocks. This one creates a plaid effect. What fun to move the blocks around, deciding whether to group similar colors or scatter them across the surface.
Front and back of Cross quilt 1 |
The back is a large-scale blue flower print that I found on sale somewhere. I purchased three yards but forget what it was planned for.
Cross quilt 1 folded |
I love these photos of the quilts folded up. Such a good way to see both sides and the binding, too.
Cross quilt 2 |
There were so many blocks as well as that extra backing that I had enough to make two almost identical quilts. I divided the duplicate blocks into different piles then added singletons until there were forty-nine for each quilt.
Front and back of Cross quilt 2 |
They are very simply quilted SID along the block boundaries and the crosses. I considered more quilting but this is enough. Much less than I usually do, though.
Cross quilt 2 folded |
As usual, I thought these would restart my baby quilt stack and, as usual, one was called for almost immediately. Lucky me.
Quilt Specifics
Size: 42" x 42"
Design: Plus block
Batting: Mountain Mist Cream Rose cotton
Thread: Gutermann blue cotton thread
Quilting: SID with walking foot
Approximate yardage: 3.75 yds each
Reading
Monthly FUR (Fabric Use Rate)
Four quilts finished this month. Shadow Star is my largest quilt to date and has taken several years. I'm delighted it's done and on the bed. Yardage used doesn't count for me until the quilts are quilted and bound. May = 35.5 yds. YTD = 78.125 yards.
18 comments:
Ooh--you come up with such wonderfully scrappy inventive pieces!! I just love these crosses...--and they do look sort of plaid-like--wonderful effect. Super work on this and from stash-I am so impressed....hugs, Julierose
Lucky you in that you had a quilt ready to go when the need arose. These are wonderful!
I'm a new fan of your blog! I love both the fronts and backs of these quilts! that backing fabric is GORGEOUS and i am glad you didn't cut it up. your inventions are so inspiring. i spent a lot of time looking at the quilts you have made.
In all the 30+ years I've been gifting baby and kid quilts I've never reached the point of having a supply on hand.
Thanks, Julierose. There are so many lovely plus/cross quilts lately that sparked my interest. Still, like you, I had to make some changes.
They seem to leave as soon as they are finished. I rarely have a stack.
Welcome. That big print makes a great back. I'm sorry it's gone but it improved two baby quilts.
Me neither, Pat, but a girl can dream. Still, if we ever had a ready supply, the world might be ending. It's fun to get to make a quilt and find it a home the same day.
Ohhhhhh....I really like that version of a Plus block. It makes for some delightful baby quilts.
The last couple of weeks I've been overwhelmed with baby pics after visiting with sisters-in-law. The funniest was a video of great nephew at 3 months playing a baby piano and laughing. Oh joy!!!
Aren’t babies great? What not to see so many from your family. And to visit family, too.
It seems almost like you are willing babies into existence with your quilt-making. I like these crosses a lot and am hopeful that there will be a run of them now.
I’m not willing them but I am very grateful It feels like mutualism... the babies arrive simply to corral my scrap pile. I wonder if any biologists or ecologists would like to study that.
Both quilts turned out beautifully. Congrats on finishing them up!
Sew fun! You are on the ball, er on the plus side of ready to give baby quilts!
Thanks. It’s always great to finish another baby quilt.
I chucked at both images--Viking ship and mummy-wrap. I've been concentrating on the FQ/scrap bins while yardage sits on the shelf, too. Attempts to use ALL the scraps result in...more scraps. Your cross blocks are just right--miscellany goes together when it comes together! My husband is a Maisie Dobbs fan and just finished the new installment.
I have some work to do if I don't want one of those options for my funeral... although more scraps show up every time. Even when I just use scraps like you.
Sometimes I like to use any/every color in the scrap bag but other times it's nice to sort them into color groups. Anything to keep them moving.
Your husband and I like many of the same books. Good to know there's another person like me out there.
You create the most wonderful quilts from your scraps Ann, your Cross quilts are beautiful, I am only just catching up with post reading so it was delightful to see the post from you.
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