For what it's worth... it's never too late, or in my case too early, to be whoever you want to be.
There's no time limit. Start whenever you want. You can change or stay the same. There are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you've never felt before. I hope you meet people who have a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of, and if you're not, I hope you have the courage to start over again.
~F. Scott Fitzgerald
Quilting
These are the last of the red and yellow six-inch squares. They were cut {and carefully stored} so long ago that I can't remember the reason. So Sujata's freehand hourglass block from Cultural Fusion Quilts seemed like a great way to quickly use them up... and again attempt to rebuild a stash of baby quilts.
My old rotary cutter no longer holds the blade firmly. The nut and bolt unscrew with each swipe. It's time to purchase a new one. Meanwhile my pair of very sharp Kai scissors works well to cut the diagonal lines. {Of course, the blocks are squared up later with the rotary tools.}
With my usual insouciance I cut all of them before determining how many were really needed. And there were way too many for the first toddler quilt. In fact, there's enough for seconds but I'm ready for a new layout. This time all the hourglasses point the same direction.
Did I mention I started putting slabs in scrap bag in addition to strings? That's where the oranges came from as well as the remnants from last year's aloha shirt. Not sure how I like that but at least they were available despite being the "wrong" size when I started. And I didn't have to find yet another bag or box to store them.
The shading between orange and red isn't great but I love the way the orange foreground blends into the yellow background. There's always something fun to discover working with scraps.
Since the blocks were sewn a couple of weeks ago, sewing the top went much faster but it needed a border. I drove myself nuts pulling out almost every blue in the stash. These...
and these.
I wanted to like the carrots because of the bits of orange. You can see I laid the horizontally and vertically but neither seemed to work. And I love the blue and black plaid but it clashes with the stripe that will be the binding. {It's too good an opportunity to pass up using it to bind and that's where the idea for a blue border came.}
Eventually and oddly I chose the darkest blue. It's almost a reproduction wide stripe. Not sure why it works but it does.
The finished quilt bound and ready.
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| Improv Hourglass toddler quilt in red and yellow |
The orange fabric was purchased for a different quilt that has yet to be started so I'm using it here. Of course, there wasn't quite enough for the back so a few remaining hourglasses and border strips fill in.
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| Back of Improv Hourglass quilt |
The binding looks great. I love striped binding and frequently purchase random stripes that then molder in my stash. What joy to realize this one works so well with the blocks.
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| Detail of Improv Hourglass quilt |
A final view of the front and back of the quilt.
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| Folded Improv Hourglass quilt |
It's now in the quilt stash waiting for an older sibling who needs some attention.
Quilt Specifics
Size: 57" x 57"
Design: Improv Hourglass
Batting: Mountain Mist Cream Rose cotton
Thread: Gutermann multi-yellow cotton thread
Quilting: Walking foot parallel lines
Approximate yardage: 6 yds
Reading
I've been eagerly waiting to read the second of Becky Chambers' Wayfarer's series. A Closed and Common Orbit picks up with the transfer of AI system Lovelace to a human-looking body. Pepper, a human who escaped from a factory where genetically engineered girls recycle trash, invites her to her home and tries to help her fit into this new reality. The novel explores sentience, autonomy, and purpose.
I've learned the hard way to space out reading new series. Reading them back-to-back usually results in burnout. Now I'm counting the days till the next one.
