I Hope This is the Start of the Baby Words Series of Baby Quilts

Beginnings could happen more than once, or in different ways. You could think you were starting something afresh, when actually what you were doing was carrying on as before.

~Rachel Joyce

Quilting

Since this is the third baby quilt with a four letter word, it must mean a new series has begun. The Coins will make words suitable for babies... even if they are  FLWs {four-letter-words.} I wrote down several then used an online Scrabble dictionary to find others. {There were amazingly few appropriate ones in the that dictionary.} Now ideas come day and night. 

My DIL highlighted the ones she thought her friends would prefer and I've {sort of} prioritized them. Of course sometimes a word will pop to the top of the list depending on who the quilt is for. 

This is HOPE as a top...

HOPE baby quilt top

and again when it's finished. 

HOPE baby quilt

The border is supposed to make it a bit larger and set off the words better. Not sure if this version succeeds with the second task. With solids running low, two were combined to frame the center. {It does look better in person.}

The quilting is a spiral.... again. I enjoy this {now} easy design although sewing and watching the circling sometimes makes me dizzy.  I'm also using up all the thread that's been hanging around for years. There's no selvedge on thread so no way to know how old they are. This time I used two partial spools of pink. 

Detail of letter P, spiral quilting,
and binding of HOPE baby quilt

The back contains a reef print. Is is sea fern? I'm not sure, but the colors are quiet and the fabric was on sale. To make it wide enough I inserted an ombre remnant from my sister and, since that remnant wasn't wide enough either, I added a small scrap of pink in the center. 

Back of HOPE baby quilt

The background solids each use about a fat quarter. I purchased them for this quilt since there is none in my stash {Hallelujah!}  It's obvious I'm out of those soft pastels of the previous two quilts because the prints are mid-range values. Some more fabric, both solid and printed, will be required soon if I keep up this series. I see shopping in my future.

HOPE baby quilt, folded

As soon as the last thread was buried and the quilt washed and dried, it was off to my DIL's house for a friend of theirs.

Quilt Specifics

Size: 45" x 45"

Design: String quilt

Batting: Hobbs Heirloom Premium Natural Cotton

Thread: Aurifil and Metler cotton thread in pink

Quilting: Spiral with walking foot

Approximate yardage: 5.5 yds

Reading

Stories like Becky Chambers' are creating a new genre - Hopepunk {like Steampunk.} Her first was intriguing and engaging; each subsequent novel has been better as her talents strengthen. Although most consider her a science fiction author, A Psalm for the Wild-Built has no aliens, weapons, or space travel at all. Instead, Becky's populated a world with humans who realize they are destroying it. As their robots gain sentience, they {the robots} put down their tools and head into the wilderness never to be seen again. Two hundred years later a tea monk encounters a robot who asks him, "What do people need?" 

This is an insightful and thoughtful book as the two characters begin to learn from the other. Hopefully it is the start of a long series, too. 

Enjoy the day, Ann

That's it for the Red and Yellow Squares

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. 

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.

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.

Detail of Improv Hourglass quilt

A final view of the front and back of the quilt.

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. 

Enjoy the day, Ann

A Third Hatchet Quilt Gifted

Life does not have to be perfect to be wonderful.

~Unknown

Quilting

All the blocks were made and trimmed traditionally but there was no plan for the layout. As last week's post showed, I worked through all the variations I could think of... and ended with this well-regulated arrangement. The value changes were just too great between the yellows and greens otherwise.

The quilting is my usual/common organic lines with a walking foot. I start by SID the main seams, then come back and halve that distance. And then the halving is repeated until the distance looks good or I'm tired of quilting. Simple. And it works.

Yellow and green hatchet quilt

This interesting fabric printed with hexagons has been waiting in my stash for several years. While the aqua is not on the front, the background is yellows, tans, and odd greens that blend well with the front. 

Yellow and green Hatchet quilt with view of back

The mother likes yellow. A lot. This is the last in my stash... although there are more cut squares squirreled away. 

As soon as it was washed the quilt went into the mail to be there for her new son. It arrived just before he did. Good enough.

Quilt Specifics

Size: 38" x 43"

Design: Hatchet

Batting: Mountain Mist Cream Rose cotton

Thread: Metler green cotton thread

Quilting: Walking foot parallel lines

Approximate yardage: 6 yds

Previous post: Choosing the layout.

Reading

This is the first of four Wayfarers books by Becky Chambers who started writing in the evening after her paying gig. When she lost that job she raised money to finish this book on Kickstarter. 

A young human joins the Wayfarer as a clerk. The old ship drills wormholes between distant galaxies and has a multi-species crew. They are asked to drill a new path to a new planet inhabited by a violent species which also has a rich energy source nearby.

This unique story doesn't cover bloody insurrections. Instead it tells backstories of the various crew and their evolving relationships. Very enjoyable and I look forward to the next in this series. {I'm late to the party but I'll space them out a bit.}

Enjoy the day, Ann