Color Study Baby Quilt Gifted

"The real issue in life is not how many blessings we have, but what we do with our blessings. 

Some people have many blessing and hoard them.
Some have few and give everything away." 

~ Fred Rogers ~

________________

I've certainly been on a quilting roll these past few weeks. There's lots of non-sewing stuff to do, too, but I'm incentivized by the number of babies arriving soon. {So much for the plan to have a small stack at the ready. These are heading out as fast as they are finished.} Not that I'm complaining.

The first, larger Color Study was quilted and gifted a couple of months ago to a special friend who shares my love of color. These blocks were the "leftovers"; the extras. Still bright; just enough for a baby/toddler quilt. Only waiting for another person whose heart sings with color. And then...

A young friend is expecting her second baby. Her oldest received Suhavi's Stars and this one almost matches it in cheerful color...

Color Study 2 Chinese Coins baby quilt for a second baby

 especially with the addition of bright orange on the back!

Color Study 2 baby quilt binding and quilting details

My first thought was to bind it in similar bright oranges but they didn't show well with the back. Given all the colors, no binding seemed to work with them all. There are; however, many green and blue fabrics which blended well with this green stripe binding. It looks good against the orange back, too.

Since the idea worked so well last time, I quilted with the same cross-hatching as the first Color Study. Certainly running quilting lines in two directions adds strength; always an important point when the quilt will get so much use.

It arrived just before the baby. Hooray.

Size: 45" x 45"

Pattern: Chinese Coins variation

Batting: Mountain Mist Cream Rose 100% cotton

Thread: Aurifil 50-wt grey cotton 

Quilting: Walking foot grid

Previous post: Sewing the top

A big Thank You to the many hundreds of you who've updated your blogs to the safer https form. So many people have emailed, posted comments, and actually flipped the switch on their blogs. I'm thrilled. Quilters are a strong, kind, and helpful group. You've shown it again with your commitment to helping keep the internet safe for everyone.  🎉🎉

Let's keep the momentum going. Check your sidebar blogs for https and let those quilters know that their blog needs to be switched also. Simply hover over the blog title. If it starts with https, it's safe. If not, it's not.

The next AHIQ invitation is posted. We hope you’ll join us.

Finally: guess who came to dinner? While walking to dinner last night we spied a pair of raccoons playing in the gutter.

A pair of raccoons in the gutter

They quickly hid but then popped out again to see if we'd share. A reminder that wildlife is more adaptable than we think.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Color Study Chinese Coins Finished

Binding attached, signed, washed and dried. The Color Study quilt is ready to use. It's a lovely size for a throw and a friend of mine might enjoy it.

Color Study Chinese Coins quilt

Back of the quilt is a collage of corals.

Back of Color Study Chinese Coins quilt

Originally, I wanted to bind the quilt in dark blue but didn't have enough of any. There was some bright orange/coral in the discard pile that worked well.

Quilting and binding detail,
Color Study Chinese Coins quilt

I found a Hobbs 100% cotton batt which is another favorite of mine. Plus, it's made in Mexia, Texas located between Dallas and Houston.

Quilt Details

Size: 62" x 72"

Design: Bars variation of Chinese Coins

Batting: Hobbs 100% cotton

Thread: peach Gutermann cotton thread and YLI smoke monofilament nylon

Quilting: Straight lines with walking foot

Previous posts:

1. Sewing the top
2. Stitch in the ditch quilting
3. Walking foot quilting

Maureen at MysticQuilter is working on these same blocks in batiks. We both enjoy mixing the many fabrics in within the constraints of a block. Each has its own individual style.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Making Leftover Blocks Work in a Baby Quilt

Leftover blocks from the Color Study Enough to make a 5 x 5 block baby quilt.

Leftover quilt blocks

Actually, I can make it a bit larger because there are leftover blocks. {I just kept cutting those scraps. My usual M. O.} With three “holes” to fill, I pinned possible pairs to test the choices . Halfway down on the right you can see I pinned three strips to decide which would work best. In the end, I replaced a white background print in another block with the light green... so four new blocks in all.

Previewing the last few blocks for a scrap quilt

Here's the finished top: 6 x 6. Smaller quilts can be more difficult because there's less room to maneuver. And doubly difficult when these are the leftovers. Adding a few specific blocks to fit gaps can make it work. Hopefully it doesn't look like "dregs."

Color Study Chinese Coins 2 baby quilt top

DH took me to NYC last week. Surprise visit so I flew from a different city because I’d been helping family across Texas.  My flight was cancelled at the last minute - my bags were checked. Trying to figure out how to manage best I decided to fly to Boston and spend the night with DD then take the train to town. What a lovely upset. I’ve seen all my children and grandchildren this week and then got to relax with DH, visit museums and take in shows. Who could ask for anything more?

Lots of photos, lots more map ideas swirling but not clear.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Chinese Coin Color Study

Flotsam and jetsam. Did you know they mean different things? Flotsam is marine debris accidentally lost overboard while jetsam is tossed when the ship and crew are in peril - usually to lighten the load.

Sorting and clearing my stash located lots of flotsam - stuff I hadn't deliberately tucked away but was too small to find easily. It took going through the fabrics individually to bring them to the surface. And much of it needs to be jettisoned. It weighs me down. As a quilter, however; it's very hard to let the “precious” pieces go. It all becomes precious quickly - even when I've tossed it out of the box. {Gollum, gollum.}

Projects like Scrap Vortex and these darling Christmas balls make me feel terrible for not using everything myself... even though I'll never get through it all... even though it weighs me down physically and psychically. Currently my largest section is solids {which I collected for last year's workshops.} Of course there's a huge pile of printed scraps. The solids are large pieces so more difficult to discard {although I could cut each in half and not miss it.} But scraps dance in my dreams.

I decided to make a very quick one-block quilt that might resemble Chinese Coins {because it's very hard it is to actually discard/sell/give away fabric.} Just four tiny coins from each...

Pairing solids with prints - all from the discard pile. I wish I could say this was all the discards but it's barely a dent.

Coins cut and paired

Once I started sewing many of the pairs didn't work out. Each time one looked uninspiring, I left it out as I sewed the next sets so I could see if the pattern and solid paired better with something else. I wanted both continuity and contrast but wasn’t sure how to define that.

Here’s the first finished {sewn} combinations.

Simple color study block
mixing a print and a solid fabric

Moving the blocks around led to this...

Simple color study block
mixing a print and a solid fabric

Which cried for another column. Back to the never-ending scrap bag.

Simple color study block
mixing a print and a solid fabric

The sewn top emerged by the end of the day. .

Color Study Chinese Coin quilt top

This mix of solids and prints reflects ‘me’ more than all solids. It’s simply a one-block quilt that looks like a Chinese Coin variation even though it's made from blocks. That's a good thing because my guild demonstration is rescheduled for mid-September.

Just as I queued this up for posting I saw Cynthia’s version at quiltingismorefunthanhousework(dot)blogspot(dot)com. Interesting differences when sashing is added. Doubly interesting that we had such similar ideas independently.

Enjoy the day, Ann