A Finish: Smooth Sailing

Smooth Sailing

40 x 60

Machine quilted on my DSM

A donation quilt for Quilts Beyond Borders or Wrap-A-Smile

(Sorry for the blurry photo - it was a windy day)

This quilt started out a long time ago with a couple of blocks (those sailboat Happy Blocks) I pulled out of a pile of some Sunshine Online Quilt Guild  block lotto winnings.  I felt I could build a separate quilt around those two blocks and used the rest of the lotto winnings in other quilts. I put the Happy Sailboats in a box along with some blue scraps I had on hand. As time passed I would throw any blue scraps that represented sea or sky into the box.  Then one day I had the making of a quilt.  So I made it. 

I usually make my donation quilts for QBB or WAS 40 x 60 so kept that in mind as I built the quilt.  I first made that 12 inch Sailboat Block with rainbow sails for the center of the quilt to go with the two Happy Blocks.  Then I...

...made a couple of Sawtooth Star blocks for the sky section of the quilt. 

Then I just added the scrappy bits and pieces chunk by chunk, piece by piece, bit by bit to the appropriate section of the quilt - either sea or sky. 

As you can see I quilted the sky section with loops and stars on my DSM. 

I quilted the sea section with waves. 

The backing is pieced. The bottom piece of clouds and moon I picked it up from the thrift store quilt a while ago.  The top piece of outer space fabric is a left over piece of 100% cotton sheet I had picked up from the thrift store and used on another quilt. 

This was goal #3 from my Q2 Finish-Along list. 

Sewing for charity so linking up to:

Sew Some Love at Kat & Cat Quilts

Lottos

The Sunshine Online Quilt Guild members make quilts for Quilts Beyond Borders and Wrap-A-Smile.  A monthly Lotto is one of the activities.   Each month members have the option to make  any number of pairs of 12 inch blocks of choice in the month's theme.   One block of the pair goes toward a charity quilt and the other goes into a Lotto drawing.   I haven't participated for awhile but decided to join in again.  This month's theme is GREEN.   From scraps I made two Tennessee blocks and two Nine Patch blocks and mailed them on their merry way. 

My blue scraps went toward four 8 inch Broken Dishes Stars

That is this month's Block Lotto block. 

I haven't won in awhile but it's fun to try at least one of the block of the month. 

Of course my sewing machine is a year old today and out of warranty so what happens? It starts acting up...thread keeps catching in the bobbin....cleaned bobbin area, tried different bobbin, tried different spool of thread, changed needle, messed with tension...cussed a little...tomorrow is another day.   Now I'm hand quilting. 

Making an Orphan Block, Etc Quilt

Orphan Blocks, etc

40 x 60

It's just a top right now. 

After I piece some batting and piece a backing and get it quilted it will be donated. 

This is about as "improv" as I get. 

I had a box I had been throwing some fall themed orphans and scraps into. 

I had some 12 inch orphan blocks - one a Sunshine Online Quilt Guild lotto block win and the other three swapped blocks I didn't really care for. 

And a couple more 12 inch orphans and  some four inch 4 patches...

...and a few more orphan blocks of various sizes...

...and some 6 inch leaves I was going to use for a border on a fall themed quilt that's in my past but I didn't like these blocks or like a border so here they are...

...triangle blocks that are very wonky that I tried out for Block Lotto and rejected and some flower blocks I was going to swap but the centers were too large, if I remember correctly, a pinwheel leftover from a "Patches and Pinwheels" quilt I made long ago and a nice fall themed block with blue background I received in an anything goes swap long long ago and never used...

...and some swapped 6.5 inch pieces that I'm not fond of and some bits and pieces like waste triangles I sewed together long ago...

...and some brown scraps I received (long ago) from Carol E of Sunshine Online Quilt Guild to use in a donation quilt...

...and some mostly 2 inch pieces leftover from the making of my "Tree of Life" blocks...

...and some 2.5 inch long pieces of quilt backing leftovers.   Those are the ingredients. 

I kind of have a couple of basic "templates" for orphan block quilts that end up 40 x 60.  With this one I wanted to have three panels 12 x 48 with 2.5 inch strips joining the panels and top and bottom 6.5  x 40.5  inch top and bottom borders. 

I don't have a design wall. I don't really think I need one. I prop my 18 x 24 inch cutting mat against the wall and cover it with a piece of batting.  Or I throw things on the floor.   

Anyway, for my panels I start with the largest blocks and divide them into three piles and then add to those with the other bits and pieces. 

After I have a center panel made I add the 2.5 inch strips to each side of the center panel.  

Before I continue on with the other two panels I usually make the top and bottom borders. I try to make them out of the same type of pieces like the triangles here that I used for the bottom border and the four patches between strips I used for the top borders. 

And voila...like I showed to begin with...

 ...you have a donation quilt top in no time at all. 

Yes, that's about as "improv" as I get. 

And since this used a whole heck of a lot of scraps this is my post for 

Scraptastic Tuesday!