Wagon Wheel Flimsy

 It's a flimsy!

Wagon Wheels

in 30s reproduction fabrics and solids scraps.

 My OMG (One Monthly Goal) for January was to complete 24 more blocks so I would have a total of 63. 

I met my OMG and then went ahead and assembled the top with my 63 blocks. 

Moving old UFOs forward one little step at a time!

One Monthly Goal at Elm Street Quilts.

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun than Housework

This, That, And The Other Thing

 

 I rarely work on one quilt at a time or work on a quilt start to finish all in one year. I rarely pick all fabrics for a quilt before I start it. And I rarely cut all pieces for a quilt before I start it. 

So, this is a summary of what is going on in the sewing room right now. 

I've been working on Kansas Troubles 12 inch blocks. I started this quilt this year and it was inspired by a vintage quilt. I have been trying to make a few blocks each day and now have 20 of the 35 blocks I've decided I would like for a 5 x 7 layout that will measure 60 x 84 when finished. 

I've been making it with red, white and blue fabric and scraps as well as some men's shirts. 

 I used the Ladies' Art Company Block Tool for the block pattern. 

 I sort most of my scraps by size. The HSTs in the Kansas Troubles are two inches unfinished and I found this Sail Away pattern that calls for 440 - 2 inch unfinished HSTS  for pinwheels and "waves" so I'm going to start making those with scraps from Kansas Troubles before I throw the scraps in my 2 inch scrap bin. 

 Reminder to self...pattern is found in Sugar Sack Quilt book. 

 I also work on Beauteous (free pattern by Pat Bravo) a little each day...

...and have all 13 A blocks made. I said at the beginning of this post that I rarely choose all fabrics for a quilt before I begin. Well, this is an exception. I couldn't really choose fabrics as I make blocks for this quilt because they all kind of need to blend together in the finished quilt and the pattern calls for duplicates of blocks so I needed to figure out if I had enough of each fabric that I pulled from stash. If I didn't I chose another until I had all the fabrics A-S picked out. I hope my choices work out. 

I am not currently working on any hand quilting in the evening because I am out of batting so instead I have been cutting pieces for these blocks with scissors and paper template each evening and then I sew them up the next day. 

The curves and paper template and cutting with scissors of Beauteous reminded me that during a power outage this summer I cut pieces for a bunch of Wagon Wheel blocks for a quilt I started back in 2013. 

So yesterday I decided to sew together a few of those blocks. I'll sew a couple each day until that pile is gone then assess where I am with that UFO and work on it until it is a flimsy (or top, if you prefer).  I've been using 30s reproduction fabrics and solids to make these blocks. 

 Then I finally got around to piecing a test block for an Endless Chain quilt. A few months ago Sandy who blogs at Sew High sent me a link to an Endless Chain quilt and asked me if I would sew along with her and make one.  Well, yes, I replied.  But then I had so many different ideas for fabrics and colors that I could not decide what I wanted to do.  I also investigated other Endless Chain patterns like the one at Quilter's Cache and one in a book I own.  In the end I decided on the one in the link Sandy originally sent and decided to make templates (paper and scissor cutting again) and give the blocks a try.   I decided I would use a variety of gray pieces I have for garden paths (the chain) and florals for the rest.  I used scraps for these test blocks and decided I will move forward and actually declare this a new project. 

In the end I will probably set the blocks on point and use floral fabric for side setting triangles. Sandy let me know she has her background fabric now and she is ready to begin on hers. Not sure what pattern or color scheme she is using yet.  Anyone else care to join us? 

 I really enjoy piecing but I really don't enjoy sewing blocks together.  So I am usually working on getting one project to flimsy (or top, if you prefer) stage.  I have all the Sixteen Patch Stars webbed together and have been trying to now sew the rows together - at least one row a day. 

 I've been trying to work on orphan block quilts too and just finished this flimsy (or top, if you prefer) that measures 40 x 56.  The Broken Wheel blocks are left over from a quilt I finished in 2016.  The border fabric was left over from a quilt backing. The six inch four patches came in a package from a quilty friend. 

I pulled a bunch of blue and white orphan blocks for the next orphan block quilt. 

So that's a little of this and that. And the other thing? I have to report for jury duty tomorrow at 8 a.m. sharp.  Last time I was on a jury for a civil case (homeowner vs home builder) I learned more than I ever wanted to know about Tyvek.  Boring!! 

Oh Scrap at Quilting is More Fun than Housework

WIPs to UFOs to WIPs Again

 I have several boxes and bins of UFOs. They are UFOs for a variety of reasons.  Periodically I dig through to see if there's anything I feel like actually finishing.  I feel like finishing Wagon Wheels so made four this week and moved them out of the UFO box and into their own project box.  That makes 16 blocks total now out of 63 required. 

I started these nine inch Wagon Wheel blocks in July 2013 and worked on them a little in 2015.  The pattern is from a McCall's DVD I think I've misplaced now so good thing the instructions and templates were with the blocks.  I found these difficult to make when I started them. But since then I've made a lot of quilts with curves so they seem pretty easy to make now as long as I remember to cut the pieces correctly. 

Actually this is a smaller block version of an Anna Maria Horner pattern called Spinning Stars that I made in 2015 and called Petunias and the quilt I have in flimsy stage called Salsa Dancing. 

Now that it is in it's own project box and out where I can see it I hope to make a few blocks each week out of 30s reproduction fabrics and solids although I don't have many solids to choose from. 

 And speaking of 30s reproductions...this is another UFO that recently got it's own project box - little five inch string blocks.  It looks like I started these in 2014 to use my 1.5 inch 30s reproduction scraps.  The reason this became a UFO is because I ran low on scraps and didn't want to cut any fabric specifically for these String Stars.  The stars are Kona Spring and I had a piece of it folded around the blocks I had made. The Kona Spring reminds me of the green Grandma used in her quilts in the 30s so that's why I picked that color.  I used a tutorial at the Molly Flanders blog. 

 Over the years I've been accumulating 1.5 inch 30s scraps for this project. 

I've been working on about ten blocks a day. I have all the foundation squares cut and I'll be darned if that piece of Kona was exactly enough fabric to give me the size quilt I want. Weird since I didn't really know what size quilt I was making until I recently dug out this UFO. 

 Now this UFO turned WIP has a project box all to itself too. 

After I'm finished with those 1.5 inch 30s scraps they will go into the project box with the general population of 1.5 inch scraps I've been accumulating to move forward on my Spider Web quilt using the tutorial at Quiltville.  I previously used the Quiltville tutorial to make a Spider Web quilt in 2012. That one used different sized strings. 

The Game is Afoot

I've been wanting to make a Rising Sun/Cog Wheel/Wagon Wheel quilt for quite awhile.  There's one featured in one of Kathy Doughty's books (Material Obsession blog) but the 1/4 inch seam allowance has to be added to the paper template.  That's one thing I don't like about her patterns - they are missing the 1/4" seam allowance. It's pretty easy for me to add it to straight lines but it's not easy for me to add it accurately to curves.  So I was delighted when this month's Quiltfolk pattern was a Rising Sun block and I don't have to add anything to the template.  Wooohooo!

So this morning I gave it a whirl. 

I just made the twirly inner circle and it went together smoothly. 

I think it took longer to cut the pieces than sew them together. 

I haven't decided on background fabric(s) or fabrics for the outside ring or center fabrics. Right now all I know is that the quilt will be called Chocolate Swirl and use a lot of browns and reds. And I THINK I know what I will use for a sashing. 

I'm going to make all the swirly sections first. Then I will add all the outside rings. 

The game is afoot!

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

Moving it Forward Monday at Em's Scrapbag