Stages of a Quilt

Good morning from a snowy Kansas. We are on the good side of a blizzard–much worse out west.  The snow is lovely to look at from inside a warm kitchen; the winds are what make it dangerous. I do feel for all those who must be out in this caring for animals, providing essential services, and those without a cozy warm home. The day is perfect for sewing. In the winter my perfect day is 1. No place I must be. 2. A good audio book 3. A cup of hot tea –Cinnamon Apple Spice by Celestial Seasonings 4. Knowing what I am preparing for dinner or better yet, leftovers and 5. Hours at my sewing machine piecing quilt tops. 

Typically in the winter, I have several quilt tops pieced/finished but have not sent them to the long arm quilter for her to do her magic. A quilt top changes at each step of the production. I try not to pass judgment until the end–even an addition of the binding changes the impact of the quilt. Watch the evolution of these “quilts to be”.

The blocks above are one of the eleven partially finished quilt tops my daughter sent me last year. And since it was red and white, my favorite color combination, I started this puzzle. I could not find any pattern with her things, so up on the design wall it goes. She had included lots of red and white fabric and some of the partial blocks so it will be fun to finish. 

Another gifted top–this one from the other coast. My daughter in law sent this Mary Engelbright chevron quilt top home with me Christmas as a donation to the quilt sale. She included yardage for a border, binding and the backing! Both my daughter and my DIL are very precise, so I never worry about the quality–the points match, the pressing is well done. Now I must decide which fabric would be best for the border–do I add a small black border first, then the yellow print as a larger border? Pretty sure the machine quilting should be a holly leaf design.

Baby quilts are always needed in our sale. Three yards of gender neutral fabric from my daughter was used to make this simple top.

The up close photo of the fabric shows the colors better. Can’t decide on a backing–something soft and fuzzy–Minky or a flannel. The binding color will even change “the look”.

I had an itch to make an Irish Chain. I needed some no-brain sewing. I just kept making the basic nine patch blocks. If I had used them all, it would have been a king size quilt plus! Knowing a smaller quilt is more appealing to most, I limited the size. And there are enough blocks left over to make something else interesting. 

I think I will ask the long arm quilter to use a colored thread to create an all over holiday design. Your thought? Scrappy binding, hmmm?

I wanted to try the “disappearing four patch” block. It was fun and will probably do it again.

Do I need a border to corral all these blocks? What color should it be? White?

The finished quilt we offer for sale on Quilts Etc. Sale has gone through many stages of production and of enthusiasm by the quilter. Much like our human relationships– the initial excitement, the tedious job of making it work, the times of disappointment and joy and hopefully a feeling of satisfaction and pride when it is done.

New photos and info has been added to the Photo Gallery–general and the fall and Christmas ones.

Stay warm!