25 Patch Quilt

Last night I completed the baby quilt I've been working on. I started with 25patch blocks and then put a border around each one. If I do another one of these, I'll try to remember to use medium colors. The pale yellow and white print with its colored specs don't show up as nicely. They look better on the quilt than they do in the photo but still colors a little darker would be better. This quilt has white fleece on the back. It'll make a nice, cuddly quilt for a child. I tried to use at least a couple of novelty prints in each block. One didn't get any novelties but other blocks have several so it's fun to look at. The blocks finish at 12" so this quilt finished at 36 x 48". 

2015 Spring Mystery

I just finished the top for a baby quilt, using the instructions I'd saved from the 2015 Spring Mystery by Cindy Carter.  There are directions for several sizes on the website as well as photos of completed quilts.
http://carterquilter.wordpress.com/

The pattern had an outside border but I chose not to use one. This top measures approx 36" x 43", just the size appropriate for donation to our guild's baby quilt project. I usually make the quilts 36 x 45 so this one is close enough without a border. 

Now to decide what color fleece to back it with. The fleece will make a self binding which will add a narrow band of color around the edge of the quilt. 

Spools and 9 Patches Quilt

This little quilt is finished, one of several I've completed this week. The spools are some that were received in a block exchange. I made the 9 patches and put them all together. All are 6" finished blocks so this quilt measures 36" x 48". It's backed with beige fleece.

Heartstrings Quilt

Having completed this month's bitty blocks, I changed the settings on my machine as well as the bobbin case and throat plate. While the throat plate was off, I cleaned a bit around the bobbin area. It didn't need much as I had just cleaned the machine last week. Now I was ready to do some quilting. I finished the quilt posted above and will donate it to charity through my quilt guild. For this quilt I cut the turquoise center strips from yardage but all the other fabrics came from a gallon size bag of strings. I nearly emptied the bag but not completely. It's amazing how far those string strips go!

This quilt is 24 9" finished blocks, set 4 x 6 and backed with fleece. I tried to use at least 1 novelty fabric in each block so this will make a great kid's quilt. 

Next project: 

one of 3 more quilt tops awaiting quilting and finishing. 

Bitty Blocks set 2

These are the Bitty Blocks for February. These are 4" finished blocks. The pattern is posted on Quiltmaker.com. When gathering fabric for these blocks, I first started with a box of half square triangles that were waste from other projects. I had enough of these to make 9 blocks, none of them alike. For the rest I used dotted fabric. 

By the time I pressed and trimmed the waste triangles, I'm not sure they saved a lot of time but there are fewer of them in the box after making bitty blocks. These blocks with their 1" finished pieces were more tedious to make than the 3" bow tie blocks made last month. This quilt will have lots of variety as, so far, I've made each block in the set from a different fabric. 

Now these blocks and the dotted fabric are put away awaiting the next set of Bitty Blocks instructions which will come out in March. 

16 Patch Quilt

This little baby quilt with its 16 patches and 4 patches was made from 2" squares. It measures 36x45" and has fleece on the back. I'll turn it in to my quilt guild for distribution to a local charity. 

On My Design Wall

On my design wall this week are 2 things.  First is a 16 patch charity quilt. I still need to sew the rows together and find a border. The blocks are made from 2" squares. As this will be a baby or small child's quilt, I tried to put at least 1 novelty print in each 16 patch block.

B

The other item is a set of bow tie blocks. This is the start of a block of the month being done at Quiltmaker.com. All of the blocks will be either 3 or 4" finished. This month the blocks are 3" finished. The blocks are to be set in a row but for this photo, I put them in a block formation. These blocks are all made from dotted fabric. I was surprised that I had so many pieces. As most of my fabric consists of fat quarters, if I continue with dots, I'll need to buy some more fabric. Or I could mix it up such as solids, novelties, 30's, etc. I'll likely do that so I can use what I have.