A Birthday Lap Quilt

At Christmas time, I made lap quilts for three of my children but wasn’t sure the older son would want one.  Then, I decided he might like to have something to throw over himself and his two dogs when he naps in his recliner.  I wanted to use scraps and made his quilt using my 1920s Farmer’s Wife Sampler Quilt book.  I had made a wall hanging back in 2010 when I first received the book, but for this quilt made blocks I hadn’t tried before – all with blue scraps.  The blocks were of various sizes and I used borders to make them all the same size and maroon sashing to put them together.

The backing/batting is a pretty blue fleece.

The quilt measures 48 x 60 inches and took on a nautical look without my intending it to be that way.  I think it will be a nice 60th birthday gift for my son and his dogs.

Cozy Afternoon – Free BOM – Block 3

Jacquelynne Steves is offering another series of free blocks-of-the-month called Cozy Afternoon.

http://jacquelynnesteves.com/cozy-afternoon-block-of-the-month/

There will be five blocks, each with a pattern to embroider or applique for the center.  I have a large hassock with a lid which I’m going to cover, using five blocks – one for the top of the lid and four for the sides.

My version of Block 3 is shown in the top picture.  This will be one of the sides of the hassock cover, using a vintage embroidery pattern for the center.

Jacquelynne also provides a pattern for an embroidered or appliqued center and I made another block using the embroidered mug and a different set of fabrics.

The block pattern is generally easy, but I did not get the results I wanted for the four corner patches using the method given.  This could be my fault – I don’t do well when I have to sew pieces together and then slice them apart.  I’m not always as precise as I should be, but when I tried very hard on the second block and didn’t like the way it turned out, I drew the patch on my Electric Quilt software and got the measurements for a 3-inch finished block.  This one turned out perfectly.  I’m including the measurements and directions in case someone wants to do it the old-fashioned way.

Cut one “A” 2×2 inches

Cut one “B” 2-3/8×2-3/8 inches (Cut on diagonal and use both patches.)

Cut one “C” 3-7/8 x 3-7/8 inches (Cut on diagonal and use one patch

• Sew one light blue triangle to right side of pink square.  There will be 1/4 inch tails on either end.

• Press seam open and sew white triangle across bottom of pink square.

• Press seam and trim tails.  Place on blue triangle, right sides together, and stitch across long side.

• Press open and trim tails.  Patch should measure 3-1/2 inches square.  The pink patch should measure 1-3/4 inches from seam to edge, which will match up perfectly with the other squares in the block.

This is a really nice BOM series and there’s still time to get the patterns and instructions for later use.  Jacquelynne does not archive her patterns for long periods of time.

From Scraps to Panels to Backings and Linings

In 2008, I made a nice hooded jacket out of some really cute Scottie fabric and ever since then I have been shuffling around a small bag of scraps, hoping to find the perfect project for them.  Since I reached my goal for 2014 of using up every small scrap I had other than special fabric like this, I’m a little ruthless in wanting to avoid saving any more small bags of scraps.  I decided to go ahead and use this material in one of my favorite ways – to make panels that can be used as backings for wall hangings and small quilts, backings for cushions, linings for tote bags and other small projects, etc.

The first step is to take all the crumpled pieces of fabric out of the bag and press them.  Then begin cutting them into pieces that will be formed into blocks.  I like to make 5-inch blocks partly because they are easy to work with and partly because my ruler is 5 inches wide and makes measuring/cutting easy.  So, first I cut any 5 inch blocks I can get out of the fabric.

Then, I cut strips 5 inches or more longer x 1-½ inches wide.

The rest of the fabric is cut into blocks, strips or rectangles at least 1-½ inches and on up to 5 inches.

The fabric pieces are placed in stacks – 5-inch squares, strips or pieces that are 5 inches wide, pieces that are various widths and shapes, and strips.

I start first with the various pieces and strip-sew them to one of the strips, using ¼ inch seams.

This sewn strip is cut apart …

…pressed….

…and trimmed.

Then, these joined pieces are sewn onto another strip, cut, pressed and trimmed until all of the pieces have been joined to something.  These joined pieces are sewn to other pieces to form a 5 inch block.

Any 5-inch wide pieces are to sewn together or to other joined pieces to form 5-inch blocks.  If I run short of fabric, I keep a supply of white or neutral colored strips on hand to finish off blocks.

When all of the fabric has been used, the blocks are sewn together in panels.  If I know the measurement for a particular project, I sew the blocks to form that size panel.  If I’m sewing for storage, I like panels that are two blocks across and three blocks down.  This happens to work well for the projects I make.  The panels can be joined or cut as needed.

The Scottie fabric gave me enough to make one panel that is 22-½ inches long x 9-½ inches wide.

I try to use this process whenever I finish up a project.  Any piece over 5 inches is saved but all of the other bits and pieces are sewn into something that can be used later.  It’s actually rather relaxing to do some mindless sewing like this after completing a project and at the same time, make good use of pretty scraps rather than dealing with them 7 years from now.