Sunday, June 01, 2008

Ginger's About Forum's Quilt Swap

A great big thanks to Ginger , who allowed me into her swap at About.com a day late (I was apparently too dense to notice I'd sent my information the day it actually closed!). Anyhow, I spent a few days this week futzing with some really neat kaleidoscope hexagons I made a month or 2 ago, thinking I'd use these to finish off my partner's quilt. I made 18 paper-pieced diamonds & triangles to help finish the piece. And then it hit me as I started putting it all together. I HATE WORKING WITH SET IN SEAMS! It's not that I don't know how. It's that I hate doing it! So I rationalized that maybe I'd like that quilt better than my partner, stashed it into a bag, and went off to find concept/design #2. I have some information about my partner's likes and preferences, but I'm not divulging that for fear of revealing her identity!

And without further ado...
I have pulled out several sunny and summery 1930's prints and searched Quilterscache.com for a great 1930's pattern. The one I chose is called dogtooth violet. It took about 5-6 hours to make 4 of those blocks. They are partially pieced, and partially foundation pieced. BTW...does anyone have a cure for excessive fabric waste while paper piecing?? I did the block corners using foundation piecing. It took nearly a quarter of a yard! Anyhow, in my usual weekend early morning peace (as the entire house is still asleep at 6am!), I hand mitered the corners of the border to complete the top. I plan to hand quilt this one so that it has a more vintage look. Nothing says well-finished & old-fashioned (as all 1930's pieces would be) than miters & hand work!
I also have this sweet butterfly fabric that Maria sent me with my winter 4SQS quilt which may get used on the border too.

Well, today is my middle kiddo's 4th birthday so I must go get my self into gear and figure out what needs to be done to repair his cake (Why, oh why did we think it was OK to let his father make the cake this year???!).

3 comments:

Ginger said...

Very pretty! I really like those stars, and the colors you used... That butterfly print would be pretty in the quilt too.

AmyB said...

That's darling! For paper piecing, I always use Carol Doak's method, which is to trim first then sew. She teaches how to measure the size of the piece you need from the pattern, to help minimize waste. Her books explain the method, and the 50 stars named after states book comes with a CD-rom that actually shows how to do it.

jovaliquilts said...

I have always found paper piecing to be very wasteful unless I took a lot of time to plan. Was glad to see amyb's post -- I'll have to check what Carol Doak says. Really like your project!