Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Charity Quilt Tops

Last week, I started working on two charity quilt tops.   You can read about them here and here.  I made big progress on them that I would like to share today.

 

Valley MQG Philanthropy quilt top.  After making 8 additional blocks and trimming all 20 blocks to unified size of 14", I put them on the design wall to see how they look together.  

 


 

With this layout, I'll get a 54" x 67.5" top, a very good size for a quilt.  I'll leave them there for a few days before I start piecing them together.  I might move some blocks around.


Then I worked on the Q4C charity quilt top.  I started cutting the fabric and made the blocks. 



 

This quilt top has only 1 block that repeats over and over.  By rotating every other block 90 degrees, we get this design.  This block is called Intersection block which was published in September 2021 in the MQG JournalMaking this block goes really fast and the finished size of the block is 12".  The final layout will be 4x5 which will make 48" x 60" quilt top.  It will be good for a lap quilt.  Big blocks make the quilt top come together in no time.  I don't know if I will put a border or not.  It all depends on how much fabric I have left.


I hope you all have a wonderful day and thanks for visiting.

Margo

I am linking today to Carol at Quilt Schmilt!

Tuesday, January 10, 2023

WIP for January

I started the disappearing 4-patch charity quilt for ValleyMQG. There is something mysterious about working on a project that had many hands involved before it gets to you. I’ve done this before, you can read about it here


I have 8 4-patch blocks that needed to be cut, rearranged and sewn back together.  I turned on my favorite music and lost myself in it.  What I did was turning on an autopilot mode and took off.   

1. There was no instructions, so I looked for disappearing 4-patch block tutorial. 

2. I started cutting one block at a time and rearranged the pieces.  Here are pictures of a block.   Having a swirly cutting board is very helpful!!

 


3. Sewing started after I got all the blocks cut. This is the step that having a zen-like mood is really helpful.  Because each person sews differently and no two sewing machines are alike, I tried my best to match the seams. Only 8 blocks to do, I kept reminding myself. 😂🤣   Before I knew it, I've finished 5 blocks.

4. After I get all 8 blocks done, I’ll trim all 20 blocks to a uniform size of 14” squares.  Then we'll see what I have on the design wall.


Thanks for stopping by.

Margo


Wednesday, January 4, 2023

How I Start Off the New Year

 Happy New Year everyone!!


I hope you all had a fabulous Holidays celebrations.  I sure did and plus I had some time to rest and relax without worrying about traveling.  Now it's time to get back to the real world.

 

I would like to start this year with getting organized.

This year I'll try to organize my sewing space.  I joined in with Karen Brown at Just Get It Done Quilts.  Karen is running Declutter Challenge 2023.  We'll see how much I can accomplish this year.

 

I also want to start the year with charity quilt projects: 

1. Finishing a project for Valley MQG Philanthropy's on going projects.  I picked up a bag and this is what's inside. 

 


It's a disappearing 4-patch blocks.  There are 8 4-patch blocks that I have to cut, rearrange and sew them back together.  There are 12 blocks that were sewn up already too.  Interesting!!  I've never done this design before.  Can't wait to get started.

2. Start a charity quilt for Quilting for Community (Q4C).  I got these four lovely fabrics from them and will start making a top in a few days.  I'm using Intersection block pattern that I designed for MQG Journal in 2021.  If you're a MQG member, you can go to their resource page to get the pattern.  There are tons of interesting patterns and articles on the MQG Resource Library.  I really enjoy reading and going around the MQG website.

 



That is my plan to start the new year for now.  I'm sure there will be more quilts that I want to make.  Some of them are just an idea, but some are already in the design step.


Thank you so much for stopping by.

Margo