Monday, January 21, 2013

I'm a bit sick of being bossed around by my patchwork.  I should be like Judy and plan everything out before I start cutting fabric. But that's not the way I work, so I will have to accept that I'm the sort of quilter who wings it at every stage.  I just wish the tops would be a bit more vocal about what they want, before I've made a zillion units that are just wrong for the quilt.

I made this top last year in January, determined to use up every scrap.  As if that were ever going to happen.  It seemed unfinished, I knew it needed a border, and needed to be longer and a little wider, but I was sick of it and left it sitting on the clothes rack for a whole year.
Then all the HSTs seemed to be the answer, and I made the mistake of thinking pinwheels was what the quilt said.   Apparently not, they were violently rejected as soon as I put them on the design wall.  But I made about 50!  And I was also mistaken in thinking I was just going to slap it all together no matter how it looked.  Muttering curses I went back to tthe sewing machine and my eye fell on some little blocks I'd put together and set aside; just 4 HSTs all in the same orientation.  Hmmm, I already had quite a few....




Well, they were just what the quilt was looking for, so then it was only a matter of making enough for the top and bottom borders, and attaching them.
  And we were all well pleased, except that I now have a stack of pinwheels, and there are still triangles to spare.  Sigh....

The next top to be dealt with it this Plaid one; (there are 6 spare blocks, but the quilt is big enough already, so looks like I'll be making another quilt in this pattern)
 I thought I could bully that into submission and make it accept the pinwheels, but it's not having them either.  It didn't mind some light-coloured pinwheels, but it wasn't fussed about them.  Didn't like the 1' squares either.
 That's when I opened a container and found all the rest of the strips that didn't get used up in the Strip Spiral.  I need an intervention for my over-cutting problem....

The Plaid quilt is delighted with the strips, so that's what I'll be sewing this afternoon.
After that, I need to catalogue this basket of blocks; all through the year, whenever I ran out of leader-enders, I'd pick a pattern and just make random blocks from scraps, anything, just so that I could feed the pieces through the machine.  Which is admirable I suppose, except now I have the beginnings of about 5 quilts in this basket, none of them planned, and some of them downright ugly.  I hope I've learned my lesson, and will use only designated leader-enders this year. 

6 comments:

  1. They certainly look good in their photos!

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  2. this post just made me LOL!!!! love the quilt AMAZED that you would make hst for the border for this one but it looks wonderful!!!!
    love these cross blocks I have a few of those hanging around too!
    hmm maybe I should get them out again. wonder where they are ?
    no intervention of your over cutting problem just think of it as units waiting to be added to a quilt.
    I am currently making units for some future quilts down the road of all these scraps I have!!!!
    maybe you just need to make a kitchen sink quilt (meaning a big sampler of all these left overs!)
    keep working your own way for me its inspiring!
    Kathie

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  3. Some days and some quilts are a challenge...but you rose to the occasion. The HSTs are PERFECT for your quilt. Such yummy colors.

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  4. How nice that you didn't abandon the top, but persevered to make it "just right".
    I'm an overcutter, too. Quilts beget quilts!
    That's quite a container of blocks. Perhaps there is a random sampler in your future?

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  5. I agree, an original sampler quilt would be great! Also been following another blogger who has been making great table runners with left over blocks...if you don't fancy table runners, perhaps cushions? For gifts or to sell, just a thought.

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  6. I love the way your quilts talk to you and tell you what they want - AWESOME!

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