Jump to the newest quilt.
Here is part 1 where I explain what this is all about, and the first 10 blankets
Here is part 2 with the second set of ten blankets
Blanket #21! July 13, 2024
The same family member that gave me loads of fabric, dropped off a pieced top and coordinating backing fabric. I just needed to put it together with some batting, quilt it, and bind it! I know she’s very meticulous, so I knew this top would be perfectly pieced. I did my best to quilt it and bind it as best I could. I’m happy to say on this, my 8th quilt that I’ve machine quilted and machine bound, I did a pretty great job. Look at that mitered corner! Beautiful! Bonus photo upper right was all that was left of the binding I made for this quilt. I played binding chicken and won!
Finished size: 44″ x 56″
Blanket #22! July 17, 2024
Another pieced top and coordinating backing fabric dropped off by the same family member. I believe she started this quilt top around 20 years ago. I was looking through my stash for a coordinating fabric to use for the binding. Lo and behold, in the fabric I bought in a box off of Facebook marketplace, the SAME EXACT BLACK FABRIC. Absolutely wild.
Finished size: 44″ x 56″
Blanket 23! – July 27, 2024
This one is big! So big, I couldn’t get the whole thing in the photo. The pattern was a free one from Fat Quarter Shop called Cobblestone. It went together pretty quickly, and was fairly simple to do, but I don’t think I’ll make it again. I don’t love the size of it and I’m too lazy to do the math to make it smaller. (But not too small, I don’t want a crib size).
I tried a new quilting pattern on this one, sort of a squished meander. I saw it somewhere else and thought it looked sort of like cobblestones. Not really, but that’s what my brain said, so it seemed fitting. It was harder to do than a regular meander, surprisingly. I ended up having to rip out some of the quilting and re-do it, something I’ve never done before. Then I messed up part of the binding as well and also had to re-do that.
Once again, I needed to buy fabric for the backing. I bought (hopefully) enough for four more quilts, $65.
Finished size: 65″ x 63″
Blanket #24! – August 8, 2024
The pattern for this one is “Fat Quarter Shuffle” by Cluck Cluck Sew. Most of my stash is fat quarters and this one had a nice scrappy look, as well as looking pretty quick to put together. I had a fat quarter bundle that I wanted to use. First, there weren’t enough fat quarters in the bundle, I’d need to supplement. Second, the fat quarter bundle was very dated looking. I’m fairly sure it was from the late 90s and it looked very late 90s home decor. I needed to add some fat quarters for numbers, but I also wanted to add fat quarters to hopefully modernize the palette a bit. (The photo with the scissors is the closes to the true colors). I think I accomplished that.
The two upper left photos were just to show what I sometimes do to check that I have an even distribution of values, and not just colors.
I am really loving the pieced binding technique. It just adds to the scrappy feel.
This was fairly quick to put together, and I’ll definitely use this pattern again. Finished size 57″ x 70″.
I also purchased more backing and more batting. I totaled up what I’ve spent so far on this “free” project, and it’s a little over $900. Considering I had done some rough math and came up with around $100 in materials for the cost of a throw-sized quilt, and this is number 24, I’m doing pretty well only spending $900 versus $2,400. Gotta think positively, right?
Blanket #25 – August 20, 2024
Halfway!
I really need to improve my quilt photography skills.
Anyway, I had a love/hate relationship with this quilt. I went looking for some new “fat quarter patterns” and saw this one in several color palettes. I wanted to do black and white, then I wanted to do black and white and red. I bought the pattern. It was $12, which is a bit on the high side for a pattern, especially given this one isn’t particularly complicated. But I like to support pattern makers, and they do all the math for you. Often, they’ll have cutting and construction tips as well. This pattern didn’t have cutting or construction tips. And it had an error in the count of pieces. Not a fan, and not worth $12 unfortunately.
Then this red fabric. I bought it specifically for this quilt, in order to have enough for the middles, and the backing. I ordered it online and when it arrived, it had an odd sheen to it. It then proceeded to get red dye on my fingernails and the few plastic parts on my machine. I worried it would bleed onto the other fabrics when washed, so I made sure to wash it with THREE color catchers. Happily, it didn’t bleed.
After all that, I’m delighted with how it turned out. It’s precisely what I envisioned. Finished size 56″ x 70″.
Blanket #26 – September 12, 2024
I selected the black and white fabric at the same time as blanket #25. I had planned to make the same thing, just with pink centers instead of red. However, after the love/hate issues, I decided instead to make a log cabin with the fabrics.
I used this free online pattern, which is great as it gives cutting instructions for fat quarters. I made the largest one with 3″ center squares. However, it assumes your fat quarters are a full 18″ by 22″, which many of mine are not. If I do this one again, I’ll probably do the 2.75″ one which leaves a little wiggle room for poorly sized fat quarters. Or do the math and make a 2.5″ one which will be loads easier to cut with my creative grids ruler. In any case, the pattern was well written and the quilt fairly simple to put together.
I did have one minor annoyance, which was that I ran out of thread halfway through quilting, so I had to set the quilt aside while I ordered more and waited for it to arrive.
Finished size 60″ x 60″
Blanket 27 – September 13, 2024
It took me longer than two days to finish, but as I said with the previous one, I had to set it aside while I waited for thread to arrive. So I started this one.
It’s the same pattern as blanket #24, but with very different fabrics!
Again, I try to use up as much stash as possible and not buy new fabrics. That can be difficult for backing since I generally need around 3 yards. I happened to have close to that leftover from blanket #19. I measure the top, I measured the fabric. In general, you should have enough backing fabric for at least a few extra inches all around, it can bunch up during quilting or shift around. Based on my measurements, I wouldn’t really have that extra buffer. I’d have to be careful and lucky to make it work.
I was very lucky and I won at “backing chicken”. I went on to the quilting subreddit and showed off. How quickly I was brought back to earth as I lost at binding chicken.
I think it looks great anyway!
Finished size 57″ x 70″
Blanket #28 – October 4, 2024
With my last batch of quilts, I contacted my local Project Linus coordinator to drop them off. I met her at her house, and she invited me in to take a look at fabric. They also get fabric donations and she said I could take some. She also had this quilt, already pieced and basted with batting and a backing. It just needed someone to quilt it and bind it. I happily said yes and took this along with some other fabric. I like how the person pieced the backing and I may steal that. It’s a great way to deal with not having enough of a backing piece. Luckily, I have a lot of oranges so I had plenty to provide a nice binding, including one small piece of backing I had trimmed off after quilting, just to keep with the “pieced” feel of the whole thing.
Finished size: 46″ x 62″
Blanket #29 – October 4, 2024
The pattern is Cobblestone Quilt by Alison Glass. It wasn’t difficult to piece, but it was a bit “fussy”. I prefer to just throw it all together and not work too hard at placement. I think a scrappy version would be much faster. Also, because the pieces aren’t cut the same, it’s a bit more tedious since you can’t just stack a bunch and cut. If I made this one again, with the rainbow or another specific color scheme, I would make more of each square than is called for, so you can be sure to have enough to place them how you want.
Finished size 52″ x 64″
Blanket #30 – October 4, 2024
This pattern is Hip to be Square by Jordan Fabrics. Nice and quick to put together. Another one I did with a woodsy vibe. I did make it smaller than the pattern suggested, and after it was done, I realize I should have done 50″ x 50″ rather than 40″ x 60″, but oh well. I still like how it turned out.
You’ll notice the last three quilts have the same finish date and that is correct. For whatever reason, I pieced the last two tops, and as I mentioned had received #27 already pieced and basted, so ended up quilting all three the same weekend.
Finished size 40″ x 60″
Kathy Eager Creative 