Lawn Diamond Quilt

Woo Hoo!  The most boring quilt in the world is FINISHED!  It's my first finish of 2017!  I call this Lawn Diamond quilt the most boring quilt in the world due to the massive amount of repetition.  Lesson learned; break up the project into smaller segments so you don't want to scratch your eyes out!

So Cal is having a lot of rain, and while it isn't raining right now, everything outside is pretty soaked.  Using the kitchen shutters was a good alternative to trying to get an outside photo, either on the improvised clothesline or my design grass.

This is the improv quilt back.  I hope you're having a good day.  What are you working on?

May your bobbins always be full,

Quilt Back for the Lawn Diamond Quilt.

This is the pieced center for the quilt back.  I figured I didn't need to show the sea of plain fabric that made up the remainder of the back!

After this was assembled I cut 7.5-inch squares for a future project.  I'm doing some traveling this month and having these ready will help me be productive between trips, I hope!

I love this project so much, I decided to have it custom quilted, it's already been shipped!

May your bobbins always be full,

The Lawn Diamond Quilt Top is Finished!

I'm so happy to have this quilt top finished.  It was a real PIA, "pain in the ass" to work on and finish.  If you follow me on IG you know all about it.

I started with 20 different solids and the pattern suggested coloring in the spaces to get your placement correct.  No way was that going to work with all these colors.  Below is my solution:

I used the fabric selvages to  determine which solid goes where on each of the 120 blocks.  No way coloring would have worked!

After putting together the first 40 blocks, the monotony of chain piecing these blocks really got to me.  It's so boring, worth it, but boring.  That's when I took a break and made 6 Mail Sack Bags.

Finally, the blocks were all put together, and I could tear the papers off the back.  I only tore off 24 at a time in order to keep them organized in the correct position.  The first 24 are above, then there were 48!

After that, it went pretty fast.  I spent last evening taking the papers off of the rest of the blocks and keeping them organized on trays.  Today I assembled the  remaining 72 blocks, working in sets of 24.  It took most of my day to get it done.

It was worth all the effort and headaches.  I love it.  (I do not recommend this pattern for beginning quilters or for someone who has not done any previous paper-piecing.  The pattern offers no help for beginners.)

Lawn Diamond Quilt Top:

Started on June 30, 2016

Finished on August 26, 2016

Measurements 54 x 60 inches

May your bobbins always be full,

Mail Sack Bags

Six Mail Sack bags finished!

A couple of weeks ago I did a fabric pull of canvas.  My cousin Brooke is legally blind, she can see about 10% of what she should, so she really can't sew.  She sent me a photo of a bucket bag, nothing special, and asked if I could make one.  I told her, Sure, but wouldn.t you rather have something like this:

I'd made these two for Sharon and myself.  So I made Brooke a Mail Sack bag, and when it was finished, I thought, "That was fun, I think I'll make some more!  In the last two weeks, I've made a total of six mail sack bags.

I've worn glasses since I was 8 years old, for 64 years.  This bag is for me!

All the bags have the same aqua and white polka-dot lining and mixed up pockets.  I think those have become my signature.  Now, I ready to get back to the Lawn Diamond quilt that I took a much needed break from.

May your bobbins always be full,

Lawn Diamond Quilt and a break.

I've got Good News and Bad News about the Lawn Diamond quilt I've been working on.  First, the good news.

1.  I'm making slow but sure progress.  I came up with a plan to keep everything orderly.  Then I got busy cutting the fabric.

2.  There are 120 blocks to be foundation paper pieced.  I started with 20, to make sure my paper piecing chops were in order; then I did 40 more and got all 60 of them trimmed.

3.  I was ready to tackle the final 60 blocks.  When I did the first two sets, I chain pieced the blocks.  Chain piecing 60 blocks, gets really boring, really fast.  I'm at the halfway point on these 60 blocks and need a break.

Now, for the Bad News.

1.  So far, this has taken me a total of five weeks.  Life has gotten in the way, and I'm also tired of chain piecing.  If you're not familiar with foundation paper piecing, after stitching each seam, you need to trim the seam allowance, then press the seam.  Each time. It's very time-consuming, but very worth the effort.

2.  I need a break.  Instead of plowing thru the last half of these blocks, I'm going to make some bags.

I have a fabulous cousin, Brooke, who is 40 and can't sew because she's legally blind.  She's not totally blind, she has about 10% of her sight, but that's not enough to sew.  She's one of my favorite people.  She lives in Indiana and we keep in touch via social media.  She asked if I could make her a bag; that's what I going to work on during the "Lawn Diamond Break".  I've previously made 3 Mail Sack Cross Body Bags, so I thought I'd make one for Brooke and a couple of more to have on hand.

This is the canvas fabric I've pulled from my stash, enough for 5 bags.  I don't know if I'll make that many, but I'm prepared!

May your bobbins always be full,

Starting a Lawn Diamond Quilt

On Sunday, I returned from a 10 day Baseball Tour.  I had such a great time, and it took me a couple of days to recover.  Yesterday, I pulled some solids to make a Lawn Diamond Quilt.  Before I left on my trip, I had purchased the pattern from Sarah.  I seldom use a pattern, but I really liked the look of this one.

This is my fabric pull, all from stash.  I checked in B&W to make sure the fabric had good contrast.

This is a paper-piece pattern, and it included a sheet for coloring in your placement.  That didn't work for me.  I even tried putting small snips of fabric in the coloring segments.  It was a no-go.  

Since fabric placement is critical for this design, I decided to use the actual papers that I printed for the paper-piecing to decide on fabric placement.  This is as far as I've gotten.  I hope to make some good progress on Friday and the weekend.

May your bobbins always be full,