Sunday, February 27, 2011

Ohio Star Scrappy for Quilts of Valor 2011

Last week was my SPRING (are you kidding me we got 14 inches of snow last Sunday) quilting retreat.  I have done this now for the last 4 or 5 years to get away for a couple of days earlier in the year and to get something of a jump start on this year's projects.  This year I am trying to focus on using the leftover fabric from quilts I have made in the past to make at least 2 donation quilts.  I now understand that when you do a scrappy quilt from your stash, you have to think a lot more about how you are going to use the fabric and how many pieces you can get out of those odd shaped scraps.


I decided to start with a group of traditional based fabrics from 3 different projects: the Lone Star Maniac I made last year for my brother-in-law; the Thank You quilt made for the neighbors who have watched our pets; and Brian's Lone Star in Ohio from a couple of years ago.  While the fabrics have a similar feel to them, each box of scraps brought a different set of fabrics.  It was great to go through the boxes and realize that I actually have enough of these fabrics to make 2 quilts.


From Brian's quilt I found that there were about 20 leftover 6" blocks that I could use as a starting point.  I cut all the pieces I would need to make a total of 50 Ohio Stars and 49 Quarter Square Triangle blocks.  I worked on the Ohio Stars at the retreat.  I had to finish the Qtr Sq blocks at home on Sun since we all cleared out early to beat the blizzard.  This is what I had completed by the time I got home Sunday morning:

I had the blocks complete by Sunday night and the whole top assembled by last night.  I have decided to use it for my demo quilt in the Machine Quilting class that starts on Monday night.  I will post some followup comments about how that goes.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

The center of the Baltimore Album quilt is assembled

Once I figured out the process for the sawtooth border, the center basket came together in a week.  It took a week to fix the heart block in the top right corner and then just a couple of days to get all of the blocks trimmed and assembled. 


Now I just need to scale the border pattern, layout the design, cut the fabric and prep for applique and spend the next several months getting them appliqued in place.  After 17 years of waiting I guess that a couple of months is progressing like a speed demon.

Friday, February 4, 2011

My Baltimore Album is in progress

I started a Baltimore Album as a block of the month class when I was living in Atlanta.  I think it was about 1993 that the first class started with a 2 fabric cut away applique.  I had the 12 blocks and the center basket complete before I moved to Minnesota in 1997, but I knew that finishing the sashing and border were going to take as long as the blocks had.  Over the years I have taken it out to contemplate what to do next and then it quietly goes back in the box.

In my current effort to complete unfinished projects the Baltimore Album has floated back to the surface.  Now that I am not traveling every week I am able to sign up for the applique class at Glad's.  It has helped to get me back on track and clarify my plans for layout and finishing. 

I have now finished the sawtooth border around the center basket and will start to add the blocks.  Once I have the blocks on I can finalize the size of the border.  For now I will post the center.