Archive for the ‘On A Whim Quilt’ Category
Lots of finishes lately…
Here are some pics from the recent finishes, in no particular order.
From the Made in Cherry QAL:
From the SwoonAlong:
From the Swooning On A HopAlong:
From the talknt Handmade Swap:
I also made 152 polaroid blocks!! 76 went into the mail today and I’ll get 75 different ones back. (1 was for the swap hostess.) 150 make a quilt and now I’ll have an extra in case I absolutely hate one I receive or have already made. Here’re are the 76 that went out:
And, I made the 2nd bookshelf block for Manda in the BAMS swap. Phew. Here’re blocks 1 and 2:
I finished this top for my nephew, Trevon.
And, I think that’s about it. I’m still waiting on three blocks to finish up Kilah’s quilt. I understand that 1 has been sent from England and 2 from Washington, but they are taking their sweet time getting here!! As soon as they arrive, I’ll need an hour or two to add them to the last row, attach the last row and then add two borders. I haven’t prepped the backing yet because I’m not sure what the finished size will be, but I know it will all get here soon and I can finish that puppy and get it in the mail.
Y’all have a great weekend!
Finishing On A Whim
So, I’ve finished piecing the On A Whim quilt using 30s repro fabrics and some Kona Solids and I love it. I probably should’ve spent about 15-minutes before joining blocks into rows and rows into a quilt squaring up a couple of the blocks because they’re really off, making the rest of the row really off. But what’s done is done and likely, I’m the only one who’ll notice the mess.
Anyway, I got my name on the list at the local quilter so she can quilt it, but cannot drop it off until I get the right backing fabric and, let’s face it, I’m inherently lazy. Above all else, I dislike piecing backings and so, I’m waiting until the perfect backing is released mid-April to drop them off at the quilter’s.
Windham Fabrics, I love them so much, is coming out with a 108″ wide backing fabric in, you guessed it, 30s reproduction fabrics! So excited!!
There are four gorgeous prints to choose from:
And, I really love the cross-hatching, but I’m afraid it’ll be difficult to line up straight for the quilter, so I’m probably going to go with the blue flowers print.
On A Whim is complete!
I bit the bullet and finished this up Friday, Saturday and today. I had more than enough “help” from the beasties and I’m going to start a new Swoon next week…an unplanned Swoon, but it will be gorgeous since I’m using Jan DiCintio’s Tilly as the main fabric. All the other fabrics will be Kona Solids.
Anyway, here’s the completed On A Whim top.
I do want to talk about this pattern a bit. It’s not particularly difficult to do. Simple square-in-a-square blocks and some rather easy half-square triangle blocks put together to make this gorgeous pattern, but…you knew that was coming right?…but, I get particularly bored making so many blocks alike. There I said it. Perhaps I should’ve blown up the block size, similar to the Swoon blocks, and I’d have liked it better. Either way.
I do have some tips in case you’re thinking about doing this quilt. All my tips are cutting tips. Cut the 3.5″ squares as 3.75″ or even 4″. They’re much bigger than you need, but give you plenty of wiggle room when squaring up. Also, cut the 4-1/8″ blocks as 4″. Since you’ve already cut the 3.5″ blocks larger, they’ll make up for the 1/4″ you lose total. It’s much easier to make your points line up if you cut those smaller. For sure, don’t cut them bigger! I tried that. Went 4.25″ rather than 4-1/8″. Bad move. Nothing matched up and cut off the points! My hints, btw, are for sloppy sewists like me. If you’re particularly picky and careful and always, always, always sew a perfect 1/4″ seam, then no need for you to do any hijinks with your cutting. Just follow the pattern.
I did make an extra row of blocks so that it was 5 blocks x 5 blocks rather than 4 x 5 as the pattern called for. It increased the size of the quilt to 86″ x 86″.
On A Whim has begun!
I did manage to get the entire quilt cut out today and I’ve sewn the first two blocks. I’m really struggling to get the points, especially on the square-in-a-square blocks, but I assume I’ll have it down by block 25 or so. I’m using a variety of 30s repro prints with Kona Snow and Kona Candy Blue.
The pattern only calls for 20 blocks, but I’ve added another column, so I’ll have 25. Just trying to increase the size. If I’m still unhappy at that point, I’ll add bigger borders. I’m sure it’ll be great.
The pattern can be found here: On A Whim – Thimble Blossoms or here: On A Whim – Fat Quarter Shop.