Sunday, February 12, 2017

Baby Quilt

So, what do you do when Stella's Splendid Sampler is done, except for block #100, which will be unveiled tomorrow?  The pieced borders are done, the floater borders are cut and waiting, the entire top is pieced together except the last row, even the binding is made and the backed is pieced.

And what  do you do when your  cutting table looks like this?


Because you cut far more 1.5" strips for those pieced borders than you needed?  And you remember you have a baby quilt to make for a new arrival this summer.  What DO you do?

I looked through the photos of quilt designs I've been saving, and found an antique quilt in this pattern, fast, easy, strip-piecing which I enjoy, the perfect solution.  So I got out the phone books I use for strip paper piecing,  The pages measure 8.5" x 6.75", perfect!  I cut them in half, 4.25" x 6.75", just the right size to cover with 6 strips of fabric:

Measure from the 3" mark at the center, trim to 6" x 4"

Remove the paper after trimming
 It took some simple math to figure out what size to cut the squares needed for the next step:  3.5" yellow print squares cut in half for the short triangles sewn on both ends of the fabric strips, 5"  light polka dot squares cut in half for the large triangles sewn on both sides of the blocks:


Trim to 7"

Then it was playtime, moving the blocks around until I liked the layout:


Sew them together, add a border, call it done:


And look what was left, still LOTS of strips:


AND a bunch of 4-patches, made while assembling this baby quilt.  I'll use those for another quilt, like this:


Now, the studio is cleaned up, and I'm ready for tomorrow, when I can finish Stella's Splendid Sampler.  All in all, a very productive day.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara

8 comments:

  1. Such a cute quilt! Wow! I can't believe one more block to go on Stella's Sampler!

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  2. What great fun! So bright and cheerful.

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  3. Hi Barbara - I am new to paper piecing, and had not considered using this process for strip quilting, but I can see the accuracy is so perfect, that I will begin to use this. Thank you.

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  4. Great way to use up your scrappy strips! Inspiration for the rest of us!

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  5. Excellent use of your scraps. Great results!

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  6. Love the baby quilt and think your way of cleaning up after a big project is TOTALLY AMAZING!!! Way to go!

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  7. You are so stinkin' productive! Great use of your leftovers. LOVE the baby quilt!

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  8. You have uncovered the secret to string x blocks - use fabrics in a collection or restricted. Just gorgeous, Barbara!

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