Multiple Projects--All the Time

Recently, a friend wrote her blog and said it seemed very odd to her that she was working on FOUR projects, simultaneously. 

She is an art quilter and teacher of free-motion quilting, so our work is fairly different. I just smiled to myself, because I had no idea how many projects I am currently "working on", but I was pretty sure it was more than four. And "sheltering in place" or "quilters' quarantine" has nothing to do with this--I always have multiple projects going.

Finally got this top finished and I love it. I might not be able to part with it. That just means I have to make yet another Quilt of Valor, the 3rd this year, to be ready for Veteran's Day. The quilt is titled "Sail On" and was published in Easy Quilts Spring 2019. I added the Flying Geese border and outer red border:

77" square

Since I changed the pattern, to my regret, I had half square triangles left over. So, when I was still thinking I would be giving this away, I decided to make a small version, with 6" stars, instead of 9":

At first I thought I would just cut solid strips of the reds and blues instead of piecing them from squares but I really like the look of the squares and I can use up smaller pieces of fabric so I think it will be squares for the red and blue rows. I don't think I will add the flying geese--a simpler pieced border is in the planning stage. There is some interest in this as a class--if the patterns can be purchased, I will do that.

The Stay At Home Sampler from Temecula Quilt Company can be found on Instagram--easy 3"  blocks that use little fabric. I might incorporate a pieced center I made during our great Joyful Journey Retreat in March:

Here are five blocks cut out, waiting to be leaders/enders for other piecing:

Another Leader/Ender project uses the extra Double 9 Patch blocks I made to test the heavy starch method, so I could add that suggestion to one of my blogs about Afternoon Delight--the 2020 Block of the Month Quilt for The Quilt Show. Eventually, this will be a baby quilt and the rows will all be the same length:

At night, while the TV is on, I am handquilting this fat quarter of terrific fabric I bought in Texas last year on a teaching trip. It has wool batting and is a pleasure to quilt, just follow the lines:

Waiting for me in my cozy chair:

When that hand project is done, I will get back to Simple Gifts, a needle-turn hand applique project I started years ago with Mary Sorensen. The pattern and all the fabrics are safely stored in a box and when I dug it out 6 months ago, I knew it was time to get back to it, so I have added a couple leaves recently:

Another project that is floating in my head involves this block, an antique I saw on Pinterest. It is the most "pinned" of all my pins on Pinterest--every time someone pins it I think "I really need to do something with that block design". First, I drafted it--the 12" large block is too large--or maybe I've been working with such small pieces in recent years that it just looks huge to me. The smaller block finishes at 7.5" to keep the math somewhat simple. I like it better:

Every day I see them on the side of the design wall and think about what to do next--make an even smaller one? Change the color plan? Not sure, but this will become something later this year.

That brings me to some special sewing. This week I pre-washed these babies so I can get started. I don't often work with solids, not since my days of making Amish quilts, so these will be fun. More to come on this project later:

So there are 8 projects, just the ones it was easy to photograph and show you. There are at least 3 more on the back burner that will move up in line as these above get completed.

How many projects do YOU work on? Only one at a time, or several?

Let's quilt.

Barbara

Getting There

The Red, White and Blue Quilt of Valor is getting there--the middle is now done:

Now it is on to the flying geese border; papers are printed, fabrics are cut:

See the earlier posts about this project:

All Set

What Not To Do

In making the star points from "flip and sew" squares, I generated a bunch of 1.5" finished squares, white and red, and white and blue. So I decided to make a second one of these quilts, with 6" blocks, not 9". And I am making it the easy way. It will be good to have one of these to keep:

In between, I am doing the "Stay At Home Sampler" from Temecula Quilt Company--each day for the month of April, one 3" block is presented on Instagram and shared on the Facebook Page. They make good "leader/enders":
:

What are you working on? I hope it has you feeling creative and productive.

Let's quilt.

Barbara