China Doll

A couple of years ago I saw and decided I MUST HAVE some Michael Miller China Doll fabric. I'm not sure where online I found it, but I got something like 4 yards of it. It was getting kind of scarce then, so I'm not sure if I could even find some now. I love it. I think it's so sweet. But it has just sat there for the past couple of years.

Then I found this tutorial, and I decided it would be perfect for that fabric. Sometimes I run out of ideas for my larger print novelty fabrics.

Of course, if you know me at all, you know I made mine bigger -- 56" x 72". Instead of making 16 of each block, I made (31) of the 4-patch blocks and cut (32) of the larger blocks. Depending on your fabric width, you should be able to get either 4 or 5 of the 8 1/2 inch squares out of the novelty print. So for my size quilt, you would need about 2 yards of the novelty fabric. Cut this into seven strips that are 8 1/2" x WOF. Then sub-cut each of these strips into (5) 8 1/2" squares. If you can only get 4 squares from each strip, then cut 8 strips to get your (32) 8 1/2" squares.

For the (31) 4-patch blocks you will need to cut (124) 4 1/2" squares. You can use fat quarters or quarter yards -- or just use your scraps. You will need at least 7 FQs to get the correct number of squares for your 4-patches.

After you have cut and made all your blocks, lay the quilt out in a 7 block by 9 block pattern starting (and finishing) the first row with one of the 8 1/2" novelty blocks, alternating blocks as you go.

EDITED TO ADD:

Okay. I have been searching and searching for where I found this tutorial. I think I linked from blog to blog until I found it. Then I forgot to bookmark it, and now I cannot find it again. The original quilt was baby-sized, and it had these cute surfboards for the main fabric. I'll keep looking, but if anyone knows where this is, PLEASE, tell me so I can link back to it.

Soldiering on.

Made with MoMo's Freebirds line.

I feel like all my posts are too similar lately -- one picture and either a bag or a flimsy. But other than the QALs that I couldn't stop myself from joining, I have been trying to finish up older projects. I have made 6 or 7 backs for quilt tops that have been lying around a while. So even though my sidebar number is actually going up, I am making progress towards finishing things.

This is Old Red Barn QAL #6 -- Hexies. I think they're up to #9 or something. I had all these in rows and just had to sew them together. I was thinking initially that it wasn't big enough and that maybe I would add a border. However, in the interest of ever finishing this, I think I'll just keep it as-is. I have some leftover layer cake squares that I can put on the back -- along with perhaps a solid. Sometimes I despair of ever getting my numbers down, but I'm just going to keep at it and hope I get there. In the meantime, I am having fun. I really love the process of quilting, and I focus more on that than the finishing. It's why I have so many WIPs, but it's also why quilting is so relaxing for me. I don't force myself to do something I don't want to do very often. I just set things aside and wait until I'm ready to go back to them. My WIPs are a little overwhelming to me sometimes, but mostly they're not. Maybe I'm loathe to finish them BECAUSE I enjoy the process so much. I don't want it to be over. Or maybe I just get distracted by new things too easily. That's probably the more likely explanation. ;)

Repetitive.

I can't promise that this is the last bag of this sort you will see. I suppose I should branch out, but this one just makes up SO quickly!

For my daughter's friend's birthday gift. Fun and summery! I should probably iron it a little better, though. :/ Tutorial here. Go make your own. Seriously. It's so easy.

Another Whimsy Flimsy.

It's possible that I'm a little loopy from lack of sleep, but the phrase "Whimsy Flimsy" keeps cracking me up. Yeah, I'm funny. I know. ;)

From Amanda Jean's Round and Round QAL last year. I only had the last two rows (well, four if you count the sashing strips) on either end to finish, but I had to put it away for a rest. I just pulled it out this week and finished it up really quickly. I just have to do that sometimes -- put things away while they're daunting. They don't feel so difficult after some time has passed. Now I have to buy something for the backing. I only had a FQ pack, and I've made two quilts from it already. Plus, I'm doing a Farmer's Wife quilt with what's left. Made from Joanna Figueroa's Whimsy line.

A little windy.

It's a little windy today. This is how my first attempt at photographing this quilt went. I need some of those big clamps to clip the quilts to the fence, I guess. (Please, ignore my weeds. Our weed-eater is having technical difficulties.)

This time the wind is helping to keep it against the fence. You can hardly see the kaleidoscope pattern, but I had to give up for now. I'll have better pics when it's finished. It has the same color palette as this quilt, because it came from the same pile of fabrics. What can I say? I thought they were pretty.

What I'd really like to point out here is that I am STILL caught up with the QAL. Now I just need to get caught up with my Farmer's Wife quilts.

Another bag.

When my four-year-old saw the bag I had made, he wanted one to carry his books and toys around in. So he chose some fabrics, and away we went. Here is the finished product.

And he carries around all kinds of things in it. I even found him carrying his Playskool bus in it. I now have requests from 3 other little boys for their own bag.

It finished itself . . .

There were 80 of these blocks, which seemed rather daunting. So I used them to chain sew through other projects. I joked before that it was going to finish itself, and it kind of did. Other than when I pieced the rows together, I really didn't focus on this quilt as "what I was working on." So it felt like it finished itself.

Now if I could just get it to QUILT itself. (Tutorial here.)