Glitter Blocks Week 6: All Done

Glitter Blocks Week 6: All Done

Did you ever think I'd get this done ahead of schedule? I did not, and I'm surprised. It leads me to two possible conclusions: the vacation with bad weather or having a schedule laid out ahead of time--or maybe both. Either way they are done, and I've laid out all 162 to make sure they work.

The shocker when they were laid out was I wound up with close to the same number of light and dark backgrounds without planning. It wasn't a juggle to lay them out, and even if it wasn't a definite light or dark it was fine using value as a guide.

I'm hoping to get these together this morning, and just maybe while the snow starts falling this afternoon I will load it on the longarm. We are due 2" in the next 24 hours, and while it's not a lot life will slow down here. My goal is to have it bound by Tuesday for a show and tell Wednesday. It's good to have a plan, right?

Hope your home is warm and tight as we all buckle down for winter here in the U.S. I think it's finally coming.

Come on, Doxie girls.

Let's go sew.

Glitter Blocks Week 5: Christmas Vacation

Glitter Blocks Week 5: Christmas Vacation

I checked the weather forecast days before leaving for a break before Christmas. I had cut just under 50 blocks thinking I would have a back up in case there was bad weather, and thankful I was! It didn’t just rain—it poured! It looked like a movie set when you looked up at the streetlights. More like tropical storm strength than just a shower! There were spots of sunshine a few days, but still cool so much of my time was spent at the machine listening to podcasts. Here I had finished 25 blocks the first 3 days.

Glitter Progress Week 4: 91 Blocks & Counting

Glitter Progress Week 4: 91 Blocks & Counting

Fun stuff, right? I told you in another post what fun I'd been having pairing up fabrics I might not have used in another quilt, and these couple are good examples. It's just a fun quilt, and I'm trying out lots of combinations. I love the fabrics whether old or new, and am getting a kick out of some of them. 

This week's progress report is slower than other weeks. I'd say it's Christmas preparations, but it's actually been extra time spent cutting blocks to have ready over the Christmas to New Year's week. Hours. I will reiterate, I'm glad I have templates, though I'm only using those for the background and cones. 

Glitter Progress Week 3

Glitter Progress Week 3: 83 Blocks and Counting

I had so much help taking a photo today, but the light was great! How's that for a week's work? I went from 56 to 83, and that's averaging slightly higher than my 25 block a week goal! Honestly it was a lot of sewing, and I'm not sure I'll hit that every week, but I'm about halfway now. 

Glitter Quilt Progress Week 2

Glitter Quilt Progress Week 2

Sixteen blocks last week became 36 in a short while, then 18 more, and 20+ cut out, and ready to sew this weekend! See, I told you this was going to be a quilt to hold my attention!

I keep finding little short cuts that make this go faster, and I'm glad because I'm altering the quilt dimensions to suit my needs. I'll be making it slightly narrower, and a row longer. I thought that would reduce the number of blocks, but actually it adds 10 more.  I need to keep after it so I get it done on time, and don't burn out. Making the same block repeatedly isn't my strong suit so it needs to get done fast!

I'll have more pictures next week, but it's darn hard squeezing life in during daylight hours. We need that good light for pictures, don't we? Hope you are finding the holiday peaceful enough to have a good quilting project of your own. 

Come on, Doxie girls.

Let's go sew.

Glitter Progress and an Organizational Work Plan

Glitter Quilt Progress and Plan

Ooooh, I like this quilt, and so far so good! This is a fun project to get me actively into my scrap bins, and I love how it allows me to mix those fabrics in novel ways. Our scraps are an amalgamation of everything we've created whether modern, vintage, or traditional, and mine reflect that diverse work. These blocks do too. We can get stuck with thinking a certain fabric can only go with other fabrics in the same line, or ones we've used them with before. It's hard to shake off what goes together. It's like when you wear an outfit. Those jeans go with that shirt and these shoes. This is shaking it all up for me.

Some of the vintage feeling fabrics are truly old, and others are remakes. Some are old shirts. A few were definitely the last bits of favorite prints that I even pieced the very end parts together to get one last square. I'm loving the using-it-up mentality in this work!

Glitter Blocks Machine Sewn

Glitter Blocks Machine Sewn

For months I've looked for a good project that would hold my interest, and I think I've found one. It's Glitter by Jen Kingwell, with the pattern found in Quilt Lovely. Years ago I loaned out my copy, and it disappeared unfortunately. I had already made several projects from the book and convinced myself I didn't need it, but this quilt was still nagging me to make it. I had the templates purchased, and though it's a straightforward pattern, I repurchased the book. I really enjoy looking at Kingwell's fabric pairings in the photos, and it feeds me ideas.