Accomplishments

I submitted the Quick Brown Fox and The Black Cat Rules to the "What's My Line" quilt exhibit at the Whistler House Museum of Art. I'll know by May 30th if I have been accepted. 

The Blue Exquisite flimsy is complete. I have sewn up the backing and binding, and now it needs to be quilted.

Blue Exquisite, Continued

It's so nice to get back into the sewing studio and play with fabric. I sewed all the blocks together into rows, then sewed the rows to the rest of the flimsy, so it is complete. Whee!

I've got the backing fabrics all washed and ironed, ready to assemble. I'm done for the day, however. My back hurts and it's time for me to give it a rest.

Fifteen Rows

I've got fifteen rows done on the Blue Exquisite Quilt. I need 23.  As you can see, I've sprinkled colors throughout the blue.

I've also placed a few rainbow stars around the quilt. I am making this quilt for my friend, R, who was visiting over the Thanksgiving Holiday, and helped me trim the blocks.  She is delighted with the quilt so far. I am too.

When It Rains & Blows

I got home from work early on Monday. The governor declared a state of emergency, so all workers were asked to get home safely before the weather got really bad. My area was not hit directly by hurricane Sandy, but we were expected to lose electricity at some point during the night due to the high winds. 

Not wanting to risk damage to the computer electronics in my sewing machine, I settled myself down and trimmed some of these Exquisite blocks. It's profoundly boring work, which is why I don't make quilts like this very often and then only for people I love. This one is going to my dear friend R, who considers me her "Chosen Mother." She specifically asked for this design, in blue.

 This photo was taken while standing on a stool looking down at the first seven rows of the quilt. (There will be 23 rows in all.) Sharp eyed viewers will notice I have used a variety of WOWs and I have occasionally inserted fabrics other than blue.

We all know I don't follow rules real well.

All You Have To Do...

is make 399 squares with two opposing corner triangles, 80 squares with triangles on one corner and four blank white squares, trim them up and sew them together.

All.

Yeah, that's it.



I spent four days sacked out on the couch sick with a summer cold. Bleh.

An Exquisite Tute

OK quilt fans, here's a tutorial on making the Exquisite, wonky style.  What's an Exquisite?

You start by cutting squares of whatever color you want for the "background." Here it is white.

This particular quilt is going to be gigantic, so there are over 700 4-1/2" white squares. The baby quilt (above had squares that started about 4"). Next, you need to cut some triangles, or use scraps. The quilt I am making now is blue and white, so lots and lots of blue triangles.

I just cut a lot of 4-1/2" squares and then sliced them diagonally. (I stacked about 6 layers of fabric for this.)

Then sew the triangles to the squares.

You have to make sure that when you fold it over, the colored piece covers the white square.

Then you trim. This part is tedious. I suggest "watching" TV at the same time.

Next you trim away the excess BACKGROUND fabric (the white).

Ta-Da!

When you have as many blocks as you need, sew them up

Have fun!

A Change of Pace

Sometimes it's nice to make something really simple, where you don't have to do much thinking. I am making a blue Exquisite quilt for a dear friend, who was visiting this past weekend. I brought her to Quilted Threads, where she roamed the store pulling bolts of blue and WOW fabrics for her quilt. She was like a kid in a candy store. We had great fun.

I need 378 4-1/2" white squares. I thought it would be fun to see how big the stack would be. I've another yard of WOW to cut, then I'll measure the stack!

1. The stack is 8" tall
2. The quilt will be about 72" x 84" (183 x 213 cm)
3. Yes, Megan, she is a very dear friend.
4. She paid for all the fabric, and will pay for the quilting.