Bye Bye Blocks

I got home from work yesterday and packed up all the Gizzy blocks.

They will be going to a quilt guild where they will be part of donation quilts. Woo hoo!

So the diamonds are back on the wall. I will think about what color quilt I want on my bed and go from there.

Not Feeling The Love

I threw some of the Gizzy blocks up on the design wall and was not particularly inspired.

I tried arranging them so there was a color flow, but it just wasn't doing anything for me.

As you can see I have plenty of blocks...

but they just don't seem to be coming together in a way that excites me.

 The fabrics are too dark and the colors just aren't bright enough.

I suppose I'll tinker with this for another day, but I'm just not seeing any good possibilities. I suppose I could cut them apart and make slabs, but still, there are far too many darks, too many browns, and not enough bright happy colors to end up being something I WANT to work on or something I WANT to own.

So these blocks might just go back into a box and head out to the nearest quilt group that makes donation quilts. Somebody else might see magic where I just see blah.

WHY, do you ask, am I "giving up" so easily?  Because I can see the end, and it just isn't worth it. Yes, I COULD make something that would be OK, but I'd be miserable doing it, and that's not a good use of my time. These blocks do not feed me in any positive way. They drain me. So they have to go.

Sometimes you have to make an Executive Decision, and it looks like I've just made one.  I'll find something else to do that lifts my spirits. It's not like I don't have enough fabric...

A Side Trip

As I worked on the latest Diamond Quilt, I realized that my quilting had become that dreaded four-letter word, WORK. I've been feeling a bit worn out, and it occurred to me that I needed a break from the kind of quilts I have been making lately, so instead of making four patch diamonds and selecting fabrics for the medium sized blocks, I am taking a side trip.

Way back in 2007 I got back into quilting by making custom kitty quilts. I used a technique I developed to make efficient use of fabric.  I made 200 custom quilts for cats all over the world. You can read about them here. The cat in the photo above is Monty Q from Mary-land. 

When I stopped making the kitty quilts (the cats called them "Gizzy Quilts"), I had a lot of the component blocks left over. I call them "chunks".

In 2012 I used the blocks to make a pair of donation quilts.

Those used up a lot of blocks, but I still had a lot left over.

I need a lightweight quilt to use in summer to keep me from getting chilly in those not-so-hot to use the air conditioner nights, but when I've got the fan going. So I am going to use my leftover Gizzy quilt blocks to make myself a quilt. I figure I need 224 6-1/2" blocks. (14 blocks x 16 blocks)

I think I've got at least 100 in this stack of already made 6" chunks. So that means I need about 112 more, and for those I'll sew a 2-1/2" chunk to a 4-1/2" chunk.

I've got a whole bunch paired up.

Each of these stacks is 14 blocks, so I'm well on my way.

Nothing like a bit of mindless easy sewing to relax.

The Colorado Gizzy Quilt

The Colorado Gizzy quilt is finished, with Millie's help, as you can see.

It is 60" x 78".

In the photo below, you can see Chris's lovely quilting.

 These are called "Gizzy" quilts because I started making them five years ago to raise money to pay for my cat Gizzy's vet bills. He was very sick, and I was in a tight spot financially.  I made custom kitty-sized quilts. This quilt was made from all the leftover blocks.  When I look at them, I see  blocks from quilts I made for the cats: Sophie, Poppy, Monty, the Fancidots Gang, Charmee, Beezer, Parker, Sanjee, Bubbles, Frostin, Trouble, Bella, Kipling, Angel, Star, Isis, Fat Eric, Madness, Faz, Miss Peach, Derby, Dragonheart, Angus, Padre, Meerkat, Panda Bear, Cookie, Caramel, Chance, Rudy, Rusty, Casey, Marie, Diesel, Roscoe, Ziggy, Kaze, Lilly Lu, Pippi, Loki and dozens of others.

I hope this quilt will bring a bit of consolation to the family that receives it.

Black Box Progress

Now all I have (all!) to do is figure out how to make the transition from dark to light and then to dark again from the top to the bottom. 

(Actually I am pretty sure I know how I am going to do it, I am not asking for help.)

THIS is the quilt I'll be donating to the victims of the wildfires in Colorado.  I'm keeping the Red Sticks for myself. Sorry for any confusion yesterday.

Scrappy Gizzy Quilt

The first of the scrappy "Gizzy" quilts is finished. I really like the black-and-white binding.

 You can check out Chris's lovely quilting in this shot.

There's nothing like a scrappy quilt.

Another Scrappy G-block Quilt!

I've got a semi-secret plan going for these leftover blocks from the Gizzy Quilts I used to make. This is the second flimsy I've made so far.  You can see the first one here.  When this second top is complete, I'll get backing for both quilts and send them off to Chris to be quilted, along with the Red Letter Alphabet.

THEN I will start working on my blocks for the Four Seasons quilt. Woo Hoo!

Scrappy G-block Quilt

I'm always pleasantly surprised when I arrange a whole series of scrappy blocks and they all look good together. I made 30 12" x 12" blocks from some of my big pile of precut "chunks" leftover from all the cat quilts I made (affectionately called Gizzy quilts). I laid them out on the floor, moving them around a bit.

They looked pretty good together, and I liked the way the colors flowed around, so I sewed them together into a 60" x 72" flimsy.

It's raining out, so I can't take a picture of the whole thing, but it looks good. Now I'm working on the backing.

I still have a gigantic pile of stuff left over!


PS: Go check out Steffi's blog. She asked if I would mind if she made a Rules quilt of her own. I told her to go right ahead. She's almost there, and she's doing a great job!

Gizzy Blocks

I've decided to try to make at least five "Gizzy" blocks every day. That way I can get a enough blocks for a lap quilt in a week. I figure 60" x 72" is a great size for napping or to keep away the chill on a cool night. That means 30 12-inch blocks in five rows of six blocks. I've now made 18 blocks, and here are six of the most recent.
The first recipient is an older gentleman who recently had to put his wife in a home because she has Alzheimer's. He'd been caring for her all by himself, so this is a tough time for him. I thought a quilt would make him smile.

As you may know, if you've been reading Millie's blog, I've been cleaning my house like a madwoman. I'm getting rid of a lot of stuff, and I'm being pretty brutal about it.
These are wooden backed rubber stamps. They are high quality, and strong enough to emboss velvet. I don't need them, and I don't want to just throw them away. I'd be happy to give them away, but I would like them to be used. Leave a comment if you are interested, or email me.

Gizzy Blocks

After the Mother's Day festivities at my Mom's house, I got home, turned on a movie and started making 6" blocks from the leftover chunks from the Gizzy quilts. Putting them together as I go won't make much of a good looking quilt, so I decided to sew them into 4 x 4 blocks, and then work from there.

"Gizzy" Quilt Blocks

Four years ago I started making and selling kitty quilts. They were 24" square, and custom designed for each cat. They sold well, and went all over the world - all over the US, to Great Britain, Germany, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The quilts were all "modular" and essentially strip pieced. I made blocks as I have described here. I made the quilts for several years, and finally stopped. But I have a lot of the precut blocks left over. The "blocks" are 6-1/2" square; 6-1/2 x 4-1/2"; and 4-1/2" x 2-1/2".

How many do I have left over?
The ruler is resting up against a stack of 6-1/2" square blocks, and it's 11" high.

Think I have enough for a couple of quilts?


Me too.

What does this have to do with cleaning the sewing studio? Stay tuned.