We Interrupt...

 

I finished up making the blocks and then sliced a couple and sewed them together, threw them up on the design wall and took this picture. Then I sent it to my son and DIL.

DIL: OMG that's going to be a really cool quilt!

DS: Hang it in a museum!

So I text back that I think, YES! It's going to be a hell of a quilt, and I had to ask if they really wanted me to tie it instead of having it quilted.

My DIL texts that she thinks it ought to be quilted, but that my DGD really wants a thin quilt like the green one I made for them.

So we go back and forth, and we talk to my DGD. She wants a thin quilt. I'm happy to make her one.

But it won't be this quilt.

Blushing Zebras

I'm almost finished sewing the blocks together, but I simply had to slice a couple of them and resew them to see what they'd look like.

CLEARLY this is going to be really cool.

I sent the photo above to my granddaughter and my son said not only did she think it was pretty but she "squeeked really high pitched." They all love it and my DIL loves the name I have chosen, Blushing Zebras.

Thank you Starsthatblaze! Haven't heard from you in a long time. Nice to know you're still around. Also hello Sewgirl!

I should finish sewing the blocks together later today (Friday) and then over the weekend I'll start slicing the blocks apart, matching pairs and resewing them together. REALLY looking forward to this next part. 

 

Lynne Changes Her Mind

Once I had designed all the blocks in the BWR Quilt I put them up on the wall and stood back. One of them stood out like a sore thumb for being too wimpy. It's the second from the right on the top row. From a distance (hell, even close up) the outer fabric looked too much like the fabric in the center and it just seemed insubstantial compared to the others.

So I made another block using a fabric that had more contrast in the outer ring, and I like it a lot better, and will make the remaining three blocks using the zebras in the outer ring.

They look better now. I still have fifteen more blocks to make before I slice the blocks in half diagonally and match up pairs.

Here are all the blocks I have sewn on the design wall. It doesn't really show what it will look like eventually, but it kinda sorta gives you an idea.

This is still fun, but it needs a name. Any suggestions?

More DGD RWB Blocks

 

I've designed the last three blocks for my granddaughter's Black White and Red quilt. I will be making 64 blocks in all, 32 with a black center like these, above,

and 32 with a light center, like these above.

Twenty of the light-centered blocks have red in them. I've made all those, but now I have to make a total of four of each of the blocks I have designed.

Here are all the blocks I have designed. The sixteen different blocks are unique, but there are fabrics that are used in more than one, but I have changed their placement.

I have made 32 of the 64 blocks, so I'm getting there. 

More DGD Black White Red

 
I was eager to see the fabric combinations I had planned made up into blocks. So I made one of each. I have plans to make four each of these color combinations, but I wanted to see the blocks next to each other. These are the three combinations in the last photo from yesterday's post.

These are some darker blocks I had planned to make.

I always tell my students not to get too hung up in sorting, organizing or shopping for fabrics by category. I think making categories is a bad idea because things could get "stuck" there. I found this fabric above in the Christmas section of my local LQS. The Christmas section is often a great place to look if you want reds or greens, but often you have to hunt through the store to find it. XOXO! I mean Hello! Do you not think this is a perfect fabric to include in a quilt for someone you love?

(Incidentally ALL fabric in my stash is sorted by COLOR and COLOR only.)

I needed more red blocks, so this is what I selected when I was planning all this the other night.

But then I remembered I have a big bin full of black and white scraps. Very often fabrics in this bin wasn't of sufficient quantity to make the outer edge of the blocks, but it was a perfect place to find fabrics for the centers or even the middle section.

The XOXO red became this, which I like very much...

But I found a better option for the center of this red block. I bought and used that black and white cat fabric back in 2017...? 

You may have noticed a preponderance of cat fabrics in this quilt.

Because, like, duh!

Granddaughter Black White & Red

 

I mentioned briefly that my darling granddaughter (DGD) wants me to make her a quilt that is black, white and red. I kinda sorta knew where I was going with it, but that idea didn't thrill me so I got out my quilt books and started browsing. The quilt above is SLICED, which I made way back in 2013, from Amy Ellis's Book, Modern Neutrals. We all know how much I love neutrals (NOT!) so naturally I did some tinkering. I liked this quilt back then and I thought it would be suitable as a Black, White and Red quilt for my DGD, so I sent her a picture. (Remember she lives on the other side of the country.)

My son said she loved the design. I had another question. More BLACK than Red or more RED than Black?

The answer was MORE BLACK! 

Well all righty then. Not quite what I was expecting from an almost ten year old girl. When I told Julie she asked, "Does she know black fades fastest of all colors?"

"No, of course not," I replied, "However, you and I both have one person in our lives for whom we would do anything. I'm her grandmother, and I'll pretty much do anything she wants."

Besides, this is the quilt that is going to hide under the blankets during the day, or at least that's the theory.

I did, however, extract some concessions from DGD. I could use black and white fabrics, which she likes, and the blacks could have bright colors on them. With those two concessions I knew I was in business.  No problem. I can do that. Now that the work on the floors is all done and I have put the house back to rights, I can get into the studio and get to work. I made a couple of test blocks and then went through the stash to make combinations I thought would work. You can see some of them above.

Of course I started working before I figured out how many of each block I needed, but I wanted to see if what I had in my head would work in real life before I got too committed. But once I had these blocks on the design wall I knew I was good to go.

I did get my notebook out and I did the math. The amounts on the page above are wrong. I need 20 Red, but only 10 of the Dark "L" blocks, and I need 30 of the blocks with the dark center and Light "L."

Here are the fabrics for those ten dark L blocks. I will be making four blocks from each combination. It's always good to have a few extra.

This is to give you an idea of where this is going.