I actually finished putting the borders on it last night, so I'll so the finished top to you on Friday. But that being said, it's now time for a new leader/ender project.
If you're not familiar with leaders/enders, Bonnie Hunter explains them really well on her blog and you can read all about them here. Basically, you have a side project that you use to end your chain piecing on your regular projects. Something simple that you can keep a stack of next to your sewing machine works best. Over time, those little pieces add up, which is how I came to complete that beauty up above!
As I was assembling that top, I took a good look at my scrap baskets and determined that my 1-1/2" box is overflowing. Thus I needed a project that used up 1-1/2" pieces. I really have been wanting a postage stamp style quilt and originally thought I'd just do a simple 36-patch block. But I wanted it to be a bit more interesting. This is what I came up with:
I'm calling it Patches and Pinwheels. (Yes, I seem to do best with simple graph paper.) So what I've decided is to work with a controlled palate and add some pinwheels between the 36-patches. If you're interested in joining in, the 36-patches are made with 1-1/2" squares/strips. The pinwheels are 3-1/2" HST's.
Reminder, an easy way of doing your HST"s is to use the Easy Angle Ruler. If you are making 3-1/2" HST's, you layer 3-1/2" strips of your two fabrics, right sides together, and use the ruler to cut them at the 3-1/2" marks. The ruler removes the dog ears prior to sewing so there is no waste. I love this ruler since I know that I'm making 3-1/2" HST's that I can just go to my 3-1/2" box to pull the strips. Nice and logical, just like I like it.
Please let me know if you want to join me in this leader/ender (or any other leader/ender) challenge! Maybe we can do a monthly link up to show our progress.
Hope you get a lot of sewing time in today!!
Linking up with My Quilt Infatuation!
Love your Split Nine Patch Cathy!!! It's one of my favorite scrap blocks, although for some reason I've never made one ... hmmm... Anyway, I always have a leader/ender project in the works, and I'm currently "interviewing" for a new one :) A linky party would be fun to see what others are making with their L/E's!
ReplyDeleteOh! Okay, I see they are six inch blocks. Beautiful, beautiful quilt. Growing and growing, and not all that slowly, really. You've gone from 2 blocks to 41, just on leader-enders! Not even 10 months yet. You are sewing a lot to make that many with all those small squares, even if they are done in strips.
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