New Quilt Planning ~ Winter Solstice

 Hi Quilty Friends!  The Winter Solstice quilt has been in the works for months.  The plan was to start cutting this week.  However, due to a recent wrist injury the start may be delayed by a few days or more.

 The fabric was purchased a few weeks ago at Hobby Lobby during one of the 40% off sales.  It's a 108 wide quilt backing so I'll need to cut this into more manageable sizes for strip cutting.

Since this is a cheap fabric and the color is so dark I'm prewashing it to be on the safe side.  To help reduce fraying in the washer the corner was snipped off each corner.  This works well on some fabrics better than others.

As expected with cheaper fabric, there was still quite a bit of raveling.  However, to my surprise, the color bleeding was not as severe as expected. 

Struggling with the tangled fabric aggravated my sprained wrist.  This was a good time to sit down and an recheck my quilt math. I did make one change to my quilt pattern. The in-set triangles (stars below) were originally going to be cut from squares that are subcut on the diagonal to make triangles.

 The Marti Michell ruler makes set-in triangle from strips of fabric.  For some reason I forget I have this ruler.   It's a handy tool to have in your stash.  It makes the set-in triangles much easier to cut.

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Old Town Mystery Quilt~ Clue 3 Finished

 Hello Quilty Friends!  Having a sprained wrist made piecing this small batch of quarter square triangles a bit of a challenge. It took about 8 hours of sewing for a bit and resting for a longer bit. 

Typically, I prefer to oversize quarter square triangles (QSTs) and trim them to perfection. However, for these, I pieced them together carefully and slowly, ensuring that only the dog ears required trimming. I was able to trim them using my right hand and a pair of scissors. I must admit, I was quite pleased with the precision of my sewing when it was necessary. 

Cutting for those little quilt blocks with Bonnie's Essential Triangle Ruler created tiny confetti triangles. My wrist was practically begging me to toss them into the trash or the mini scrap bin!

A couple of years back, I made a pact with myself: no worthy triangle shall ever meet its fate in the scrap bin. Instead, they're destined to be transformed into HSTs, ready for their moment to shine in a future project.  So, I made a few test pieces.

The real test was determining whether I could trim them down into cute little HST's. Unfortunately, the outcome is that I cannot. While it's often said that trying never hurts, in this case, it actually did. Today's plan: transforming those triangles into delightfully wonky HSTs. I'm not thrilled about postponing the trimming until my wrist is on board with the plan, but the wrist is calling the shots for the time being.

The Old Town Quiltville Mystery Quilt is a free quilt-along until February. If you're interested in joining the fun or saving it for later, you can access the introduction and the first three clues here. Remember to check back every Friday for new clues leading up to the big reveal.

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Pretty In Purple?

Well, isn't this pretty?  PURPLE!  Y'all know how much I dislike purple...HAHA!  I definitely don't look good in purple.

It may seem bad, but I bet I'll be fit as a fiddle in no time. Bet you're itching to know the scoop – well, I took a tumble over my furry sidekick during our daily stroll. Good news is, my knees played the hero, cushioning the fall for my hands and wrists. Bad news? My wrist wasn't quite the superhero needed to save my face from kissing the road. 

Fortunately, I had already cut all the pieces for this week's clue of the Old Town Mystery quilt before I took a tumble.  Last night, I managed to sew a few pieces. I'll continue working on them gradually, bit by bit.  

Thankfully, this week's clue was small. I should be able to complete it before the next clue on Friday. Hopefully, by then, my wrist will have healed enough for cutting fabric.

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The Last 100 Bow-Tie Blocks ~ Gray

Hello Quilty Friends! Nine hundred blocks may seem like a lot, but when they're 3.5 inches with only six pieces per block, it's quite standard for a quilt measuring 90 inches square. Some quilters meticulously count the number of pieces in their quilts. This is my first time doing so. There will be 5,400 pieces in this quilt, provided I don't decide to add a border or two.

The blocks were once again strewn across the cutting table. I found myself not only admiring the various prints but also searching for repeated fabrics.

Some look very similar because they are from one line of fabric. Right off the bat I spied a repeat and put them together at the bottom of this picture.

And then maybe another repeated fabric on the far right in the image below.  See the tiny floral print?  I think I used it in the purple or orange blocks.

I pulled the repeat block and the suspected repeat block and added them to a small stack of extra blocks I had set aside.  I clipped them all together and labeled them as extras.  

All 900+ blocks fit in the storage bin!  Can you believe it?  A 90" x 90" quilt top fits in this storage bin?!  900 blocks!  They will stay here for the next few weeks as I work on the Quiltville 2024 Old Town Mystery quilt and begin a new two-color quilt.

The inspiration for my Bow-Tie quilt is from Bonnie Hunters Cheddar Bow-ties Leader and Ender Challenge tutorial.  Click here to go to the tutorial and free PDF printable.

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