Another Retreat Project: the Postage Stamp Quilt

 Another project I worked on at retreat was this Postage Stamp type quilt. The squares finish at 1-1/2" so it's not a true Postage Stamp, but this is as small as I care to work. Here are 32 blocks on the design wall, plus border strips.

Months ago I started this project to use up some of my yellow-green stash. I used my die cutter to cut 2" strips of nearly every fabric in my yellow-green basket, and some true greens. Then I selected some other warm colors and purples for more variety. 

The strips were sewn into strata. Then the strata were carefully cross-cut, again using the 2" die.  I laid out the strips in a checkerboard, and wrapped them up in blocks. I need 35 blocks for a 5 x 7 layout, and I ended up with enough strips for 36 blocks. Each block has 64 little squares. I didn't count the individual fabrics used, but it's a lot. 

I made one sample block and packed the rest up for retreat. With all seams pressed toward the dark fabrics, the seams nested nicely. They'll nest when I sew the blocks into rows and sew the rows together, too. 

I was pleased that I was able to get all the blocks made at retreat. I'll lay them out on my design wall at home and make sure the same fabric isn't adjacent to itself, then label them, and pack them up for a future retreat. 

This quilt will be twin size when finished. Did it make a dent in my yellow-green stash? A bit, but there's still plenty left. At least I can jam the basket into the shelf where it belongs now. 

The outer border fabric in the top photo will also be the backing fabric. It's a tiny olive-on-cream paisley. I bought 9 yards of it back in 2009 but it wasn't the right shade of green for the top it was intended for, so it's been languishing ever since. I'm glad to eventually have a use for it.

Some people don't care for yellow-green and olive shades, but I like the way this is turning out. And it's gender neutral. It will eventually be a donation quilt.  

Link ups: Alycia Quilts 4/18,  Small Quilts and Doll Quilts 4/21

Top Finishes at Retreat

 Retreat was a lot of fun, and I got a lot accomplished. Today' post is about two tops that were partially started and are now finished flimsies. I'll write more about the rest of the retreat another time. 

First up, this LCT Variation top. (sorry for the moire effect in the photo; the navy and white print is a small geometric.)

The blocks were already made, laid out, and kitted up, so all I had to do was sew them together and add the borders. 

The other finish is this top using flying geese blocks made of Kaffe prints with black and white sky. This is actually about plan D, earlier ideas didn't work out. 

Again, the blocks were already made. 

I had a Kaffe jelly roll from someone's destashing sale and I had hoped to use it for sashing, but the prints in it didn't work with the ones in the geese. Thank goodness for the little shop at the retreat ranch, where I found the sashing fabric that worked. Fortunately there were two strips in the jelly roll of the green print that worked for the corner stones.

More about this retreat in another post, including what the other girls were working on.

Link up: Alycia Quilts

 

March Stash Report and Goals Update

A couple of big changes in direction occurred this month. One was a request to teach Dancing Plus in May, which required a demo sample to present at the PCQ meeting in April. The other was a need for a teenage boy donation quilt. Both of those items were accomplished. And they helped my stash report, although shopping and an estate sale canceled out any stash reduction. 

The Stacked Slabs top and its back were made from a combination of donated fabrics and my personal fabrics, so I'm only counting out the amount of yardage that was actually mine. 

March Stash Report:

IN this month: 5-1/4 yards (3 yards purple solid; estate sale, 2-1/4 yards)

OUT this month: 5-1/4 yards (Dancing Plus class sample top, approx. 3 yards worth of scraps. Urban Jungle Stacked Slabs, my fabric, 2-1/4 yards)

IN YTD: 13-1/2 yards

OUT YTD: 9-3/4 yards

YTD Net Change: 3-3/4 yards added. Not moving in the right direction, but that will change. 

Another accomplishment - if you could call it that? - was a failed test block to use up some leftover strata in a future project. It's good to try out test blocks; I learned that that pattern's method of making that particular block is not for me. Instead, I've been thinking of alternative plans to use the leftover strata. 

One of my goals for March was to be trained on the club's new long arm. Training went well and I'm now certified to use it. In even better news, they opened up registration for time slots on the new long arm today and I was able to get a time slot for late next week. Whoo-hoo! 

Goals Update:

March recap:

1. Prep for and teach color classes 5 and 6. DONE. 

2. Prep several projects to work on at retreat in early April. Yes, I have the Postage Stamp project, the navy and pink LCT project that was kitted up months ago, and the Kaffe flying geese project. More than enough to keep me busy for four days!

3. Attend hands-on long arm training. Yes! I'm certified to use the new Innova long arm, and I was lucky enough to get an early time slot when registration opened up. 

4. Continue piecing blocks for the teal project. Yes, made a lot of progress. 

5. Prep a backing for the red Cherry Jubilee top. Not done.

6. Continue working on the scrappy project at social sewing. Yes, although I was only able to go to social sewing once this month. 

7. Participate in Sewing Club's charity project at first Wednesday social sewing. Yes, I made three pairs of little boys' shorts for inclusion in Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes. 

Other: Made a small Dancing Plus flimsy for a teaching sample. 
           Made a Stacked Slabs top and a backing for it. 

My teal project doesn't have a deadline, but I did make significant progress on it in March. Since I have a lot of other projects planned for April, it may go into time out for a month. Or if time permits, maybe I'll make another block or two. 

 

April Goals: 

1. Finish packing for retreat and have a good time there.

2. Make progress on the Postage Stamp project.

3. Make progress on the Kaffe flying geese project.

4. Assemble the navy and pink LCT blocks. If possible, add the borders.

5. Quilt the Urban Jungle stacked slabs quilt on April 11. 

6. Prep for teaching Dancing Plus in May

7. Prep backing for Cherry Jubilee top

8. Develop new project using leftover strata.

Looks like I'm planning for a busy month in April!

Progress on the Teal Project

It's been a while since I last reported on the teal project. The most recent progress photo is in this post. Since then I've been occasionally making blocks. Now my design wall looks like this: 

The bottom full row in the photo is the middle row of the quilt, so I'm more than halfway finished with the blocks. There are enough blocks on the wall now to see the diagonals in the layout. 

There's no deadline for this project so I'll just continue to make blocks as time permits. 

Link up: Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Urban Jungle Stacked Slabs

Last fall the PCQ community service chair received a large donation of fabrics. Among them were a lot of black and white prints. She handed me a big tote bag full of them and asked me to do something with them. We discovered that among them were two colors of a Marcia Derse print, and there was a dark red colorway of the same print in the donation as well. 

I played around in EQ but I was never happy with anything I came up with. 

Recently I was reminded that the local family services agency that PCQ supports occasionally has a need for comfort quilts for teenage boys. In years past, we've seen that there seems to be an uptick in need at the end of the school year. 

So I pulled out the Marcia Derse prints and some others that read masculine and have colors that go together. Rather than fuss with a complex pattern, I let the fabrics do all the work with my Stacked Slabs pattern. (The fabric that looks pink here is actually red but if I try to darken it in the photo, everything else goes too dark.)

The result has kind of an urban vibe, but the featured prints had something about trees on the selvage, so for my own records I'm calling this Urban Jungle.

There was enough of the featured fabrics plus the other black and grey print left over to piece together a back. I'm certified on PCQ's new long arm, so as soon as registrations open up and I can book a time slot, I'll quilt this up. 

Link Up: Alycia Quilts

A Little Dancing Plus Top

A quick little finish, a teaching sample (top only) for my upcoming Dancing Plus class. 

 Some dance to the left, some to the right, and a few are out of step....

I'll be teaching the blocks at a PCQ class in May but I needed a sample to display at the April meeting to promote the class. This was a quick finish, 42 blocks for a baby quilt top that measures 36 by 45 inches. 

Scroll down to the post below for more info, and find the tutorial for the blocks here.

Link up: Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
               Alycia Quilts 3/28/25
               Quilting is more fun than housework 3/30/25

Dancing Plus

Recently in one of my color classes we were discussing the use of whites and creams together in the same project, and I showed my students this photo. 

This was a bee project with the Sew Bee Its of STLMQG in 2015. At the time we had some less experienced quilters and everyone's quarter inch seam was different, so I wanted to give them a block that didn't require precision. This block is made oversized and then gets trimmed down to make the Plus motif "dance." Tutorial here. 

In the color class, there was quite a bit of interest in having a Dancing Plus class, and since PCQ's education chair was one of my students, we booked the class for May. I've long since gifted the quilt in the photo above, so I need to make a new teaching sample. 

This Plus motif can be made with one 5" charm* square or a 10" remnant of a 2-1/2" strip. When the trimmed blocks are set in a half drop layout, the dancing effect is enhanced. 

I need to make a teaching sample so I'll make a small top and some step-outs. Time to raid the scrap drawers! Bright, medium to dark colors work best to contrast with low volume backgrounds. I have 42 different prints here for the Plus motifs. 

I'll use a variety of backgrounds including whites, creams, ivories, and pale greys. I can see in this photo that the khaki background fabric is much too dark, so that one has to go. I still need to find about six more low volumes. No worries, I have plenty. 

I'm using each background fabric in two blocks so I can scatter them around the quilt. Tip: Use the same background for two colors that are very similar. You won't want those almost-same colors next to each other in the top, so your background fabric will likewise be separated from itself. 

These little blocks go together quickly, especially when paired up and chain pieced. Here are all 42 blocks.

I want to lay out the colors on my design wall before I trim the blocks. Then I'll number them and identify which direction each one should tilt. I'll probably trim them, kit them up, and assemble the top at retreat the first weekend in April. I need to show the sample at the PCQ meeting on April 14 to introduce the class, so If I get the top done at retreat it'll be ready in time. 

My sample will be six columns wide by seven blocks high, plus half blocks at the tops or bottoms of the columns for a half drop layout. It will measure 36 by 45", easily do-able at retreat. This is a great project for beginners or for a group because it's so forgiving. And the result is a fun little quilt.

I have a much larger version that I kept for myself. It started with one charm pack, then I added fabrics from my stash that harmonized with the charm prints. This one is 143 blocks, 66" wide by 81" long, and lives draped over the quilt ladder in my family room. I'll share this one when I introduce the class at the PCQ meeting, too.

Linking up with Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

*Charm packs usually come with 42 pieces which will yield a 6 by 7 block layout, 36" by 45", perfect for a baby quilt.