The Plus Progression

Even I had kind of forgotten that this scrappy improv plus block project was begun in an Improv for Everyone workshop with Maria Shell @mariashellquilts. One of the first methods of using scraps mentioned in the workshop was that of the repeated unit or block inspired by a traditional block design. I tried out an improv plus, and basically just kept going. And going. Eventually I had 36 blocks in various sizes, and once I finished my Ode to Joy quilt, I decided to see if I had enough blocks for a lap-sized quilt. 

I began by making larger 16" x 20" blocks composed of three or four smaller blocks. 

But then I decided the dimensions that would result wasn't quite enough, so I decided to test out a 24" x 20" block and see what that looked like. Only problem was, I mistakenly made a 24" x 24" block. Oops.

No matter. I made another for the center bottom, and then a 24" x 12" block to place between them. I actually liked what it did for the piece.

So in the end, there are three columns of blocks. The center consists of two 24" x 24" blocks, with a 12" block between them. Then each side consists of three 16" x 20" blocks, resulting in a quilt top the is currently approximately 55" x 59". The big 16" x 20" plus I had at the start will find its way to the back. 

So now to work on a back for this one. Truth is, besides the one large plus block, my teal and low-volume scraps are seriously dwindling. So I'll need to get creative to make a backing large enough, which probably means incorporating some prints from stash. But I don't know. We'll all be surprised.

RAY quilt top

Well when I posted my RAY quilt progress the other day, I wasn't sure if I'd have a finished quilt top to share any time soon or not. Luckily, the stars aligned to give me a couple of hours of uninterrupted sewing time, and that's all it took. Ta da!

Originally, I had chosen 18 fabrics, but when it came right down to it, one just did not 'fit', though I tried several time. So 17 it was. I have one little section - there on the center left - where several fabric junctures kind of bunched up, but oh well. I (obviously) can live with it. The top measures 67" x 72", and now I'm hoping to squeeze in making a pieced back so I can be hand-qulting by Christmas. Now wouldn't that be nice?!

Cross Country Update

After sharing about the recent class I took with Anna Maria Horner, I thought it was only fair to share the finished quilt top before it goes into hiding for a bit. Long story short, I'm having it long-arm quilted, so it'll be sometime next month before it's back and I'm able to finish it.

But meanwhile, I'm super pleased with the finish! By the time I left Anna's class, 'we' had already settled on what fabrics I was going to use for the bars and setting triangles; it was just a matter of doing the sewing. But those center squares (each measuring 8" finished, just for reference) were undecided. And boy did I rearrange them lots, using pretty much every fabric I had as an option. I posted many on Instagram one night, and of course everyone had a favorite! Mulling over all the advice given there, my own likes and dislikes of course, and finally my daughter Rachel's thoughts when she was over for sew day, and I finally came to a decision that I liked well enough and still had a bit of the feel of the original Cross Country pattern. Whew! That was certainly a process!

Then of course it was time for a quilt back, and I had a good amount of fabric left from what I'd pulled for class. See all those squares? Most were what I mixed and matched as options for the center, and didn't make it. No reason not to include them in the backing, right?

So HUGE sigh of relief as I folded the top and backing up to take to the quilter this next week. Of course it's not done yet, but it feels pretty close now.