The latest quilt du jour

Squirrel! 

 When texting last weekend with two people who used to be my bosses, I learned that one of them was selling her home of 30+ years and downsizing to a much smaller home in a retirement neighborhood.  I asked her if I could bring something for her new home when she moves in, and she said she has so much stuff to get rid of (think losing 2,000 square feet) that she didn't need another thing.

Yes, she does--she needs a quilt.

I had always intended to make her one.  The other ex-boss got his quilt last year.  I designed a pattern at least 13 years ago--and named the pattern "Old Friends," pieced it with the intent of gifting it to her, but upon reflection did not think the colors were a good choice for her.  It sits in the Flimsies pile.  

I searched my inventory of UFOs and remembered one I started WAY BACK in 2004 (would it be considered vintage now?).  I got as far as piecing the blocks, and stopped.  The original intent had been to finish it in an on-point setting and have it on the queen-sized bed that used to reside in our front bedroom at our former home.  We no longer have the home or the bed.  

I pulled the blocks out of storage and cringed when I thought about the variance in the sizes of the blocks.  The pattern is Whacky Rails by Rhonda Dieker.  Rhonda gave a class at our shop WAY BACK in 2004.  I had a ball using all Kansas Troubles prints for the quilt.  Construction of the blocks involves whacking a strip set in half on the diagonal, which can lead to issues when piecing those parts back together again.  It's the main reason I didn't complete it.

But I am determined to move the UFOs into completion or purge, and decided this would be a great quilt for this ex-boss, Mary Jane.

I had pieced 42 blocks which roughly measured 12"-12-3/8".  I found the smallest block and cut all the others down to that size - 11-3/4".  A couple of blocks are just a thread smaller, and I will make them work. 

Some of the trimmings...

My biggest challenge now will be matching all of the seams and my stance on it now is damn the seams and blow through this thing.  I may glue the seam allowances.  There is a portion of each block that will get a little bit lost and I'm not worried about it.  This is one of the muddiest quilts I have ever made--think extremely low volume with a few of Kansas Troubles’ light tan pieces in there to break a few things up (that wasn't my intention, it's just that there were only so many KT prints available at the time and on hand in our shop).  You can somewhat see the pattern emerge by the block placement.  

Six rows on the design wall; have I mentioned I can't wait to get in my new studio?

For this quilt my mantra will be "Done is better than perfect."  I think it will be just fine.  And, no borders, like the Plaid-ish quilt I made last year for Tripp, the other ex-boss.  This quilt is meant to be a throw and to keep her warm.  

The new house page has been updated—check it out!

Stay tuned; in the meantime, go make!