Another Guatemala finish

When I posted about my daughter's Quinceanos Quilt here and here  and  here I mentioned that this was tradition in our family. Well, I found out while we were there that my niece, who is a year older than Middle E, did not get a quilt. Not sure why no one made one for her.

Since I had taken some fabric down with us and we had access to the "Treasure Box of Mystery Fabric" I decided to remedy the situation.  My MIL was in on the surprise.  Everyone else thought it was just a test design we were working on together.  Since my niece was around a lot during the sewing we had to have an excuse!  

D's Chevron Quinceanos Quilt

For a long time I had wanted to try a chevron quilt made with rectangles. It seemed like something that would be relatively quick but distinctive.  Of the fabric that I had to work with there were quite a few large pieces that could be cut in long lengths for strip piecing. I did try one section with scraps and it came out fine but was much more time consuming. 

The scrappy zig!

The tricky part was laying it out.  There was no flat surface available - I had it covered with the machine and fabric!  So I used the clothesline. I just pinned sections to the existing body of the quilt and took it down and sewed when it got to be too much. 

I had to add a piece on the top & bottom so the tips didn't get lost.  Considering I did not use a pattern this was a simple fix.

One evening when the whole family was together we presented it to my niece. She loved it. She started right away to get the family signatures on the white rows   My MIL will finish it off with a dark blue border and quilt it when it is all signed. 

I would definitely make this quilt again even though I know that next time I will not have uninterrupted sewing time like I did for this - that was a real treat!  It was a tricky layout and I had to unsew a few times on the sides, but overall it was fast.   Little S has already asked for one!

Linking up finishes with   confessions of a fabric addict
and  Crazy Mom Quilts and richard and tanya quilts
  to show off finishes.

Stash Report 050414

Despite a super busy week I made progress on the quinceanos quilt that can be seen here and here.  All 128 signature blocks are done and are sewn in rows and sections, so I get to count that as fabric out!!  Yippee!  Good thing because I had fabric in this week.

Needed a red stripe for super hero aprons I am making for my co-teacher and I.  I had all the other colors I needed except for the stripe, so I thought that was pretty good.

The first place I went did not have a red & white stripe.  Not any stripes????  Even my 79-year-old father who was with me thought that was odd.  But I didn't leave empty handed.  Huge sales and I can use my teacher discount and get 15% more off, so I got some white on whites which I need to continue the Red, White and Blue quilt that got this far.  I felt like my mother.  She used to stock up on white on whites.  I have worked through almost all of hers.  Makes me kind of sad, but they are in a quilt that I will keep so that's okay.

The cute pink Eiffel Tower fabric is for my niece who is going to Paris this summer.  I will come up with something for her with that.  I haven't bought fabric in a long, long time so I didn't feel too bad getting 1/2 yard of something with no real plan.

Second stop had the red & white stripe.  Got my one yard and got out of there!

So here's the damage report.  My total is down a bit, but not much.  Not bad.  

Fabric Used This Week:  3.93 yards for the Quinceanos Quilt  - All Stash!! 

Total Used 2014:  32.33 yards
Fabric In This Week:  5.5 yds 

Total Bought/Received in 2014: 12.75 yards
Net Used 2014: 19.58 yards

 Head on over to Patchwork Times to see some other numbers.

As Finished As I Can Get It

I was determined to get the Quinceanos Quilt done. You can read more of the story here .  I knew I couldn't finish it completely but I wanted to at least get the rest of the individual blocks made even if they weren't signed yet.  Middle E was close enough to the end of getting the friends' signatures that I could estimate how many and just do it.   If there need to be more blocks they will go on the back and that's that.

Just when I thought I was good, she brought home more blocks than expected!  Unsewed and adjusted!!

I did not agonize over each color at the end. I just "went" with it and I think it "went" well. Interestingly enough the very last fabric used which is also nearly the center block was a little leftover strip from the backing of her big sister's quinceanos quilt which was made 7 years ago. No, I don't hang on to things long!!  

The last ...

two blocks!!

I got all the last blocks joined into rows and the rows joined into sections.  Middle E just has to carry around the entire 3 row section to get the last signatures now!  At least it won't get lost in the bottom of her backpack. 

Getting closer.

Overall I am pleased with the effect. It came out more or less like I imagined.  I can't wait until all the sections are joined. 

The top and bottom sections are not shown, but they are done!!

A true labor of love.  When all the rest of the signatures are done I will join the sections and get it really done.

Linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict and  Richard and Tanya Quilts  and    Crazy Mom Quilts

Melting Fabric - Stash Report 042714

I got some sewing done.  Not much, not enough to finish a step or part of any project to report fabric used.

But I did get rid of fabric.  As I was working on the blank signature squares for the quinceanos quilt I realized that one particular fabric was melting when I ironed it.  No good.  That will not work.  Since about 99% of the fabric I have is scraps from someone or somewhere I don't usually know what kind of fabric it is.  This was a first though.  Definitely not a keeper.  I was glad to have figured it out before any were signed.  So I just threw it away.  Unsewed the edges I had already sewn on and threw the white squares away.  Found the piece of origin and threw it away too.  Yep, in the trash.  If it didn't work for me it was not going to work for anyone so I got rid of it.  Very risque.

Fabric Used This Week:  .3 yards melting fabric in the trash!!

Total Used 2014:  28.4 yards
Fabric In This Week:  0 yds 

Total Bought/Received in 2014: 7.25 yards
Net Used 2014: 21.15 yards

Stop by Patchwork Times and see how others are doing with their stash.

Quinceanos Quilt Progress

The 15th birthday Is a big deal for girls in the Hispanic culture. Since we are sewers/quilters my MIL and I have made signature quilts to mark this milestone in the lives of my nieces and daughters.  This was the first one done long distance and it has been a challenge.

This quilt has been covering the design wall since November or December with no progress at all. It is an original design trying to incorporate all the areas of Middle E's life. I had to send the signature blocks to Guatemala in March long before I had a plan. So I just sent 4" blocks and figured that was pretty generic and I would work out something.

Current progress - not shown are top 3 finished rows.

In September I figured I better get on it since her 15th birthday was in November.   What I imagined was just turquoise and lime green. But then it evolved into different colors for each group. The high school swim team was easy - black, silver, blue and Carolina blue in the lower right corner diagonally.   Then the Guatemala family and friends in blues in the upper left corner diagonally. USA family and friends are red, white and blue in the upper right. Current friends turquoise and lime green swooshing through the middle. 

Turns out doing it this way means that each signature block has to be planned individually.  So it has been a lot of cutting, placing, sewing and repeat.   Which I guess is why it stalled. I was waiting for more signatures to have an idea of the finished size and where the middle would be.  Before her birthday I had a teacher help with the friends but that didn't work so well. So for her birthday she got a bag of sections and pieces and the promise of an eventually finish. Amazingly she was surprised!

The flamingos are from a nightgown that Grandma made her.  Both dot fabrics are the linings of humbug bags from her birthday.

After her birthday I thought if she helped get signatures it would move along but that hasn't happened either. So now I am finishing it as is with blanks in the blank spots and she can get signatures on sections rather than blocks. 

On a whim I took it down this weekend and laid it out on the floor to see what I could do. I wish I had remembered to take a before picture or even better a picture of when it was on the wall - actually 2 walls in a bunch of sections.  No wonder I couldn't get it figured out. Being able to lay it out all together makes a big difference.

There are 3 more rows that go across the top. I can't reach that high to get them off the wall easily and the colors on the 4th and 5th rows have already been determined so it doesn't affect my color choices on the other sections.  I am not agonizing over whether or not each fabric choice is perfect.  I am just working at progressing.  I am hoping to at least get all the fabrics chosen and hopefully large 3x3 sections sewn together before I pick it up.

Go see some other design walls - and floors! - at Patchwork Times.