Food Quilt #2 Returns

Food Quilt #2 in situ 2021
Food Quilt #2 in situ 2021

I received an email recently from a friend showing me the Food Quilt #2 again. I gave this quilt to her son, a friend of the YM, years ago as a graduation present.

He has had a bumpy journey in college with the pandemic and all. He is finally able to live on campus again for his senior year. My friends wanted to show me how well the quilt fits on his new bed. I am so pleased since I never pay attention to bed sizes.

I am also pleased that quilt looks like it is in good shape.

Another Blast from the Past

It seems like my donation quilts are coming back from the past. For me, once I give the top and back to someone else to quilt and bind, I am done with them and don’t really think about them anymore. Last week Kelly contacted me about a donation quilt and now another crops up.

Food Donation Quilt
Food Donation Quilt

The guild meeting was last Saturday and Cyndi was sitting near me. Peeking out of her bag was a quilt with some food fabric in it. I thought to myself, Oh! I used that fabric in the Food Quilts. It turned out Cyndi had finished a food donation quilt that I made in 2016. I didn’t even remember making it, but I looked it up and, yep, there it was. I know I made it to use up the fabric from the three food quilts.

Finished: Food Quilt #3

Food Quilt #3: Finished
Food Quilt #3: Finished

I finished this quilt at the Labor Day Craft Night. This shows the power regular sewing with people who are expecting you to be there.

This quilt is for my nephew who is now a freshman at the University of Michigan. He will need it when winter sets in, California boy that he is.

Food Quilt #3 Back
Food Quilt #3 Back

I am pretty sure I am done with food themed quilts. I made an effort to use most of the larger pieces on the back and think I just have a few smallish (up to fat eighth size) left. Someone at the guild asked for the scraps and I may give them to her. I have a few years before the next batch of nephews go off to college and all of them already have quilts, so I don’t feel obliged to make another. However, an excuse to make a quilt is always tempting. For now, I need to focus on the nephews who don’t yet have quilts. One in particular is ripe and I have no idea what to make for him.

The photo isn’t great as I had to take the photo outside late in the day, so the shadows disrupt the look.

Food Donation Quilt

Food Donation Quilt
Food Donation Quilt

I worked on a donation food quilt over the weekend. I decided, though it wasn’t a conscious decision, that I would try and use up the rest of my food fabrics and put that chapter behind me. Three food quilts is enough.

I think I also did it because I have been longing to provide another donation top and back to BAMQG.

 

Thus, I worked on the donation food quilt over the weekend. By Sunday night, I had a top, a back and a Frankenbatting.

I sewed it in kind of an Improv manner, but it is structured improv. I tried to use the pieces that I had and not do too much fiddly piecing.

Food Donation Quilt back
Food Donation Quilt back

I may have enough pieces for another version when I get the Food Quilt #3 back. I think the back is large enough to provide at least a base for another donation quilt.

Finished: Food Quilt #3 Top & Back

There was a Sew-in this past weekend (4th of July in the US) and I spent most of the time working on the finishing aspects of the Food Quilt #3. I finished the binding on Saturday and the back on Sunday. Even though I have other projects on which to work, this felt like a coup.

Food Quilt #3: Finished top
Food Quilt #3: Finished top

The piece is about 101″x 86″. Yes, it is huge, which means that I don’t have a full picture of the top or back. The YM was gone, it was cold outside and I don’t have a room large enough to lay out the back or top. The above photo is part of the top with a bit of the back peeking through.

Food Quilt #3: Finished back
Food Quilt #3: Finished back

Of course the back is larger. Again, I have shown you only part of it due to the size.

I am pleased that this is done and will see about getting this and FOTY 2015 to the quilter soon.

Progress on the Food Quilt #3

I have had very little time to work on the Food Quilt in the last weeks. I made some progress, as I reported mid month. I have made a little progress.

Food Quilt, top border
Food Quilt, top border

The other week I spent time putting 3 sides of the border on. I sewed the piano key border together while work on the donation blocks.

I was concerned that the black and white fabric I chose for the small internal border would interfere with the other blacks and whites, but I think it looks fine. Yes, that border touches the original blacks and whites, but since I didn’t use it in the original blocks, there isn’t much of a design problem.

Food Quilt Border fabric detail
Food Quilt Border fabric detail

The border fabric makes my eyes cross a little bit and looks out of focus in the photos. It has the distinct good quality of showing the seams where I sewed strips together to make them long enough to reach across the whole quilt. I didn’t have to sew the strips on the diagonal to hide the join.

So, yes, progress.

Food Quilt #3: Making Progress

Food Quilt #3: Center
Food Quilt #3: Center

I made a little progress on Food Quilt #3 over last weekend. The center is now done. My next step is to put a thin (not sure how thin) black border around the center and then attach the piano key border to the black border. I have to decide if I want to use a solid back or a white on black. If I use the latter, I want it to have a subtle white design on it.

You may have also noticed that I have broken the bounds of the design wall and the quilt is laying on the floor. Crazy, I know!

Food Quilt #3 Starts & Progresses

Last Monday was the day to start the latest Food Quilt. The YM wasn’t home and DH was doing his NSGW stuff, so I was pretty much left to entertain myself. 😉 It might be the last Food Quilt, but we will see. After making the binding for FOTY 2015, I started sewing the 9 patches I needed to get this quilt started. I made really good progress.

First Food Quilt 9 Patch
First Food Quilt 9 Patch
6 Food Quilt 9 Patches
6 Food Quilt 9 Patches

The first one was quickly followed by 6 of them.

Food Quilt #3- 9 Patches
Food Quilt #3- 9 Patches

I was shocked to get all of them done in one day. I had some leftover parts. Poor counting. I thought I would use them for the back or for another quilt. Then SIL came over to talk about sewing and we discussed the size. The giftee for this quilt is very tall and would not cover him, so eventually, after discussing rearranging the blocks, I decided to make 4 more blocks. I will use the extra parts as a starting point.

Food Quilt #3 - Blocks Cut
Food Quilt #3 – Blocks Cut

After making all the 9 patches, I decided I would see what cutting the blocks up looked like. That is always a fun exercise. I thought I would do one. In a short amount of time, I did them all.

I’d like to do a different layout than the other two. Food Quilt #2 has a kind of zigzaggy look and Food Quilt #1 has a more traditional one block surrounded by sashing and cornerstones look. I am toying with putting the blues together in the middle. I think it looks good. If I do that layout, I’ll have to repress some of the seams. The one thing I am contemplating is whether I want the food fabrics touching. I plan to look online at some layouts for the Disappearing 9 Patch.

I think I will be able to get this done relatively quickly. After I make the extra blocks, the holdup will be the applique’ on the back and I have a good process in my head for making the templates, so it is a matter of sitting down to do it.

Food Quilt #3: Cutting

Food Quilt fabrics -cut
Food Quilt fabrics -cut

Yes, I am making another Food Quilt. I kind of like the food prints and Disappearing 9 Patch is a good way to use them.  Food quilts are also good for boys as I have probably said 1,000 times before. I should revise it to “I can make a boy quilt quickly without much thinking.

I had a lot of food fabric left, so it really was a no brainer. I had thought to have it done by now, but I kept avoiding the cutting.

I took my machine in for service before I left for Grand Parlor and wasn’t expecting it to be back until Monday or Tuesday so I planned to accomplish a lot of cutting tasks. One of those was the blue fabrics for the center of the 9 patches for this quilt.

Yay! Got that done.

In the process of cutting the blues, I realized that I had either lost the blacks that will be in the center outside positions in each block or hadn’t cut them. I cut those pieces as well and am now ready to piece. I might need to cut some more pieces for the piano key border. Regardless, leaders and enders, here I come.

Finished: Food Quilt #2

After a break to rest my arm, I needed to get busy with the last side of the Food Quilt #2. The YM’s friend headed off to college on Saturday and I wanted to make sure he took it with him. He won’t need it for a few months, but I’d rather he had it at school than sitting around my house.

Food Quilt #2: Finished
Food Quilt #2: Finished

I brought the quilt over Friday night and the family held it up for me. They are not experienced quilt holders, but I am pleased I was able to get a photo. It is a large piece, but I tested it on the very tall recipient and it fits him fine.

I always think striped binding looks good, so I was pleased to see that it actually does look good on this piece. I always buy stripes for binding. Now I’ll have to remember to use it more often.

Food Quilt #2 Back
Food Quilt #2 Back

I have appliqued the recipient’s name on the back to prevent theft.

Idiot!

5 More Inches
5 More Inches

Yesterday, I received one of the calls that quiltmakers do not want to hear. My quilter called and said that my back was too small for her to quilt the Food Quilt #2.

What????

She explained again and I was mortified. I really couldn’t imagine how this happened. I thought I was being careful.

So, yesterday morning my first order of business was to make a 5″x90″ strip. The back is black, mostly, so I used black again.

This piece is off to my quilter. I missed my slot, so I don’t know how long I will have to wait.

Food Quilt #2 Back

Food Quilt #2 Back
Food Quilt #2 Back

The next project I worked on over the weekend was the back for the Food Quilt #2. I am pleased to say that I also finished it. Once I got the applique’ done, it really was just a matter of finding large pieces of fabric and pushing them through the sewing machine. It is a hassle, but I use up fabric I already have, some of which is languishing and it has to be done. Boys don’t like flimsies.

Like the Box Full of Letters quilt project, I also did the binding and got this piece all ready to take to the quilter. I want to finish one more project before I head over there.

I also want to show this quilt and back to the family of the recipient and we are having dinner with them next weekend, so I am thinking of doing it then. I am a little scared to show the YM’s friend in case he says “Meh”. I know his mom will like it, so I may just go for it.

Food Quilt #2 Top - June 2015
Food Quilt #2 Top – June 2015

Applique’ Task

The Food Quilt #2 still needs a back. I have been putting it off, because I wanted to applique’ the recipient’s name on to a piece of fabric as part of the back. The idea is to discourage theft. We’ll see if it works.

I had a good chunk of time over the weekend. Thus, I spent most of the afternoon on Sunday preparing and appliqueing the name to a piece of fabric.

Applique' Back
Applique’ Back

I accomplished the job, but it was a really big pain and not very pleasant. I fought with the fusible the whole time. It wouldn’t stick and then it stuck too much. I felt the whole process took much more time than it should have.

The picture (left) is part of the work I did. I am not showing the whole name, because of privacy, but you can see the work.

The alphabet is from a pattern called Critters Alphabet. I like it because it is cheerful and different. I used it on another quilt I made for a nephew. I bought the pattern at PIQF about a zillion years ago and I am pretty sure I saw it there last year. I did a search and found it under a new name, Alphabet Critters.

Next time, though, I might try paper piecing for the letters. We’ll see.

Food Quilt #2 Top

I had the class and so much stuff to catch up on over the weekend that I didn’t have a lot of time to sew. I decided that I wanted to make progress on something. Not just a few blocks, but some real progress.

Food Quilt.

I knew I could make progress on it because I was pretty close to having the top done after the retreat.

Food Quilt #2 Top - June 2015
Food Quilt #2 Top – June 2015

I got on it and the top is together with borders, though it took me a few hours on Monday to get the whole top done, but next stop: Food Quilt back.

The holdup at the retreat was that I forgot black to use for borders. I had plenty of black at home, so I waited until this week to do it.

After putting on the black inner border and the piano key food border, I decided I wanted a black border on the outside to contain all that food. I am pleased with the way it came out.

Food Quilt Holders
Food Quilt Holders

I caught a quick glimpse of the boys as they prepared to be quilt holders for me. This is what it looks like when they are acting as my quilt holders. I have learned just to wait for them to play around. It is fun to watch. I mean, you have to have fun in normal life, right?

You might remember that  made a Food Quilt for the Young Man. This is a graduation gift for the Young Man’s friend. I kind of like the idea of them having similar quilts. It is like there will be a connection through these quilts. Sentimental, I know. It won’t be finished for his graduation, but I can send it to him at college and he can see the top.

Food Quilt #2 – Major Progress

Food Quilt #2 top without borders
Food Quilt #2 top without borders

I spent the first part of the quilt retreat (will write about the retreat in general, but want to talk about the projects first!) working on the Food quilt that will go to a friend of the Young Man’s.

We are friends with the parents also, and they are very interested in my quilts. It seems reasonable to make a graduation gift for their son.

I bought plenty of fabric when I purchased for the Young Man’s Food Quilt, so I have plenty of fabric. The fabric is hard to find near where I live, but I bought most of it in Lancaster County when I was there with my SIL. Food themed quilts are good for boys as they are sort of neutral, but not too girly for boys. Quilts can easily be kind of girly, especially for someone like me who loves pink. 😉

I did the same pattern, a Disappearing Nine Patch, though I arranged the blocks in a different way.

I wasn’t able to finish the top, because I forgot the black I want to use as an inner border. I did make 4 piano key borders to add once I put the black border on the piece.

This project has been hanging over my head so I am glad I have made significant progress on it. Hooray for retreats!