Friday, June 23, 2017

I Spy more rain

Hi everyone!  I have a little quilt top to show you today, but getting pictures of it was a bear.  I took some pictures yesterday but they were not great, so I thought I'd take a few this morning and post them then.  This morning there was more rain!  This has been the hardest adaptation of our big move--the weather.  Seriously, the amount of precipitation here makes the Midwest look like an absolute desert.  I finally got out there in between the raindrops, so if you see some spots, that's rain, not dirt.

Remember how I was supposed to finish my paper this week?  I did not finish my paper.  This is a cause for sadness, because it means I have to keep working on it and I am sick of it.  Plus, it's boring. But I did finish my little I Spy quilt top, so there is also great happiness!  Here's the quilt top:


That's a pretty happy little top, isn't it?  I was planning to use a black polka dot for the setting triangles, but it was too overwhelming.  I switched to a gray and white polka dot instead.  I know--gray!  I can't believe it either, but it looks good.  And I have a stripe for the binding, so I think the gray will set that off nicely, too.


This little top was so fun to make.  I do love the square in a square block.  They're easy and fast to make and they turn out looking really good, too.  The inner square is 5 inches, and the sides are 4-inch squares cut in half once.  If you don't care about round numbers, these are really nice-sized pieces to work with--just big enough not to be too fussy, and small enough to make an interesting fussy-cut center.  This makes a block that finishes at about 6-3/8 inches square,  but is just about 9-1/8 on the diagonal.  This top is about 46 inches square.


If I had any sense, I would have used some solid alternate blocks, but instead I matched all those points.  The best way I know to do this is to put a pin straight through both of the points-- and then stitch right over the pin.  I know, I know, but it worked for me.  Also, I am not really an advocate of oversizing things and then cutting them down to the right size, but setting triangles are the exception to that rule.  Oversizing those makes everything so much better when it comes to squaring up the quilt.


Once it dries out, I plan to quilt this with a walking foot so that I can have it ready to take when we go visit our grandson (and his parents) in a few weeks.  There's so much pattern and color in here already that I think just some lines to emphasize the blocks will be enough.  Maybe some meandering to make it cuddly.  We'll see how I feel when I sit down with it.

Hope everyone has a good weekend.  I might finish that paper!  Or maybe I'll paint the hallway instead.  Pretty sad that those are equally appealing!

And just to mention this, this is my 300th post!  Who would have thought?


Sharing at Finished or Not Friday, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, and crazymomquilts.

21 comments:

Alison V. said...

This is so fun and bright!

Marie said...

adorable!

Sara said...

Absolutely adorable! I love the light grey setting triangles because it makes the colorful squares kind of float. And striped binding is always fun.

Great job - now get back to finishing that paper! LOL

Tish Stemple said...

I spy a whole bunch of happy colors and fun in this quilt. Congrats on you top finish...may that paper fall right into place too :)

JanineMarie said...

Oh, I do love this with the gray. I've always liked black, but this makes makes the colors sing. (Do I spy a bird from Bernie?) I'm going to remember your sizes for the squares and triangles. That sounds so much better than trying to measure everything out to get to a certain size. And the quilt is perfect for a play quilt. Your grandson will love it! I am not the one to ask what you should do. Have fun painting--or quilting. No help, am I?

Quiltdivajulie said...

Go get that paper done - it has nagged at you long enough. At least painting the hall will seem like fun after that (color beats paper any day).

Bernie Kringel said...

This is wonderful -- I love gray for backgrounds and for quilting thread color. It just seems to work with everything. There are so many fun prints in this Mari - it is so much fun.

I agree with Julie - finish the paper so you can cross that one off the list. Then you are free to play!!

Home Sewn By Us said...

Hi Mari,
300th post - that's a milestone! I love this I Spy quilt. I hope you got that paper finished BEFORE you start quilting this . . . on painting the hallway. ~smile~ Roseanne

anna said...

i usally don't like i spy quilts but i do like this one.

Jenny said...

Congratulations on your 300th post, that's quite an feat! Lovely I Spy quilt too.

Linda @ kokaquilts said...

A fun & bright quilt! I too tend to sew right over my pins! Hope you get that paper finished, then you can get back into quilting.

Goofin' Off Around the Block said...

Your finished I-Spy quilt is really quite fun...the way an I-Spy quilt is supposed to be. It looks so happy. --Andrea

MissPat said...

How brave of you to deal with all those bias edges. I'm going to do another I Spy quilt for a gift, but I'm sticking to simple framed squares this time.
It has been an exceptionally wet spring here (I'm in western NY), with wild temperature swings as well, but it has meant more time for quilting since I can't get out in the garden.
Now get that paper done so it's not distracting you anymore.

piecefulwendy said...

Congratulations on your 300th post! That I Spy quilt is really fun. And yes, I'll admit to having sewn over my pins, with my old machine. This newbie will likely not. Matching points can be a headache, but so worth it in the end! Paper or painting -- hmmm -- on this one, I'd opt for the paper! Not a fan of painting walls.

Patti said...

I love it and I have a stack of 5 inch squares just waiting to be made in this quilt. THNK YOU SO MUCH for including the sizes. Congrats on the 300th.

Jen said...

I hear you on the dreary weather. So hard to take good photos when it is wet outside all the time. The grey is just perfect! The quilt is so bright and cheery. You have some super cute little blocks in there!

Lisa J. said...

it's a beautiful quilt Mari. I'm glad you could take some photos. It's been very wet here as well but it's not normal for this time of year. Today we are enjoying the sun!

Jo said...

Great playtime quilt. I like the lighter coloured framing.

Mary Marcotte said...

That's a happy, playful quilt. Any little tyke would love some tummy time on this one!
I actually took pictures in the rain (drizzle) for my last quilt. This crazy tropical storm Cindy is driving us insane. Definitely it's been good for your yard--beautiful daylilies.

Preeti said...

I gasped in joy when I saw this finished flimsy :-) Since there are several fabrics that I recognize, it feels like it is my quilt too. And with the points so neat, I am enjoying vicariously :-)
Hope you have a great week.

LA Paylor said...

I spy cows...