Blocks Are Arriving

Last week I told you I was participating in the Sandy Quilt Block Drive over at the Quilting Gallery.  Since last Wednesday I have been receiving packages from all over the United States and Canada.  The number of quilt blocks in each package varies.  Some contain two, some may have six and still others just might house twenty.  Together they add up to a whole lot of blocks.

Forty-Two is the Magic Number

As the blocks come in I stockpile them waiting for the magic number of forty-two.  Forty-two is the number of blocks it takes to make one Wonky Sandy Quilt.  I reached that milestone on Monday.  Yesterday I began preparing the blocks for assembly.  Each block was carefully pressed.  Once I was satisfied with its appearance I took the block to my cutting board where I performed surgery.  You see each block must be trimmed to a 12.5″ square block.  The process of cutting renders the block its “Wonky” shape.  I found this step to be rather entertaining.  As I twisted and turned my 12.5″ square ruler this way and that I watched as various possibilities developed.  I felt so powerful, yet creative like an artist.  The cuts I would make with my ruler and rotary cutter would change the block forever.  One by one I transformed all forty-two blocks into a “Wonky” Log Cabin quilt square.

Rows to Build

With my pile of forty-two “Wonky” squares in front of me, my next task was assembling them into rows of six squares.  Each of the squares has a unique appearance.  No two are the same.  Because they are all different that makes it very easy to assemble them into rows.  I gathered together six squares and sewed their adjoining seams.  Once row one was finished I continued with six more rows of six squares.  By the time all forty-two squares were sewn into strips I had seven rows of six blocks.  Time to go to the ironing board.

Press, Press, Press

All seven rows needed their seams pressed.  I used an alternating pattern to press the seams.  Row one had its seams pressed to the right, row two to the left, row three to the right, etc.  By alternating the direction the seams were pressed I was making the next step of sewing the rows together much easier.  As I pressed the seams I was careful not to distort the structure of the blocks.  From the ironing board I headed back to my cutting table.

Six Blocks Per Row, Seven Rows Per Quilt

Next step was pinning the rows together and sewing those seams as well.  Beginning with rows one and two I laid them out, with right sides together.  Since I am a real perfectionist I use lots of pins.  I’m very fussy when it comes to matching up seams.  As I moved from one end of the row to the other I strategically placed pins to avoid excessive movement of the two strips.  My goal was to finish with all seam intersections lining up perfectly.  When I was satisfied with the number of placed pins I took the strip to my sewing machine and stitched the seam.  After reaching the end of the row I snipped my threads, cautiously flipped open the two rows and peeked inside.  I was so pleased to find all of the seam intersections just as I would want them to be.  The process was repeated until I had all seven rows stitched together.  Once finished I again carefully pressed open my seams.  The end result was a really cool quilt top.  Here’s a sneak peek.

Left To Do Is:

1.  Choosing fabrics for two borders,

2.  Stitching on the borders,

3.  Quilting,

4.  Binding and finally

5.  Attaching the labels provided by each of the quilt makers.

By next week I hope to have this Sandy Quilt all finished.  If I do I will share photos of the completed project.  Once this one is done and on its way to the distributor it’s on to the next one.

Two More Quilts

Did I tell you I signed up to make two more Sandy Quilt Block quilts.  The addition of two more quilts means I’m registered to assemble a total of four quilts.  I think I’m going to be busy for a little while.

Other Projects

Although it hardly seams like I had time to work on anything but Sandy Quilt Blocks, indeed I did.  Aside from shopping for fabric for my stash, taking advantage of Craftsy’s amazing temporary reduction in pricing for their on-line classes, reorganizing my creative rooms, I also purchased materials to make a portable pressing station and made plans for an upcoming giveaway.

Did I Say Giveaway?

You bet I did.  Be watching for an announcement in the not-to-distant future.  I will be offering a free item to one lucky winner.  Shhhhhh . . . I can’t tell you what it is.  I can give you a sneak peek of the fabric or fabrics that just might be used.  Here you go

Option One

Option Two

So which one do you like?

Linking Up

I’m linking up with Freshly Pieced.  Take a stroll on over there to see what everyone else is working on.