Quilty Quarters

Yes, news from Quilty Quarters! I have been sewing. I sew quite a lot really, in short bursts of time, but I don't seam to say much about it. Going on a few extra sewing retreats recently (I'm sure you have noticed that little tit-bit of news) gave me a kick up the doodah to get on with my projects. I'm an expert procrastinator.

I started making these wonky Churndash blocks on a retreat in March 2024, just to use up some very small strips which were the left overs from cutting my Beautiful Batik Six Packs for the shop. I also had a few metres of the black fabric, purchased about 20 years ago, that I'd never used because I didn't like how thick it was. It's good quality fabric, Free Spirit in fact, I just didn't like it, but it really needed to be used so it got chopped up into 41/2" squares. 

Once the Wonky Churndash blocks were all made, I had completely run out of the black, excellent! You can see in the first picture I had started to choose random Batik strips to use for sashing. I didn't like it though. I wondered about making random triangles for the sashing, I liked the idea but, weirdly, not the wonky-ness. So I made some very accurate half square triangle strips, and loved those.

Okeydokey, that decision was made BUT, I didn't have any large enough batik bits to make all of the HST units, so in a mad moment, I decided to make the sashing strips Foundation Paper Pieced. Not my favourite piecing method! But many hours later, and after digging into my very own Beautiful Batik Fat Quarters too supplement the scraps, all of the sashing strips were complete, including around the perimeter.

I decided to make a further pieced border using this design...

Obviously using a different black fabric. After making this one block, I wasn't keen to make 40 or 50 more!!! So that plan was dumped! I decided just to add a plain black border. The quilt top actually looks great with no further piecing. I won't waste this block though. It will become something.

I needed to play Thread Chicken too. With just those few inches to sew on the last border, the bobbin alarm was bleeping on my UX8, it's a clever little sausage you know. It says 50 stitches are left on the bobbin. I sewed a bit slower!!! Yes, do you do that? In my head, if I sew slowly, the thread goes further! Ha.

Anyhow, I just about won that game. That's how much thread there was left on the bobbin, 3 inches or so. My Colourful Black Quilt top is finished and, once I decide on the backing, it will be sandwiched.