Quite a day!
I don’t know if you remember, but I had a goal for 2021 to quilt one of the BIGGER quilts a week for charity from the tops that Fran has sent me.
However, sadly, I’ve not been doing them.
But I’m changing that.
These really don’t take that long to quilt once I have everything together. And that was the key.
I needed to get going on them. I kind of have had a mess on the table due to all the UP greens that were spread out on that end of the big dining room table. When I sandwich, I need the whole table and need to have nothing around it on the floor. So I cleared it off and started. I figure it’s not going to get done if I just think about it and the weeks are just FLYING by. I mean, flying. I figure I need to get 10 done - ASAP.
We are currently in week 9 on the year - so time to play catch up. It’s a whole lot easier to catch up with 9 or 10 as the goal and not 50.
At first I sew two pieces together lengthwise. This makes a piece about 110” long and 124” or so wide. Because the fabric is so wide (62”), when I sandwich one of these larger quilt tops and then trim off the excess fabric, I can take the trimmed off backing and add it to another piece and it should be enough for the next large quilt.
So I started. I put together a pile of backings from those recently purchased bolts of fabric I bought - remember? 50 meters?
I decided to go ahead and make up a bunch of those quilt backings - sewing two long pieces of fabric together to make them.
Then I went ahead and sandwiched. I tend to work best when I work in groups of two. More than that and I have a tendency to get discouraged or slow down.
I did get the first two of those big charity quilts sandwiched. And that felt really, really good. I think for me with this kind of thing, the starting comes hardest. With the nice backing patterns I have currently I will be okay for at least a few weeks on backing those tops. I am thinking I may run out of that navy blue first, however. I will see.
(If I take a gander at the tops I have in the cabinet at the church building look like I need a BUNCH of blue, I may order a couple more bolts. It is just too nice - nice to the touch and nice colors - and I’m positive they will run out quickly.)
So far so good.
I realized I was almost completely out of the spray glue, so I went to the wholesale place just after dinner and bought another box of spray glue. It’s kind of pricey and they told me it will go up over $1/can next time I come.
But I bought 12 cans so I’ll be okay for a while. (If I get a long arm, I think buying spray glue will be a thing of the past or at least drastically reduced consumption!)
While I was there, I picked up some green thread for working on those green quilts. I had also run out of those little tags to stick into the binding when I finish the final touch on the charity quilts. These little tags tell people to wash with warm water (not hot).
I also am already behind quilting several of the UP greens quilt tops - but I lacked backings. I went to my upcycled shelves and picked out some fabrics I could use to make up some backings for them, and decided I need to make up one or two each day until I am caught up on those.
On this day I made 2.
I won’t say which is for which top—just that I made two. I will keep trying to make at least one - but hopefully two, until I can get caught up.
I love it too, because it clears off some of those shelves. If you realize that a typical queen size backing takes about 10 yards of fabric if you piece it from 42” fabric - well, it’s a quick way to use up a lot of fabric. And I needed that. My UP shelves were too full and messy. I’m glad to see some of it get used up. Very glad.
I have 4 more UP Greens tops in my head to get going on.
So much to do.
So little time!
How can anyone be bored if they quilt?
I am tickled. Last year when I tried to get going on these upcycled greens, I just couldn’t do it - I just wasn’t inspired - couldn’t get the creative juices going! I don’t know why. I wondered if I had lost it. Had I designed all the designs in my head (???)
Then I went to the states.
Then I got sick.
Then I did a couple of small things, worked on charity quilts and started that series over.
And it’s working out just fine now. I’ve got ideas. And that’s what is important.
These are the pieces that are small and need to fit in boxes. I’ll do a more complete overview at a different time.
My sis had guessed I would be able to make 30 quilts. I had guessed 15. I can now see that 15 is too few. I still have 3 nicely stacked boxes of greens pieces. I’ll get a photo for you to see.
And that’s how that day went. It flew by.
By the time I had fixed dinner, cleaned up, worked on the blog post, done some things for Rachael, sewed all these things, cut some…my day was gone!
Have a great day wherever you are reading this! Stay safe!
Be sure to check out what my sis has for you in the store here!
Here’s one of the beauties we have! Well, maybe not “beautiful” - but interesting!
