New 2.5" top finished
I learned to read with Dick and Jane way back when!
When I planned this one, I wanted it to feature the colors found in the old Dick and Jane books or the colors that American Jane, the designer, Sandy Klop, with Moda tends to use under that designer name.
I like these colors - and was looking to attempt to use that as my inspiration. Yes…to tell you the truth, when we went to the Moda warehouse a few years ago, I high-tailed it to the American Jane section of the warehouse but sadly there was NOT ONE line or thing on sale by this designer that actually looked like it. If there was something on the warehouse shelves that day, it was not anything like the normal American Jane type of look I was hunting for. I left empty-handed (with that designer!)
Anyway, I digress…
This one - I focused on yellow, blue, red, and a bit of green. I was looking for more clear colors - not muted. But I was pulling from my strips I’d cut up, so I just used what I had. On the low volume section, also, I looked for the white and a color/black as background - but really looked for things that had those colors in it. In other words, I tried to stay away from white with purple or orange or pastels as the background. I figured they might dilute the effect I was going for.
The alternate blocks with the wonky stars were not pieced from scraps. Well, the yellow part was, as well as the red centers - but the whites - I had to pull from stash. I went with a white on white because I had some with me and I like them. I wanted a pure white look to contrast sharply with the checkerboard blocks.
Different camera
I had debated leaving the alternating squares plain white but then decided I wanted a little more interest in the center of the quilt.
I was ready to finish this top. I had started it back in September, and just wanted it done. I had all the checkerboard blocks made but what was slowing me down were the wonky star blocks. They aren’t hard at all, but I don’t like all the trimming, so I procrastinated.
Since it was easy to find other things to do, I didn’t have a hard time putting it off with a clear conscience. Finally, I said to myself, “Let’s just finish this one up - as these pieces are lying in my sewing room - and I’m mostly done.” And so I did.
It did take two more days of finishing the alternate blocks and then putting it together/making the outer piano key pieced border.
I’ve not made such a piano key border before…with part of it being two-toned, but in an effort to make it even more American Jane-ish feeling - I decided to try it.
Then the border. I made the border two toned (the blue/white part) …just because. I wanted to try such a thing. I played around with a lot of different variations and methods of splitting up the blue and white in my program, to get a feel for how it would look. The way I did it was what I decided was the look I was going for. I wanted a light blue to encircle the outer part of the border. I could have come in more and made the blue parts a bit longer, but after playing around with it - well, this is what I liked. I hope you like it too.
The alternate block has a wonky star in it.
This will go as part of my 2.5” series of quilts. While I did use 2” strips in the outer border, I did pull from my bags of 2.5” strips for the center blocks, so that’s why I’ve decided to call it that. I actually pieced the border from all stash fabrics - not from my 2” strips. At this point, I just wanted to get it done.
An angle from the side. It’s a bright and cheery quilt.
I did use 2.5” squares for the center checkerboards, but use 2” cut pieces for the piano key border.
And that’s it. It felt good to get back to piecing again. I’ve really missed it.
I know that this new one is similar to this one which had extensive piecing in the border - but it’s different. It’s “lighter’ feeling and just a little less work!
Plus…the main thing is that with the one for today I used 2.5” strips and squares to make the blocks.
And that’s it for this one.
Thanks so much for coming along with me on this journey.
If you have any ideas about what I should call this one - I’d love to hear it. My husband said it reminded him of summer. I was thinking about “Breezy” as a name. But I’m not sure. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
But wait…
These are the quilts that are on part of my 2.5” series (officially). I’ve done others, of course especially in my Upcycled series and the Upcycled Blues series - but I am trying to make this series as large as my 2” series. You just don’t get as much detail as you do with a 2” strip, so I find myself more intrigued by the 2” - but lots of us have leftover pieces and scraps of 2.5” for obvious reasons. So this series will probably continue indefinitely.
Have a great day wherever you are reading this!
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