Checkerboard Chillin'

Remember when I was setting my goals for the year? Well one of them was to finish all the quilt tops in my closet. That's a lot easier when you actually remember all the tops you have. Seems I forgot this one. Oops.

Measuring at 60'' by 60'' it isn't a huge top and I can manage to quilt this at home. I even have batting cut for it already.

This is my version of the Checkerboard quilt from Sunday Morning Quilts. When I went to make it at some point after the book came out I decided to control the colour scheme. So I raided all my turquoise, purple, grey, and white scraps. From these I cut all my 2 1/2'' squares. There may have been some stash raiding to finish up the quilt. Shh. It is smaller than that original, however. Partly because of the fabric limitations and partly because this has to join me on the road and the big quilts take up a lot more room.

Seeing as I have another trunk show in a few weeks I might be motivated to finish this up and reveal it then.

One of the things I love the most about this quilt is the way it comes together. Amanda Jean wrote the pattern so you are making it one row at a time. And you press to one side as you go. Then you just flip over every second row. Your seams nest and it comes together as a top in no time. It still works as a leaders and enders project.

Make sure to check out the book for detailed instructions, including the cutting requirements for a larger, twin sized quilt.

Never Gets Old

One would think that after writing the book and making the quilts, after all the Just One Slab blocks, after teaching the class almost a dozen times this year, that after all that I would be tired of making slabs. Nope, not at all.

Perhaps slabs are my default sewing? When in doubt make a slab!

Actually, that is a lesson I teach my students. That once you have the basic technique down it is perfect for when you just need to sew something, anything. If the fabric is there then there is no prep work needed. If you only have a few minutes you can work up a block without even thinking. If the day sucked and your brain hurts you can still sew and not stress about perfection.

Then there are the possibilities! Slabs as blocks, as fabric for making other blocks and more blocks, as background, as the whole quilt... I feel it is impossible to get burnt out on the technique or the possibilities. Maybe you are tired of seeing slabs from me? If you are, then oh well, because I will keep making them.

That mess up there in the top photo? That's what happens when a toddler who has to get into EVERYTHING finds your scrap baskets (also made from slabs) and you let him go to town because it gets you ten minutes of writing. What can I say, though, the boy has good taste. The mess sat there for a few days, taunting me with all the lovely colours. I was head down on a deadline but finally couldn't resist. I figured that if I randomly grabbed fabric and used them as leaders and enders I wasn't technically starting anything new. Whatever we have to tell ourselves.

Pink, orange, yellow, and grey. So loverly and so many possibilities.

Slabs Meet Low Volume

No doubt about it, scraps get overwhelming at times. And other times the scraps are so inspiring and excited. This time it is the latter.

When I was working on A Month of Sundays all my scraps ended up together in one large messy pile. Then that pile moved to a bag. And that bag moved around and was shoved in different corners. I'm not sure why I felt the need to keep these all together, but I'm glad I did.

Ever so slowly I've been sewing together slabs from the scraps. It is like both my books are colliding into a beautiful mess. I'm in love! I didn't, however, want to just make slabs. I wanted to be a bit more creative, experiment a little.

At some point I read Denyse Schmidt's Modern Quilts Traditional Inspirations. Her interpretation of Shoeman's Puzzle struck me the most of all the quilts. Without a moment's hesitation I started turning my slabs into Shorman's Puzzle blocks. She uses templates, as she usually does. Because of the slabs and the proliferation of bias edges I chose a different route. My blocks are paper pieced. Each block has three seams, about one of the easiest paper pieced options ever. It was a smart choice as it is keeping the blocks in check.

Now, to find the time to make more. I've got more slabs sitting there waiting. When I teach a slab class this is the demo fabric I use. I just need a bit more time and some freezer paper patterns. I made the blocks 10'' square which means I can't print them. So freeze paper it is.

Aren't they fun?

Just One Slab Update - Getting Close

2280 blocks.

Makes 114 quilts.

106 quilt tops.

38 completed quilts.

337 packages received.

Close to 750 participants (estimated)

23 guilds.

11 quilt shops.

Nearly every Canadian Province and Territory.

27 US States.

8 countries.

Not to mention the time of the volunteers helping sort mail, put together quilt tops (like Andrea, Jen, Lee, Becca, my SIL, and others), long arm quilters (so many that I don't know them all!), and an army of people making and attaching binding and labels.

Traditional Pastimes is incredible for gathering quilts, distributing kits for making quilt tops, assigning backing fabric and distributing to long armers, and hosting volunteers who are still meeting to finish the binding and labelling.

Then there are the corporate donations from companies like EE Schenck and Robert Kaufman. For batting, backings, and extra wide backings we thank you. It makes finishing up the last quilts a lot easier.

All donations - from 1 slab to a roll of batting - are greatly appreciated.

(And thank-you to my husband and family for helping, donating their time, and tolerating the proliferation of packages, fabric, piles of quilts, and giant rolls of batting.

At this point I am still rallying volunteers to help finish the quilts. I have a stack of quilt tops ready for quilting, enough blocks for about 15 more tops, the binding to get on three more, and then all the labelling. This is on top of the 60 or so quilts that Traditional Pastimes coordinated finishing.

(I am also planning a big thank you for all participants here in this space. Stay tuned.)

Winter indeed arrived in Calgary this week, so the quilts are going to be timely. I'm sorting out the distribution details, but the plan is for a date in early December.

Thank you. Thank you all so much.