My Next Quilt Project

Well, I'm almost done with this moose quilt.

All I have to do is finish sewing the binding on, and I'm already more than half way around the whole thing.  And that I can do while relaxing with a movie!  :-)

 Since I was close to getting this one done, I started planning my next project.

We desperately need a new quilt for our bed.  My mom made us a really beautiful quilt, but I don't like having that one on my bed all the time because of our cats.  So I only take that one out during Christmas time and enjoy it as much as I can before I put it back, hopefully before the cats do something to it.  We all have something that's "too precious to enjoy", and that quilt is one of those. Anyhoo, the one we have on there right now is so old, and we bought it cheap from somewhere (probably Walmart), and it's coming apart at the seams.  So I decided it's time to make one for our bed.  I looked through all of my quilt magazines and books and picked a few out that I liked, but decided that since it's for OUR (mine and Chuck's) bed, I thought I'd ask Chuck if he would have any input on the matter.  Of course he wanted nothing to do with it, but I asked him to just skim through my magazines anyway, just to see if anything popped out at him.  After he pointed at the first one he liked, I almost regretted my decision to get his input cuz he picked one that I thought was kinda ugly.  I told him to set that one aside and keep looking.  Thankfully, he found another one that he liked and told me to choose which of the two I wanted to make.  It was an easy choice.

This is the pattern that was chosen.   (Sorry I forgot to turn the picture right side up).

The description says that the pattern was inspired by an antique "scrappy quilt" (totally made out of scraps), which was right up my alley cuz I was hoping to use up some of my scraps.

Problem:  The end quilt size is 71x83, which will NOT adequately cover my bed.  I like my quilts to be big enough to cover the top of the box spring.  For our Queen size bed, this means I need it to be King size.  So I had to do some math.

I will end up adding four columns and two rows, a total of 28 extra blocks, in order for it to be big enough.  So then I had to calculate how much more fabric I needed.  It was a lot of math, but I actually happen to like figuring out math problems (I know I'm weird).

After reading the fabric requirements, I decided I wanted to do lights and darks, and try to create a good contrast between the two because the contrast in the colors is what Chuck was attracted to.  I decided to go with reds, blues, and browns/tans, all in "manly" tones (no brights or pastels).

So I went to my stash to see what I had.  I was excited because it was my first opportunity to dig through my ORGANIZED stash and find what I wanted right away.

And I got busy cutting.

I guess my stash isn't very large yet cuz I already cut out everything I could find that has the right tones, but that's okay cuz what I needed to know is what I still need to buy.   And now I know what I need to buy, and by using my scraps first, I will save the cost of 3-1/2 yards.  Woo-HOO!

Yay, a trip to the quilt store!  

The thing with this pattern is that the squares are odd sizes.  6-7/8",  3", and 2-5/8".

So it's not like I can buy a stack of "Layer Cakes" or "Charm Packs" and call it good. As far as I know, you can't buy any precut squares in these sizes. These odd sizes are gonna require cutting.  Lots and lots of cutting.  I need 196 large squares, 392 medium squares, and 392 small squares, all three sets divided by half in dark prints and light prints, then subdivided into the three colors.  It's tedious work, but once I get into the rhythm of measuring and cutting, it's actually kinda fun.  Just put the polka music on and I'm good to go.

So, now you know what I'm busy with, and why I'm probably not blogging as much.

On a side note, I found these zukes in my greenhouse!

I'm supposed to pick them when they are 6-8" long, but I think I waited too long on these.  They kinda caught me by surprise.  Once they start growing, they grow really fast, so they have to be checked every day or so to make sure they don't get too big.  But I think they will still be quite tasty.  I'm trying to decide if I wanna saute them with tomatoes, or make bread out of them.  Or, if they freeze well, maybe I could start preserving them as I pick them.  But I'll probably find a way to eat these just because I want to experience the satisfaction of eating my own produce.  Yum.  And since zucchini is on the GMO food list, it's nice to grow my own, knowing that I'm not poisoning myself.