Sunday, April 2, 2017

One Monthly Goal for April 2017

It is going to be a hectic two weeks as my One Monthly Goal for April will be to complete a top for a Quilts of Valor quilt.  This one has to be done my April 15th so that it can be quilted and awarded to a very special Navy Seal in our area.  Wish me luck on getting it done.  Want to know more about One Monthly Goal, head over the Elm Street Quilts HERE.  Patty does a great job hosting it and it really helps to have a set deadline to get things accomplished.

I have no pattern for this top and have something in the back of my head about using the cut up panel I got, a lot of stars and maybe some crown blocks. Oh and some leftovers.

I had bought a stand up design wall awhile back that doesn't work well, so I've folded it to fit on our coat closet which doesn't allow for much design.  The blocks on it now are only 14" square and there are two of each shown that I cut out from the panel.  Living in a 5th wheel doesn't provide much in the way of walls.  Another draw back from the stand up design wall is that fabric blocks do not "stick" to it and keep falling off.  I need to find an alternative.  Any suggestions?


I made a few blocks while at my quilt guild's retreat the first week in March.  I used a new tool I got from a vendor at our quilt show in February.  It really works well and you can purchase one HERE.

 
They are easy to make and don't take too awful long to piece together.   I've been string piecing them which make them go faster.
 
Pieces and parts
 
I'm making all different size stars and hope I can figure out how to place them so they are random and appealing.
 



While at the quilt show, I also bought a pack of Liberty Crown by Quiltsmart which is a different way of doing paper piecing, at least I think it is.  They use printed fusible interfacing and I've started one block, but at a stand still as I need to buy some invisible thread and my LQS doesn't open until tomorrow.  She is only open on Mondays and the second weekend of the month.  Otherwise, I'd have to travel into Las Vegas to find some and I didn't feel like driving 140 miles roundtrip to buy some.  Call me lazy.

Pack with the interfacing beside it
 
First partial block
 
I'm not sure if I'll use some of these or not.  Time will tell after I get the invisible thread.
 
Another idea I have is to use a lot of small triangle pieces I had left over from the last Quilts of Valor top I made.  I mean a container full of red, blue and off white ones.  Lots of possibilities for them in this top.  Will I use them?  Not sure as it will take a lot of time to sew into HSTs (half square triangles), trim them and piece them.
 
Leftovers
 
I do need to get some redwork blocks done if there is any chance of getting it finished in time to hang up for Christmas and since I have to have the QoV top done by April 15th, I should get several of them done.
 
Happy stitching! 


14 comments:

  1. What a great reason to make a quilt! Thanks for linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal and good luck on your project.

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    1. Thank you Patty for taking over the OMG. It really helps me get things done. :)

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  2. I like those spiky stars! And I'd never seen that panel before; it's very nice. Are there more squares from the panel?

    As for your folding design wall, can you add another layer of fabric over the top of it? Adding flannel or batting should allow your blocks to "stick" better, I would think.

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  3. Hi Louise, the panel only has 2 each of the two blocks, or that is how I got it from my GoV group leader. I think the design wall is flannel, so I'm thinking of buying a queen size batting and taping it to the wall on our storage unit next to our 5th wheel and that way I can take it down at night. We don't get much rain in the dessert so I don't need to worry about that.

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  4. Nothing better than a star block. Love your fabric choices.

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    1. Hi Billie and thanks for stopping by. I just love stars and this tool is great for making them.

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  5. Oh, I'm so glad I read your post (of course I read everyone, Jennifer@!!) This is the solution for RVers and I think you'll love it. For a design wall, find someone who has those vinyl vertical blinds on their sliding glass door. (each separate vertical is the height of a sliding glass door) Take one of those vertical pieces and wrap a flannel sheet once or twice around it. Now here's the RVers' tip: Tuck that flannel wrapped piece of vinyl down between your slide and the side of the RV. Hang the flannel sheet down over the slide. Voila, a temporary design wall!! Hope you like the suggestion.

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    1. What a great idea, now to find one of those vertical blinds.

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  6. Can't wait to see what you come up with, so many possibilities! 😊

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    1. I'm hoping to start putting the puppy together. I'll post pictures of it.

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  7. Good luck with your QOV this month. Sounds like you've got lots of great possibilities for that quilt.

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    1. Thanks Kate, I'm almost there and should be able to finish the top and get the borders cut and on before the weekend is over.

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  8. The star blocks are beautiful, I like how spiky they are.

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    1. Thanks Cheryl, they are so easy to make with that special template. For now I think I'm done with stars for awhile. :)

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