Road to St Louis - 16 patch aka "What was I thinking!"

At the beginning of April, I was asked to come up an idea for a Friday Night Retreat Project, using fabric pre-cuts.  There were suggestions of using Jelly Rolls, but as this is purely a volunteer task, I chose Fat Quarters because I had those and I wanted to challenge myself, plus the group members to use what they already own.

I decided to make this quit after seeing one at a Quilts in the Barn Exhibition a few years ago and liking it very much.  That quilter had used floral prints with solids and it has stuck in my mind ever since.  This block which can be very effective for little effort as it is a simple checkerboard pattern which has lots of scope for colour and pattern play.  

First set of blocks

While I haven't used or even replicated that first quilt I saw in the exhibition, I still want to make my own version of that with all new fabric one day.

Second pair of blocks

After testing what size to cut fabrics at and how much of the Fat Quarter would be used for the above two sets of blocks, I dove into the deepest darkest recesses of my stash and pulled out some very old as well as the “what was I thinking?” fabrics.  I chose my fabrics in 10 minutes by pulling them out and throwing them on the floor in pairs and checking that the all the fabrics worked together as a whole.

I then had a lovely afternoon home on my own and I sewed all day long, making blocks.  The very next day I laid the blocks on the floor, moved them around a bit, packed them up in order and sewed the top together at my local quilt group.

When I went online to do some research into the name of the block, I found quite a few free tutorials, including the references below. *^  There is nothing new about the 16 patch block or the method constructing it.  The first known publication of this block is Mosaic No. 20 Ladies Art Company 1897*  before being published again as Four Patch Variation Orlofsky, 1974 *  More recently, there have been online publications calling it 16 Patch Quilt Block ^ or St Louis 16 patch ^.

The 16 patch / Road to St Louis would have to be the quickest quilt I have ever made.  It was easy, it is effective and the size is only limited by how much fabric you have.

To quilt this quilt was super easy.  As I quilt on my domestic sewing machine, I chose to give extra life and movement by quilting an "orange peel" type of pattern.  You could just as easily cross-hatch it too, but I like the effect of  what I did.

The binding fabric is a Penny fabric which was donated by a friend.  The backing fabric and wadding have come from the donation stash at my local quilt group.

My Road to St Louis or 16 Patch will be donated after the Kilmore Quilters Retreat to the Axedale Quilters for their charity quilts which go to local people in need.

Finished Quilt Size:  150cm x 183cm  (60in x 72in).

To give credit where credit is due - these are the resources I have referenced: 

* Jinny Beyer - The Quilters Album of Patchwork Patterns, Breckling Press pub 2009

^ Poppy Makes Blog - 2013 http://poppymakes.blogspot.com/2013/04/16-patch-quilt-block-tutorial.html
  Sew Fresh Quilts Blog - 2014  https://sewfreshquilts.blogspot.com/2014/09/st-louis-16-patch-quilt-block-tutorial.html 

Penny fabric - Penny was a quilter who is now an angel, her children passed on her very sizable stash to a friend.  Penny now lives on in many quilts.

March is for Donating

During March, the time of Lent, it is a time to give something up and also to think of others in their struggles.  For me, in my own personal life, there are two amazing women who do a lot of work to support very sick children.

As I've written in some previous blog posts about donating quilts, here are some quilts that I've finished over the past 12 months and they have not found homes, so I'm donating them to the Very Snuggly Quilts program, which supports long term or terminally ill children at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne.
Squared Away - Green

Squared Away - Purple

Little Big Stars

Orange and Green 9 Patch

And for my beautiful friend E, who runs a Royal Children's Hospital fund-raiser each year since her daughter died, I have donated:

Blue Stars

Red and White Checkerboard

* As a side note, I took the two quilts (above) to a professional appraisal/valuation, so that their true value can be put onto the silent auction form.  A very interesting experience, if a bit nerve-wracking!  You leave your quilts and then pick them up a few hours later.  It's all in their hands and you really have no idea until you read the valuation certificate after collection.  And... my nerves were all for naught - the valuations surprised me and the ladies who are the "officials" of the day were wonderful.  A process I shall certainly take part in again.

And..., one more donation to the Lions Club of Quilters for their bushfire victims collection, I am donating "Cobblestones and Bricks", which was my very first quilt that I made a pattern for.  It now has a chance to go to a good home and be loved now that the pattern has been retired.  A good "manly" quilt this one to be sure.

With donating quilts and being asked to take part in a donations program, you know there is always someone out there who will receive a good quilt hug.

Squared Away - Purple or Green??

It was supposed to be one project - "Squared Away" it was called; an easy summer mystery quilt, with free clues from the local quilt shop.  Two colours, plus a colour to place circles over 4 patches.  Easy right?  No.  I loved my colour selections, however, when I started to make the quilt,  I didn't like the blocks together in my chosen colours.  Even with the border/sashing strips added, no, no, no.....  In frustration, I put the whole lot in a zip-loc bag and left them to marinate for a very long time. 

During 2017, I decided that each time there was a 12-hour sewing session with my local group, or a Retreat weekend, I would pull out a few of these zip-loc bags (I have a lot of them) and work on the contents until it becomes a finished - done done - item.

After consultation with a couple of friends at the 12 hour sewing day - I came to the decision that these would be two little quilts.

First - here's purple;

Second - here's green; 

I ended up with two of the same greens next to each other and it looked a bit "blobby", so I used left over fabrics to make a half Dresden Plate (sunflower) to make it a bit more interesting.

Both quilts were simply cross-hatched through the squares to keep them soft and cuddly.  They both have the same spotty backing and striped binding.

Moral of the story, sometimes, time away from a project can turn what seemed to be big problem - for such a small quilt - has turned into two delightful quilts for little ones.

These two little quilts will be donated to the Very Snuggly Quilts program run by Victorian Quilters.

Little Big Stars

Pre-cut squares - A challenge?

Well, the challenge was issued on a Yahoo quilt group, and I have to admit I didn't think I'd take it up - Sewing with pre-cut squares, despite having 3 charm square packs, nicely tucked away in the cupboard with their sketches and extra fabrics.  "No, I must work on other things" I kept on saying to myself.

Fast forward a few days and I was home with two unwell sons.  I was in a bit of a funk and really couldn't seem to focus on anything.

So, I looked in the cupboard for some inspiration and one package of charm squares simply leapt into my hands.  They are so pretty, the picture I had stored with them looked so simple.  Nice, relaxing.... fun, pretty and bright... 

I had stored the charm pack, not only with a sketch with an idea of what to make, but the extra fabric for the stars was there too.

Well, now, a few days later, it's a quilted quilt.  Not huge, a beautiful little baby quilt with an interesting backing.  

A nice red binding to really make the stars pop and to tie everything together.

And the backing? - well, that became interesting too!

There were a couple of charm squares left over...  I drew 'splotches' onto vliesofix and then appliqued the splotches onto the backing for a bit of fun.

Then I sewed all of the left over 'stitch'n'flip' quarter square triangles into hourglass blocks and pieced a section for the back.  
  

Now, I have a fun backing and there are no left over fabric pieces.

Totally happy, despite having unhappy sons, my sewing was relaxing and they were happy because I was right there with them.  This is a definite "make again" pattern, very satisfying.

Pink Pinwheels

Pinwheels, outside, in the sun, spinning in the breeze bring a smile to anyone's face.  Kids are delighted by them, adults watch the children's joy.  There is something delightfully whimsical about them.

An invitation to a High Tea and a request for silent auction items, was the prompt I needed to make a picture I had pasted into my 'one day' notebook a couple of years ago.  

It was also the perfect excuse to go and purchase all new fabrics and not use my stash for any of it.  So luxurious and lovely to have a little splurge in the quilt shop.

And I'm so in love with the backing fabric, flipping it over onto the front gives a lovely contrast.

All proceeds raised from the bidding and sale of Pink Pinwheels will go to the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne.

Whimsy and little girls were in my mind when I made this pink pinwheel quilt.  I do have to confess, the colour scheme was not my idea.  I had spotted the picture online and then it took me ages to find it again so that I could give correct credit.

My inspiration was Pretty Pink Pinwheel as shown on this blog - Quilting is My Therapy.   

Now it's time to go outside and enjoy the breeze in the sun.....

Oz Comfort Quilts

http://ozcomfortquilts.blogspot.com/

Jan MacFadyen is an amazing person. She is living near a flood zone, but if you click on her blog - above, you will realise that she is all about helping others whose homes have been flooded. 2 years ago, Jan and others (names I don't know), made, collected and distributed many quilts to Bushfire victims/survivors. This year she is using her extreme selflessness, with some help from others to co-ordinate a massive quilt drive to provide for those in both the Queensland and Victorian floods.

My photos here are the small donation I was able to make to Jan for her charity quilting:

A pile of 11in squares, ready for QAYG string quilts...A pile of cotton fabrics, washed and ready to be chopped up into strings for Quilts...

Then,into the box, complete with 22m of pre-made binding, ready for Jan to use.

Here is the message which Jan sent to me after receiving the box which I sent her for the Flood Victims:
We were very lucky not to be flooded this time and I really feel for the poor people in the Swan Hill area. The anxiety and worry about whether or not you will have flood water through your home is very stressful.
Many thanks for the lovely large box of fabric, binding and wadding squares. It will all be put to good use ASAP.
If you keep an eye on my blogs you should see some of them made into quilts very soon.
Thanks for all your help with this very large project.
Hugs Jan Mac

Jan - I am very happy to help in any way I can and I urge everyone out there to do their thing for Charity Quilting - a small donation of fabric, money, wadding, cotton thread or even quilt blocks and quilts along with help to distribute them can make such a big difference to one or many people.