Monday, April 25, 2016

Plan as you go .....?


This is the fabric I selected for the nine-patch border.

It is darker than the small sashing but has some of the same blue ... kind of an all-over non-directional print that will be easy to join at the corners.

Following some good advice, I took the quilt in progress up and laid it out on the bed to see how much I might need to add to make it fit well.

It will probably not need much of a border for that bed other than to make it look finished.

The quilt itself has piecing that is one or two, inch blocks and the small nine-patches are three inches.
I will have to think about the quilting as part of the plan. The stitching won't really show against this print so making a wide border that needs lots of quilting doesn't make much sense unless I needed the quilt to be much bigger.

Laid out here is three inches and I could make it four inches.  it might be a bit difficult to mark a fancy quilt pattern on this print but I could do something simple like hearts or a zig-zag. I could probably squeeze out another one-inch strip of that light blue print for an outer border ... with a lot of piecing ... (those scraps have no particular plan to fill).

And ... talk about "Plan as you go" ..
Maybe all my quilts could have that name.

While looking through my kid-friendly bin, I found a pack of already cut hexagons left over from an I Spy quilt.

I have made three of these, two for family and one as a baby quilt for the friend who is getting the just finished baby quilt. I don't remember which these were left over from as I think one was a bigger size cut.
Anyway, I decided these will go well with the left-over fabric from the last quilt. I like to have some take-along work so have begun to sew these into larger hexagon blocks.

I could keep these as is and add yellow triangles in between if I need to make it bigger. I still have no idea how big the pieces I have will make it. (that would involve more math than I am capable of).

I certainly have enough kid-friendly prints to cut more and my templates were in the baggy with the pieces.

I could also just add a section between each of the big pieces in the end, keeping it take along work for a longer time.

Once it gets too big, I really can't work on it during a train ride.
(or sitting in a meeting)

Since this is for a little boy who is already about three or four months old, I don't want to dilly-dally too long. I enjoy the journey but I do have to think a bit about the destination.
(At one point I-Spy quilts become less fun).
I think by the time my kids were six months old they were using words ... some were actually using sentences by then ... so I think this planning has to get moving so I can keep moving too.

Should something begin to look like a UFO ... it is only still in the planning stage.

10 comments:

  1. I love the border print you found, that looks beautiful with it. The hexagons are really cute, they will make a fun baby quilt.

    Debbie

    ReplyDelete
  2. The floral border fabric is great for that quilt.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ditto from me, the border is wonderful, I like it so much, and lots of inch squares, how do your fingers manage to do all the stitching? I have even given up on bindings now, doing all mine the flange way, sew from back to front, then stitch along.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ditto on the border from me, too! - And I love your last line - seems like I have a whole bunch of stuff "still in the planning stage." As far as your hexagon math goes - I'd measure the piece through the center and call it that size as if it were a square - the triangle pieces sort of square it off once they get added anyway - so it should be pretty close as a "guess-timate" - ;))

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great borders - I love getting to that stage - almost done. And the new quilt pieces are great - love the setting style. Another winner from you - as usual. Happy week ahead my dear.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Julie, the blue flowered border is great ! We love flowered borders, as they are so cheerful. Congratulations on another successful quilt ! We love the timeless, classic look of nine-patch blocks. :-)
    Warm wishes and blessings, from Marina and Daryl

    ReplyDelete
  7. The border selection for the 9 patch is looking really good. Great that it is already close to the size you are wanting for the bed.
    Your plans for the next quilt are looking good, too. The hexagon blocks are very bright and cheerful.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh Julie, I like the fabric you chose for the border : it is looking nice with the center of the top !!!
    Your hexies are so colorful !! in this moment, in France, we need bright colors as the cold temperatures are here again :( where is the spring ??? Have a lovely day :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I think that is the perfect blue for the border, and a zig-zag quilting line is easy and fast.
    Great hexagon blocks, so fun to spy cats and skates and appels. I love the cheerful yellow colour, too.
    Have fun!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Your border print is a great contrast to the inner border, perfect. Your find of the hexagons from your I Spy quilts, wonderful colours, so bright and happy. Doesn't it make you feel good to find something that has been already started and can be made useful for another quilt.

    ReplyDelete