I’ve got 57 out of 60 sailboat blocks, in 16 variations. 1 of the missing 60 had a sail that was way too wonky to use, and the other two are just missing pre-made mast/sky pieces. (I tried strip piecing the mast/sky with the tan mast, but made the brown masts the way the pattern had written, of cutting each piece individually. The strip pieces yielded me 2 less than what I needed.) I have the scraps to make the last three, so I can do them after lunch, and be up to all 60. Which is enough to make 2 lap quilts. One for Jake’s mom, and one for his step mom.
…But then my mom called yesterday to tell me she asked Jessica to send me more button down shirts. Something I asked mom not to do. I said I wished she had included more of those, but that I had enough with what was around. But mom decided I must want more even though I said I didn’t. So now I have to wait for more shirts to arrive to cut up, and then go buy more of the background and boat fabrics, and make a bunch more blocks, so that when I mix them all up, they’re evenly distributed color wise.
I think for today I’m going to try to cut the remaining shirt pieces into blocks to piece a backing. (I used the back of each of 4 shirts, so I still have the fronts and sleeves of all 4.)
After that, I’m going to try to make a pillow out of Jake’s uniform shirt.
I’ve laid out my blocks. I tried to distribute the colors and prints as much as possible. Does it look even enough? I know I have clusters of flowers, but I’m not sure that’s avoidable.
I like it! The clusters of flowers don’t bother me because the light/dark balance seems fine. But I’m not a fabric genius, someone else may be able to give you better feedback.
This block worked up very quickly this morning. It was nice to be able to cut both colors of fabric at the same time, and it was easy to piece. But I do hate that it works up to 12", and not 12.5", so that my 2 BOM’s won’t just fit together to make a quilt if I do all 12 this year.
Posing an idea: If the goal is that at the end of the year, we’ll all have 12 blocks to make a lap quilt, then maybe we should pick a size for BOM’s, and keep them consistent over the year. I know some folks want to just experiment (rather than make a whole quilt) or make smaller units, so we could have an option for a ‘full size’, and a smaller size option. Even if it isn’t an identical block, we could do our best to pick a similar design or technique.
For the first two years, I picked the size I wanted to make if multiple sizes were available or did the math myself. I may not want to make only 12.5 inch blocks, maybe I want 9 inch blocks. It’s an individual choice. This year I don’t care, they are going into a wild multi-sized block scrap quilt. Nothing is standard.
I love your block and thanks for the warning that the block comes out to 12", what an odd size for a pattern.
I’ve only recently joined in this craftalong, and I’m unlikely to make all the blocks myself. I like the idea of having a set of blocks to make a lap quilt at the end of the year. But then I also like the idea of wild, multi-sized scrappiness. So I guess I’m no help at all on that question - but I’m interested to try either way.
My block sizes are all over the place. I tried doing the math for some, but the sizes are still not exactly the same. I will figure out a way to put them all together eventually…maybe, lol.
Speaking of BOMs, we need some more for the rest of the year!
@MistressJennie, moving forward, I can do my best to find blocks of the same size. Which would work best - 12” or 12.5”?
Also, I like your idea that a similar block can be submitted for the BOM. That would be a great way of making sure that the blocks work for everyone both size wise and in regard to skill level.
It’s a restfull color scheme. Nice.
