People rescue dogs and cats, why not rescue a quilt? (We foster mama cats and kittens).
@MightyMitochondria sent me some abandoned quilt blocks from a fabric donation she received. She doesn’t quilt so she passed them along. They were quite wonky, and I can see why they were abandoned, curves are not easy!
I trimmed and tried out a number of layouts and finally came up with a layout that would work. I then did some excavation on my stash. The cream with dark red vines is remnants from a caftan I made in the 1970s, the dark red borders are from who knows where, long random width strips mostly on the bias with ripped out seams here and there, the pink flowers from a fat quarter, and the green from the fabric store to round it out. The store had nothing in the dark red/maroon/ color way. Nothing!
I had to draft a pattern for the additional leaves and it mostly worked. I hate curves too. Here is the result. I’m mailing it this week to someone who needs some love from my Laps of Love quilt group. I really like the results even if it isn’t in my usual color/design realm.
I’m so impressed with how you managed to build an entire quilt out of those few blocks - and difficult blocks to boot, it wasn’t like there was an obvious pattern to be built around them.
I cannot find an appropriate emoji to display my ‘holy moly’ reaction to this, so the words themselves will have to suffice - Holy. Moly! You have provided us all with proof that ‘someday’ does exist (as in, don’t throw that out, I might need it someday).
You did a really great job of breathing new life and existence into these quilt blocks!
Thank you all. My process after I made the 30" square center was to stare at it for a while trying to figure out “What Now???” Then I had the “Just add a bunch of borders around the silly thing” and it came together. One requirement is that the lap quilts be around 48" x 60", this one came out to 42" by 60", so I was close. Therefore I needed that extra design at top and bottom to “rectanglize the square”. I love puzzles like this, it helps me fall asleep, and focuses my mind down to one soothing task. I think that’s why I like swaps, I can design in my head for days!
And I hit Goodwill for a like-new mattress pad for batting and a sheet for the backing. Truly a rescue quilt.
