I am a completionist. I need to start a project and finish a project. I don’t like things not checked off my to do list. If I make a to do list for the day and something doesn’t get done, I mark it off for that day and then start a new list for the next day and add it to the top of my new list. This is why it took me until last year to understand what UFO meant. I always thought quilters were talking about aliens and I just got confused. I did not know UFO in quilting meant Un-Finished-Object. ha!
I don’t like having to store a project away and return to it later. And I am specifically talking about in progress quilt tops. I do have a handful of recent finished quilt tops that need to get quilted but that will happen soon. I don’t consider those UFOs because I know they will be done soon and the quilt top is complete. Anyway back to my only UFO!
In 2021, we moved into a new house and it was the first time I had a whole room dedicated to TCJ. Also, I was in a really low spot mentally, emotionally, physically. So when we moved in, I needed to just play and create to lift my spirits. I still enjoy and love quilting so much but it can be incredibly hard for me to separate quilting from business. It is my business but sometimes I just need to make without any intentions to monetize it. This is when I learned that for me to do that, I need to use other people’s patterns and tutorials.
I chose the Hourglass Quilt Tutorial by Allison Harris of Cluck Cluck Sew. The first time I tried to make an hourglass quilt was back in 2016 and my machine DID NOT like the bulk of the seams and I kept snapping needles. So I had put this design away and hadn’t attempted it again. Well, back in 2021, I had a way better machine and wanted to dive into my stash and try again.
I worked on this quilt for maybe a few days before all the other life things took priority. Here is where I got to four years ago and it is where I picked back up last year! You make your hourglass units and group them in sets of 9 to create a block. From there, you decide how big of a quilt you want and just keep making until you are happy with the size!
Ps. I did not remember my inspiration, why I chose the fabrics, or my process so this was interesting to jump back into.
I put my head down, my laptop away and worked on these hourglass blocks most of a week. IT. WAS. AMAZING. It is rare I can step away from day to day work things and just sew and I was able to do it that week. And it’s all I want to do next week and the next week. ha!
I started the week with 9 finished hourglass blocks that were made 3ish years ago, roughly 75 finished hourglass units and a ton of 5” squares. I made a couple hundred more hourglass units until I had enough to make (42) 10.5” blocks. I laid out the quilt in a 6 x 7 grid which finishes at 63” x 73”. I used all the fabrics I started with three years ago with one addition - the bright pink starry fabric. I am so thrilled to have this top finished and I can’t wait to get it all quilted up!
After I got all my blocks finished, I had to play with the layout on my design wall.
I don't think I had too much of a rhyme or reason for how I laid it out but tried to make sure that none of the same fabrics were touching when the blocks were sewn together. It worked out pretty easily. This is one bold and funky quilt and I decided to let it direct me instead of me try to control it.
I sent this quilt off to Ashley of Hen House Quilting and we chose the Sawtooth pantograph. We used peach thread and it turned out so fun and vibrant.
I bound the quilt in a burnt orange red solid, I don't know the name or brand of solid. And I backed it in a cool plaid print from Windham.
This was such a fun make, even though it took me years to finish. I sort of want to make another one.
You can find this free tutorial at Cluck Cluck Sew. This would be perfect for 5" squares or FQs or any large scraps. Have fun!