Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Demand Meets Supply

Clearly my four year old granddaughter needs some doll blankets. Those door knob hang tags are indeed a creative solution but as a quilting grandma I think I can do better.


I have a great idea that will efficiently pair supply and demand. I am hesitant to throw away anything. That is why I have in my closet this tidily labeled plastic shoe box full of leftover quilt blocks from previous projects. I opened it and spread them out, grouping them for a walk down memory lane.

 

The first two sets of 6" blocks are left over from a pair of baby quilts for my twin grandniece and grandnephew, born in 2007.



The following two sets of blocks are from baby quilts for two nieces, cousins of the twins, born in 2011 and 2013. I randomly joined central square and a flying geese components to form 6" squares in the first group. The second assembly with the 6" hearts was made with a fabric folding technique that looked really neat but was quite time consuming.



I blogged about the first three baby quilts in my post for October 9, 2011. The unique assembly technique for lilac and pink hearts is in my post for March 21, 2012 and its completion is the sixth quilt in my December 2012 in Review post.

These joined pinwheels are leftover half square triangles I accumulated from various projects. It measures about 12" x 12" - a good size for a Barbie doll.


This next assortment of HSTs I'd like to make up for a cover for plush toys for my grandson. Boys do pretend play too. For the sake of his dad however I will refrain from calling it playing with dolls. This color scheme is boyish. Its leftovers are from the completion of a nautical baby quilt shown in my August 2014 post.


I also have this random collection of candidates from a Debbie Mumm watermelon wall hanging, a stack and whack quilt for my nephew, a tree of seasons quilt for my sister, and a trial broken dishes block. The dishes block was an interesting experiment meshing a central 4-grid with a perimeter 5-grid block design.





With three granddaughters ages 4 years, 2 years, 6 months and a grandson age 16 months visiting just before Christmas, I am looking forward to repurposing these orphan quilt blocks into toy blankets. Doing so will also give me great FMQ practice. I think I can complete one and even perhaps two per child before they arrive. It depends on if I back them facing style or bind them. Hmm ... I do have a big clear acrylic train case of leftover binding to influence my decision ...


I will take a break to be social at Let's Bee Social #149 before I begin playing.

8 comments:

  1. Wow! Your organization floors me! In my dreams! Making doll and toy quilts for the grannies from these delicious blocks is genius! And you're right, perfect for practicing FMQ! Glad I stopped by! ~karen

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    1. Hah, you have only seen part of the room! Thanks for visiting and commenting. That is one of the nice things about blog visits rather than in person company. You do not have to clean the whole space. Much chaos lurks beyond the posted photo.

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  2. We look forward to our visit and I'm sure Autumn and Vivian will look forward to their new blankies!

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    1. Now that I teased about the doll blankets, I'd better deliver!

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  3. What an efficient use of stashed blocks and time! I too look forward to coming out and letting the girls play with their blankets... I guess I'd better remember to bring dolls!

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    1. I am sure Grandma will have some stuffed animal options or non-Barbie type dolls around here to go under those blankets. But if Barbies are important, by all means bring them.

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  4. Doll blankets are such a fun and satisfying project - and so well received by little girls. Your granddaughter is fortunate to have you around to look after her Barbies. :)

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    1. Have you seen the new Barbie TV ad? "when a girl plays with Barbie she imagines everything she can become" . Barbie is working hard to change her image. Check it out at
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1vnsqbnAkk

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