Cut Ups Community Quilt

I belong to a small twelve-person sub-group of the Amador Valley Quilters called the Cut Ups. We gather monthly and, at each meeting, one member proposes a block pattern and fabric selections. Members each make one or more blocks. Once gathered, assembled, sandwiched, and quilted, the finished quilt is donated to charity. September was my month and I picked a block pair from the Open Options quilt pattern by Material Girlfriends. Each member made two pair of blocks. There were twelve colors choices from a fat quarter bundle, paired with white. Here is an example of four blocks, two complementary pairs, in one of the twelve colors.

After playing around with the forty-eight blocks on my design wall, this was the decided arrangement.

The backing was a deep royal blue and the quilting pattern was one of diagonal waves. Quilted with white thread, the wavy lines show up best on the back.

 

It was bound with a blue binding, accented with red piping. Labels were added on one back corner.

This quilt will be ready to be give away to a community charity after a quick washing. The washing with Synthrapol® and Color Catchers® are a must to preserve that white fabric from discoloration from the dark blue. This quilt has no name. The new owner can decide that. Here is the finished quilt. It measures 54" wide by 72" tall.

Boudoir Bathing Tote

As a quick gift for a friend recently having surgery I whipped up this tote bag. It is the second one I have made. The first one, in a knitting theme focus fabric, was for my sister and is shown in my post for 9/30/23. The pattern I used was Turn It Into a Tote, a one-page set of instructions designed by the shop owner of Back Porch Fabrics in Pacific Grove, CA. The pattern takes only ½ yard of a theme fabric and 1 yard of another coordinate. It is fast becoming one of my go-to patterns especially for gifting.

The bathing beauties of the theme fabric are so outrageously self-indulgent they seem to evoke a smile, just as one should be when pampering oneself after surgery. I chose the lining and strap fabric in a cool tone color combination of mint and aqua. The shapes reminded me of the flagstone flooring you might find in an upscale luxurious bathroom ensuite. I included the extra fabric with the tote to display the other ladies. One can never get enough of relaxing in bubble baths.