Shopping and sorting for a quilt project

You are so smart out there! I should check my stride length to see if that is causing the significant discrepancy in my numbers. I have to do something, as I'm getting close to the end of the year and still need KMs. 

Today, I'm going shopping in my stash! I recently started two new classes: Dear Jen and Spice Market. I LOVE the original colorway for Spice Market, and I have loads of orange and pink fabrics, so when I need to choose, I will just reach into the baskets and pull something out. Although, I may do this same exercise so I don't pick the same fabrics repeatedly. 

But when it came to Dear Jen, I struggled with what to pick for the colorway. I think I went through three different ones or variations of the same one before I settled on it. What did I end up choosing? I'm using black on white and white on black for the backgrounds. For the other part of the block, I'll be using solids. And while it sounds easy enough, I wanted to use as many different fabrics as I have. No need to buy anything new for this. 

So here's what happened. I have a basket of white on black and black on white, and I pulled it out and dumped it on the table. This gives me a good visual of what I have. I know lots of people fold their fabric and put them on boards so they stand upright. That would never work for me. I like to touch, feel, and see the entire print. For the most part, all of my baskets are neat. The basket of solids is the exception, and I am trying to figure out why. 

Shopping for fabrics

I sorted through and rejected some of them. I rejected those with equal amounts of black and white; a few were greyer than black. Back in the basket and back on the shelf they went. 

The rejects

I organized the black-on-white prints and put them in piles of ten to help with the counting process. I'm not sure why the one in the bottom left made it in this pile. It's pretty obvious it does not fit. There were 75 different prints. Sheesh!!!!

The black-on-white prints

Then I did the same thing with the white-on-black. I believe the other print got moved to this pile. I have 43 prints. 

The white-on-black

Then, I took the basket of solids and dumped it. 

The solids

I was only looking for bright colors, so I put all the neutrals back in the basket and put them back on the shelf. 

The rejected solids

I sorted the solids by color family (more or less). 

The solids are sorted into color families

I laid them out to see the range of color - anywhere from light to dark. So they are NOT all bright, but I think I can live with that. 

Laid out to see the variety of color

Here are all the solids. There are a lot more warm colors than cool colors. I wonder why? I have some solid FQ bundles, but I didn't break any of them open to work on this project. 

The solids that made the cut

Now, here's the part that I and other OCD people will struggle with. I want to avoid repeating the shopping process, so I'll leave the fabrics out until the quilt is complete. I found a tub for the black and whites, and the solids are sitting on a chair as I don't have a container for them. But I am going to keep them out until the quilt is done in June. Keep in mind that the pile will get significantly smaller every month as I pull to make the blocks. Once I'm done with the fabric, it goes into the stash room. 

The fabrics pulled for Dear Jen

So that unwieldy pile will be there for a while, but it should be significantly less by the end of this year, and I'll start by using those prints with the most yardage. 

I had to work out a system for how often each fabric gets used. I need to make 143 (more or less) blocks, so I will have to use each black-on-white to make two blocks. There are approximately 43 of the solids and the white-on-blacks, so they will be used three times each. I have a system (a bag with a note) for those still needing to be used the following month. 

Then, when I was sewing the other day, I got to the end of my block to discover that I was missing a square. 

Where's my last square?

Oops -- I sewed THREE pieces together, not two. 

Silly me!

Here are my first eight blocks for Dear Jen. 

Eight blocks for Dear Jen

When I chose the colors, I was trying to have a system, but I think that went out the window pretty quickly. 

I didn't want to use the same background with the same solid and look above and below. I managed to screw it up in the first month! 

Can you believe these two blocks are the SAME block? 

These two blocks are the same

And look—I messed up the colors yet again! That white on black has a lot of white spots! 

These two are the same, except I messed up the center on the first try. Neither of them looks like the block from the book! And who will know? No one, so I'm not sweating it!

And here they are again in a different configuration. 

My Dear Jen blocks

This round of blocks was very straightforward, except for the 1½" (trimmed) HSTs. But we can handle that! 

I have to start prepping for the next round of classes, which begins next weekend. Not this weekend—I still have lots of free days!!!

I will be speaking at the Durham Trillium Quilters' Guild on Monday, November 11, in Oshawa, so if you are around, be sure to come see me. We're going to chat about modern quilts! I can't wait!

While the mound of paperwork didn't diminish, I accomplished a lot, so that's always a positive. I managed to get the quilt top together and loaded it on the long arm, and now I'll have to quilt and bind it today. That should be a manageable task. 

What a crazy, windy day it was. The kids could have gone trick-or-treating in their summer clothes! I'm happy to report that Miss Murphy is feeling much better. The limp is almost gone, and while she's still a bit agitated, she's much calmer. Heck, she was always agitated to a certain degree. That girl is HYPER!!!

On that note, I'm out of here!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!