While making the last batches of bowtie blocks recently, I've also been spending plenty of time playing with layouts on the design wall. I ended up with more than 350 bowtie blocks altogether, which will probably become two or three small quilts. They were mostly made last year as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.
I decided on the plan for the first quilt last weekend and got ready to start joining the blocks together. Here's what I was planning.
The design changed once I got the spacer rectangles cut and ready to sew to the blocks. I realized that the seams would nest together better if my bowties were mostly pointing downhill from left to right instead of uphill. That meant switching everything around on the wall and also remaking the half blocks that finish off the tops and bottoms of a few columns.
This is how far I got on joining blocks and spacers together yesterday. The blocks are sewn into columns, but the columns aren't joined together yet. Right now I'm planning to construct this quilt in four sections, quilt each section, then join them together. Machine quilting is difficult for me, and I'm hoping that this method will make it easier to handle and help me finish more quilts.
The full photo shows the blocks that have been joined into columns at the top left. The blocks for the lower left are next to the sewing machine, waiting to be stitched together. After that, the other two sections will be constructed. You might notice that one of the orange blocks over toward the right end of the center horizontal space has been split into two halves. There's also one green block that got divided. All of the empty spaces between blocks will be filled with rectangles of the same background fabric.
Be sure to check out all of the wonderful scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge every Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday.
Julie in GA
Divide and conquer is a great way to make the quilting easier on yourself, Julie. Here's hoping it works SEW well for you!!!
ReplyDeleteLooks like your plan is in place and going forward. I will watch to see how that quilting then joining the sections is done. I need to learn to do that. Maybe I could quilt a large quilt then!! I'll keep watching!
ReplyDeleteThis is such a fun layout!
ReplyDeleteNo matter how you sew your bowties together, they're going to make a fun quilt! Those half blocks on the edges are a great idea, too.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great construction plan... I look forward to hearing how it works and if you'd recommend it!
ReplyDeleteOoh, those waves of bow ties are sooo enticing! I agree with Little Penguin, those "ties will bind" no matter how you decide to set them. It sure looks like fun to play around with them on the design wall, Lol!
ReplyDeleteWaves of bow ties. . .what a terrific layout! I like your quilting plan.
ReplyDeleteEverything about this is wonderful. I love the spacer blocks, and how the colors move across the top. Machine quilting in sections really does work, and makes more quilts possible!
ReplyDeleteWhatever it takes to get to the finish line is a great plan. Love the bow ties and the swoop-iness design you decided on.
ReplyDeleteOWO Julie, this is a cool layout!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun quilt!
ReplyDeleteGreat plan to break up the larger quilts into manageable sizes. I love how happy this quilt is. Thanks for sharing with Oh Scrap!
ReplyDeleteNesting seams do make a difference when you have lots of seams. Great setting.
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