Always Ahead of Time

With some quilt projects, a quilt-maker must be ahead of her time. Projects with a seasonal theme have to be started early in order to ship to recipients so that they can enjoy them during the season.

Well, in my opinion, there are a few holidays that never go out of season. One is Winter Solstice, of course. Ever since I started making quilts for family, I've made them in time to ship them so they are received by Thanksgiving when people start decorating their homes.

Halloween is my personal favorite. This year, I joined a Halloween fabric swap; send 5 different 6.5" squares with one extra (that one could be the same or different) to 20 other quilters & receive different fabrics in return. One could never buy all the variety that come. I have two plans for the squares; one is a 12" quilt BOM swap with Rex, and the other is simply joining them to make a back on one of the WIP Halloween quilts.

The first Halloween quilt I made went to one of my Nieces. It was a simple rail fence block with black sashing. While I think it turned out brilliantly, it was not an easy one to construct and have look decent. Everything in it was scrapped from the stash others gave me. I really didn't know what I was doing and thought the rail fence was going to be an easy construction. There is a real art to it. The blocks are a combination of the Hallows-themed fabrics with complementary solids.

Here is the back on that one. Again, scraps. There was enough of the purple to go the length but not the width. I cut up a panel with all those cute blocks and added the orange borders to it. I could see how one side was really wild and the other had less drama to it. Either way, it was like making two quilts in one. Betsie's boys are still elementary school age, so its gotta be fun for them too.

The other one that is made and in the home of my Sister-in-Law is this early try at house blocks. The trick to it was in coordinating the 9-patches to the roofs and cornerstones. And if I were to make this one again, I would make points rather than flat roof treatments. The back is a one-fabric piece that is also on the front as a border. I had no pattern for it but had seen a pic online for the idea. Again, the quilt maker is always designing for the future outcome.

I requested any pattern in Black, Orange and White for another block swap I am in, and this was the July block, which is even cuter up close and personal. These blocks will go on a quilt I make for myself.

I've also made table runners and even decorative pillows out of the Halloween scraps I've been given over the years. Its just fun fabric to work with. 

I have only one Halloween quilt going out this year. Its ready to machine quilt this week, and will be ready to ship out mid-September. There are at least three more of them gathering steam (and fabric pieces) in one of my project bins. With luck, they will be finished in 2015.

Ahead of my time? Yup, and I like it that way. Quilting enhances my natural tendencies for organization, for seeing the bigger picture and for planning ahead.