I’m Having Fun

Christmas is still a week away and all my main sewing plans have been completed.  Things are under control just enough (I hope) to let me have a bit of a play.  This project was to be started in the week after Christmas, while Mick was watching the Boxing Day Test Cricket, but I’ve been a bit keen to get started, so I did.

The project is The Crossroads Quilt by Treehouse Textiles.  I’ve had the pattern for quite a while.

I first saw this quilt at Scrub Stitchin’ in 2021, when Georgina shared her version and I fell in love with the simple effectiveness of the design and thought it would be something I would like to try.  After finding the pattern I thought I would make it in vintage inspired fabrics, including some from Mum’s fabric stash, some dating back to the 1970s.  

It has been on my “To Do Very Soon” list and this was brought even further forward when I discovered the two packs of “Contemporary” fabric ten inch squares that Anni Downs had curated at the garage sale I recently attended.

These are the fabrics that were included.  The quilt has 56 blocks and a background and cross can be cut from a fat sixteenth or ten inch square.  I just needed to add some more from my stash.  That was fun.  Some fabrics have been around for a very long time and used years ago, some have been around for a very long time waiting for the perfect project and some are relatively new, from the big destash that Chooky and I bought a few years ago.

The first job was to cut and pair up the fabrics.  Some are a great match, some not at all.  It is truly scrappy.  I just cut the fabrics into bigger, overall sizes, rather than the actual block pieces at this stage as many of the fabrics were directional or had designs that would look best in the proper order in the blocks.  I had them spread all over the dining table and kitchen bench…..then I had to go out, so Mick had to carefully work around them until I returned home. Oops.  Just as well he is patient.

At this stage I batched the blocks up into sets of six, as I have six mini design boards and figured it would be best to work on six blocks at a time.

I thought that would be all I would get done before Christmas, but I was still eager to start so picked my first pile of blocks and cut them into their smaller pieces and set out on the design boards.  I can’t quite believe it, but I actually considered the pressing order before I started doing any piecing.  Would I press towards the cross or away from it?  When I thought about it, if they were all pressed the same way, they would not nest when I joined the blocks together, so it made sense to press half of the blocks each way……but which blocks, as I hadn’t worked out a layout yet?  The answer was simple, I would press one set of six one way and the next set of six the opposite way.  The blocks are to be fairly random, so surely I can make that work.

So, I reckoned if I pieced one set of six a day I could have them all pieced by Christmas.  Well, I’ve been enjoying it, and on a few days I have piece two sets, and at this stage I only have three sets to go.  I’ve worked out that, now that I have a routine, I can get a set of six blocks stitched in just on an hour.  If I get a wriggle on, they will be finished in the next couple of days and I may……just may…..have the top pieced before Christmas.  If that is the case, then all I would have to do would be quilt and bind it after Christmas.  I haven’t thought about a backing yet, but I’m sure I could find a little something here…..as if there was any doubt about that.

An incentive is always a good encouragement for me and this time the incentive is that I would like to do a jigsaw, but only once this quilt is finished.  I have several lovely ones here and have been wanting to do one for ages, but there always seems to be a reason to put it off….and we also only have one table.

Wish me luck and I will keep you posted.