Hourglass Quilt in Progress

As I mentioned in my last post, I ended up working on yet another blue quilt before starting a red one.  I found out last Sunday that one of my uncles was having some health challenges.  So I decided to make him a quilt.  When I discussed color options with my mom, sister, and husband, we all thought that blue would be a good color choice for him. 

When I got home, I pulled out the rest of my blues and decided to make a quilt for him out of my ten inch squares.  Life got a little busy, so I pondered what pattern to use as I went throughout my next couple days.  I finally settled on an hourglass quilt.  I pulled out my ten inch strips (what was left of them) and had the EXACT amount needed for a lap quilt without cutting into the stash.  There were 21 darks and 21 lights.  Nothing but scraps left over!  I knew that this quilt was meant to be. 

I was finally able to sew the blocks on Wednesday night.  It felt so good to be working on a quilt again after over a week away from my machine.  :D

Taking pictures is so helpful, I realized that I had a block turned the wrong way after I saw it on the camera.  :o)

I was surprised at how much I had to trim off when squaring up the blocks. 

I used two different tutorials to make these blocks.  One was from the Missouri Star Quilt Company, and the other was from Red Pepper Quilts.  When using 10 inch squares, I trimmed them down to 9 inches.  So they finish at 8.5 inches.  (I always with the MSQC would give more dimensions in their tutorials, but other than that they are awesome!) 

This is the layout I ended up using.  I didn't have any more dark blues, so I traded fabric with my mom to get these border fabrics.  She would have given me the fabric (especially because this quilt is for her brother), but it is kind of fun to say that I traded and didn't have any more yards added to my stash.  Quirky, I know.  ;)

One thing that the tutorials didn't mention was about pressing and sewing the blocks together.  Your first seam you press to the dark, and the second seam you press to the side.  So when you sew the blocks together, some seams nest together nicely and others are bulky.  I just made do with the way it was, but I didn't realize until sewing it together that every blocks meets with eight points.  I pressed the last seam (when sewing the columns together) open.  That helped a little with the bulk.  Some of my points are perfect, and others are not.  Just remember that the subtitle of my blog says that my quilts are made with love--NOT perfection.  I'm okay with that.  Lol.

Here is the completed top. 

I think the dark and light borders add so much.  This quilt top is about 60 x 70. 

I thought I would share how I do my pieced backings.  First, I lay the quilt top on the floor.  Then I lay the fabric I have opened over the top to see if I can cover all of it. 

I originally had the lighter blue on the bottom left corner going the other direction.  It wasn't wide enough, so I rotated it and added the paisleys to cover the length.  Then I added the lighter blue in the upper right corner.  Half the width of the fabric wasn't wide enough for the quilt, so I added that narrow dark strip.  I know the other half of the lighter blue will cover the part of the quilt top you can see peeking here, so I squared everything up and sewed it all together. 

Here is the completed backing.  I still have it over my quilt top to check sizing.  It is a perfect size for how I baste my quilts, but if you are quilting on a long arm, it would probably need to be a bit bigger. 

Now, here my quilt is all basted and ready to quilt. 

I better go and get quilting!  Maybe I will have it finished by tomorrow, because I will be binding it by machine. 

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I will be linking up with Can I Get a Whoop Whoop and Confessions of a Fabric Addict. 

P.P.S.  I can't believe I finished this so quickly.  Here is the "finished" post.