strip piecing

Top half sewn, bottom half designed................ from Exuberant Color

After I sewed the top half together, I folded it in half so only the bottom 3 rows are showing and pinned it back up on the wall. Then I designed the bottom half, making sure I didn't get the same fabric near itself. There are 3 blocks alike of each combination plus some strips were duplicated. I started sewing the bottom section together last night.

The sixth pink Bear Paw block was sewn.

I put all six of the blocks up on the design wall while part of the wall wasn't covered with the 9 patch top ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 month ago. under 9 patch , one color quilt , strip piecing

The chickens won............ from Exuberant Color

The chickens will be the backing on this 16 patch quilt. It's unlikely that I would make another quilt in the future that could use this fabric. Now I have 2 ready for my longarm quilter.

I realized as I got more blocks on the design wall that there needs to be a double row of the spotted fabric all around the perimeter.

This is so much prettier than the camera wants to show you. I still need 2 more rows at the bottom and I will start filling in the 9 patches today.

Here is yesterday's pink ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 month ago. under 9 patch , one color quilt , stash , strip piecing

Layout preview................ from Exuberant Color

I wanted to see how the layout was going to look, so I took one 9 patch block of each fabric combination and previewed them with the 2 alternate fabrics. I figured out that I need to do 2 columns on each side with the spotted fabric plus one row top and bottom. Then the floral fabric will fill in all of the center spaces. I think it will be interesting close up. I'm not sure about a distance view.

Downstairs I cut the batting for the 16 patch quilt and looked for backings. From top to bottom they ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 month ago. under 9 patch , one color quilt , stash , strip piecing

Rainy Saturday.................. from Exuberant Color

It rained most of the day yesterday. I checked the rain gauge about 5 p.m. and it had 1.5" in it. I didn't empty it so I'll have a 2 day total including today's rain. We got 2.5" on Thursday after a month with less than an inch of rain. Three miles west of us got 4.25" on Thursday.

I turned on the iron and pressed Friday's blocks and the last 3 stratas. Then I made the 9 blocks from the stratas. I have 63 six inch 9 patches made now. If ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 month, 1 week ago. under 9 patch , one color quilt , strip piecing

Trying the layout....................... from Exuberant Color

Trying out the 2 favorite choices together: I think they work pretty well. I was able to get 36 squares from the spotted fabric. I haven't cut the other one yet, but if I don't make any mis-cuts I think I will get 24 squares.

The busy print has rust color in it with brown in the spotted fabric. Even though they don't match exactly they coordinate pretty well.

I looked back through the brown bin and found another piece and this one is brown. The problem though is the light color leaves; they are so much ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 month, 1 week ago. under 9 patch , stash , strip piecing

A day to slow down.................. from Exuberant Color

I spent my time in the studio last night cutting strip lengths for 9 patches.

All of my 9 patches will be 5 dark and 4 light squares. I need to cut the dark strip into two 16" pieces and one 8" piece. The light strip needs to have one 16" strip and two 8" pieces. This will make three 9 patches. I got 7 cut last night and had done 5 previously. That will be 36 blocks. I will be experimenting with some ideas of how to use these 9 patches.

I had letters to mail and then went ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 month, 1 week ago. under strip piecing

Taking it easy.......... from Exuberant Color

I had another steroid shot to my SI joint yesterday morning and they said to take it easy for one day and then resume normal activity. I decided to sort the extra strips one more time by dark and light. I could make 'the other 16 patch' with them if I cut a few more light strips. I could also make 9 patches and do a layout with an alternate plain block (Single Irish Chain). I could just put them away and do nothing with them but they would make a good sharing quilt to put into my inventory.

This ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 month, 2 weeks ago. under food , nature , strip piecing

First quilt top for September 2026................ from Exuberant Color

Even though I have an ironing table 30" x 60", I was dreading pressing this 72" x 88" quilt top. It wasn't as bad as I expected but I'm sure glad it is done. It was hard to get a good straight on photo because my longarm bar is in the way. This was the best of the 3 that I took. I haven't looked for a backing yet but I still have 2 (of 3) that I pulled when I was making the Snail's Trail quilt with many of these same fabrics. They are on ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 month, 2 weeks ago. under nature , strip piecing

Top sewn, not pressed................. from Exuberant Color

I wasn't sure I could get the last 10 rows sewn yesterday but I stuck with it and finished at 10:15 p.m. I hope it will feel cool in the basement today when I go down to turn on the iron.

I planted Marigold seeds in the pots with the tomato plants. Some pots only had 2 come up but this one has about 6 Marigolds in there. I have a 6' tall stake in the middle of the pot to keep the tomato plant more upright this year.

I got a few Marigolds to grow in ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 month, 2 weeks ago. under nature , strip piecing

Sewing 72" long seams.................. from Exuberant Color

There were 10 seams the first direction, 72" long, and I got 8 of them sewn by bedtime last night.

This was the pile on the sewing cabinet when I quit for the night. There are storms predicted this morning and I hope we get some of the rain. If it fizzles out I will have to be out watering the tomatoes and cucumbers today.

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 month, 2 weeks ago. under strip piecing

99 blocks on the wall..................... from Exuberant Color

After 2 hours at the design wall, this is the final layout for this 16 patch quilt. There are 2 alike of each block except one and 18 of the alternate fabric blocks.

After lunch I went back down to the basement and took the blocks down in stacks and numbered them, ready for piecing the quilt top.

In the main floor studio I took the 71 extra strips and pulled out all of the duplicates and then paired them for a future quilt. The 3 strips on top need a partner. I need to cut a few more strips ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 month, 2 weeks ago. under strip piecing

Working on two............... from Exuberant Color

I had errands to run in the morning before the heat became oppressive yesterday. When I got to work this backing was the first project. I have cut the pieces so maybe I'll get them sewn together today.

Next I cut 19 squares from the alternate block fabric. I will have to design this quilt sideways on my double design wall in the basement. It will have 99 blocks to make a top 72" x 88".

I braved the heat late in the afternoon and filled the birdfeeders and picked tomatoes. Most of the tomatoes are up high on ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 1 month, 3 weeks ago. under kaffe fabric , stash , strip piecing

Turning on the iron.............. from Exuberant Color

I knew it would take a while to press 81 blocks plus iron a few other things piled on the ironing table, so I started a load of laundry and spent a couple hours in the basement. I have the blocks sorted into 2 piles since there are 2 alike of each combination except the one at the bottom. I will be designing half of the quilt with one pile when I get around to it.

I got this quilt back from my longarm quilter so I trimmed it and then cut the binding strips, the same fabric as the ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 2 months ago. under binding , strip piecing

Playing with blocks....................... from Exuberant Color

A few days ago I showed some fabric that might work as alternate blocks sprinkled through the new quilt I'm working on. I tried these 3 yesterday.

This is the one I thought would be most likely to work. The idea is to have a print that blends with the blocks, not one that stands out as "here I am". The purpose of the blocks is to enlarge the quilt without having to piece more blocks.

This one is still a possibility but I think it might be too obvious.

I thought ths one was too busy but I ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 2 months ago. under stash , strip piecing

20 more blocks..................... from Exuberant Color

I didn't get to the sewing machine until quite late so I was out of steam and didn't even get them up on the design wall.

This is the lightest block in the bunch and I hope it plays nice with the rest.

I had an appointment at the pain clinic in the middle of the morning yesterday so I didn't get anything done before lunchtime. In the afternoon I had a couple phone calls and then filled the bird feeders and watered the tomato and cucumber plants. The weather was beautiful and I had all of ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 2 months, 1 week ago. under strip piecing

Blocks started................. from Exuberant Color

Yesterday I made the decision to make the traditional 16 patch blocks with my stratas. I pressed all of the stratas and cut enough pieces to make 20 blocks, 2 each of the ones in this photo. I'm happy with the way it is looking so far. Today I'll cut 20 more and lay out some of these blocks on the fabrics I showed yesterday for possible alternate blocks.

Today is supposed to be the best day of the week for low humidity. I hope the prediction is right because I would like windows open.

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 2 months, 1 week ago. under strip piecing

Last two.................. from Exuberant Color

There was just one strip to cut yesterday to complete the stratas.

This is all 40-1/2 stratas, ready for me to decide which 16 patch to make.

I decided to look through my larger print brown fabrics to see if there was anything I would want to use for a few alternate blocks sprinkled through. This photo shows 22" top to bottom.

This photos shows 1/2 yard of the fabric.

This photo shows 22" top to bottom. I think this might be the best candidate.

This is showing 1/2 yard of the fabric. I think this one ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 2 months, 1 week ago. under stash , strip piecing

Almost done.................. from Exuberant Color

Ten more stratas are sewn for a total of 39-1/2. There was a cut out of one of the fabrics so I could only make a half length strata from that combination.

This is one more pair but I decided it's a toss up which one is the light and which is the dark. There are too many spots of the black background compared to the amount of lighter color leaves. I'll look through some more fabrics today. Right now I have 80 different fabrics in the sewn stratas.

I folded over the stack of the first ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 2 months, 1 week ago. under strip piecing

In my happy place............. from Exuberant Color

I love having nice long seams to sew at night while I watch TV. This is the second set of 10 stratas that I finished early in the day yesterday. They were started the night before.

This is the third set of 10 stratas which I sewed last night. I have one more set of 10 to sew today. Then I have to decide if it will be a traditional 16 patch block or the "other 16 patch" which is 16 rectangles per block.

I need to clean off a table and baste one of my small quilts so I ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 2 months, 1 week ago. under strip piecing

Starting a new one................ from Exuberant Color

I took the stack of 2.5" strips that were cut at the same time as I cut for the brown/gold Snail's Trail and paired darks and lights. I added some blues and greens into the mix for a woodsy nature pallete. I'm not sure if they will be a 16 patch quilt or 'the other 16 patch' with rectangular shapes.

This is what the groups looked like (dark/light) before I started pairing them.

After I sewed 20 of the 40 pairs I did one more cut and sewed 9 of them together.

I made a ...

added by Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson 2 months, 1 week ago. under strip piecing

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