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Sunday, June 23, 2019

Drumroll, Please: Son the Younger Has Approved His Quillow Design for 2021!

The experience of making Lars's high school graduation quilt from start to finish in only three months was so stressful that it left me physically ill and completely wiped out.  I have never even made a baby quilt in such a short time frame.  Deadline quilting doesn't suit me, so I'm getting a jump start on Son-the-Younger's high school graduation quilt for 2021 -- in hopes that I can actually enjoy making this one!


Anders' Graduation Quilt for 2021, New York Beauty Blocks by Karen K. Stone
Step one was the solicitation of Son-the-Younger's opinions and preferences regarding the style and design of his quilt.  If you had asked me a week ago, I would have predicted that Anders would want something simpler and less conspicuous than his brother's quilt.  I thought maybe I would be making a T-shirt quilt, because Anders has a fabulous collection of T-shirts with snarky science and violin jokes that he has begun to outgrow.  But no, he does not want a T-shirt quilt.  

I started filling a Pinterest board with a wide range of options for his perusal, with some quilts pinned because of the piecing design and others because I liked the color scheme, and many of them would have been fairly straightforward to put together.  But the quilt that caught his eye was not a "quilt-in-a-day" project -- he picked Cinco de Mayo by Karen K. Stone.  


72 x 72 Cinco de Mayo Quilt by Karen Kay Stone (Book is OOP but available here)

Lars's graduation quilt was an original design, and it was cool to do something completely one-of-a-kind for him.  But I have always wanted to play with New York Beauty blocks and Karen K. Stone designed so many interesting variations on this historical block -- I love her quilt.  What's more, these blocks are available as an add-on-purchase for my EQ8 software, so I was able to start with the blocks and layout Karen designed, add two rows to the layout so the quilt would fit an XL Twin college dorm bed, and then start right in playing with color without having to draft those variations myself.


72 x 96 Cinco de Mayo Resized for XL Twin Bed, in Monochrome
Like Lars's quilt, Anders' quilt will be comprised of 48 twelve inch blocks in a 6 x 8 layout for a finished size (before quilting) of 72" x 96".  Karen's original Cinco de Mayo quilt is 72" x 72" so I just needed to add two more rows.  When I asked Anders what colors he wanted, he said something about blue and white.  After playing around with it for awhile, I decided shades of blue with accents of red/orange would be more fun to work with.  Not sure yet whether I'll stick with solids or venture off into tonal solids, batiks and prints, but what has me most excited about this project is that every block in the quilt is unique and I get to play with scraps, fussy cutting of any interesting prints...  That should help keep things interesting.


Coloring is Just a Guide; This Quilt Will be Scrappy

Quillow Sunday 2021 is twenty-three months away.  

If I make three blocks per month, I'll have all 48 finished in 16 months.  If I make 2 1/2 blocks per month, I'll still be done making them all in 20 months, giving me a month to assemble the blocks into a top and another two months for quilting and binding.  That is SO MUCH MORE my speed!!

Because it's not like I don't have anything else to work on...  Does anyone remember THIS quilt?


Neglected WIP Quilt for Anders That No Longer Fits His Bed
Yes, I'm ashamed to admit that I started making this quilt for Anders back when he was twelve, and here he is about to turn 16 and I have finished ONE block.  Ugh!  It's the Moda Modern Building Blocks sampler, except that I resized it, swapped out a few of the blocks, and added the rainbow stripe borders to the top and bottom to make it fit a twin bed with a really deep pillow top mattress, and then I matched my Kona Solid colors to the modern graphic wallpaper in his en suite bathroom.  And since my son is now TOWERING over me at 5'10" or 5'11" or whatever, we got him a Queen bed.  The irony is that the original quilt pattern was sized to fit a Queen bed and all the blocks would have been ruler-friendly measurements if I'd left it alone...  So anyway, there happen to be 48 blocks in that quilt, of which 47 blocks remain to be constructed.  I need to finish the middle school quilt before my kid graduates from high school, too. Ugh -- so many quilts!!  So little time!!

I'm headed to Appalachian State for New Student & Parents Orientation tomorrow, so consider this my jump start on Design Wall Monday, To-Do Tuesday, AND my July OMG (One Monthly Goal).

This week's To Do:

  • Resize Beware the Ishmaelites (Anders' MBB Sampler Quilt) so that it fits a Queen bed again
  • Make the two 6" Farmer's Wife blocks that I've selected as "palate cleansers" between projects
  • Cut out the turquoise clam shells and circles for the 6-months-overdue Modern Baby Clam Shell quilt (Can you imagine how uncomfortable the poor mother would be if her baby was as long overdue as the baby's quilt?!)


And this month's goals:
  • Make the first NY Beauty block for Trece de Agosto (Anders' graduation quilt version of Cinco de Mayo)
  • Repair Lars's Drunken Dragons quilt and get that back on his bed in our house
  • Make THREE more blocks for Beware the Ishmaelites
  • Make another block for Trece de Agosto, Anders' graduation quilt
By the way -- if any one of you owns this Karen K. Stone Quilts book, or your library has a copy, or your friend has one that I could borrow, I would really, REALLY appreciate it.  I can't bring myself to spend over $80 for a paperback book, especially when I already own the patterns from the book, but I would really like to take a look at the instructions to avail myself of any tips, tricks, or special techniques that Karen used in the construction of these very intricate New York Beauty blocks.  Thank you!

I'm linking up with:

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·      Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework http://quiltingismorefunthanhousework.blogspot.com
·      Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com 
·      Main Crush Monday at Cooking Up Quilts http://www.cookingupquilts.com/
·      Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt http://lovelaughquilt.blogspot.com/
·      Moving it Forward at Em’s Scrap Bag: http://emsscrapbag.blogspot.com.au/
·      BOMs Away at Katie Mae Quilts: https://www.katiemaequilts.com/blog/ 
·      Colour and Inspiration Tuesday at http://www.cleverchameleon.com.au
·       To-Do Tuesday at Stitch ALL the Things: http://stitchallthethings.com
·      One Monthly Goal at Elm Street Quilts: http://www.elmstreetquilts.com/
·      Midweek Makers at www.quiltfabrication.com/

·      WOW WIP on Wednesday at www.estheraliu.blogspot.com

18 comments:

  1. You don't do simple do you! LOL! I love New York Beauties, we have a lady who will be teaching them to our guild in 2020

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  2. well that will be a fabulous quilt I hope you can stick to your schedule! I do not have the book - always thought to get one but never did

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  3. Good grief!! You just finished one masterpiece and now you've already set out to make the next? You've got a plan. Best of luck with making the plan into an XL Twin quilt!!
    Hint: It's going to be spectacular. :o))

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  4. This quilt is on my bucket list to make. It's going to be stunning on the colors you've chosen. It's good to give yourself plenty of time to make this one! Enjoy the process. :)

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  5. That quilt will be a wonderful gift for your son. I’d set my goals on that and the baby quilt. The others to fill in. Question, since your 12 year old is now 15, does he still want the Moda quilt for his queen bed? You have made one bock with many to go. I’m sure you asked. I remember making a horse quilt for my daughter. By the time I got it done, it was past the time. She still has and loved her horse but the quilt was not as enthusiastically received as conceived due to time and taste changes.

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  6. As always,I am so inspired by you!! Speedy sewing is not always fun! Though I admit, I get a thrill out if it. I'm glad you're planning ahead! I think this quilt is just as amazing!! This is the type of project I'd choose to be my first quilt top . . . Ummm, Cinco de Mayo . . . It is May 5th and that is my wedding anniversary. My brain is swirling!! I might have to get that book!! I'll share if I do!

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  7. Given the intricate design, I'm glad to read that you are starting right away and spreading the work out. Whenever you sense you are veering off schedule, just come back to this post and read the beginning to refresh your memory of what finishing Lars' quilt felt like and you'll get yourself back on track. It's a terrific design by the way.
    Pat

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  8. I did a quick online search for the book and found astronomical prices, as well. Sorry, I love the pattern as well. What I also did find is that there are videos by Karen K Stone of various blocks/techniques on iquilt link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUcEd_ZqyCI. This is one of the few on Youtube. Good luck! I am sure it will be amazing

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  9. Wow that is an intense quilt! I am so glad you are giving yourself time to make it. I do not have that book, but I have always loved Karen Stone's patterns. I made her New York Beauty quilt before 1997. I know this because we were living in a 2 bedroom mobile home with 3 kids and it was hard to keep the fabrics organized! It looks like you have set some great goals!

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  10. Wow! This is some quilt! You are wise to start piecing these blocks early to save stress later on but what a wonderful quilt! Happy Stitching!

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  11. What an enjoyable post - you are a hoot! :)
    I looked at all my go-to places for hard to find books, and my goodness, all the sellers are certainly proud of their Karen Stone quilt books. If I come across one in real life (via one of my Goodwill excursions) I'll let you know.
    Good luck with your goals!

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  12. Wow, I love this quilt and I want to make a version too one day. Good thinking, getting on to this one early so you can enjoy it more.

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  13. While wasting time this morning clicking around, I came across your blog-love the name! I do own the Karen Stone book and would be happy to share it with you. It won't hurt to part with it since ti was published in 2004 and is in pristine condition-I obviously haven't used it much. Send me your address if you want the book.

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  14. Hi Rebecca! Wow, that is one gorgeous quilt for your son. I think you have set out a reasonable schedule to get the quilt top complete with plenty of time. I'll ask around about the book, and check my library. ~smile~ Roseanne

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  15. Such an intricate design. It will be an amazing gift. I also like to work at a slower pace, that way I enjoy the process so much more. May be you can make a pillow with that one block?!

    -Soma

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  16. That's graduation quilt has a lot of WOW! factor. Good luck with your plan. I think all of us have dealt with the quilt that didn't get done before they out grew the bed (in most cases, I never even got the fabric cut). My college kid just started kidnapps the quilts she likes when I finish them. Though I did finish the SIT's chemistry quilt before she graduated. So there is hope.

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  17. These are definitely WOW quilts!

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  18. Your New York Beauty quilt will be to die for! They always are! I made a similar plan to complete my 52 blocks for my NYB quilt in a year. That was one block a week. well, I got so hooked that I am way ahead. I started in January and only have 12 more to go! Yay! I hope you get just as hooked as I did and get your goal completed early.

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