Thursday, January 29, 2015

Purple Progress

If you've been following my blog you know that I'm determined to reduce my stash this year, and the first stash-buster is a purple project.   Starting out with 4.5" purple squares I made modified snowball blocks by stitching 1.5" ivory squares onto three of the corners and pressing them back.
































I thought I had cut enough to make 120 squares for a total of 30 blocks, but I ended up with extra.  That happens to me quite often.  Either I don't know how to make hash marks while I'm cutting, or it's "the dreaded math" and I set out to cut the wrong number of pieces in the first place.  Either way, I just use the extra blocks on the back of the quilt and pretend that it's a design element.  




My original plan was to have bright yellow cornerstones.
























Once I had the first row sewn together,  Hubby asked me if I didn't think green would look better, and guess what?  It did!  So, I ripped.







































It still needs some yellow, though, so I think I will embroider centers into the flowers.  Or maybe find some cute yellow buttons to use there?  Hmmmmmm.

I had the quilt top finished last week so this week I focused on piecing the backing.  Ahhh, yes, time to use up some more of that stash!  I spent the past few days on it, but I wasn't really happy with the results.  
























First of all, I completely forgot to put the extra two blocks in.  I most certainly did not want two leftover blocks.  That would make me feel like I have to use them, and by using them I mean turning them into another whole quilt!  So I ripped ..... again. 

I added the blocks, then ripped out that large ivory piece near the top and replaced it with a pieced strip.  NOW, I'm happy with it.  
























Time for basting and quilting.  I should be able to get to that pretty quickly.  This is one project that will definitely not end up on the UFO list at the end of the year!

15 comments:

Angie in SoCal said...

What excellent progress you have made on your purple quilt I applaud you!, and invite you to link up to WIPs Be Gone on my blog as our emphasis is on progress and in doing so depleting that stash also. I'm a new follower who found you in the GYB.

Sarah Goer Quilts said...

So great! Love the scrappy purples and the green is a great pairing!

Sherry V. said...

I love your quilt....purple is one of my favorite colors. You could use yellow yo yo's instead of the buttons if you wanted to just have fabric on the quilt.

Lovely job on both the front and back of the quilt; thank you for showing it.

Gloria said...

Breathtaking!! I had no idea that the ivory would compliment the purples so perfectly! Yes, Phil"s idea of using green (love the emerald green) was inspired. And, since you asked,
BUTTONS, of course. They will look so cute with your embroidery. All in all, I am in LOVE!! :)

Cherie in St Louis said...

Oh my, yes, the revised backing is an improvement over the the first one....It's wonderful!!!!! And the top is terrific too :)

Cherie in St Louis said...

Oh yes, the revised backing is improved over the first one....It's Wonderful!!!!! And the front is terrific too :)

Marly said...

These flowers are perfect; the emerald cornerstones bring the whole design to life.

Mimi said...

Ok...I have to say that I like the quilt better with the green because to me the yellow looked displaced like it should have been in the middle of the flower. As for the backing, I liked the first one, but once you changed it, I like the second one even better, too. What a great stash buster. Can't wait to see how you handle the yellow flower centers. Cute quilt.

Mimi said...

Oh....I like the idea of yellow yo-yos.

Carole @ Fresh off the Frame said...

Yep, yellow would be perfect in the flower centers! I think it might be interesting if the centers were all slightly different from one another - maybe different sizes, or a mix of buttons, yo-yo's, embroidery...just a thought. Whatever you do will be beautiful!

Emily said...

love how the purples look together! and totally feeling the green as well :)

Sheri said...

Looks so pretty and what a good idea about the yellow yo yo's! I'm with you-- goal to use up stash!

Sheila said...

Great quilt and I had a brief look at your previous posts , lots of wonderful work . I am visiting via GYB and have become a follower .

Angie in SoCal said...

PS - make it in green and cream with a little stem into the sashing and you have a shamrock quilt. A versatile quilt pattern, Sandy!

Dar said...

I love how the purple quilt turned out. The back is perfect with the added blocks. I can't wait to see what you decide to do on the centers. You are really rocking that stash!!