QOQ ATLM, Again

I hadn’t exactly forgotten about Quilt of the Quarter (QOQ) but my brain had decided the second quarter ended around… September. 🙄 Fortunately, my QOQ pal said, ‘so …. are we still doing this?’ 

 Pretty sparkly metallic cats

Why yes, yes we are. I knew the fabric I wanted to use - this Cat-I-Tude2 yardage and fat quarters has been in a bag, set aside for ‘special’, for years. 

 Friendship Star is a no-go. 

Thought I knew which design… but a test block (with ugly fabric) was a big, fat NO. Plan B, after an evening on Pinterest, looks more promising. 

 Inspiration 

Wednesday was the wake-up call; 

Thursday was for fussy-cutting fancy cats and starching/ironing fabric; 

Friday saw most of the fabric cut and cat frames sewn. 

Saturday we sewed… and Sunday it’s finished! 

 33 x 39”

This QOQ was ATLM (at the last minute) - again - but I’m pleased: A) the fabric is out of my stash; B) the quilt looks good; and C) the project is finished before June ended. Win, win, win! Now to plan for Quarter 3….

QOQ Windmills

A quilting buddy and I are doing a Quilt of the Quarter challenge. The rules are simple - we want to use up what we already have so once a quarter make something using precuts we already own, augmented only with fabric from our stash. 

BOQ contenders?

To me, precuts are complete fabric collections like layer cakes, jelly rolls, charm packs, honeybuns, etc. I haven’t bought many of those in recent years (mainly because I hate the linty, uneven pinked edges) so I’m also including fat quarter bundles. 

When we set this up, I knew immediately what fabric I wanted to use first. I bought two of these fat quarter bundles several years ago because they were sparkly! colorful! and on sale! Love the colors but they are very low contrast - and there are only 4 different colors - so finding a pattern has been a challenge. 

 Inspiration windmills

On my third pass through Pinterest when I couldn’t sleep last night, it dawned on me (see what I did there??) that this doesn’t have to be a super fancy project. It needs to be: A) something I enjoy working on and B) finished, so someone can use and enjoy it. Pressure off, pattern picked, fabric cut and the first four blocks made. 

This is going to be so pretty. (I hope.)

Other patterns I want to make during the QOQ.

First QOQ

A pal and I challenged each other to make a Quilt Of The Quarter using precuts we had on hand. (Here) And look! Still two weeks to go and my windmills quilt (top) is done!

48 x 56”

I played around with several layouts and this was the best one. Still not thrilled with the white stripes but it looks better in person. The metallics are really pretty and sparkly.

Of course, my pal did something much more complicated and finished it a couple of weeks ago… But this is done; I used up fabric I’ve had for years; and it’s going to my Guild’s donation drive where someone will benefit and hopefully love it. Time to start planning QOQ#2.