neutral Chinese coins strippie quilt, top completed

 
Neutral Chinese Coins, Strippie Quilt
Top completed 2022
84 1/2 by 80 inches

Block finishes 8 inches
77 blocks pieced into 7 columns of 11 blocks; 6 print columns
Block made with thirty-two 1 1/2 by 2 1/2 inch pieces
Piece count: 2464 1 1/2 by 2 1/2 inch rectangles
                    

When I made the blocks for Thirteen with the dark and brights from my 1 1/2 by 2 1/2 inch rectangles bins, pulling them out sorted the leftovers into their own category of neutrals and lights. A bin full! There are some of my mother's and my grandmother's fabrics in here.
I love the Chinese Coin rectangle and made at least 4 quilts featuring them.

The beauty of having bins of scraps ready to go is just that--they are ready to go.

I wanted to work with orange and found this lovely Kaffe floral.  PWPJ112 Lucy by Philip Jacobs for Kaffe Fassett Collective, Free Spirit. A strippie quilts was planned.

I started by sewing together the rectangles together in pairs. I knew I needed a lot of them, so I did not keep track. They were used between blocks of other projects and for when I wanted some machine time without thinking. When I finally did a count of my fours, I was only about 80 away from having enough.

Pile of fours

These were then sewn into 4s, then 8s.
Then they are pressed all in one direction, rotated, and sewed into units of 16 pieces.
The units are sewn into blocks of 32 pieces, finishing 8 inches.
Blocks are pressed to one direction.

So:
77 blocks
154 half-blocks (sixteens)
308 eights
616 fours
1232 twos
2464 pieces

Blocks are sewn into seven columns of 11 blocks, rotating each block so seams nest, and should finish 8 by 88 inches.
(This did not happen according to plan--see the next paragraph!)
I cut six strips of the floral 4 1/2 inches to be inserted between each column of blocks.

Here is where humility comes in.
I consider myself a careful piecer, and my quilts are pretty on target with seam allowances. BUT, in construction with so many small pieces and no other sizes to keep them in check, they tend to shrink in size from the intended.
Mathematically, columns should measure 88 1/2 inches. My 7 columns averaged 84 1/2 inches. HUGE difference!
I cut my print to this measure and the top came together nicely and lays flat and square.

Press columns seams in one direction--I pressed down
Sew together with floral on top
Press towards floral
All seams nest

I plan to do a tips post on strippie quilts some day.

My design, use at your pleasure.

bernina X 64, top completed

Bernina X 64 
top completed 2022
about 70 inches square
Block finishes 8 inches, 64 blocks set 8 by 8

I spent quite a bit of time in front of Andy Warhol's Marilyn X 100 while visiting the Cleveland Museum of Art this summer.

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1997.246
Click on this link where you can scroll in to see the wonderful detail.
He was so quilt-like in his work.

my beloved Bernina Record 830

I liked this block by Lori Holt:
https://www.fatquartershop.com/sewcialites-block-thirtythree-inspire-free-pdf
I thought it would be a good one for repetition.
I skipped the top left flipped corner to reference the more angular lines of my beloved Bernina Record 830.
Here are my construction and pressing directions:
https://kleinmeisjequilts.blogspot.com/2022/11/bernina-x-64-block-construction.html
I have quite the collection of solids so it was fun to make combinations of color, shade, and value.
It would be a great two-fabric quilt with a positive and a negative block repetition.

I made Lori's 6 inch finished size and added 1 1/2 inch cut frames so my blocks finish 8 inches. Alternating blocks have the frames done with the short frames on the sides or on the top and bottom, allowing needing only the corner seams to nest.
Read here for my block construction details:
https://kleinmeisjequilts.blogspot.com/2022/11/bernina-x-64-block-construction.html

In deciding how big to go, I landed on 64 blocks to observe I am 64 years old. 
To help reduce stress on the top I decided to add a border. They are cut 3 inches.
It is Kona Glacier. 

They are set 8 by 8. 
Thinking maybe straight line quilting on this in yellow.

My frames and setting using a Lori Holt design. Use my variations at your pleasure.

vote

 

bernina X 64, block construction

 

Lori Holt designed this delightful block that is available as a free pdf from the Fat Quarter Shop:
https://www.fatquartershop.com/sewcialites-block-thirtythree-inspire-free-pdf

I used the middle sized one.
I modified it slightly by eliminating the top left flipped corner. I added 1 inch finished frames so my blocks finish 8 inches.
Frames: Cut of the background fabric two rectangles 1 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches, two rectangles 1 1/2 by 6 1/2 inches.
I made half the blocks with the short pieces on the top and bottom, and half with the short pieces on the sides.

Watch for the completed top with more details soon!

dia de los muertos

In honor of Dia De Los Muertos, I am sharing photographs from my mother's funeral from 2019. 
We put my tulip quilt on her casket and a bouquet of tulips.
The casket was from Trappist Caskets, made in Iowa. They are wonderful to work with and it was the beautiful, simple casket that our mother asked for.
At the cemetery we placed dirt from the farm where she grew up on the casket.
And we had her buried with a thimble on her finger.

Remembering her today with love, and with love for my sisters with whom  thoughtful decisions were made.