Twister top done!

Finally, I've finished something.  I spent a good part of the day in my sewing room, where I managed to not only finish cutting out the blocks for the Twister quilt, but also managed to get them sewn together. 

But before I show a picture of it, I had several people ask me how much fabric was left over after cutting out the Twister blocks.  I took some pictures and measurements so I could more accurately answer that.  Here, I've laid the template on the fabric ready to cut out the next block...

Template positioned and ready to cut

You can see the white square in the upper left hand corner.  That's really all that's salvageable after cutting out the blocks.  Here's a better picture of what's left...

Fabric left over after cutting blocks

If you're careful cutting around the template (meaning you don't cut much past each edge), you might be able to save a 2.5" square of fabric for your scrap pile.  However, I no longer save anything smaller than a 5" square or 2.5" x 12" strip because I know I won't use it.

So I finished cutting out all 100 blocks and sewed them back together.   Before cutting out the blocks, my initial topper was 46" square.  After cutting out the blocks and sewing them together, it was 30.5" square or 33% smaller.  The directions said to expect it to be 1/4 to 1/3 smaller, so that's right on. 

Twister blocks sewn together

I added a 3.5" border to each side to get my finished top.  It is now 37" square.

Completed Twister Top

Now all that's left is to quilt it.  Ha!  That's usually the step that takes me the longest.  Not the actually quilting, but just deciding how to quilt it and making myself do it!  I've already got the batting and backing prepped, so any suggestions on how to quilt it???

I just want to add a few thoughts about the Twister template and pattern.  First, several people have complained that the template was too high for their rotary cutter to cut around.  I have a 45mm Olfa Deluxe Rotary Cutter and didn't have any problems.

Second, before cutting these blocks, you need to make sure you have room to move around the template.  I used a small cutting mat on top of my ironing board so I could move around the board to cut each block.  Third, I understand there's a larger Twister template that uses 10" squares and will give you a much larger block.  The smaller one creates blocks that are 3" finished.  I like how the quilt turned out, but it was a lot of cutting, sewing, cutting and sewing to make a fairly small quilt.  And it's a bit monotonous.  Just being truthful here.

Finally, I've decided to rename this quilt.  From now on, I'm going to call it 'Star Crossed'.  Once it's quilted and I've finished painting my quilting room, it's going to hang in there.  I'm also making a lap size quilt for the sofa in there out of the same fabrics.  I'm planning to use the "Over and Under" pattern from the book Scrap Basket Sensations by Kim Brackett.  I'll change up the size of the blocks and the layout a little bit though.  I'd love to get started on it right away, but need to finish a couple of other things first.

The other day, I caught David napping on top of this credenza.  It's as if he was walking across it and suddenly decided he had to take a nap. 

David Napping

Until later...

“Encourage anyone who feels left out, help all who are weak, and be patient with everyone.”  

1 Thessalonians 5:14 (CEV)

Lovely Saturday...

After what feels like a long drought in my quilting, I spent half a day in my sewing room last Saturday.  I popped some movies in the DVD player and puttered around on several projects.  It reminded me why I call my sewing room "my happy place".

I was finally able to complete step 1 for my Twister quilt.  That entailed sewing 81 - 5" squares together and adding a 3" border.

Step 1 of Twister quilt

Then I took a break from that quilt to make some blocks for a charity quilt.  I neglected to take pictures, but made 32 - 4-patches using 30's fabric.  It was a quick project and I know will go to a good cause.

After cleaning up my mess, I decided to go back to working on the Twister quilt.  The next step is to cut out the Twister blocks using the special template.  I'll end up with 100 different 3.5" blocks from my little topper when I'm through.  It's not hard to do, but is a little time consuming.  First, I line up the template on the seam lines and then cut out around it.

Twister template lined up

Here's one of the blocks cut out and the space it leaves behind.

First Twister block cut out and labeled

I was very careful to label each block so that I'm sure I have it in the correct place and with the right side up.  I managed to cut out about half of them before stopping.  Like I said, it's not hard, but does take a while.

First 50 blocks - half way done!

I still had some time before I needed to start dinner (I had company coming over), so I took a couple more passes on Man Cave.  I'm about half way done with it now.  I've been having lots of issues with my neck lately and quilting a pantograph just aggravates it.  I have to keep my head bent to the side so I can really see the lines I'm following, so it's slow going on this one.  I'm going out of town next week and would love to have it quilted by then, but it will all depend on how my neck holds up.  Speaking of which, it's giving me a lot of problems right now, so I'm going to end this and go put a pain patch on it.

Until later...

There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 

1 Corinthians 12:5 (NLT)