House Quilt

This quilt started out as a way to use up some scraps. Originally, I was only cutting 2" squares and I was planning for some type of a postage stamp quilt. For a few months I would cut or sew squares in small pockets of time, maybe 15 minutes before making dinner or half hour before bed. I ended up with plenty of squares, but I hadn't made much of a dent in the fabric stash and I couldn't decide on a postage stamp layout to use so the project got revised. I found a house block that would work well with assorted scrap fabrics and I began making several houses. The pattern I chose for the house blocks was from a free tutorial on Craftsy.

6 houses pre-construction

Houses needing finished roofs

After making about 15 houses, I still didn't have an overall vision for the quilt. I kept adding to the pile of pieced blocks, but there wasn't an end goal in sight. Then, a couple months ago, I laid out all the squares and house blocks that were finished and finally chose an overall design. I realized I had enough squares at that point, but I wanted 21 more house blocks. Those came along within a few weeks. Another layout shows different colors for sashing that I was considering.

Trying out sashing colors: green in upper right, brown in lower right

The houses did not stand out enough against the lighter sashing, so I went with the dark green. 

Outlined in green

This week I wanted to try out my Singer 201-2 that had been recently cleaned and rewired. The quilt squares and house blocks that had been stuffed into drawers were calling out to be sewn together. One day, when T was at work, I moved all of the dining room furniture and spread out the quilt pieces on the floor. It took a couple hours to get the entire top together and I am very pleased with how it turned out. My 201 was a joy to sew on. She is so accurate, quiet, and fast. I also switched out her lightbulb for a new LED bulb and I like the cooler light that it gives off.

Right now, I don't have space or time to baste and quilt this top.  I also need to think awhile on how to quilt it.  There are a lot of small pieces and seams here and I want the houses to stand out with the squares almost like a colorful cobblestone street in the background.  Currently, the quilt is hanging in the dining room (T walked past it for a whole day before I finally pointed out it was new).  I just pinned it right over the blue and yellow start quilt that was already hanging there. Hopefully, ideas for how to quilt this will start flowing.

Finished top