It’s only the first nine days of the month and I was thinking that this Post title should be the Mary Month of August. Ever since Mary Etherington posted on August 1st that #10 is the number and Pink is the color for the Country Threads Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge, I’ve been almost behaving myself with focusing on two of the projects I listed. I had already made two flimsies first, which will be shown later in the post, before starting the Big Block Quilt #Tula which was a flimsy made a year ago in July, 2022. My first priority in the UFO Challenge is to always finish a flimsy. If you’re wondering about how I came up with the name for this quilt is that I made a Big Easy Quilt #1 with Carrie Bloomston fabrics almost three years ago, you can see it Here. Since this is my second version or #2 made with Tula Pink fabrics, I thought #Tula which sounds like two, would be more fun.
The Big Easy Quilt has 16” blocks made up of either 2.5”strip, 4.5” squares and strips, 8.5” squares and 8.5” x 16.5” bricks. I drew the blocks on my trusty graph paper just like I did for the first Big Easy Quilt based on the large focal prints and accent fabrics in my Tula Pink stash.
I love making big blocks especially with fun and beautiful fabrics. I used various collections of Tula Pink fabrics and the above blocks include some of my favorite prints.
I wasn’t planning on machine quilting the Big Easy #Tula quilt yesterday but somehow managed to prep the flimsy and backing, baste, machine quilt and bind it in less than eight hours which worked out great since we’re leaving tomorrow for the GP House. The machine quilting was wavey lines two inches apart, done while listening to Hawaiian Ukele music, with Aurifil #2415 Pink on the top and #2605 Gray on the bottom. I thought using pink thread would be so appropriate for Tula Pink and it is the color for the August UFO Challenge. The backing was a wide-back multi dot print found in the backing vault and the binding is the Tula Pink Tent Print in Pink/Orange. The Big Easy #Tula quilt measures 64” x 80".
As mentioned earlier in this Post, I made two flimsies prior to finishing the Big Easy Quilt #Tula which you can see above. The Flag Quilt flimsy on the left was one of the projects listed for August and I was lucky to have started working on the blocks last month. I will write more about this quilt after it is a Finally Finish which I hope will be by the end of August. The Strip and Brick quilt which is based on GE Design Koby Quilt was not on any list and I was inspired to make it after I found yardage of a print which was designed by Country Threads and never knew I had. I’ll reveal which print it was after this too is also a Finally Finished, and again, hopefullly by the end of this month. I did jokingly asked Mary if she would like some of this fabric
And the last piece of the Mary-ment to this Post is while having a text exchange with Mary about the dog fabric in the middle which lead to her discovery as to it being a 5 yard piece, I ended up receiving yardage of it. It is a dec weight/canvas fabric and I just so happened to have in my stash the colorful fabrics on the left and right, also dec and linen weight which would go well with dog fabric. I’m thinking this would be great for a tote bag and when I do make one I’ll be sure to make one for Mary.
One last pic of the Big Easy Quilt #Tula reclining on the front porch bench. I wish a high back chair, like a throne was available instead. The Master Quilt Holder had a hard time holding up this quilt during photo taking; I’d forgotten that a 64” wide quilt is hard to hold up without fingers showing especially if it’s also 80" long so asking him to move one of the wing back chairs from the living room was out of the question. I think he might be making one of those quilt holders for photo taking that I’ve seen on other quilters’ blogs. I did confess to him finally that such a holder could be used but then I’m still holding out for a clothes line in the back yard.
We’re going to be busy at the GP House this weekend since The Master Quilt Holder and his fellow band mates will be performing at the Illinois State Fair on Monday, August 14th. This and spending time with the darling Granddaughter will leave little time for quilting which is fine since I need to take a break.
Linking up with My Quilt Infatuation/NTT
