2021/2022, 2.5” Birthday Swap
#651

Adorable baby NZ.
I am heading out on a weeklong road trip with my second son. We are headed to Yellowstone. He called a couple months ago and asked if I wanted to take vacation and do a road trip. Of course I do. I will be back Monday the 28th, so I hope there are no July 1 birthdays.
I am heading out on a weeklong road trip with my second son. We are headed to Yellowstone. He called a couple months ago and asked if I wanted to take vacation and do a road trip. Of course I do. I will be back Monday the 28th, so I hope there are no July 1 birthdays.
#656

Just sent out the July Birthday girl's information. Sorry, Hav4boys you, did not get a message.... you are the only one this month.
Hoping to squeeze in some sewing machine time tomorrow. This class is really devouring my time. It will be over in a 7 days, but...the next class starts 8 days from now. Whine, whine, whine but the end of August will be a little break of about ... a week.
I think I am sniffing out the sweet scent of a contest. The wheels are turning and I am thinking it will appear just after July 4th.
Wink, Wink.
Hoping to squeeze in some sewing machine time tomorrow. This class is really devouring my time. It will be over in a 7 days, but...the next class starts 8 days from now. Whine, whine, whine but the end of August will be a little break of about ... a week.

I think I am sniffing out the sweet scent of a contest. The wheels are turning and I am thinking it will appear just after July 4th.
Wink, Wink.
#657

A short while back a photo was posted as an example of what we could do with our candies and some of us thought a sew-a-long might be fun. Well, here we go. This is more of a follow along. Sew along with me or just lurk along. We only want to encourage each other to use our 2.5 birthday squares. It will be fun to see everyone's color choices and progress through the summer months.
I am using the block pattern from Quilter's Cashe` https://www.quilterscache.com/J/JacobsLadderBlock.html
I will post a photo of my progress every two weeks or so. Join in and share your comments and photos of progress. If you are using a different source for this Jacob's Ladder block, post it here on our thread.
If my calculations are correct, I will need 180 four patches made from our birthday squares and 144 HSTs. Wow! that sounds like a lot, but making a little here and a few more there will get me to the total needed. The end size of the top would be 72X72. I may make changes along the way. Who knows.
As you can see from my photos, I have chosen to use three colors that I have plenty of in my 2.5 collection, blue, purple and green. I am leaning toward the mid-color to dark colors of those three choices. I don't have enough white in my 2.5 bin, so I am using a consistent white-on-white print for the ladder and in the HSTs, but follow your whim as you make your own. I just sewed my colored squares onto a white 2.5 strip and then cut them apart. Easy-peasy and went fast. My one hint would be to press consistently one way or the other so everything will "nest" well.
Picture 1 is the pile of 2.5s I pulled from my collection. Picture 2 is of some finished 4 patches and HSTs. I just had to try the HSTs to see if they were accurate and the pattern works! Picture 3 is of the back of my 4 patches. I spin my centers but you don't need to. It is just habit for me.
My goal for the next two weeks is 90 of the four-patches. Will see how it goes with other projects, work and holiday celebrations that are so important this year. These would be good leaders and enders if you are in the middle of other projects.
Hope to see your piles of four-patches and/or HSTs coming soon to our Birthday Swap thread.
I am using the block pattern from Quilter's Cashe` https://www.quilterscache.com/J/JacobsLadderBlock.html
I will post a photo of my progress every two weeks or so. Join in and share your comments and photos of progress. If you are using a different source for this Jacob's Ladder block, post it here on our thread.
If my calculations are correct, I will need 180 four patches made from our birthday squares and 144 HSTs. Wow! that sounds like a lot, but making a little here and a few more there will get me to the total needed. The end size of the top would be 72X72. I may make changes along the way. Who knows.
As you can see from my photos, I have chosen to use three colors that I have plenty of in my 2.5 collection, blue, purple and green. I am leaning toward the mid-color to dark colors of those three choices. I don't have enough white in my 2.5 bin, so I am using a consistent white-on-white print for the ladder and in the HSTs, but follow your whim as you make your own. I just sewed my colored squares onto a white 2.5 strip and then cut them apart. Easy-peasy and went fast. My one hint would be to press consistently one way or the other so everything will "nest" well.
Picture 1 is the pile of 2.5s I pulled from my collection. Picture 2 is of some finished 4 patches and HSTs. I just had to try the HSTs to see if they were accurate and the pattern works! Picture 3 is of the back of my 4 patches. I spin my centers but you don't need to. It is just habit for me.
My goal for the next two weeks is 90 of the four-patches. Will see how it goes with other projects, work and holiday celebrations that are so important this year. These would be good leaders and enders if you are in the middle of other projects.

Hope to see your piles of four-patches and/or HSTs coming soon to our Birthday Swap thread.

Last edited by WMUTeach; 06-22-2021 at 02:10 PM. Reason: Add photos
#658

Looks good, WMUT! Your fabrics will make a nice quilt.
I have started mine too, but not using the QC pattern. I'm just following that picture I posted. I have a stack of scrappy 16-patches. Not sure of my plan for the HSTs... whether to use colors with white, or scrappy whites, or what. I'm going to experiment to see what I like best.
I have started mine too, but not using the QC pattern. I'm just following that picture I posted. I have a stack of scrappy 16-patches. Not sure of my plan for the HSTs... whether to use colors with white, or scrappy whites, or what. I'm going to experiment to see what I like best.