Update: The 99 Bottles Quilt piecing is coming along nicely, just by using the “Leaders and Enders” method of sewing the pieces together. She has almost enough mini 9-patch blocks sewn together to make one large 9-patch (it takes 9 medium-sized 9-patch blocks to make a large 14” square block). She still has not ever set down to just sew the mini blocks, but has only assembled them as a leader or ender while sewing on another project. Along with the 1” square pieces, there are also 2” square pieces in the blocks, as can be seen in the photos. Note: Not all of the block pieces that have been made are shown in the photos. I only put a few out to show what the blocks look like.
I see a lot of comments about the block cutting, so I would like to point out that the tiny block cutting is not really the problem that it may seem to some. As I said in an earlier post, the solid color (off-white in this case) blocks that she needed (2,460 off-white squares - plus extras just because) were all cut in about 2 hours with a June Taylor “Shape Cut” ruler. So with all of those already cut, she is cutting the print fabric pieces from 2-inch squares as she goes (2” pieces that she’s had in her stock of pieces already cut), by simply cutting a 2-inch block into 4 pieces when she needs more 1-inch squares to use for leaders and enders. Really, it’s not a major cutting chore! When she needs more print fabric 1-inch pieces, she pauses for a moment with whatever project that she’s working on, and cuts a 2-inch piece from her stash into 4 pieces, then continues on with her other project.
Please don’t let the block-cutting keep you from trying one of these beautiful projects. Just give yourself a very generous completion date expectation, knowing that you will be making it while sewing many other great projects at the same time.
Here are photos of sewing the 99 Bottles Quilt while working on a St Patrick’s Day wall hanging/table topper. Keep in mind that she started her 99 Bottles Quilt at the end of June this year, and now at close to the end of July, she nearly has one large 14” square block done in less than a month, and that’s just by working on other projects! Her quilt needs 12 large blocks, so at her current rate, she will have all of the blocks done in a year by doing it this way. Of course, the boarders and binding will be additional, and she can always speed the production of blocks up by dedicated sewing on them alone, but to get one of these quilts made in about a year by doing other projects seems kind of cool, don’t you think?
CD in Oklahoma