I can’t be the only person who back in the day had a LiveJournal account, can I? It was about 12 – 13 years go I was active there and while active I participated in the quilting group on that platform.
I must have gotten into an ambitious mood because I participated in a 12.5″ block swap on LiveJournal with people from all over Canada and the US. I know I acted as hostess for the swap as I was back and forth between Toronto and Pittsburgh at that time. That allowed me to receive blocks in both countries (each person sent in 16 identical blocks). They were sorted so that each person received 16 different blocks. This way were were able to avoid international postage rates. If you think domestic mail charges are crazy, take a look at international rates and you’ll feel that domestic rates are downright reasonable in comparison. Scary stuff.
Anyway the blocks sat in a pile for years waiting for me to make a quilt out of them. Well, I quickly realised why they had been sitting there that long. Not one block actually measured 12.5″ with most being smaller, a couple by over an inch. As all the blocks had black backgrounds so I was able to border them with more black to make all the squares 14″ inches unfinished. Here are all the blocks I received with borders.
I first contemplated making a lap quilt with the 16 blocks but the size just seemed odd to me. So instead I decided to make four more blocks to make the quilt rectangular rather than square. The 4 additional blocks were each made 12.5″ unfinished. A black border as made around each one so that they’d fit in with the original blocks.
Unfortunately the day was breezy when took this and the top right corner of the block swap quilt had been caught by the wind.
My initial thought was to do three small borders, one black, one alternating colourful and black squares and the lastly one solid black. After putting on the first border I realised that would be too busy for the quilt and called it done
I’m stuck at this stage waiting for new walking and free motion feet to arrive. They were ordered from a local quilt shop over a week ago but they weren’t in stock and I’m having to wait for them to arrive. Also I’m waiting for a roll of Hobbs 80/20 batting to arrive from another quilt shop – the tracking information says I’ll have it Monday.
In the meantime I’ve started sewing the two patches I had made for the border into a small baby quilt.
What a lovely quilt you are going to have once it’s done! Kudos for digging out that set of blocks. They must be SEW pleased to be closer to their destiny! :o))
I find the problem with size happens on many of the swaps. We all sew a little bit different and it does matter.
I love the black borders to fix that problem. No one will ever know by looking at the finished quilt.
Great going!
That’s so pretty! I love the bright fabrics against the dark background!
What a nice quilt, great colors against the black. Congrats on getting the blocks set together. I’ve had the same experience with group quilts. It might take a little extra effort, but the memories are worth it.
I love the story with this quilt. Your solution to the block size discrepancy works really well. I really like the bright colors with the black.
How wonderful that you’re finally pulling this swap quilt together after all these years!
Adding black coping strips around each block was a terrific solution. That’s how Jane Sickle got her blocks to fit together in the original Dear Jane quilt, too, and if it’s good enough for a museum treasure that is probably one of the most famous quilts in the world, it’s good enough for your quilt, too! I hope your feet and batting arrive soon so you can start quilting this beauty!
Good for you to tackle the blocks and make the same size. This is a gorgeous quilt!
I was so happy to see your colorful quilt! It’s a beauty! I find that I’m using compensating strips as well! Thank you for sharing this beauty!
Isn’t that always the case with swap blocks?! Your solution to make all the blocks the same size is perfect!
That’s the challenge with swap blocks made by a group of people. Your compensating technique worked out well!
Hate that when block sizes aren’t consistent. But you did a good job managing to make them all fit together. It looks great!
Love the bright colors on the black background. It’s beautiful! Hope your feet arrive soon. I just ordered 2 rolls of batting and didn’t have to wait long. I still miss shopping in person but am liking online shopping and home delivery more and more.
I like the *done* you brought it too!! I think those blocks just pop that way – and they are so colorful and pretty!
Lovely quilt! So glad you decided to finish it. This will be so beautiful when you get it done. Thanks for sharing on Wednesday Wait Loss.
Great save on this quilt with the black borders. I believe any quilt can be saved with creativity!
That’s a beautiful quilt! You did a great job on it!
I was on LJ too back in the day and I’m hoping to finish up the BOM from back in the day. The blocks were offered in 12 & 16 inch I think. I made the large 16 inch blocks. I just bought the backing for it and realized I have to quilt it in sections last week. I hope to finish it this winter.
I found you at Whoop Friday and I’ll try to keep you in mind when I finish the quilt. Thanks for sharing!