Two for One

Measure twice, cut once?   Errr…… read directions first!

Finally, I got the studio unpacked and organized enough to actually get to do some cutting and stitching!  This was the optimum time to get my nephew’s graduation quilts done!  Sam is only a junior in college now–this quilt is for his high school graduation!  Yikes!  Time flies!  Well, with new babies, I have three years to do their baby quilt, so surely I have until the graduate declares his major to complete the graduation quilt, right?

Anyway….I started cutting and stitching strips last Wednesday.  Great progress has been made in that yesterday the final strips were sewn together and ready for subcutting into 2” and 5” units.  The design for this quilt is a simple rail fence block with several 9-patch blocks thrown in for flavor.  I was so excited about getting to the subcutting of this quilt!  Yay!  The colors were coming into play beautifully!  All strips pressed and stacked neatly on the cutting table –ready, set, go!  I began to cut the 2” units happily!  What pretty units!

After my granddaughter left for the day, I trotted back down the path to the studio for more cutting.  I wanted to have all the cutting down by supper so that this afternoon, I could begin sewing up the quilt top!  After spending quite a while cutting, my dear husband came down to the studio to chat.  All of a sudden, I recovered from my happy cutting trance and realized that I only needed 25 2” units but I had cut over 100!  All my beautiful strips and I only had enough left to cut 64 5” units and I needed 112!  GULP!  

Thankfully, I have enough of each of the batiks to re-cut the strips and make the rest of the 5” units.  In fact, the silver lining to this saga is that I will have enough to actually piece two quilts instead of one.  So the die has been cast…my niece who just graduated this past spring is getting a quilt that is very similar to her brother’s graduation quilt!