One quilt top a day for one month (30 Quilt Tops in 30 Days). Specific size and specific ‘theme’ are required. I don’t/won’t have to finish out the quilt. No batting, backing, binding, or quilting. Strictly quilt tops.
Fabrics and patterns provided by me. Possible reimbursement of some of the cost at the end of the year. I’d have to save my receipts.
– Would it be worth doing? Yes, as the tops would go to a specific charitable organization for completion and disbursement.
– Is it something fun? Yep. I’m working with fabrics and doing stuff I’m good at.
– Who issued the challenge? Me. Just to see if I can/will do it. Still weighing the pros and cons.
– What are the cons? Saving the receipts, it’s about 2-4 hours taken out of each day, probable boredom with the theme after the first few are done, wondering if I could double/triple/quad up (so long as I hit the final total)… those sort of things. Mostly, I’d consider doubling or tripling up on a few days, so I can spend time with my husband.
– Pros? I get to work down my fabric stash! As I said before, these would be going to a charitable organization. It gets me back in line for basic piecing and assembling – it’s that time of year again. It’s supposed to be fun.
The “nuts and bolts” of the challenge:
– Quilt tops have to be between 60″ – 65″ inches, square-ish. Meaning, they can be rectangles, too.
– Patriotic/Americana theme – the quilts, once completed, will be going to American Veterans.
– 100% cotton fabrics; quilting cottons
Nothing says that I can’t spend a day or two pre-cutting the parts and pieces for upcoming quilt tops. If I make myself kits ahead of time, then I don’t lose quite so much of the day making it.
After rereading this a couple of more times, it looks like I’m going to give it a shot. The charitable organization wins, I get some fabric stash busting done, and I get some more practice done with basic piecing.
Well… that was my original intention. That’s not to say that’s what actually happened. After talking to Mom, she decided we were going to actually join this group of quilters. This, then, made my challenge a lot more affordable. I knew I was still going to aim for 15 patriotic themed tops and 15 of whatever was in my stash to use up. If I had the time and energy, I was going to try a couple of techniques I’d been wanting to learn. If I still had time, I had a couple of backup ideas to play with, too.
As you go through the photos, you’ll probably count only 28 pictures. I know this. Quilt top #s 20 and 21 have not been photographed at this time. Until I get the assorted doll parts, I’m not going to photograph them. Those are gifts for a couple of people, and I’d like to not spoil their surprise.
One other thing about the photos… I purposely have not changed the names/dates on the photos. They are as they were named by my cell phone, which means you can double check the dates on me. You may notice a few days gap between some of them. Just because I was doing this challenge doesn’t mean that I put everything else in my life on hold.
Wanna see some pictures?

This one and the next are what I call ‘fraternal twin’ quilt tops. Meaning, they were cut out at the same time.

This and the previous are fraternal twins. I couldn’t decide which colorway I preferred, so I made them both.

I wasn’t expecting to like this one as much as I did. My husband suggested we keep it. However, I wasn’t meant for our home.

The eagle with flags fabric and the patriotic ribbon fabric were bought somewhere about the time of Desert Storm.

A twin to th e next one. It was suggested I make smaller baby quilts for new parents, as the smaller size makes it easier to swaddle a new born, then the quilt can be used for a car seat cover.

I like the fabrics, but I really don’t like the pattern. This one will find its way to a different home.

This was from a kit I had in my stash. All too often I get told that since I don’t normally do complicated piecing that I must not know how to do it. This is my response to those people.

Back to building up my patriotic theme stack of quilt tops. Please note: that’s 320 half-square triangles. Yes, I speed pieced them. However, the resulting squares still had to be put together.

The smallest of all the quilt tops. It measures in at a whopping 24 1/2″ square. I was teaching myself how to use modified hexigons and triangles.

A second attempt at this pattern. Instead of being way oversized like the first, this ended up a bit (15 inches) smaller than my original intention. That’s what happens when you misread a pattern.

Definitely on the list of favorites. This may become my “go to” pattern, as it does everything I want and then some.

The original pattern had the framework done with checkerboard piecing. Given that I was starting to run short on time, I chose to do sashings instead. I like this look a lot better.

I had no idea what I’d end up with when I started this pattern. I do know I ran out of one fabric, and that’s why the melon colored fabric is in there.

Time and Money — It’s All F*cked Up
This is the second time I’ve attempted this pattern. I’m still not getting the results I want. I’ll try the pattern again later.
Yes, I’m well aware that a few of the patriotic ones will need borders to bring them up to the required size. However, the patterns I was using claim that what I’d done was considered a completed quilt top. Those will be adjusted before I donate them to the quilting group.
One last thing, before I publish this post… There are a couple of friends that really stood by me while I was going through this. I don’t know as that I’d want to re-attempt this type of challenge again without them. Trust me when I say they were on the phone with me for hours (Yes, even while I was sewing), just listening and talking to me while I worked.
It’s just so impressive as a total accomplishment, Cindy, but individually- they’re all so beautiful!!
Thank you!
Wow.Amazing work and what an accomplishment. You must be exhausted. Congratulations on crushing your goal.
Many thanks!! On to the next round of projects. 😀
Beautiful work! I have complete faith in your ability and knew you’d finish… You’re awesome like that. Congrats on a job well done.
Thank you!
Cindy, each of these are a work of art by themselves, but as a whole, I’m just blown away. While I had total faith that you would be able to do this, I’m still blown away by the final result. Truly awesome work!
I appreciate that. Thank you.