I took another trip to the “Courthouse”. Yesterday I told you about my real life experience to the courthouse. Today I’m telling you that I started one of Bonnie Hunter’s Crooked Courthouse step quilts. Trust me, this courthouse experience is MUCH better than the one I told you about yesterday.
I’ve decided to do mine up a little different. I’m not throwing in ALL OF THE SCRAPS…I took the time and sorted. I’m going for a blue/green/teal look.
It the past I’ve made all of my childcare kids a quilt for Christmas the year they go to Kindergarten. Well this year I have three who went and a new school aged gal started and she is in first grade so I guess I need FOUR quilts. So far I have the Geese on a String quilt tops done and I thought this one could be for the boy….thus the green/blue/teal color palette.
My little Nido wool mat is my constant companion again. Oh I love it. They are still on sale with the coupon code. (Read about that HERE)
If you tackle this quilt, trust me…having the little table top mat is PERFECT. I think I’m to the point of loving it that I’d call it a necessity for me!!
My Singer 15-91 is on task for this project. Oh I love this machine.
I have been working on this project for about an hour which included a lot of fabric sorting time. I have 8 blocks ready to trim. Check them out….
Oh my…I’m LOVING them. Oops…notice the one at the top of the pile. Two of the same fabrics are in that block. Oh well. There are worse things in life.
Now that I know I like them, I dug out more scraps and started trimming them into strips.
When I do this I sort to piles to make things quick once I get to the sewing machine. I do this as it’s something I can do for 30 minutes over naptime that is quiet. If I didn’t have this time, I would probably work directly from the scrap box.
If you look at my pan below I have them sorted this way….
Bottom Left-Â Center squares
Above that- small neutrals that can be added to the squares
Top Left- more neutral pieces to be added to the squares
Pan bottom right- are short scraps for the middle of the blocks
Right middle- neutral scraps for the middle of the blocks
Top Right- bigger colored pieces but aren’t 8″ long
To the right in the photo are long strips either 21 or with of fabric.
Once I sit down to the machine having things organized like this really helps me. I love having it done.
Being I have eight blocks done…that’s enough to lay them out to see how they’ll look…I couldn’t resist.
Right now my blocks don’t have a lot of variety. When I make them if I pick up a strip, I try to use the whole thing up so the blocks have a lot of the same fabrics. That will get better by the time I’m finished and it won’t be noticeable.
Oh my…I LOVE this. I know already I’ll be making another to gift.
You can find the tutorial to make the blocks on Bonnie Hunter’s blog HERE.
I love these little blocks..for that matter, most any block that gets all of the scraps I have used up. I can see that I’ll need to actually cut some neutrals. I never have many of them in my scrap box.
So…let the fun begin!!
I love your Courthouse Steps blocks and I can’t wait to see how the quilt turns out. Thank you for showing how you organize your pieces to make the most of tour sewing time!
Very cute and my colors. Try turning every other block for the long edge to go sideways.
Jo, I wanted to order larger size of Nido wool mat. The code doesn’t work for the discount, was it only good for a short period of time?
No..it should be good. I’ll forward your info to Winnie and she can help I’m sure.
I really like your color selection. Looking forward to your progress.
Love and prayers
I also started making the courthouse blocks, mine are from green and pink scraps. I find these easier as leader/ender than the shoo fly blocks and it helps me to tame a large bag of scraps that someone gifted me and that I just discovered again.
I have been making the courthouse blocks too, but using all kinds of colors. It is very addicting! Your block will be great for a boy.
I am so glad that you are digging in the scraps again! Your Courthouse Steps blocks are wonderful. The blue/green/teal colorway will be perfect for a boy. I am anxious to see your progress on this quilt.
I took your recommendation for the wool pressing mat and ordered one. I’m sure it will be handy to use.
I absolutely love these, The limited color palette has even convinced I need to make something I wasn’t in love with before. Thanks for the organizing tips. That seems like a good strategy for making the most of my sewing at the dining table time.
What a fun quilt to stitch.
When you said that there were two of the same fabric in the top block, I could not find it. I did finally. So don’t stress. Have fun!
It took me a few minutes before I could find that duplicate fabric! I would not have even noticed if you hadn’t pointed it out. You have the BEST organizational tips! I keep my grandson two days a week and have started using his table time as my time to cut out projects on the kitchen counter. Yesterday I was able to get the cutting caught up for a project I had fallen way behind on. The next step was released today so I plan on getting that cutting done and I’ll have a whole week to hopefully get caught up with the sewing. I already know which project I’ll start cutting on next week!
I noticed that you have 4 neutrals on one side but not the other…just curious.
What a sweet and thoughtful gift for your childcare kids. What a keepsake. Thanks for sharing!
I to took your recommendations for the ido wool mat & I love it, but i didn’t get the option for the discount. I also thought maybe the time had ran out so I went ahead & ordered it anyway. No worries just thought i’d let you know, I do love it. Thank you!
Hi Jo! When you use the Nido wool mat, do you use the cotton setting or the wool setting on your iron? Thanks, and I love how the Courthouse Steps are coming out! Love the colors!
I actually use the linen setting. I love a HOT iron.
This is already so cute! Is it just me, or do most quilters get excited when they see familiar fabric in another quilter’s quilt? When I spot some fabric I’ve used in your quilts–or another quilter’s blocks–it makes me so happy. Why is that? Just a quilty quirk, I guess. At any rate, your quilt looks great and will only get better. I definitely have this on my “Make One of These” list, and you’ve confirmed that decision.
Hi my name is ChloeTenbusch and am Lebanon Oregon. I just started to quilt and I’m having a good time sewing. But I also are looking for different and easy patterns.