Project: Bump on the Logs, part 3a

Well, things didn't go as planned today.  I awoke feeling ill.  By the time I felt like moving about and doing things, the weather changed drastically.  The wind began blowing, the temperature fell, and the rain came down by the bucketfuls.  Without an umbrella, I would have been drenched to the skin in just a few short seconds.  It's nearly 100 steps to my sewing shed, so I elected to stay in my office and do computer stuff.  But thanks to Electric Quilt software, I can show you what I planned to do today.

So, here's a virtual representation of what was completed yesterday:

I was a little off on my measurements last night.  EQ says the top at this stage should measure about 34.5 x 30.5 inches.

From here, my first step is going to be to add red sashing strips to the top and bottom, but I'm going to cut these strips wider than the vertical strips so that I can add some length to the quilt.  Cutting my strips 2.5" wide will add four inches to the length, making to top square (about 34 x 34 inches).  If you need a table topper, this is a good place to stop, or just add the same width borders to all four sides to keep it square until you get the size you want.

Where I go from here with each top largely depends on how much of each fabric I have left.  I usually put borders of each fabric on all four sides of the top, but I don't have enough left of the green and beige fabrics to do that this time.  So this quilt will have an asymmetrical look.

First, I'm going to add 1-inch side borders (cut two strips 1.5" x WOF) in beige, then a 2.5-inch (cut 3" x WOF) bottom border in beige.  I have one 3-inch wide strip of green fabric left, so I'll use it for the top border.  The quilt will be about 36" x 39" at this point.

I still have enough red fabric to do a border on all four sides, but I'll make the top and bottom borders wider than the sides to add a few more inches to the length of the quilt.  I'm currently thinking of 1-inch borders (cut 1.5" x WOF) on the sides and 2-inch borders (cut 2.5" x WOF) at the top and bottom.  This could change when I see how much fabric I actually have to work with.  If I do indeed use these measurements, the top will be 38" x 43" -- big enough for a baby quilt or a small lap quilt.

To make your quilt larger, you can increase the width of the border strips or add more borders.  Adding 4-5 inches to the width and 10-12 inches to the length will make a decent-sized crib quilt.

Part 3b will show what I actually end up doing!  It's past 9:00 now and the rain has finally stopped.  I'm hoping for better health and milder weather tomorrow.