COMFORT QUILT

My patchwork skills do not fall into the category of offering advice to others.  Far from it......   However, here's a tip that perhaps might come in handy if you are a pre-planner like I am.

I'm in the process of making 'comfort' quilts for two dear friends who both were diagnosed with breast cancer on the same day, in different parts of the country.  A 'drag along and use' lap quilt for each is my way of holding their hands through the treatments ahead.  Here's one of the quilts.....

 ....and here's my little tip....which is certainly not novel but it was helpful to me.  Since I don't enjoy piecing...I often stitch 5 or 6 blocks at a time....stop, position them on my design wall, then cut more fabric and repeat the process. (Rather than cutting and piecing all at once.)  Of course not every block stays where I initially place it....nor do I initially color coordinate the fabric for each location.  However,.....as the quilt blocks in this quilt were nearly all pieced, I took the time to select specific fabrics for the blank spots...and actually placed them there so when pieced I'd know where each should go. 

Look at the arrangement above....it wasn't until I took the photo that I noticed all those beige blocks positioned diagonally in the first 4 rows.....dah.....  So, hint # 2.....take a photo to get a different perspective of your design...it's amazing how helpful this step can be.

 Once all the piecing was completed.....the final arrangement was done....

Here's the quilt with minimal straight line quilting....(if I don't like to piece...you can imagine what my thoughts are about machine quilting, can't you?!?!)

Wrapping a friend with love doesn't require perfectly matched seams or straight quilting lines!!!