Churning Fourteen

I have been collecting batik fabrics for far too long. Particularly if I'm not going to use them.

I recently picked up a few patterns from Hunter Design Studio. Churning Fourteen was one that I thought would work well with some of those batiks. My work space isn't always neat, but I do accomplish many things there. I cut, and cut, and cut. Some of my fabrics were a little smaller than the required fat quarter, so I ended up pulling from my scrap bin for some of the smaller pieces. I think it adds interest.

I missed something the first time I put together one of those tiny churn dash blocks (the one on the right) so it didn't end up the right size (like the one on the left). I reread the directions, found where I'd gone wrong, and managed to get the rest of them to the right size. I was going to sneak that mistake into the quilt somewhere but when I went to find it it was nowhere to be found. I still haven't found it.

The pattern said to start with the biggest blocks but I started with the littlest bits. I like to know that the work will just pick up speed from my starting point.

Then I moved on to the medium-sized blocks.

Finally the largest blocks. I worked on the blocks throughout the week so I had most of them done by the weekend.

I laid out all the pieces and started to rearrange them. That took forever. I do reach a point where I decide it doesn't matter and I just sew it all together. Random is nice, but takes more planning than people think.

The construction of sections is clearly laid out in the instructions and I love how many of the seams are designed for minimal overlap of seams. Once you construct the blocks, the section construction is pretty forgiving when it comes to matching up seams. The result is awesome! No partial seams!

I wanted to use up more of my collection of batiks so I sat down with Electric Quilt 7 and redesigned the borders to fit the center of the quilt and allow me to add a 4" border made up of 4-patch blocks. It took some math but I did it. I didn't even make a dent in that bin of 2.5" strips.

I have a collection of 1930 reproduction prints that would be great in this pattern. Maybe that's what I should make next. Maybe that's what should be my next leaders and enders project. We shall see.

I recommend the Churning Fourteen pattern if you want to use up one of those fat quarter stacks you had to have. The directions are clearly written and the result is stunning.

Have you tried any new patterns?