Having a Heat Wave

Not really.  But we’re finally getting a little summer heat here in Colorado.  I’ve enjoyed our cooler weather but a summer without at least a few hot days wouldn’t really feel like summer, now would it?  This little guy (gal?) is called “Heat Wave.”  It measures 11 1/2" by 12".

I didn’t get very good color in this photo.  The orange/reds are a little brighter and deeper than they look here, the outer border is a deep purple and the thread I used for quilting is a lovely variegated pink, yellow, orange from King Tut.  Still, this is kind of close.

This was a super easy quilt.  I used the 13-square foundation from Miniatures in Minutes.  Instead of piecing every row, I only pieced rows 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12 (I’ll demonstrate below with a picture).  I laid out the patches in rows to create a stacked four-patch effect.

I didn’t bother with a Fabric Placement Guide or marking letters on the foundation.  I just pulled squares from the placement above.  This isn’t the method I suggest in the book, I’ll admit, but it works just fine as long as you DON’T SNEEZE. 

As I sewed the foundation, I just skipped over the rows that didn’t have pieced squares.  When all the 1" square (unfinished) patches are added, the foundation looks like this:

Notice that I only pieced 12 patches across instead of using the full thirteen.  That’s because I was working that four-patch effect (though, obviously, if you wanted, you could  use the full 13 squares for other layouts).

Here’s what the foundation looks like with the white fabric strips added to the foundation, ready to sew the rows together:

This project just came together so easy.  I knew it would, but I’m still always pleased when what I think I know turns out to be right!

Sidenote:  do you pay attention to those letters we have to enter in order for our comments to appear on most blogs?  I love the combinations and sometimes like to come up with definitions for them.  So here’s one that I came across earlier today: “Crubbi.”  I think it’s for when you feel really crummy and you’re crabby because of it.