A quilt top started.....finally......

I probably should be putting a warp on the loom and weaving to sell but I've got quite a bit of stock so I'm doing something I've wanted to do for almost 3 years - making a quilt top. I won't be doing the quilting, I'll  find a long arm quilter to do it for me - I know my time limitations plus I don't really enjoy the actual quilting process, especially on a large quilt....a wall hanging, maybe. I'm not sure what kind of quilting design I'll want - will discuss that with the quilter doing the long arm stitching when the time comes.

I had to iron all the washed fabric, then I started cutting strips ranging from 1" - 2 1/4" wide

I started with just cutting one of each size, I increased it 1/4" for each strip - here are my piles

Then on to the paper piecing for the 8 1/2" blocks - here you can see where the latest fabric to be added (lavendar) is flipped right sides together with the previous strip and sewn with a 1/4" seam

Here is it flipped over after being sewn. I used a little wooden tool for the finger pressing after each strip is sewn

Here's the mix mess of strips pieced

Here it is turned over to show the wrong side. After I ironed it I pulled the paper off at the stitching lines

Here's my new toy - a rotating cutting board for trimming up that mess above into a nice neat 8 1/2" square.  Doesn't everyone need a new toy for a new project??? I can't believe I waited this long to buy this toy - there are so many projects I could have been using it for. Cutting the 'mess' into a nice block is so easy using this and my square-up ruler.

Here's the block nicely trimmed.

And here's what 4 blocks look like. There is no sashing between any of the blocks, just keep adding blocks. These aren't sewn yet, just laid out to give an idea of what the quilt will look like. After spending much of the morning ironing and cutting strips I only got 6 blocks sewn before wrapping it up for the day - just got way too hot with all the bright lights I like to use when sewing.  I'm not sure how many blocks I need for a king size quilt yet, decided it might sound like an overwhelming number so I'll wait until I have a number of them made before figuring out how many I need. I think this will look really nice in the room with the recently painted furniture.