Saturday, July 28, 2018

The wheels on the bus go round and round


Boy, these little 40" x 50" quilts stitch up fast! Especially when you start with a panel with big blocks like this. I actually started with three panels, all in the same design but three slightly different colorways. They were sales samples from a Robert Kaufman line, I think. 


The panels were raggedly cut on the edges, so I trimmed off any blocks that didn't contain a complete vehicle. Then I bordered each panel with a black and white stripe and sewed them into rows. Red sashing and binding picked up one of the colors used in each panel.


All the partial panels got pieced together willy-nilly improv style and trimmed into two long strips that I put on the back with a chunk of orange stripe fabric. The quilting is just simple wavy lines in bright orange thread, running the same direction as the vehicles. They kind of look like those motion lines you see in cartoons.


This close up of the back shows the partial panels and the color variations. One bike has a white background and the other has off white, for instance. The third colorway uses a pale gray. When all mixed together, though, it seems to work as a single piece. That's good, because I needed all the fabric to make a complete quilt!

The colors are so vibrant, but I can't seem to capture them in today's high overcast light. But the blue matches our chair cushions nicely and the orange goes with our safety line bag. It's the little things that count.

Many of my quilting friends don't know that before we lived on the boat, we lived for nine years in a bus. So when I showed this quilt to Sean, he immediately pointed at the buses in the bottom left corner. Once a bus guy, always a bus guy! So I named this little quilt Buses Etc. I hope it will comfort a little person through Wrap a Smile.

24 comments:

  1. What a cute, colorful quilt. Panels make such great quick quilts & yours will put a smile on someone's face for sure. Thanks so much for all you do with your charity sewing....you're awesome!!!

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  2. Oh, this will be a big hit. I love how your little touches made those panels all go together. And the fun back with all the mishmashed vehicles makes me think of how the sedate play with cars and trucks (and buses) always ends up with traffic jams or major accidents when our grandsons come to play.

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  3. Love the black & white striped borders! It's fun to look at all the vehicles on this quilt and imagine. And you lived on a bus for 9 years?! You sure are the adventurous couple!

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  4. This is a winner for so many different reasons. Quick make . . . bright colors . . . everything goes together . . . and it's a quilt a boy would love! There are so many more boy quilts than girl that I always cheer when I see something for the little guys. I had two boys before Ashley came along and I remember how hard it was to find cute boy things. SCORE!! :)

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  5. What a fabulous finish for a panel(s)---and I love that it is "boy oriented"
    not too many of those around. Love the B&W stripe "borders/sashing" to bring them all up to size. Thank you for the idea/inspiration of what to do with panels-----especially panels that aren't "printed straight" :-)

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  6. Louise, what a great quilt! I love the bright colors, your striped border and arrangement of leftovers on the backing. Definitely one that will be loved and used by a little boy. So glad you joined the Sunnies. Doris

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  7. You are true gypsies! This little quilt came out splendidly! You have the magic touch!

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  8. Oh goodness, I sang that song to our kids, over and over. Thanks for that earworm :-) What a cute quilt! Some little will really enjoy it, I'm sure! Unless Sean wants to hang on to it - haha! A bus, huh? You two lead a very interesting life!

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  9. So cute! Some little guy is going to love it. I really like how you used the parts from the panels with the striped framing - sets the rows off nicely.

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  10. Wonderful quilt! I love that you also live on a bus - there must be a story behind that! I find the outdoor pictures challenging, but sometimes they just work out perfectly - like yours did with the pillow and the water!

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  11. I am feeling after reading this post that I lead a rather dull life! I love the little buses and other wheelie things and how they came together in this quilt. Just wonderful.

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  12. This is so much fun! It will definitely brighten someone's life! Now we all want to know more about your bus... :)

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  13. You have continual DrEAMi! quilts Louise! I love it. Isn’t it fun, remarkable and satisfying how all those bits and bats made up such a bright and cheery quilt?!. Now I have wheels on the bus stuck in my head thank you…

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  14. I can’t imagine a brighter or livelier quilt for a little one. All the blocks fit together so well with the striped frames, and the red just finishes it all. Another great quilt, Louise,as always.

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  15. Some child will flip out over this cute quilt! I love how creative you got with it.

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  16. Absolutely wonderful - I love the way you used the cut off pieces to make the extra strips for the back. Fabulous!

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  17. Some little chap is most definitely going to be happy wrapped up in this quilt.

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  18. Oh you are going to make some little boy very happy. You have a great imagination and an eye for design. Love it!

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  19. What a fun quilt. The stripes add a nice effect. Some little guy is going to love it!

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  20. What a fun quilt! It feels so good to put together what you have to make it work together.

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  21. I love that you used the partial panel pieces on the back. I'll have to remember that. :)

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  22. LOVE LOVE all the primary colors and some little guys will love the vehicles. :) (LIVED IN A BUS!!! LOVE THAT!!!)PS: I always wanted a VW bus. LOL

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  23. Great use of cut offs for part of the backing, and what a happy quilt for a little boy.

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  24. Oh my goodness...I'm impressed with your efficiency. And that sweet quilt is pretty impressive too.

    Bus, boat? What's next I wonder!

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