Bow tie blocks - count 587

 I have been trying to keep track of how many bowties I have, because there are too many for my design wall.  Well not too many, but too many I don't want to put them up anymore to try to count them.

This was in May of 22.  I had 339 bowtie blocks and I decided I was not going to put them up and count them there anymore.  I couldn't even imagine trying to do it now!

Last week I made 21 bowtie blocks.

And this week I made 18 bowtie blocks.  My total right now is 587!!! I cannot believe I have made over 200 since May of last year! 

I am so ready to start sewing these into bigger blocks.  But I think I will wait until I have 600.  If I make this as big as my quilt is, it will be 672 blocks total.  

It's been a year!

Oh my goodness, I haven't posted in a year! Life has been very crazy.  But I am definitely going to be making a point of posting more things year.  I know I have said it before but I love being able to read back and see what I have been up to.

I made my bowtie quilt, and started one for my friend Christine.  I have been trying to keep track of how many I have, so that I can make sure I make enough!

I am adding 18 bow ties this week.  So that brings my running today to 537.

When I hit 500 I thought that I was almost done, because I knew I needed 600 some, what I did not realize was that I needed closer to 700, 672! So I still have a ways to go.  

I am using this as my leader/ender quilt, so I used it in between other projects I am working on, so I always have something under my needle on my sewing machine.

It's also really good for using up scraps!

Bow ties

I think it's about time to update about the teal bowties.  Last time I posted about them was last year!

When I posted last year (here) I had 113. 

And here they are recently:
 

There are 221 (give or take).  I found one on the floor of my sewing room after I took this picture, and I know I sewed a few more up. 

I love how this quilt looks.  I especially love this one because it's got both of our fabrics in it.  Christine uses different colors than I do.  I am not exactly sure how big I will make this. At least close to the size of mine.  My quilt was 24 blocks by 28.  So 672 blocks.  So only 400 more to make :p

My quilt took 6 years to finish.  At this rate I will definitely finish Christine's sooner than that! It helps that I have two people contributing scraps.

Making masks and having my cricut has helped! Since I cut out masks with my cricut there is some waste, but I can set it so that in the negative space it cuts out pieces for the bow tie quilt (2 - 2" squares, 2 - 1.25" squares.)

 

Monthly sew check in

Here is my month of February colored in! Not bad.  We got busy towards the end of the month so I was not able to sew as much.

I did not finish any quilts in February but I was pretty busy!

I was able to go to my friend, Christine's house, and I did some sewing there.  It was mostly masks.

I made masks for my many of my family members.  I had found some nose pieces on amazon that were stronger than the twist ties I had used.  I also found some elastic that is able to be sized with a bead of sorts, so it can fit more people.  It's a little easier on me so I don't have to use different lengths of elastic for different people!

While sewing masks I also made some more bowtie blocks.  

I finished 29! Which I am happy with that number!  I need to put them on my design wall to see how many I have.  I know I am no where near being done.  But I like to get progress shots!  

Since I had seen Christine, she also gave me some left over fabrics she had from her making masks to add.  This quilt is going to have a lot of variety, since it has fabrics from her sewing projects and from mine.

I will need to do another full count of blocks soon.  I don't think this will take quite as long as my Bowtie quilt did, but it will still take a while.  

Bow ties 2021

Here is a stack of 2” blocks that will become bowtie blocks.

I did not use my accuquilt to cut these, because I do not have a 2" strip die, but I LOVE my Shape cut ruler that my mother in law got me from Jo-Ann's.  It allows me to cut a lot, really quick.

I have been cutting up left over fabric from making masks. The left over pieces work really well for these little blocks. 

I generally use these bowtie blocks as leaders and enders.  Leaders and enders are blocks you keep under your presser foot.  They are great for a few reasons.  1) you don’t have those long strings to cut. 2) you get two (or more) projects done at once 3) For me, at least, it seems like it’s easier to sew the blocks when I am chain piecing instead of starting new each time.

I actually used to use a scrap of fabric to keep something under my presser foot.  But ever since I heard of leaders & enders, I was hooked.

The other thing that is nice about the bowtie blocks is that it’s sewing 3 times and then the block is done.

I have actually been using these as blocks that are not leaders and enders, but just as something to sew.  With school being so different this year, I have not had as much brain power for my quilting as I would like.  So having these ready to go are nice.

This bowtie quilt will be for my friend Christine.  She is saving some scraps from things she is working on, and I save stuff from mine.  So in essence her bowtie quilt will not take as long as mine did.  Mine took 6 years.  If I make hers the same size as mine, mine had 672 bowtie blocks, 24 blocks by 28 blocks.  I currently only have about 115.  Which means I have A LOT more to make.

This pile of 2” squares will end up making close to 200 bowtie blocks, which is not quite enough to finish the quilt, but definitely enough to keep me busy for a while!

I need to get them up on the design wall again so that I can count how many I have!

Bow ties

Here is an updated picture of the bow tie blocks.  Laid out a little differently than before.  

There are currently 113 of them!

Bow ties

For part of winter break we went to Tennesee to see my friend Christine.  I decided to bring along her teal bowties so she could see how they are coming along.

She's very happy with them!! There are 106 currently!  Considering I only started these in May, they're coming along a lot faster than my bow tie quilt did!

Teal bow ties

This is how I know I have been sewing up a storm, the bow tie blocks are multiplying!  I currently have 60!

Bow ties 2 (teal)

Here are my teal bow ties! 

I currently have 20.

Bow ties 2 (Teal)

I LOVE my bowtie quilt.  I love how it looks, I love the colors, I love the memories I have with it.  I really wanted to make a second one, but I wasn't sure how I could justify it.

Well my friend Christine loved my bow tie quilt.  So I suggested she save me fabric from quilts she is working on, and I would make her a bow tie quilt, it's win-win! She gets a quilt and I get to make another bow tie quilt ;)

Here is what I have started so far.  I am kind of working on this as a leader ender with my featherweight, and my spools as a leader ender on my 99k.