Frivols! (Time to Do Another Undone Project)

I think I mentioned somewhere along the way, that I had collected a full set of Frivols tins, shown above.  Two other quilters, Kelley and Karen, mentioned that they had a full set, too.  I wrote back and forth with each of them, wondering if they wanted to liberate their Frivols from their tins and make 2018 the year that we finally get them done.

There is this temptation to leave them fully entombed, I realize.  They are so cute in their little boxes, and what will you do with all those little quilts?  (Well, some aren’t so little.)  But I can think of many places that you can donate these quilts, if you want (try starting with the Preemie unit at your local hospital, or a Domestic Violence Rescue shelter, or your granddaughter’s doll crib, just to name a few). The point is to have fun, to free up space in your sewing room and to get rid of Another Undone Project.

If you want to join in with us, too, we’re going to try to tackle one a month until all twelve are finished.  If you want to work ahead…well, you have the instructions and the fabrics.  You can still find Frivols tins if you do a search, so you can join in the making.

Here’s January’s: “Kindred,” using the Hello Darling line by Bonnie and Camille. The quilt finishes at 40″ by 40,” a perfect table-topper size.  And here is the Mode blog announcement for how the cutting directions are wrong.  It’s true–the quarter-square triangles should have been cut a bit larger; more on that later.  I’ll always try to link over to Moda’s blog so you can update any errata/changes in your Frivols.

I love how each tin has a little treasure inside.  This tin has some woven tape with Handmade with Love written on it.

And here’s the fabrics.  I started with their lovely diagrams, cutting the blocks into pieces:

I stacked up two stacks of “twin” blocks–the instructions say to cut using two of the same fabric blocks, and no I don’t know why I have extras (on the left).  In every Frivol there is a “bonus” block that you can make so you’ll have a sampler quilt.  I’m not doing that, so instead I’ll keep the extras in my stash.

I cut them according to the sketch.  So far so good.

I stacked up the pieces of one block, with the exception of the Half-square Triangles on all four corners.  Then I kept going:

But I should have checked the Mode blog first, as I cut some of the white side triangles too small.  You can see the problem here:

I will simply true them up a little smaller when I finish all of them.

Six down, ten to go.  I’m making good progress while listening to the sixth book in the Maisie Hobbs series:

I’m hooked on this series!

If you want to join in, dig out your Frivols tins and let’s get going.  If you leave me your name and blog address or Instagram name, I’ll start making a list at the end of each final monthly Frivols post, with links.  Lisa Bongean, of Primitive Gatherings, has a great write-up about “her” tin with her fabric line.  Have fun hunting your tins down, getting ready to join up with us.  I’ll do an introductory post near the beginning of each month, as well as a final post, on the last day of the month.

I would like to commit to getting the quilt top finished each month, with quilting, if I can.  As I mentioned, the quilt tops are not too big that you can’t finish them on your domestic machine, and that will give us all a chance to practice our quilting.  I’ve got a good start for January’s block, but I’m taking a break to go to Road to California, where I’ll have two quilt tops hanging in the show.  I’m also taking three classes, so it will be a busy week.

January 2018 • No. 1 – Hello Darling by Bonnie & Camille
February 2018 • No. 2 – Polka Dots & Paisleys by Minick & Simpson
March 2018 • No. 3 – Eliza’s Indigo by Betsy Chutchian
April 2018 • No. 4 – Windermere by Brenda Riddle
May 2018 • No. 5 – Petite Prints Deux by French General
June 2018 • No. 6 – Strawberry Fields Revisited by Fig Tree
July 2018 • No. 7 – Songbird Gatherings by Primitive Gatherings
August 2018 • No. 8 – Bread ‘n Butter by American Jane
September 2018 • No. 9 – Little Miss Sunshine by Lella Boutique
October 2018 • No. 10 – The Cookie Exchange by Sweetwater
November 2018 • No. 11 – Sew & Sew by Chloe’s Closet
December 2018 • No. 12 – Blue Barn by Laundry Basket Quilts