easy cross block | WOMBAT QUILTS

After some miserable weeks of rain here in Portland it has recently fined up enough for me to drag Mr Wombat out and about to photograph some quilts. It used to be much easier when I hung the quilts on the back fence, but not as much fun. The first of the recent quilts I am going to share is a Do Good Stitches finish….

double cross quilt

You might recognize the block as I shared the details for making the double plus block in November and if you are interested you can find the pattern here…

It is a fun block and a real scrap buster…and my fellow Do Good peeps did a great job with their Double Pluses. Mr Wombat was also on good pinkie form don’t you think?

double cross quilting

In true scrappy form it is full of fussy cut goodness and fun bright colors… and is wonderfully gender neutral I think. I do love my charity quilts to be cheerful and worthy of a good game of I spy. I was talking to a friend today about stashes and I realized where other people (aka. grown ups) go for simple blenders, I will always go for a novelty print if I can.

double cross detail 4

The quilt was quilted and bound by one of the fabulous PMQG members. Our Charity program receives quite a few quilts from different Do Good Circles (or Bees), and each one is sent to our local Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. Every month or so we send to the hospital between 15 to 30 quilts… some of them are panel quilts but most of them are beautiful handmade masterpieces.

double cross detail 5

I am constantly in awe of the people of my quilting community and the wonderful work they do. I have always made charity quilts – it has been my passion/obsession for over 20 years… but I never expected so many people to jump in so enthusiastically and help out. I am constantly speechless at the generosity I see. There is such good in the world.

double cross detail 3

Quilt details:

Pattern: 12 inch Double Plus block
Fabric: Scraps…nothing but scraps.
Quilt Size: 48 x 60 inches

I am plowing my way through my “must do before we leave” list… and this week it meant finishing up last month’s Do Good Stitches quilt top. I was Queen Bee and set a simple, but fabulous cross block.

I used the dimension from Wooden Spoon’s flickr photo https://www.flickr.com/photos/wooden_spoon/8584301543/ and choose a navy blue cross on a scrappy low volume background. The finished quilt top is scrap-tastic.

I love how the background has an amazing array of colours just subtly hanging out. Because the cross is so dark it was easy to get great contrast with a variety of different colours and fabrics.

We also managed to sneak in some great novelty prints too…just for fun.

I trimmed all the blocks to 11 1/2 inches unfinished, and possibly got a little carried away in making my samples. I made 12 blocks so easily, so that when they were added to my fellow Hope Circle members blocks we had enough blocks to 5 across and 6 down…instead of the usual 4 across by 5 down.

The top is in need of a some extra starch and a good press but it will all have to wait till next month to be completed! December is going to be crazy, I can tell.