I have been trying to make more room in my studio–not necessarily room for more fabric; just room to enable me to organize my existing fabric and works-in-progress better. I have a need to streamline my studio – to reduce the cluttered look.

I have been working on projects that will reduce my stash. Yesterday, I managed to work my way through my entire bin of 2 1/2″ strips. The only things remaining in that bin are a few strips of solid black fabric and a small stack of rectangles left from a prior project that are already cut to 2 1/2″ x 4 1/2″.

The pattern that enabled me to work through what was left of my 2 1/2″ strips was The Simple Cross, a pattern from pages 38 to 41 of Fons and Porter’s For the Love of Quilting magazine from September/October 2000.

I started making blocks for this quilt on Sunday, March 12, 2006. By documenting my daily progress on this quilt in a binder, I have been able to stay focused on this project without getting sidetracked to other projects. I may have found a way to curb the growth of my UFOs!

There are a total of 36 blocks in this quilt. Yesterday, I finished the construction of the last two blocks, the sashing between the blocks, and put together 4 rows. There are two more rows of blocks to put together and then the top will be ready for borders. The pattern calls for a 1 1/2″ inner border and a 6 1/2″ outer border.

This pattern also uses a technique called, presashing.

Presashing avoids piecing skinny sashing rows that have to be attached to larger rows of blocks. Presashing adds the sashing to blocks as you go. When you are done putting the rows together, you just need to join a sashing row across the bottom of the quilt and another across down one side of the quilt. This is a much easier way to manage those skinny sashing rows.