Slight change in direction here. 

A local hospice is building a new wing and needs new handmade twin size bed quilts or lap quilts.  I had a Fabric Store Basement coupon that was due to expire and  I decided that buying fabric to make a twin size quilt was the perfect way to use that coupon. So off I went, and here’s what I came back with (this photo was taken after I had washed the fabric):

Washed, dried, folded, and stacked

Here’s the fabric, all ironed and ready to be cut, hanging from a banister at the top of the stairs (I love those stairs!).

All the layers

I chose to use Eleanor Burns’ book: Quilt in a Day:  Log Cabin Pattern and make the quilt in her standard twin size coverlet size.  She recommends batting sized 67″ x 95″, but the pre-cut twin size batting at Joann’s, where I purchased it from, was smaller than that, so I ended up buying the full size at 81″ x 96″ (after all, it was 40% off, so it’s worth the little extra time it’s going to take me to cut off a few inches on the sides).

About those stairs; they are perfect for working with long pieces of fabric.  Pictures show it better than I can explain.

View from the top of the stairs (where the fabric is currently hanging).

I can stand in the hallway at the top of the stairs (to your right in the picture) and hang long pieces of fabric over the edge.  It makes it easier to even up the edges of those long pieces and easier to fold them. 

I’ve also hung twisted yarn over the edge to let it untwist. Maybe I should compile a list of 101 uses of open stairways, I have two so far!

Next step on the quilt?  Cut the strips, but first I need to clear space on my cutting table (those of you with immaculate cutting tables: hush).