Tag: Block of the Month

Palooza Progress

Patchwork Palooza assembly in process
Patchwork Palooza assembly in process

I spent some time assembling Patchwork Palooza the other day. I haven’t finished yet, but I am making progress and I enjoyed the process. 

I wasn’t sure about the sashing, but think the blocks needed some space between them. Some blocks, where I used the background fabric as their background, are floating now, which I think looks nice.

All Patchwork Palooza blocks
All Patchwork Palooza blocks

The blocks looked very crowed when I put them all up on the design wall right next to each other. Now

I put them up according to the layout of the project. I changed around a few of them and may change a few more, but we’ll see. With the limited palette I used, it is hard to keep similar colors away from each other. 

I also decided to finish out the Irish Chain effect. You can see what I am thinking in the lower left hand corner of the photo at the top. I took apart some of the extra alternate blocks and made them into border blocks. 

Of course, I am not following the finishing instructions, so I am not sure how big it will be in the end, but somewhere around 72×84. A good size. 

BAM BOM Month 3

BAM BOM Friendship Star
BAM BOM Friendship Star

As I said, I am trying to stay ahead of the crowd, so after the BAM Holiday Party, I quickly made a Friendship Star.

In general, I have a tough time with this block. I think it looks much better small. The 12 inch size just looks like it has too much fabric, though a 12 inch block with the star made from a blowsy, large flower fabric might work better.

I do think that using the Friendship Stars as cornerstones, like a donation quilt I made, works well.

The best use of Friendship Stars I have found is making a wreath out of them. I got inspired by Camille Roskelly and then made Flying Around using the Friendship Star wreaths. I’d like to make one for this project. We’ll see if I get to it.

All of Patchwork Palooza

All Patchwork Palooza blocks
All Patchwork Palooza blocks

I finished all of the Patchwork Palooza blocks and am now waiting for the finishing instructions. I can definitely finish this without them, but I want to see what they say. I was annoyed not to receive the email last Friday despite receiving other marketing emails. I may just have to make my own instructions for finishing. 🙁

Julie was working on her PP blocks at Sew Day so I was able to see that sashing provided the blocks with a little bit of space. I think it needs the space just by looking at what I have on the design wall. 

Some of the blocks look complicated or busy, but that is somewhat because of the fabrics I chose and where I decided to place them. I can also see where making some half alternate blocks might look nice in the border. We’ll see. I’d like to get this finished, so I might not want to make it more complex.

Catching up on Patchwork Palooza

I have kept up with the Patchwork Palooza Project while I was away and since I got back. I did have to make two of the most recent blocks at the same time, they are done and here we are with a few blocks to show. I haven’t had a chance to investigate whether there are historic names for these blocks.

Apparently, I have blocks 17, 19 and 20 to show. I also finished the last of the alternate blocks, which all look the same.

Friend Julie posted all of her blocks to date a few days ago, which makes me want to do that as well. Sadly, I don’t think I have the design wall space, but may need to make some so I can see what I have.

Patchwork Palooza mini view
Patchwork Palooza mini view

I do have a mini version of the layout crammed above my strip donation blocks. Looking at this picture I think I might have to remake #20. I’ll wait until I can look at them all at once. I have others without the white backgrounds, so this might be a skewed view.

I am working on n.21 now.

Patchwork Palooza Block 18

Patchwork Palooza: Guiding Star
Patchwork Palooza: Guiding Star

Guiding Star came out on November 7, while I was away. It reminded me of Come Together, which I posted about earlier. This is the third, I think, Sawtooth Star type block.

Fortunately, I brought my fabrics and was able to get started. I know there are only a few more weeks left of this project, then I can put all of the blocks together. I am looking forward to that.

Palooza Block 17: Starlight Path

Palooza Block 18: Starlight Path
Palooza Block 18: Starlight Path

I really liked the way this block went together. It came out really well in terms of the piecing.

I found the color suggestions to be confusing and more so since I was working without a design wall. I am pretty happy with the way the block came out, however.

I am finding my fabric choices to be an unusual combination. They are good work with because the fabric is high quality. However, I am not sure I would have picked them had I really thought about it.

I was reading Around the Block** and found a block that was similar to this one, Crockett Cabin (pg.47). It has a few fewer HSTs than Starlight Path. In Barbara Brackman’s Encyclopedia of Quilt Patterns**, there is a section (pg.137) with blocks of the same structure, though with different layouts and numbers of HSTs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

**N. B. : Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this website.

Patchwork Palooza Block 16

Safe Harbor
Safe Harbor

One of the blocks that arrived in my inbox while I was in Portland was Safe Harbor, Block 16. It is a kind of Square in a Square block.

I was very interested in the way the corners were added. Instead of a template for the blue pieces, the designer used a flippy corners method. Very clever!

Patchwork Palooza Block 15

Crosswalk (Lozenge Plus) - Block 15
Crosswalk (Lozenge Plus) – Block 15

I am behind on posting these.

After a hitch with my email subscription to the Patchwork Palooza blocks, I was able to quickly make Block 15 of the project after receiving the pattern from Friend Julie.

This looks like a Lozenge Plus block to me, though the PLUS in the center looks a little fatter. 

In Barbara Brackman’s Encyclopedia of Quilt Patterns**, this block, #1970, is called the Spool Block and is attributed to Nancy Cabot, c.1938.

In Jinny Beyer’s The Quilter’s Album of Patchwork Patterns, this block is #186-2. It is also called the Spool Block from Nancy Cabot (glad they agree!). Beyer references The Chicago Tribune, April 1, 1938. I should go look that up sometime.

 

 

 

 

 

 

**N. B. : Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this website.

Patchwork Palooza Block 14

Patchwork Palooza block 14: Spin Cycle
Patchwork Palooza block 14: Spin Cycle

Patchwork Palooza Block 14 is called Spin Cycle in this project.

I found the block in Jinny Beyer’s The Quilter’s Album of Patchwork Patterns, where this block is called Southern Belle (58-1). It is by Clara Stone from Practical Needlework, ca 1906.

The name could be all about the way the block is colored. I saw it also called Double Pinwheel, but the units may have been turned to enhance the Pinwheel look. 

Patchwork Palooza Alternate Blocks

Patchwork Palooza Alternate block
Patchwork Palooza Alternate block

How many times can I say palooza? A lot apparently.

Now that I have finished the last backlog block for this project, and while I waited for the next block to drop, I needed to get busy on the alternate blocks. There are 21 of them and they will all be the same. Don’t worry, I am not going to bore you (even more?) by posting each one I finish. 

There is a lot of chain piecing and sewing, then cutting of strips to make the units that make up these blocks, so it took me quite awhile to finish the first block. I did eventually and it isn’t anything special, IMO. It is an Irish Chain type block. 

I didn’t find the exact block in my sources, but may yet do so. In Barbara Brackman’s Encyclopedia of Quilt Patterns**, a very similar block to this one is called Single Irish Chain by Nancy Cabot, 1933. It is similar to Pennsylvania (pg.231-2023).

Patchwork Palooza blocks with alternate
Patchwork Palooza blocks with alternate

I put a couple of blocks on the design wall to see what I had. So far, so good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**N. B. : Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this website.

Patchwork Palooza Block 6

Patchwork Palooza 6: Keep the Fire
Patchwork Palooza 6: Keep the Fire

This is the last backlog block. The PP project calls it Keep the Fire, but it is a Bow Tie block. I am not sure why the Patchwork Palooza people are renaming the blocks. I suppose it makes the block fresher. 

I found it in Jinny Beyer’s The Quilter’s Album of Patchwork Patterns, where the block is called Necktie (73-1). It is by Ruth Finley, ca 1929.

I have to make this block for another project and I found the instructions to make this one SO easy. I have always dreaded the flippy corners method. No problem on this block. It came out great, especially after the grief with Block 8.

 

BAM BOM 2025 – First Blocks

BAM BOM HSTs
BAM BOM HSTs

We introduced the BAM BOM last weekend at the guild meeting.

The first block is the HST and these are mine. For this block, I am using some fabric from a member who passed away. 

The rule is at least 6 seams, so I knew I had to make more than one HST. I used the 8-at-a-time directions I give to my students and made 8.

I have an idea in my mind to use HSTs in more places around my quilt. For now, I will stick with these, but I might make more later.

Patchwork Palooza Block 5

I am almost finished with the backlog of blocks.

Card Trick AKA Go Your Own Way
Card Trick AKA Go Your Own Way

I finally finished block 5, Card Trick, or, as the Patchwork Palooza people call it, Go Your Own Way. I don’t like this block. I always have trouble making it, which seems very odd to me. It shouldn’t be a difficult block, but for me, it is. Apparently, it didn’t like me either as there was a lot of ripping involved in finishing it.

In Barbara Brackman’s Encyclopedia of Quilt Patterns**, this block, #1674, is called Crow’s Nest or Card Trick. Both names are from Beth and Jeff Gutcheon. In the Encyclopedia it is colored very strangely, so you can see the card effect. It looks more like an Ohio Star, but with half QSTs instead of regular QSTs.

In Jinny Beyer’s The Quilter’s Album of Patchwork Patterns, this block is #143 and also called Card Trick, but doesn’t have the QST in the center. It is listed as from The Perfect Patchwork Primer by Beth and Jeff Gutcheon. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**N. B. : Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this website.

BAM BOM Start

SueG and I have been working for a few months on organizing a block-of-the-month (BOM) program for the guild. It starts in a few days. If you want to join, buy a membership in the guild. We will make the BOM program available in the group’s forum as well as at the meetings.

We wanted this to be a different kind of BOM. The participants won’t be getting one block that they have to make in a certain size each month. We are going with a “Choose Your Own Adventure” style. People will get a pattern, but there will be choices of  sizes. They can use any technique to make it and change the size if they want.

BAM BOM fabrics
BAM BOM fabrics

I have started to choose my fabrics. These aren’t all of them. I think I need some kind of citrus or sunshine type warm color and a turquoise as well.  Stay tuned for the additions as I evolve the fabrics in my own mind.