Commentary about works in progress, design & creativity
I have been working on the Spiky 16 Patch prep so I haven’t made as many regular 16 patches. These are particularly nice.
I have been cutting up new fabric, which means I have some fresh fabrics to use and that is always fun.
Again, I have been able to make a few of the 16 patch donation blocks for BAM. The HRT donation quilt has taken up a lot of my donation making time, but not all. I want to help the Charity Girls keep their supply of 16 patches fresh.
I am running out of foreground squares so I will have to get DH to haul out the Accuquilt for me and cut up some scraps before I can make many more. I have the additional HRTs to make, so I am not completely out of the game.
I made the blue and green donation blocks last year with the idea that I would add HRTs to the blocks to make something a little different.
I have been struggling along with the HRTs,despite all the different tutorials and information I found. I was about to put it away and try “later” when I got a new burst of energy for the project. I worked on it much of the day Saturday. The burst of energy came from watching the video on how to use the Split Recs ruler. DUH, I know. I did read the directions, but clearly didn’t understand them, because I was struggling mightily to use the ruler. I really needed to watch* the video, because there are certain steps and tips that come across a lot better via video. The biggest tip: both fabrics need to face the same way. This means wrong side to right side NOT right sides together. HUGE tip. HUGE.
The picture (above left) is from my first struggles with the ruler and different ways of making the HRTs.
The image (right) is from today, after I trimmed the HRTs I had and started making new HRTs to fill in the gaps.
The quilt will be 4 blocks – it will be a small NICU quilt. I have 16 blocks and may make more of these spiky blocks. We will have to see. I am pleased I am finally making progress.
*I don’t know why I am so resistant to watching quilting videos. I suppose I perceive that it takes my time away from the actual sewing. I found the Split Recs video to be invaluable and am sorry I didn’t watch it sooner.
I know it is late, but I have been wanting to make some donation blocks for the Ventura Modern Quilt Guild.
As I was rummaging through an old project bin, I found some HSTs that were the right size and decided to repurpose an old Stepping Stones project. I only had a block or two and knew I wasn’t ready to make another Stepping Stones project right at the moment.
These blocks, once the fabric is cut, are very quick to make – simple 9 patch construction. the deadline is approaching so I will send these off very quickly.
I also played around with some layouts:
As I may have mentioned in one of my QuiltCon posts, I got some charm squares that are to be used for donation blocks for Quilts for Cure. Quilts for Cure is led by HollyAnne Knight and it was a pleasure to meet her. I am always pleased to make donation blocks and this seemed like a good opportunity.
I started worrying about it this past week. I woke up in the middle of the night worrying about these blocks, which is not a good thing. Part of it was the charm squares. We had to make blocks from charm squares. I didn’t know what blocks to make! That is a weird feeling as I always have an idea.. I talked to Friend Julie, who was zooming along with her blocks, then I searched for “blocks with charm squares.” I found a tutorial for a block I could make and was willing to make.
Now I am zooming through these. I have made four, have two in progress and have another stack of charm squares to use.
I am looking forward to crossing another thing off my list!
I am finally going to bring my giant pile of donation blocks to the meeting this week. Here is the latest group for your viewing pleasure.
I am so pleased with these blocks. While I think I made more, these are the only ones I can verify. A small, but mighty number! The pile grows exponentially and that is very exciting.
Here are more blocks from January. I think my total for January was 25. I would have loved to get to one per day, but 25 is not shabby.
While I did cut a few new fabrics, this group represents blocks made from the last dregs of my donation bin.
After using up all that I could, I got out the Acuquilt and my new 2.5″ die (Christmas gift) and cut a bunch of new squares from scraps on my cutting table. There will be some duplicate blocks, but I am back in the business of making donation blocks.
I decided on a layout for the Triple Star quilt and needed one more block to make it look mostly balanced.
I made it mostly from the leftovers that I didn’t use in the other blocks. This makes it heavily made from warm colors. I decided not to worry about it as it wouldn’t stand out with all of the other blocks.
I am making some donation blocks, but not as many as I had hoped so far this month. I am still working through the dregs of my box of 2.5″ squares and that is uninteresting. It will be good to get the dregs out of my life, though, so I am determined.
These are really different from those I made earlier in the month.
This is the last block before I put the quilt together. As with the others, I like the way it came out. I think I might like to consider making a whole quilt using Sarah’s technique, eg cutting much larger pieces, arranging them, calculating the background and then sewing the whole quilt together. I could possibly use this technique with the FOTY patches, though it might not be necessary.
Block 5 is complete and n.6 is in process.
I think I will make 6 total. They are 24″ blocks, so the 6 will make a large lap quilt.
I started in on some new donation blocks for the guild.
I am still working through the dregs of my donation bin patches, so some of them are a little strange, but I am committed to using the fabrics I have cut before I cut more.
Not sure how many more I will make before the meeting, but I will try to make more.
I am working very hard on this piece as I don’t want it to get stale. Block number four is another winner.
I have immersed myself over the past couple of weeks in the Planned Improv process. I finished block 3 a few days ago and am pleased with how it came out.
I decided to start on a new Planned Improv (from the Sarah Goer class) block to work on in between the gifts and Christmas stuff I had to make. I put the first block on the design wall and started with the same idea.
My first iteration was ok.
As I worked on it, I looked at the balance of shape, size of blocks and color of red.
Some problems I am running into are:
I am sewing my final design together and I am pleased with it. The only thing that I need to worry about are partial seams. There are a lot of them in this block. I am not scared of partial seams and have a tutorial for those of you who haven’t done them, but they make me sigh. I just wasn’t thinking when I decided on the final layout. Oh well.