One problem I had with the previous post was that my Blockbase disk stopped working and I had to get a replacement disk before I could show you the templates or the detailed layout of the block.
I just received the disk, installed Blockbase and immediately looked up this block. Snowball Wreath was there in all its crazy glory.I am so impressed that Laura Wheeler would have the guts to make a block with such crazy templates. Talk about no fear!
They had used colors in the sample that weren’t to my taste, so I recolored the piece to look like the block I made way back when.
Snowball Wreath Block (drawing)
I saw the block colored, but I also looked at it for a long time in the drawing format. Can you believe those pieces? I am reminded why we don’t see very many quilts with this pattern. Of course, I haven’t see every quilt in the universe, so they could be out there waiting for the perfect time to show themselves so I have another blog post. 😉
Finally, you can see from the second block I colored that there are different ways to get different looks out of the block. I don’t think the second one looks quite as interesting, but it would definitely work if you wanted to fussy cut some fabric then put it in he middle.
I think I am back in the saddle with the Black & Grey donation blocks. I haven’t really worked on the piece since February 8 of this year. I feel bad about that, but I can only do what I can do. I figure that doing something slowly is better than doing nothing.
I have about 15 blocks now and am still thinking of making a teenaged boy donation quilt. It feels dauntingly large, though and I don’t know if I can make all of those blocks. Again, I have run out of a lot of choices of different fabrics, which I know won’t matter in 6 months, but now feels constraining.
I’ll just keep plugging away as best I can and see how it comes out. Kelly offered to help and I am hoping she has made some blocks to add to mine to spice up what I have made.
Longtime readers may remember my post about the Snowball Wreath block, a block originally published in the Kansas City Star in the 1930s as a Laura Wheeler design. It is number 1515 in Barbara Brackman’s Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns with the name “Snowball Wreath.”
This came up again when Kelly found a newspaper clipping of the block on eBay and let me know about it. Since the block came up again, I did a Google search to see if any quilts had come up with this pattern. Lo and behold, Barbara Brackman had done a post on the block in 2009. I don’t read her blog regularly, though I should, and missed this post.
She talked about photos she had received of a quilt from Alabama. She recognized the block immediately as the Snowball Wreath. If you go to her blog, you can see that the quilt is actually made from blocks of that pattern!
It doesn’t look like the maker actually pieced the quilt from the pattern. It is hard to tell from a photo, but I think the ‘wreath’ part of the block was appliqued on to muslin.
Brackman gives information on getting the pattern and asks people to write in if they try the block or know of a quilt made up in the pattern.
The 2009 post is followed up with a January 2010 post with results of the query. In the post she talks about Vivian making the block and the changes she made to the pattern to make it pieceable.
I also found a reference to it in the Quilt Index. You can see a lot of the old newspaper patterns in the Quilt Index as well as examples of quilts and blocks. It is a worthy cause to which to donate.
ScrapHappy, who writes the soscrappy blog also tried the Snowball Wreath pattern and posted about it on her blog. she made it in miniature using paper piecing. This appears to be from some kind of BOM or group project from a shop called Sentimental Stitches. I came across a PDF with a pattern in my Google travels.
Flourishing Palms made a version of the block in 2011, though it is slightly different than the original. She calls the fabrics ugly, though I don’t think they are ugly. Again, to each his own. The interesting thing is that she wasn’t aware of my post or Barbara Brackman’s. She just flipped to it in Barbara Brackman’s Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns book. Odd and interesting!
Helen, from the Being, Nothingness and 1000 Quilt Blocks blog, wrote in another blog post, also from 2011, the block is shown with a bunch of others after a discussion of Existentialism! the goal of this blog was to create 1,000 quilt blocks and read 600 pages of Satre in one year. I don’t think she made her deadline, but she is still plugging away on both. It is interesting to read the Satre bits and then look at quilt blocks. The first post of the blog describes the project a bit and, on the Gallery page, she writes “… in my quest to complete all the quilt blocks in Maggi McCormick Gordon’s 1000 Great Quilt Blocks.” I want to do this kind of project some time. The Tula Pink City Sampler could be a warm-up for a larger project. Barbara Brackman’s book or Jinny Beyer’s book? Either would be a retirement project.
I have to say that this block still fascinates me and I might try another version.
I am having a hard time getting into the sewing groove. I am pretty sure it has to do with my ‘depression’ over my sewing machine. All the travel I have been doing gets me out of the groove as well. I know that you don’t notice the travel, because I continue to post, but I have been out of town all but 17 days since May 23.
In order to get into the sewing groove again, I decided to work on the City Sampler/Tale of Two Cities block challenge. I spent almost the entire day last Thursday sewing. I don’t feel like I accomplished much, but I keep reminding myself that it is about the process and not the product.
Before I started working on this most recent batch of City Sampler/Tale of Two Cities blocks, I was thinking that this project was fulfilling a goal in my quiltmaking adventure: to make all the blocks in a block dictionary. I never picked out a block dictionary to work from, but always thought I would do the blocks in Around the Block. I didn’t even realize that I had started to work my way through a block dictionary until recently. I guess I wasn’t paying attention. 😉
City Sampler no.11
I decided I’d like to make up to no.20 before the next BAMQG meeting. I had made 10 before I started on Thursday. My goal would have meant making 10 more blocks. The first block I made was, obviously, no.11. I am trying to go in order to keep everything straight, though I do veer off sometimes
I am not sure if I like this block. I love the fabrics, but the ice cream cones might be a bit much.
Also, the brown is still a problem for me. This is a similar, but different brown than the brown I used in the City Sampler block no.5. The dots are smaller and I was hoping that would help. I am thinking that the brown part of the background fabric will have to stand on its own in this quilt. I don’t think I will use anymore brown. I don’t know that I will remake the blocks I have made with brown, but we will see.
City Sampler no.12
Next up was no.12. I used the octopus fabric again. It is really fun fabric, but I don’t think it is working in this quilt. I actually forgot that I cut the plus pieces and imagined using the background fabric for the plus pieces. When I found I already cut the pieces from the octopus fabric, I put the block together. Then I decided to make it again with the background fabric and see which one I liked better.
City Sampler no.12 (#2)
I definitely like the one with the background fabric (Remix by Ann Kelle for Robert Kaufman). The background fabric works in this block, because it is surrounded completely with other fabrics, thus the fabric in the plus will not run into the background fabric, should I decide to surround the blocks with sashing or something.
Making sure that the background I use in the blocks doesn’t bleed into the sashing or border is a design choice. I don’t mind using the background fabric in the blocks since I really like it, but I want the blocks to be crisp and distinct. You might make a different choice as you work through design choices in your work. You can create a great effect by allowing one fabric to bleed into another, so don’t be afraid to try it.
City Sampler no.13
One member of our guild made a few of hte plus blocks and then skipped to the rectangles. She considered the pluses crosses and the motifs bugged her. I thought about this while I was sewing the blocks and I have to say that I didn’t think of them as crosses. I began thinking of them as pluses and continue to do so.
Whether you think of these blocks as crosses or pluses, I think there are enough blocks to remove a few from the running, as you prepare to put the blocks together into a top, to create a look that you really like.
No.13 looks odd to me – off balance or something. I realized that the outside still has a seam allowance so the pluses don’t looked balanced at the moment, but will once I put all the blocks together.
I briefly thought of posting new blocks on a weekly schedule like the Block-a-Long and the Creative Prompt. I don’t think I am quite that organized. We’ll see. For now I’ll just write posts as I sew the blocks.
This is a fun project and it is getting me to sew. I feel a small sense of accomplishment as well. All I have to say is that Friend Julie better be working on her blocks!
Previous Posts
June 5, 2014 – Various & Sundry #5 June 2014 (brief mention)
I started a couple of these blocks at the BAMQG Retreat in hopes of adding to the giant pile, but I just couldn’t get them done. I was using a non-quarter inch foot for the Petrillo Bag and that foot doesn’t work when I need a quarter inch seam.
I had a couple of extra kits at home and a set of 2.5′ squares (green batik, middle of top row), so I ran them through the sewing machine one afternoon and suddenly had 6 donation squares. I’ll bring them to the next meeting.
I have also been working on the grey and black donation quilt. We are getting into our foggy time of year and I may not be able to work on it much longer as it is too depressing. Not good for a donation quilt. I have a lot of squares cut, but enough blocks for a baby quilt. I was just kind of hoping to make a teenage boy sized top as the colors would be better for a teenaged boy. I will keep running the squares through the machine and see what happens.
I had these two blocks mostly cut out before I went to Grand Parlor, but didn’t get around to sewing them until last weekend when, after finally getting my sewing mojo back, I worked hard at avoiding the Petrillo Bag.
These are the next two in the crosses section (Blocks 1-15 of the City Sampler Project). No.9 doesn’t much look like a cross, but No.9 makes me think of a Maltese Cross.
I, unintentionally, used pretty subtle fabrics in No.9. It will be one of the blocks that gives the viewer a reward if s/he comes closer.
I like the way No.8 looks on point and wonder what kind of secondary design the block would make if I made a lot of them and set them right next to each other? Of course, it depends on the fabric. I imagine NOT putting background fabrics in the corner would be key, but I really can imagine how it would look.
Tale of Two Cities, No.10
I usually cut out the fabrics in sets of two, but my design wall was crammed with Russian Rubix blocks, so I did No.10 as a single.
It is also subtle and I had to take the photo a couple of times to make sure I got the piecing. the center is Art Gallery fabric and I just love the feel and the color.
Last week, I got a bug in my ear to look at all of my Sampler blocks. I hadn’t done it in awhile and, frankly, I had forgotten where we were with the class.
As soon as I finished the top and back of the Super Secret #4 project, I got it off the design wall and put up the blocks.
Aqua/Red Sampler Blocks
I had totally forgotten the Double 4 Patch, the Card Trick and the Dutchman’s Puzzle. I had also forgotten what a good job I did using the large Patty Young flowers in these blocks.
I also noticed how some of the backgrounds are very bold and others are more subtle. I think the piece hangs together well despite the differences. I am not sure what block to do next, but I need at least 2 more and could work with more.
The basket block is clearly missing. That block teaches combining piecing and applique’. If I did a different one, such as the Tea Basket block that would be an interesting addition that I haven’t done AND be challenging.
Other than a basket block I can’t think of what skills I haven’t worked on with Frances. I don’t think an art quilt block would work with this piece and I am not sure what something like the Spiderweb would buy. I could do a block with some weird shapes like trapezoids.
City Sampler by Tula Pink is block book that was written/designed in 2013. The project has been all over Twitter, Instagram, Flickr and other social media outlets as quiltmakers make the blocks, the quilts and share them. BAMQG has just started a project using this book in one of the small groups. So far, I have only seen a few blocks and some members seemed to imply Instagram would be better for sharing than Flickr. I am not a huge user of Instagram and don’t find the way the app crops photos to be appealing, but whatever. My view is probably the old fart quiltmaker view.
Julie got the book for me, as I mentioned, and we agreed to do the project as a way of doing something together while she is in China. One of us thought of the name Tale of Two Cities and I decided to be inspired by the colors of winter here. I haven’t selected all of the fabrics, but there are a lot of blues and greens and they are very clear.
I have been feeling bad that I haven’t done the blocks until now. I finally got busy and I knew that once I started, I wouldn’t be able to stop.
City Sampler block No.1
The first group of blocks shown in the book are crosses. These are, or feel like, log cabin blocks. I admire log cabin quilts and the variety of layouts possible with the log cabin block style. That being said, I don’t like making log cabin blocks. The strips make me crazy. I don’t know why. Strips are fine, but somehow sewing these types of blocks makes me crazy.
City Sampler block No.2
The group of cross blocks are part of the City Sampler, which is a group of 100 blocks. I said I was going to participate in the project, so I am making the cross blocks. There are 15 of them and not all have a log cabin-y feel when I sew them, so I can suck up the ones I don’t like making. After making 5 of the blocks, I found that they go together quickly.
No.2 (all the blocks are numbered and there is a spot where you can fill in the name) looks the most like a log cabin. I took the opportunity to fussy cut some motifs from one of the prints. This will provide a surprise for those who decide to look closer at the quilt. This is the one that set my nerves on edge, because of the small pieces. The others, so far, have had larger pieces.
All of the blocks are 6″, which contributes to the small size of the pieces. When I say “larger pieces” I mean that the pieces are relatively larger.
City Sampler block No.5
I don’t know if these are all original blocks. I haven’t taken the time to look through The Quilter’s Album of Patchwork Patterns (have you bought yours yet??) or the Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns (or the BlockBase equivalent). I might at some point.
I know I added 3 browns to my original group of fabrics. I used the brown dot in No.5 and the corners might be too much brown. It is hard to tell with only a few blocks, but I can always make this block over if the corners look like big holes in the middle of the quilt. After making this block, I decided I would use the brown in less prominent areas of the quilt and for smaller pieces.
City Sampler block No.4
I used this idea for block No.4.
I cut very small brown pieces to see how the idea would work. This block has all new fabrics except for the brown. I used the brown in small pieces, as I said. I want to use it as an anchor to relate No.4 to the other blocks. The blues are subtle.
A word about the octopus. Tula Pink put out that octopus print as part of the Salt Water line. I thought the print was amusing, so I bought a fat quarter. I am going to sprinkle it into the quilt, but I am not planning on making this a Tula Pink quilt. If I had to assign this quilt a theme it would be either blue or calm.
City Sampler block No.3
Block No.3 is another one where I could use fussy cutting. I skipped it initially as I was waiting for the Thomas Knauer Asbury fabrics to arrive and be washed. Instead of going through with that plan, I pulled some fabrics out of my scrap bin and used those.
I am not sure I like this block with the others, but I am reserving judgment until I get more blocks and see if they fit my theme and how they look with the other blocks.
I think I will use a lot of fabrics in this quilt, so I am trying to use as many fabrics as I want, but also trying to use them in multiple blocks so that there is some continuity.
Tomorrow I will talk about how to make a hexagon block. I realized that I haven’t been talking about the actual blocks that *I* make for the sampler more than what is in the tutorial. I decided I wanted to talk about it a little bit.
As with the other blocks, the reasons I have my students make this block are:
More practice on Y seams
Hexagon quilts are popular and my students may want to make one one day
More practice with color is always good
More practice with pattern is always good.
You may think that Y seams are tedious PITA that aren’t worth it, but becoming comfortable with Y seams has truly expanded my repertoire of techniques. I can make so many more blocks knowing how to complete Y seams.
I never thought I would make a whole hexagon quilt, but I did. I was even shocked. I don’t think I will make another, but you never know. I also watch TFQ make one with a similar sized hexagons to the hexagons in the block above.
Since my sampler quilt is basically a two color quilt, I need to create contrast within that palette for each block. With all of those Y seams, you can bet that I do NOT want you, as the viewer, to see a big blob. I want you to see every single Y seam. 😉 While I am comfortable with Y seams, they are still a technique worthy of celebration and the choices of fabric that I made reflect that.
The result of using only two colors is that my color choices have already been selected. For the foreground, I am working hard to stay in the bright red arena – like scarlet. No blood red or rust red. As a result, I had mostly pattern with which to work . Using the different patterns of the fabric draws the viewer’s attention around the block.
For the background, I am trying to stay in the aqua arena. Some of my blocks have red in the background, but for continuity’s sake, none of the blocks have a completely red background and most have more aqua than red.
In the past I have hand appliqued the piece of hexagons to the background, but I was impatient this time. I machine appliqued it using Aurifil invisible thread. I didn’t scream through it, I sewed slowly and the blocks is pretty flat. I am pleased.
This project has been on my mind since December when Friend Julie suggested it. I am finally making a wobbly start. The start is that I have started to choose the colors.
Julie bought me the book as a gift and after some discussions with her, I decided I would be inspired by the city around me. This, in my mind, fits into the ‘City Sampler” theme that Tula Pink encourages also.
In the winter, the sky is very blue here and, though cold, I enjoy the strong light and clear colors. It should be no surprise that turquoise factors into my choices. I just can’t help myself.
Another appeal of this project is the block element. I miss making blocks on a regular basis like I did for the A-B-C Challenge and the Star Sampler. This project will help me satisfy that craving and, hopefully, will not annoy me.
Finally, shortly after Julie and I talked about the project, Kelly brought it up as a BAMQG small group project. This means I can have fun with Julie and participate more in BAMQG.
I was having trouble getting started. I have been distracted by life and picking a few fabrics (I am sure I will need more) really helps me to get the process out of my head and started.
Recently Daisy asked for some of us Twilters to donate some pastel/springy Scrapitude blocks. It was intended for one of our Twilter/podcast pals who is going through a tough time.
As you know, my fabric selection tends to brighter fabrics so I had to dig deep to find springy pastel fabrics. I succeeded and came up with these two blocks, which I think are quite pretty.
Pastel Scrapitude Finished
Daisy finished the whole quilt around March 5 and sent it off to the recipient on March 6. There are a couple of really dark blocks. Daisy did a good job clustering them in the center of the quilt.
I see one of my blocks (center top with the yellow with orange dots) and another in the middle towards the bottom.
Daisy really did the lion’s share of the work. I was pleased to be asked to be a part of the project. It was such a nice thing for Daisy to organize.
Daisy had put tracking on the package and reported back to us as she watched the package cross the country. There was a lot of excitement when the package went “out for delivery.” We all on pins and needles as the status changed to ‘delivered.’ Finally squealing could be heard across the country as the recipient posted to Twitter thanking everyone. It was unexpected and perfectly timed.
The recipient LOVED it. She was very surprised and slept under the quilt that very night.
I started out, after Grama died, cutting black and grey 2.5″ squares. I have one scrap drawer for black, grey and brown and, as you may recall, my scrap bin was overflowing. Earlier this week, I picked up the project again and found that I had 9 squares. I think I mentioned that I had lost a few of the squares. I found them in a pile.
I really wanted the background to mostly be the speckle grey I used for the T-Shirt quilt. I am not sure that is going to work as I don’t think I have enough to make many more blocks.
Due to the colors, my idea was to make it larger to appeal to a teen in need, but unless I have yardage left, I’ll have to find another grey. I do have some various greys from the edge of the T-Shirt quilt; I am just not quite sure that is the way I want to go.
Black & Grey Donation Blocks
I used this project as a leaders and enders project while working on the Scrapitude blocks. I thought I made an additional 6 blocks, but when I counted them up, I was disappointed to find only an additional 4. I am glad I have as many as I have, but it is still not enough to make into a teen quilt. I will need to rethink my design idea by looking through my greys and see what I think I can do.
I made the Ribbon Star back in the midst of the Star Sampler quilt project. You might remember that I went back and forth and resewed, had trouble, unsewed and resewed again. I finally ended up with a block with which I could live and put it in the quilt. I also, however, had a second block laying around which was not up to par.
Ribbon Star on design wall
I finally decided to do something about it. First, I looked at the block a lot. I had it hanging on my design wall for a long time.
As an aside, my design wall is completely crammed. That was part of the reason I wanted to work on this. If I could save it (for a pillow? or the start of a different project?), I could get it off my design wall.
Someone pointed out to me that one piece (blue upper left hand corner immediately next to the background square) is sewed in wrong. Someone else said that it looked like the piece you grab to unroll or unravel the Ribbon Star. I really tried to think that was true, but it bugged me nonetheless.
The other thing that bugged me was the placement of some of the fabrics. I thought I read somewhere that this would look more dimensional, if light and darks were alternated. I messed that up and wanted to fix it.
Ribbon Star unsewed
I unsewed.
First, I unsewed a little bit to see if I could make it work with unsewing as little as possible.
I pretty much had to unsew all of the major seams. One survived. I didn’t unsew the units, except one, which was great.
Then I rearranged. I moved all of the pieces and parts around until I had an arrangement with which I could live.
Press. Resew. Voila!
Final Ribbon Star
It isn’t perfect, but it is better and all I can do is learn from this and do better next time. I don’t know what I will do with this block, but it will be a good start to something.
After I started the book, which I did read from cover to cover, I knew I wanted to spend time on this review, which is why it took me so long to get it up. I didn’t want to rush, because I want you love this book as much as I do. The short version is that if you have even the slightest bit of interest in blocks, drafting blocks or quilt history, you need this book. It is a fabulous reference, full of inspiration, well written and well organized. Go buy it right now.
This is a follow-up to her 1980 book, The Quilter’s Album of Blocks & Borders. If you see the 1980 book for a decent price, it is useful as well. Make sure it has the plastic grid insert.
The Quilter’s Album of Patchwork Patterns is not a sequel necessarily, but Jinny Beyer built on the original idea to come up with this larger and more comprehensive book. The basic idea that I got out of the original book was that if you understand the structure of the block, you can make any quilt. I understand that all quilts aren’t made from blocks, but having a good foundation makes analyzing the structure of all types of quilts easier.
This book lists the all the names by which a block is known. The primary name is listed first and comes from the oldest source she could find. This means that you will see blocks you know by one name entered in the book by another. Have no fear! All the published block names are listed under the primary name and the comprehensive index makes finding your favorite blocks by almost any names easy. She has limited herself, primarily to blocks created before 1970. As she says “This book would be at least four times its size if I had attempted to catalog all designs that have been created since the 1970s. I purposefully limited myself to traditional quilt blocks created for the most part before 1970…”. The exception are blocks Ms. Beyer has designed. You may not find more modern variations or names listed here. I hope she or someone else will do follow-up or a volume two adding truly new blocks to this resource.
The beginning of the book is extensive and includes not only the Table of Contents, Acknowledgements and an Introduction, but also A Primer on Pieced Blocks. The last section includes some history of the block sources, a description of the way the blocks are organized and how to draft a variety of blocks, even the oddly shaped blocks.
I was amazed to see how many catalog offering there were prior to World War 2. People could buy pre-made blocks, quilt pieces and even quilts made up. Some may lament the advent of quilt kits now, but shop owners are following in the footsteps of the “good old days” of quiltmaking.
The blocks come next and are organized by shape: squares, hexagons, continuous pattern blocks, one-patch blocks and miscellaneous patterns. It was amazing to me how the bulk of patterns are based on a square grid.
Beyer talks about the grid and this is the piece that is important to understand that will allow you to analyze blocks in a quilt at a show, draw it and go home and make it. Read this section carefully and make sure you understand before you move on.
The drafting section is very useful. It explains geometry related to quiltmaking, so those of us who tried hard to stay awake in that 9th grade class have a reason to stay awake now. My favorite part was the magic that is drafting the perfect square. Beyer gives, at least, two methods. I also liked her method of making a perfect grid. As a bonus, understanding these drafting instructions really help when you are working with a program like EQ7. Understanding the grid and how a block is drafted makes using that program much more intuitive.
The section on blocks takes up the bulk of the book. Each group of blocks is broken down by the type of grid it uses. For example, the first section is called 2×2 Base Grid Category. The blocks in this category are what we would normally call four patches. Each block is shown in Jinny Beyer fabrics and colors and also as a line drawing. Included on the page is the block name and reference.
Another bonus is that Ms. Beyer has gathered like blocks together into a section called Quick Reference: (theme). This is a good and easy way to find all the blocks with a certain theme to use in a quilt. One Quick Reference is called Boats. There were also Quick Reference pages for leaves, baskets, Red Cross blocks and Feathered Stars. All the blocks on a Quick Reference page have the name of each block and where to find it in the book.
As I moved through the book I marked blocks I liked as well. Most were my standard favorite categories like Baskets all with a twist. In a way I was creating my own quick reference pages, which I, sometimes, found were redundant with Jinny’s quick reference pages. Still, I enjoy seeing my own notes and references.
One of the things that I loved was the names of the blocks. i always knew that quilt blocks had interesting and funny names. This book gathers all of those names. Crow’s Nest, Scroll Work, Night and Day, Open Sesame, and California Sunset are all wonderfully evocative and spur on the imagination, but have nothing to do with the piecing. Like modern paint color names, I guess.
Like the previous book, this one comes with Transparency Grid Sheets as well. These tools allow you to lay the transparency grid on top of the blocks to see why they are categorized as the grid indicated.
There is a comprehensive table of contents, a bibliography, a variety of cross references, footnotes, tables and a fabulous index. All of this warms my librarian heart. This is a well done book and well worth the money.
I spent the day Saturday doing laundry and working on four patches. I had really looked forward to a day in my workroom and, while I got that, I felt out of sorts. I am not sure why, but it just wasn’t the relaxing sew day I thought it would be. I sewed, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as normal.
112 Four Patches
Still, I made progress. I finished the 112 four patches that were part of the first sewing step in Charlotte’s Mystery quilt. I had started them last week or the week before, so about half of the halves were sewn. I needed to do the rest and I had to cut enough pieces to make them.I alternated cutting and sewing. It works better for me.
I have to figure out how and where to store these. I don’t have a good sense of when the next step will happen.
Example Four Patches
As you can see, my background fabric is dots. I figured I would use some of the dots I have been collecting sinc they are just sitting there waiting for a project. As I mentioned, I had to cut much of the background from yardage. I rummaged through my scrap bins as much as possible. Now, I am pretty much left with weird shapes and smaller than 2.5″ squares in many of the colors.
I have to say that part way through making the 4 patches, I was ready to make some larger blocks and see where I was going. I got a little sick of 4 patches, which is sad, because I really adore the simplicity of four patches. There is a lot one can make with a four patch as a base. I think part of what is going on is that I am not organized in my sewing room right now. I don’t have a good handle on the projects I have going. I know what they are, but I don’t have the steps in my head.
If you haven’t been following along, I went down to SoCal for a week and that trip, along with problems with my machine, kind of ruined my flow. I’ll get back into it; it is tough, though. Learn from me: sew or pet fabric every day.
Since I finished the 25 4 patches already as well, I think I am ready for the next step. I don’t see it posted on Sandy’s blog, so I guess I’ll get back to some cutting, of which there is plenty left to do.
Why Should You Care: You can see that it is possible to get work done even if your machine is out of commission and you have a loaner. You can also see that it is possible to create some organization, even in a scrappy quilt.
Just a few weeks ago, I caught you up on the news of the Snowball Wreath pattern.
