Commentary about works in progress, design & creativity
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.
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).
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.
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.
I am almost finished with the backlog of blocks.
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.
Block 12, On the Horizon, is done. I am keeping up, though I know I am posting out of order.
I am still working on the alternate blocks and will continue to do so until I finish them.
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.
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.
I finally sewed one of the flowers.
It is amazing how different it looks from the pre-trimmed and sewed piece.
Sewing this together really moved me along in the process. I felt able to work on the colors for Flower #1 again.
Block 7, North and True is finished!
It took me a long time, because I was sewing other things and using this as leaders and enders. It didn’t take years just longer than a small block should. I was working on donation blocks and sewing bits of the Country Revival/Sad Quilt together. So many projects happening at once!
I have to figure out if this needs to be trimmed. I think so, but getting the block done feels like an achievement.
The piecing on this quilt takes a lot of time. I think it is because of the curves. That doesn’t mean it is difficult, just time consuming.
In the photo, the top left unit is pieced and trimmed. I wasn’t happy with the trimming. I ended up buying the SKOW recommended ruler, Sew Square 6**, though, despite my love for specialty rulers, I am fundamentally opposed to specialty square rulers. I would much rather the ruler I already have, the Quick Curve Ruler**, be marked well enough so I could trim with it. It isn’t impossible, but I found it to be very difficult. I haven’t decided if I need to make that upper left unit again. I don’t know if I trimmed too close to the green curved shape.
Except for the bottom row, the rest of the units have been sewn, but not trimmed. You can see how weird looking they are before they are trimmed. I bought the Sew Square 6** which I plan to use to trim the other units.
I didn’t buy the whole set; I just bought this one to see if I thought it was better than just using the Quick Curve Ruler.
Flower 1 is still unsewn. I am not 100% happy with the color selection. I bought a few solids, which I am hoping will help fix whatever the problem is.
**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.
I am keeping up with Patchwork Palooza and am on to block 7.
As you can see it is cut out and ready to sew. I am unsure if I will have to trim it. The corner triangles look a little large.
I finished Patchwork Palooza Block 11! I am excited as I only have a few more blocks to make to catch up.
So far, I haven’t been able to find a block like this in either the or in Jinny Beyer’s The Quilter’s Album of Patchwork Patterns. I can’t believe nobody ever thought of it, but so far I haven’t found it categorized.
The latest Patchwork Palooza block came out on Friday and I am pleased that I finished it. I didn’t finish it until last night, but I don’t want to get behind again.
This block is called, by the Patchwork Palooza people, Set Sail. Historically it has several different names, including Old Maid’s Puzzle or Hour Glass or School Girl’s Puzzle. You can find this block in Barbara Brackman’s Encyclopedia of Quilt Patterns** as #1317.
The name Old Maid’s Puzzle is from Ladies Art Company #25. Not very P.C., as many of these names tend to be.
The Hour Glass name is from Grandma Dexter. I had never heard of Grandma Dexter and had to look it up. Grandma Dexter is listed in the bibliography of the Encyclopedia of Quilt Patterns** as a “series of booklets published in the early 1930s from the Virginia Snow Studios, apart of the Dexter Yarn and Thread Company and the Collingbourne Mills in Elgin, IL. Hmm. Interesting. More puzzles as I have never heard of that company either, but I am just interested and not an expert.
The School Girl’s Puzzle name is from Needlecraft Supply 1936, n.12.
I also found it Jinny Beyer’s The Quilter’s Album of Patchwork Patterns, where it is called as Crosses & Losses (73-9). The name comes from Ladies Art Company, 1897. Beyer says it is also known as Bouncing Betty (!!??!!) (Progressive Farmer, 1933), Fox & Geese (Finley, 1929) and Hour Glass, as mentioned above.
This is a block that I have always admired. I know I made a similar one for the Handbag Sampler. I don’t think I have ever made it otherwise, so it makes me glad to have the opportunity to try it again.
I have also made a few of the alternate blocks. I think there will be another piece of sashing, but for now, I have a few of the blocks laid out without it. I just chose some random blocks, though I see now that two of them are Sawtooth Star types. I’ll choose some others once I get more of the alternate blocks made.
**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.
Is this a bag, do you think? On my computer, the folder is under ‘My Projects –> Bags”, but I wonder if it is a bag. I probably should call that folder ‘Small Projects’ instead of bags, but ‘Bags’ comes first in the alphabet, so doesn’t require as much scrolling.
I promised MaryC a pencil roll after she saw the one I brought to the organizer swap. I finally got started on it.
Yes, I am using the same fat quarter pack I used for the first one. I am using different fabrics for the pockets and flaps. In a way I am also trying to see how many projects I make with that fat quarter pack. I want to use a good portion of the FQ pack for each project, not just one piece. Obviously, I am using other fabrics, but I am still getting a lot out of the 3.25 yards.
We had a Sew Day on Saturday dedicated to making a group quilt that will be donated. Peggy has a pattern that uses different sizes of squares to make a quilt. I don’t know the name and I am not sure Peggy made it up. She probably found it somewhere. The directions were a bit confusing to start with, but easy once we got a few explanations and I drew some pictures.
We all brought a few squares that were the right size, so the quilt would be very scrappy. I made one center block and a couple of border blocks.
My center block didn’t look very nice by itself. The fabrics were scraps from various projects that were the right size. I wasn’t hopeful that my block would fit in.
The border block looked a bit better. While the motifs were quite different, I think having similar colors was better for a block.
In general, though, the quilt went together well and the variety of fabrics worked out.
The quilt looks like an HST quilt, but it didn’t go together that way at all. Unlike some methods of making HSTs, the bias was completely enclosed, so not a problem.
Peggy did a great job and the participants really stepped up.
I couldn’t help myself. I said I wouldn’t, but I really couldn’t help myself. I made two more blocks for the Handbag Sampler.
I decided that the quilt needed a few more blocks and I took the time on Sunday morning to choose a couple of easy blocks. I chose Sawtooth Star, because it is a favorite. I also chose Fox & Geese, because I thought it would look good with the other blocks. I really had to stretch that blue fabric, because I had barely enough to make the background.
The blocks went relatively quickly and I think they look good with the other blocks. I am well on my way to finishing the quilt.