I finished a few Flying Geese over the past few days and decided to try some on the block that has been on my design wall. The Flying Geese have been missing and seeing them missing has been incentive to finish them.
I chose some light pink Flying Geese to finish this block. The block is not sewn together, so I might choose different options. I think this looks ok, though. The pink HSTs might fade a little too much into the background.
In general, I like the whole block and am pleased with how it is coming out.
I sewed the first few seams of the million HSTs I need for Old Town a few weeks ago. I used the tutorial for making 8-at-a-time, thus the added cuts, and then the stack languished.
Old Town HSTs
Finally, the other night I used scissors to cut the 8 HSTs apart. I wasn’t sure it would work, but it did. I cut the original squares generously, so I have enough wiggle room to trim to the exact size. I have a small, 2.5 inch ruler** tucked into my handwork bag that is kept in the living room. It worked really well for confirming that I had enough extra to ensure the HSTs were the right size. I haven’t really used that ruler much. It came with a set and I find it too small to use with a rotary cutter. For measuring, however, it worked really well!
It sounds stupid, but it was great to realize I could cut these with scissors! I made sure I used my sharpest pair of scissors, the ones I bought this summer with the titanium (or something) blades. I, also, was really careful to cut straight.
Now I have to press and trim all of those HSTs, but I am a bit closer to putting the blocks together.
**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 blog.
I have started another donation top, this one part of the Ends series. Can you believe this is the 21st?
This is made from a random piece of background fabric and the edges of the Hugs & a Kiss quilt. The sparkles in the dots are fun.
I accidentally started this series in 2017 with the first one, made from what I called ‘dreg ends’. I have a box with the cut off edges of finished quilts. I still have it, though there are many fewer edges. I am trying to keep up with using the edges as they come back from being quilted, but that box still has old edges in it.
It is rainy and dark here, which wreaks havoc with a lot of my schedule and tasks. Still, I had a goal of spending some time on Old Town over the weekend. Despite nursing duties and regular household chores, I was able to make good progress.
Late in the afternoon, after working on the 8-at-a-time technique for the HSTs pieces, I cut a few up and was able to put one of the Old Town blocks almost together. The photo is a little dark, because of the weather.
I still have a bunch of pink Flying Geese to make (I substituted pink for the red Bonnie suggested), but I wanted to see a whole block, so I took some of the pieces I had been cutting and made a set of Flying Geese.
Old Town block in process
While I have to pay attention to the lights and darks, I like the way the changes to the colors work together. The pink I used for the Flying Geese is one of the fabrics that Free Spirit sent me.
If you haven’t done the center of the Sawtooth Star yet, you could do different things in the center – a different block, fussy cut fabulous fabrics, a piece of fabric to match the arms of the Sawtooth Star.
I am pleased with how the block looks. There are a few changes I want to make before I sew it together.
I finished Clue 5, the block centers of Old Town. I think I only have some HSTs to make before I can start assembling blocks. Yay!
I spent almost the whole weekend working on it, but finished and worked on some bags I need to finish once these were done.
Scrappy Old Town Square-in-a-Square
I read the clue wrong and started out making the outside triangles scrappy, but pivoted and made them all match, which is what it looked like others were doing.
Some of the lavenders are leaning towards purple. I hope that they are not too dark. I really tried to keep them light.
Old Town Clue 5 detail
I know I could have done my own thing, but I thought a little control would be better. I am already substituting lavender for the coral called for in the design. I think the lavender looks good so far. We’ll see when I put the blocks together.
I have finished sewing the pairs together and am starting to make four patches.
As usual, I am rearranging squares as I go along. I think the top will be about 40 in x 40 in.
Yes, I added in a few pinks that snuck into the batch of wrongly cut squares.
The last orange top I made was either Orange You Glad or the Orange Improv. I like both of them very much. They are very cheerful. It must be the oranges that I buy – not as much orangey-brown as orangey-sunshine.
Despite taking care of my mom after her surgery, I have been able to get a little sewing in.
Old Town: QSTs
I finished all of the QSTs, which turned out to be mostly the correct size. I used pink instead of red, as mentioned, and am pretty happy with that choice so far. Some of the pinks in this batch are leaning a little more towards the lavender/purple range. I hope they won’t get mixed up in the final layout.
Since I finished all of these QSTs and the Baby Flying Geese, I decided to sew them together as indicated in one of the clues.
FG & QST units
I think this is the first assembly I have done beyond individual units. I got interrupted a bunch of times, but I finished them!
I had a moment of stress when I realized I didn’t have enough of the Baby Flying Geese to sew to the second side of the QSTs. They were neatly bundled in the box in which I am storing all of the units and I hadn’t pulled them out. YAY!
This is a great quilt for learning. I highly recommend Bonnie’s projects, especially the mystery quilts, if you want to practice basic piecing. She takes the time to help makers focus on getting the right sized units. Her clues usually have more than one way to make a unit so it works for you.
I spent some time over the last couple of weekends getting over whatever hump was preventing me from moving forward.
Old Town: 4 patches
First, I finished all the 4 patches, which was a lot! I thought I would never finish and I think that part of what was preventing me from moving forward. Now they are done and I think they look great.
I haven’t incorporated them into any blocks yet, so stay tuned for that.
Old Town: baby Flying Geese
I also finished some Flying Geese. They are the baby Flying Geese that I made using the replacement Wing Clipper** I got for Christmas.
This is the first group of lavender I have added to the quilt. In the photo they look nice. We’ll see how they look combined with the other colors. Fingers crossed it will be ok.
I got going on the QSTs. One of the clues said to combine them with another couple of pieces, so it was time to stop avoiding them.
I was really happy using Bonnie Hunter’s Essential Triangle Tool** to make them. It is a ruler I have had for awhile, but haven’t used much. I found it easy to use and helpful. I just followed Bonnie’s instructions on the clue and it worked perfectly. Well, so far, it is has worked perfectly. I liked the way she said where to put the ruler lines. I haven’t finished sewing the QSTs yet, so I’ll have to wait and see how it works out.
Bonnie put the Reveal up and it is a complicated looking quilt, but also cool. I am eager to see how my replacement of coral with lavender will look. If you are working on it, make sure to download your clues.
**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 blog.
I am behind on Bonnie Hunter’s Old Town Mystery Quilt, but trying not to stress. I thought I would get more done at Sew Day than I did. As much as I love Sew Days, it isn’t a good environment when I am trying to concentrate. I am also trying to remind myself there is a LOT of piecing in Bonnie Hunter Mystery quilts and I’ll get there.
I did sit down on Saturday and Sunday and really work on various pieces. I decided to focus on Clue 1, so I could at least say that I was finished with one clue.
I am making progress on the Flying Geese, though I haven’t made many. One thing I had to do was figure out what pieces and parts I needed to make a set of four Flying Geese. That took a little time. I really got going once I reacquainted myself with the steps. It was helpful that I had already cut the pieces I needed. The picture above is my progress on Saturday. I had other stuff I needed to do, like make gift bags, so I couldn’t focus on this project all day.
Old Town Clue 2: Four Patches
I pressed some of the strips sets for Clue #2 that I made at Sew Day and was able to make a few of the Four Patches.
Old Town is the latest Bonnie Hunter Winter Mystery Quilt. In case you don’t know, you need to grab the directions while you can, because she takes them down sometime in February. You aren’t out of luck as Bonnie, later, makes the patterns available for sale.
I have done Frolic! and En Provence. I have the directions for many more, but haven’t quite gotten around to them. Bonnie’s directions are amazing and both of my quilts have come out very well.
Old Town clue #1 – cut
Right now, the group is in week three or four. I did not get started until after the second clue had been posted. Instead of my usual practice of saving all the clues and deciding whether to start sewing later, I just started on Old Town. I didn’t have a quilt going, though I needed and wanted to start on the Sad Quilt. Also, I had posted the information about the mystery quilt on the guild site and thought I might need to sew a long as well. The colors Bonnie posted appealed even though I know I can choose whatever colors I want. It is easier when I like the colors she chooses.
I did make a small change in the colors. I am using pink instead of red. Why not? I like pink and I am acknowledging that I do.
Friend Julie had a good idea to try out all the different techniques Bonnie Hunter provides in the directions. She shows at least two methods of construction of the units in each clue. These Mystery Quilts are a great way to practice different techniques, try out different tools and get practice on accuracy in the process.
Anyway, I thought I would try out the different techniques as well. Then I panicked when the second clue was posted and I was lounging around in the sun on vacation. I cut up a bunch of squares to make Flying Geese using the Wing Clipper** and just went with it.
**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 blog.
Sue said she made this while we were having our Sew Day. Sue was away for some of the Fall, but she misses us (and we miss her) when she is away. At least I do. 😉
Sue’s Flying Geese
Some weeks ago, Gerre demoed the Quilt in a Day Flying Geese ruler. Sue had that ruler and a random FQ bundle she had on vacation, she went to work.
I don’t know how many of the rulers she had along, but using one can make more than one size.
Sue said she thought the ruler was good. She made FGs in sizes that didn’t match up easily, so she had to add pieces. She wasn’t sure she liked the colors, but found it to be a fun challenge.
Sue said that the piece ended up about 30×27.
I like the different sizes of the Flying Geese. I think that adds interest to a piece. The colors have an old fashioned sort of look – not 1930s, but maybe 40s? There is a flat, e.g. not shiny or textured, look to them, but the pink is definitely bubblegum.
The other thing I like is that she just went and played.
I said I would make a few additional Ribbon Friendship Stars to make up where someone bailed out. I was supposed to make another 5, but only had the fabric for another four. I hope that is good enough, though I can whip up one on the special Sew Day next week if we need an extra.
I made the blocks I promised to make for a group quilt. Most people are making 6 blocks, but I agreed to make more since I suggested making the quilt larger.
I am not a huge fan of the Friendship Star block in general. I like them smaller than 12 inches, which is why I made the Friendship Stars in Flying Around so small. I also like them better when combined in wreath format.
For this quilt, I liked the sentiment of the Friendship star and thought the addition of the ribbon (the green and the blue) was an interesting element. When I put all the blocks next to each other on the design wall, I though they looked great. It looks a little boring with just my blocks, but the group will use different red-violet fabrics for the centers and that will make the whole quilt more interesting.
These blocks are easy to make and would be great for a quilt for friends. I copied the design into EQ8 and created a pattern so you can make blocks for your friends, too. If you need a reminder of how to make Half Square Triangles, you use the Leah Day 2-at-a-time tutorial or my Triangle Technique (8-at-a-time HSTs) tutorial, if you are making a lot of blocks.
Julie is also making some of these blocks. She sewed a practice block, which I think is a good idea, even though I didn’t do it. She also has a great post about her process and the tools she used. I forgot about the Seams Easy marking tool, which I have, but always seem to forget about.
These are the blocks I agreed to make for the project, but I have more fabric, so I thought I would make more blocks so that the quilt can be bigger. We’ll see if I can get them done.
I started this rectangle donation top informally awhile ago. I decided to clear off some of the lingering, half finished projects and this was one of them.
It was a collection of rectangles I had cut from larger scraps. I used the same 4.5 x 8.5 Creative Grids ruler** I use to trim my strip donation blocks. As I cut them I pinned the rectangles randomly to my design wall. Over the weekend, I got myself together to organize them and the few additional cut the few additional pieces I needed.
For once I used the one fabric for the cornerstones. I had enough of one fabric and it had a lot of variety so I thought ‘why not?’
I am in the process of sewing, but it has been slow going. I’ll get there.
*N. B. : Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and support small businesses whenever possible. 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 blog.
