Wednesday 25 January 2017

Still Bright!

 Remember me saying that I was going to have to measure walls to see where this sampler quilt could go, and exactly what shape to make it?  Well, I did that, and it caused me to falter slightly on my block making, as I'm going to struggle to fit anything with all the blocks included anywhere in the house!

I've decided to go ahead and make all the blocks still, but to be prepared to make a mini quilt if I have left over blocks from whatever layout I choose.  The layout isn't yet a 'done deal' in my head!
 In the meantime I made these last blocks - four 'real' ones and two simpler bonus blocks.
The rest of my sewing time was taken up with this 12 1/2" corner - the final one - as I wanted to make sure that I'd got enough fabric for it to match the other three.  It was really complicated and time consuming - but working through, one step at a time, I not only started but finished it (apart from one rogue red piece in the central stem - how did that get there?!?).

Now it's time to embark on the final push - a set of 6" light blocks - I'm guessing that there must be about 50 to make, although I haven't counted them. Looking forward to them!

Hope that you are sewing in a happy way too!

Wednesday 18 January 2017

Bright January Days

 Even if the weather means that the light outside might be dull, I can always find some beautiful fabric to brighten up a day!

That plus finally getting rid of my cold are enough to cheer anyone up!

This is a 12 1/2" block - the third corner of the 365 ultimate sampler quilt. 
 These two are 6 1/2" blocks - quick and simple ones.
 Then I made a full dozen of these little 3 1/2" lovelies - some of them easier than others!

 Lots of fun to make, though!  I'm still two months behind, but cheerful.  I do enjoy these fiddly piecing projects, even if I could work harder at being accurate.
It won't be long until it will be time to sew all these darks into border blocks.

As I'm intending this to be hung on a wall I need to make sure that I've got the dimensions of the space I have available ready so that I can avoid stitching it together and then having to unstitch it!  I just hope that I've got room to include all the blocks.....
This set have lots of movement in them, don't they?

As a total contrast, I lead one of a set of mini workshops at my quilting meeting - on freezer paper applique!  Not what I've been working on this year at all, but I found that I'd got a lovely sample quilt from 14 years ago!  Sometimes it's easy to forget how long I've been quilting for.  Playing with thread and fabric is a big part of how I choose to spend 'me time' and has become part of how I see myself.  Thank goodness that I have this fabulous world to indulge in and fabulous quilters to share it with.  Thank you, one and all!

Wednesday 11 January 2017

The Lost Weeks!

 Like so many other people I've 'lost' a couple of weeks to a horrid cold (and the collected illness days of the rest of the family too!).  Not fun, but I'm starting to get over it all now.
 The blocks above are the 6 1/2" blocks - I think that they might be the last 'big' dark blocks of the challenge.

The blocks to the right are 3 1/2" square.  I counted, the top right one has 49 pieces in it - quite a lot in a small block!
This was the last 3 1/2" block that I made this week.

I'm hoping for a little more sewing time this week, but only time will tell how the stamina is!  My next target is the third corner block which is a 12 1/2" block.  Now that I'm up to the November blocks I'm getting quite excited about them all!

Hope that your New Year is being kind to you and that you are managing to get plenty done!