And so we have blocks

After tweaking my final arrangement of the various sized log cabins, I started adding background filler strips and rectangles of cream, sand and off white - to end up with 26" finished blocks.

Is it all starting to make sense now?

And onto some real sewing

I've been beavering away at my half log cabin blocks, and can see real progress now.  Still a few more (but not that many), and then once I have the final placements confirmed, just a matter of filling in the blanks with more cream, sand and off white.  Unfortunately my desk obscures the bottom corner of the design wall... will need to come up with a cunning plan when I get to that stage!  As you can see, the Swoon quilt and both BOM's have been "put on hold" to reappear at a later date - maybe next month.

OK, this one is going to be a big-un as well - approx 75x100" which is pretty much what I've laid out here.  This works out to the large block (which combines the three different sizes of block) being 25" finished.  I'm contemplating just padding it out a little more, maybe 28" to give a bit more space between the elements.  Will see how it goes together.

Studio progress: great progress was made this weekend lining the walls of my studio space.  Two walls down, and one bitty one left.  I though I'd share some photos of my existing sewing area, which I share with Nadia.   Basically one long wall where everything resides, with an adjoining wall covered in a design wall.

The business end




Storage: this holds partly finished projects in the upper section, and lower coloured drawers.  Also larger pieces of fabric, bins with sorted scraps, weirdo stuff on top... and the filing drawer holds my business filing stuff.  Note the pile on the floor?  This is new fabric bought since I degreed that I wasn't going to buy any more stuff... and for good reason, because it doesn't fit!

The bit with the sewing machine (currently with a huge bag of hobbyfill squashed underneath the desk), book storage, and ironing station.




The cutting zone with storage containers underneath, FMQ supplies in one container, threads in another, and assorted sewing stuff in the other.



On top of the cutting station... a container for rubbish at the back, and a new scrap selection in the front. When I can manage it, the kids can sometimes be convinced that sorting scraps is fun... and then they get shifted into the bins at the start of the room.





And under the curtain... magazines (a small selection of my favourites), FQ storage bins and tops awaiting quilting in the bottom right. The curtain/teatowel just keeps the sun off it.

I am sort of looking forward to reorganising my bits into my new space.

Will there or won't there?

Much of my afternoon has been spent firstly trying to connect the printer to the wireless network.  The rest has been getting the camera to download to the laptop... and then working out the best way to edit the photos since my photo editing software that I finally worked out how to use has disappeared.

I simply don't have the strength to work out how to format my photos properly on this post... so it will just have to be a bit messy - but at least there are photos.

My design wall - half log cabin blocks which I started sewing at retreat using my pile of Moda bella solids in bluey greenie colours with a hit of mustard, and some Jotta Lansdotter prints.  The gaps will eventually be filled with assorted cream filler strips.

I'm having fun mixing the different colours and prints without being too worried about what goes where.  Very meditative.

 

Ahh, the circles.  This quilt is from Modern Mix... I'll give more details in another post, but this is the start of the quilt on the cover.  The book focuses on mixing plains with solids... has some really neat ideas.

This was just really a bit of an experiment with the closeup function on the camera.  The zigzag setting I used is 1.5w by 1.0 stitch length.  It really is very tiny.

A few more logs here...

and there.

This was actually the inspiration for the half log cabin block - the idea of having three different sized blocks within a single block.  Why not try it with log cabins??  And so a new quilt design was born.  Now go back to the first photo and see if you can pick up the large blocks... even though it looks complicated, the overall design is just a straight setting 3 blocks wide by 4 blocks down (or at least it will be once I do a bit more sewing)

And this is the book where this block appears.



April's finished Swoon Block

So how many times did I actually use "actually".  It must have been one of those days!

Slow but steady

Well, still no word from the insurance company about replacement items... so still no new photos to show.  I have just finished my April Swoon Block... mid May!  This was not without its challenges - it was just one of those "how on earth did I manage to sew those two bits together and not notice until now" sort of scenarios.  After multiple unpickings, and multiple sewing something else wrongs... I finished the last seam this morning.  Ahh - the satisfaction of a finished block.

Some imagination required to see this one as actually finished

I have also been slowly zigzagging around my circle shapes... does anyone remember this one?

Well, it got taken along to retreat with me a few weekends ago, and I laid out the circles constructed so far on my solid grey background strip. Although my circles didn't fill the entire space, I quite liked the few open areas... so decided to leave it as it was.  I'm probably about 1/3 of the way through the attaching process, and hopefully will have something more to show... once I've got a camera.

Also at retreat I started piecing half log cabins blocks with my pile of blue/green/mustard Moda Bella solid fat quarters which I purchased quite some time ago from Thousands of bolts, with a few of the Lotta Jansdotter Echo line (the ones I could find in NZ after my order from Fabricworm went missing in transit!) thrown in.  I'm loving the effect - and just need to work out if it will morph into this design I played with several months ago.  Well, that may have even been before Xmas...

I also quilted my first quilt on my new handiquilter frame using the lazer bit on a self made pantograph.  I used a simple figure eight design, similar to that used in many of Denyse Schmidt's quilts... it gives great texture and doesn't fight with the actual piecing.  Anyway, you'll just have to believe me on this one - my binding it attached, and I'm halfway through the handstitching bit.  So looks like Nadia will get it on her bed before winter finishes this year.

Now, do I start my May Swoon? or play with my log cabins?... got to hang washing out first - for a change it is actually sunny!