June Goals... part 2

Continuing on from the last post it has been a cracker of a second half of the month.  Slipping through on the last day of the month... I got all my June Goals ticked off!!  Big woohoo indeed.


The combination of ticks and stickers seems to be a psychological winner and very satisfying.

I got all my rows of The Proverbial Quilt sewn together... just need to assess on the bed and decide whether it needs a floral strip on the top, and contemplate side borders to make it more useable.  It really has been a ray of sunshine and fun during our dreary winter days.

In Line Dried news section 4B was attached to 4A all ready for next months section 5.

My goal to sew the stems on the second to last section of Timeless Traditions was achieved!

And squeezing in just under the wire was Sweet Escape... sewing together the blocks for the second quadrant.

My One Monthly Goal for July is to quilt and bind the Double Nine Patch scrap baby quilt (already basted as part of my June goals).

Check out the other participants HERE

I'll fill you in on the rest of my July goals next time!

All the things... little by little

Sometimes just choosing the easy block makes for some quick and simple sewing.  The next 12" block in the Summer Sampler 2017 series... Plaid Star.

Joining the sew-along for Sugar Bowl Crafts scrap blocks during lockdown... I may be the slowest participant ever... finally my two blue blocks have been joined by a purple one and you can kind of start to see the finished effect of those lovely variations of depth of colour.

This purple block has a few fabrics from the second ever quilt I started (and did eventually finish)... so many memories!

My goal for this month was to get a few more rows sewn together on The Proverbial Quilt.  I managed to get all but the last row of text attached!  It is such a cherry project... especially on gnarly rainy days like today.  AND I managed to cut out the rest of the strips!  So close!

I made some progress on my Starburst Cross Quilt.  I had always intended to attach plain borders.  I was so glad that my organisation skills from all those years ago meant I had the rest of the fabrics, leftover backing and the half completed final block all in the same box!  After finishing that last block and sewing together the top, it reinforced the fact that a 5 x 5 layout of 12" blocks makes a pretty petite 60" quilt!  Adding 4" borders still wouldn't add enough area, so 8" borders were on the agenda.  I realised that this matched the size of the centre star... and new star cornerstones were created... allowing me to showcase that troublesome red print in a third location.

Finally balance... and while I had initially thought those large plain borders might need a bit of applique to busy them up... the plainness has grown on me.

YAY... a finished top!

The sixth block for the Happy Cloud Sampler was another simple sew...

And I've slowly been adding a variety of black and white prints to the design wall for the background sashing.

I've still got plenty to keep me busy for the last part of the month... fingers crossed that as many goals as possible can get ticked off.

Piecing... my default setting

In times of stress I always seem to revert to the simple joy of piecing... enough to keep my brain from spinning out of control, but also something where theres not too much thought required.

I've found this lockdown process has negatively affected my sleep patterns... resulting in some incredibly long days, caffeine filled afternoons and some stupid cutting and sewing mistakes.

Amidst it all I have been plugging away at my version of The Proverbial Quilt by Denyse Schmidt.  The pattern version gives specific letter templates although the QAL has promoted a more freeform improv approach.  I have totally ignored the improv style of letters and worked with a more pixelated font using 1.5" and 2" cut strips (I don't actually own the pattern so I'm kind of working on my own thing).

I chose some song lyrics from the Sonny and Cher song "I got you babe"... And jumped in with the first letters...

I created a simple rainbow layout of colours so red turned into orange...

Then yellow...

 And green.

Although I worked in EQ7 for the basic layout, it wasn't until I started piecing the letters that their final size revealed itself.  My lower case alphabet is 6" tall totally forgetting until I got up to the "your" that I needed some space for the letters with "tails".

Blue and indigo...

I am going to need to add a blank strip under the other rows to make them all the same width.  Using capital letters would have solved this issue... or alternatively a mix of capitals and small caps.  Something to think about if I ever do another one. 

I also changed "mountain" to "maunga"... the Maori translation... a person's maunga reflects almost a spiritual connection with the land... where they and their people are from... and I thought this represented a special relationship for my husband (and children)... this quilt is for us... and reflects our strong supportive partnership.

My first row used a Spotlight grey as the background, having to piece the last bit to stretch it to finish the row.  Then a white row, then a pale blue, back to the white, then a lighter Bella solid grey, then white for the final row.  Again, if I'd planned this  (and realised how much background fabric I was going to go through) I might have changed the layout to be a bit more symmetrical.

And I'm now up to the last word... climb... with both indigo and violet.

So close!

A busy week and start to Easter!

I have been doing a lot of pottering... a bit of this, a bit of that... cutting out a new block, or choosing fabric combinations... checking out new patterns... reminding myself I'm not supposed to be starting anything new, a bit of FMQ and back to sewing blocks.

Pulling out my Theres a Square in There for a bit more FMQ meant finally deciding what was going to go in the sashing.

I knew I was going to break up the area with random shapes, but hadn't decided exactly what was going to fill them... until this combination of spiral and pebbles occurred and I love it.

Each block is the same size... but because some blocks have the background colour around the edge, it means it blends in with the sashing... making the blocks look different sizes.  Quilting over all the background and sashing with the same pattern reinforces this.  I have almost got this first quarter done... WOOHOO!

Block Four of the Cloudy Day Sampler is done... another cool block in a fun mix of scraps.

And I have made excellent progress on my Nordic Star quilt compilation.  I had always got stuck on how to reinvent the proportions of the original pattern considering my elements were different.

Just using my ruler I measured the picture in the book to work out that the top section made up half the quilt.  Bam!  That was the key measurement and the rest has just fallen into place.  Why did this not happen 7 years ago?

And on to the progress... the top row of pluses is attached to the light and dark strips, and the wider light strip and the rectangle strip.  Next is to add a light strip to the lower rectangle strip then I can concentrate on the bottom row of pluses.  Many of the widths chosen have reference to other areas of the quilt... an important consideration when designing.

I bought the Iris quilt pattern because it seemed a perfect match to a bundle I had played around with.  A quiltalong is happening on Instagram and week 2 is to concentrate on cutting.  I think I have the layout sussed...

And cutting has commenced.  The construction is similar to the Trip Around the World quilt which sews strips into tubes before subcutting and opening seams.

And my last new time waster is based on The Proverbial Quilt by Denyse Schmidt.  I have chosen some song lyrics... and a bit of a rainbow layout... more scraps... and just winging it.

... and so the first word is done!  I decided to approach the project in order, rather than doing all of one letter as recommended, as I have a variety of colours throughout the quilt, and any efficiency gained by doing repeat letters was immediately lost by doing different colours.

I also got the first 6" block finished for the Summer Sampler 2017 for this month.