Projects in the Fall

2017 has been a year of sampler quilts. My biggest project, The Splendid Sampler, was started early in 2016. One hundred blocks were designed for this sew along, from lots of great designers. The sew along was hosted by Pat Sloan and Jane Davidson.

I learned a lot in this sew along, and it was a wonderful skill builder. I had never paper pieced before, and now it is one of my favorite techniques! Most of the blocks were ordinary pieced ones, but we worked with foundation paper pieced, English paper pieced, appliqué, stitchery and embroidery. The picture above shows how a stack of one hundred 6 1/2" blocks look like.

This is how they look like all spread out. I used only fabrics from my stash, but in the end it didn't really put a dent in my fabric bins.

I will assemble the blocks with sashing in between, and probably put a border around to get a decent sized quilt. This will be a long term project.

The Sewcial Bee Sampler was started early 2017. The sew along was hosted by Sharon Holland and Maureen Cracknell. These 25 blocks are 12 1/2" square, and there will be added sashing between them, too. I hope to get this project finished soon.

The third sew along I have been working on this year is the Have a Jolly Little Christmas by Lorna from Sew Fresh Quilts . This is a colorful Christmas sampler, and with some borders it will be decent sized and finished.

As if the above projects are not enough, I also made this 2by4 quilt top from a tutorial by Film in the Fridge. There are 448 individual rectangles in this quilt, but there is a genius technique to make the blocks and you can actually make the whole quilt top in an evening!

This will eventually be my fifth charity quilt for the year.

Keep on quilting!

2017 Finish A Long - Goals for Second Quarter

Today is the last day to link up goals for 2017 FAL Q2. Last quarter I finished 2 projects on my list out of four, a 50% completion rate is not too bad! There are always popping up other projects that pushes their way through!

For this quarter I will continue trying to finish the last two projects on my list from Q1 and add a few more.

My first goal is continued from the first quarter, and is to assemble the 24 blocks of the Modern HST Sampler, add sashing and quilt it.

Last year I joined a Quilting Bee, and these are the resulting bee blocks I have for my quilt. I will make a few more Houndstooth Blocks to make a decent quilt size. The backing fabric is already chosen, and I look forward to finishing the quilt. This is my second goal.

My third goal is to assemble all the blocks I made for the Splendid Sampler into one (or two) quilts. The picture shows my first 65 blocks, more blocks have been made. 

The fourth and last goal on my Q2 list is this skinny/table runner. This is a project from the Moda All Stars All in a Row book, and the row is designed by Brenda Riddle. The row is actually too long to fit on my table, so I think it will end up as a skinny on the wall.

My proposed goals are linked up to one the official 2017 FAL host blogs here .

Keep on quilting!

Status On The Splendid Sampler Blocks

The whole year I have been making the Splendid Sampler blocks. The event is organized by Pat Sloan and Jane Davidson, and two new  blocks are posted each week. I kept up with the schedule until I went on vacation in July when I didn't have access to my sewing machine.

I have been trying to catch up lately, and today I appliqued 4 blocks that I prepared last night.

I am still behind, as for now there are 82 blocks released. I have completed 65, and I am working hard to reduce the gap.

My blocks are mainly made from scraps.

Keep on quilting!

Blocks, Blocks and More Blocks

This is the year for blocks, and I have joined 4 different "BOMs" with a bigger or lesser workload.

 

The Splendid Sampler comes out with free blocks  twice a week, and when we are finished we will have made 100 6 1/2" blocks unfinished. Above are blocks 30 - 37, in a wide range from simple piecing, intricate embroidery, applique, curved piecing and English Paper Piecing. We get to practice a lot of techniques!

The 2016 Aurifil Designer of the Month June block is Modern Delft II by Jacquelynne Steves. She designed two different versions of the block, where #1 had stitchery in the center block as well as in the four white corner blocks. I chose to make the alternative version of this 12 1/2" unfinished block.

Maybe I will prepare the stitchery project to bring with me on summer vacation, since I won't have access to a sewing machine.

The June block in the Sugar Block Club is Maple Stack, a modern version of the classic Maple Leaf block. I love the boldness of these blocks, and for this particular one I am very pleased with the blueberry fabric! These blocks are the same size as the Aurifil blocks.

I am also making blocks for my Modern HST Sampler, but that will be shown in a separate post. Enough blocks for now...

Keep on quilting!

2016 Aurifil and Splendid Sampler Blocks

May's Aurifil block, Cups and Saucers is designed by Amy Friend. My version of the block is shown above. I am trying to stick to blue and white blocks for the whole quilt, and so far it looks good.

Like many others on the World Wide Web I am making my Splendid Sampler blocks, two blocks a week. This weekend I managed to get a picture of the 28 blocks made so far laid out on my porch. The breeze tried very hard to ruin my photo shoot,  but I managed to take the pictures before everything became a mess. All the blocks were then put safely back into the storage box.

Yesterday I completed block #29, Scrappy Happy Heart designed by Christa Watson, a lovely paper pieced heart.

Keep on quilting!

More Blocks and A Blog Hop in June

22 blocks of the Splendid Sampler are completed. Each block is only 6 1/2" square, but put all together they make an impressive mosaic. I am doing this QAL from scraps, so it will be a random, colorful look to the quilt when it is finished sometime next year. I like it so far!

I will show you details of the three last blocks.

Here is the most time consuming one, Nature's Walk by Vicki Tucek. It is all hand embroidered, and it took me more than two days to finish! This is the kind of embroidery I did when I was a young girl, with lots of satin stitching. It turned out lovely!

After the 20th block it was a blessing to do some simple piecing. This is Sweet Candy by Kris Thurgood. It is really sweet with the cute hearts and the tiny floral background against the black and white candy wrapper.

The latest block of the Splendid Sampler is Goose on the Loose by Amy Smart, a paper pieced block. This one was fun, but I have to admit that there were a few seams I had to unpick during the construction of the block. But, it is nice to be challenged and have to get out of your comfort zone!

I am also making progress on a second QAL, that is the Modern HST Sampler hosted by Alyce of Blossom Heart Quilts. These blocks are 12 1/2" square, and are all about HSTs. These are the lastest three blocks that have been published. I am making my blocks from Good Neighbors fabric by Amanda Jean Nyberg, with a light aqua as the background. Eight blocks are made so far.

I am also up to date on my BeeHive blocks, but here I can't show this month's block, yet. It has a long way to travel to the other side of the world (almost), but I will show it when it has reached its destination.

Coming Soon

Sponsored By The Fat Quarter Shop

I have also joined a Blog Hop that will be launched in June, Opposites Attract, logo is on my sidebar. The blog hop is hosted by Marian of Seams to be Sew.

I am in the process of choosing fabrics and designs for my project(s), and I can promise it will be interesting! Will show you more later...

Five More Blocks for the Splendid Sampler

These are the latest 5 blocks in the the Splendid Sampler QAL hosted by Pat Sloan and Jane Davidson. Twelve 6 1/2" blocks down of 100, only 88 to go...

Keep on quilting!

Seven Splendid Sampler Blocks finished

These are my first seven Splendid Sampler blocks. Actually, I also finished number eight last night, but I was too tired to get a good picture.

As you can see on this photo, we have still got some ice on our porch in the shaded area, winter is far from gone here. You should see the big piles of snow in our yard!

Anyway, today it is mild and raining, so maybe spring is coming?!

Keep on quilting!

One Beehive and Two Splendid Sampler Blocks

This is my second BeeHive block, 12 1/2" square. This month's Queen Bee, Maja has received it and I can show it off in all its glory. I showed you the backside of a quarter of the block in this post, and above you can see the complete one. Maja was pleased, and I am looking forward to seeing her complete quilt with time.

I have also completed two more Splendid Sampler blocks, the first one is Wings by Jane Davidson. Remember that these blocks are only 6 1/2" square, so that's a lot of tiny pieces!

The other Splendid Sampler block is Lots of Love by Melissa Corry. This one took quite a long time to make, but the heart block ended up looking good!

All my Splendid Sampler blocks are made from scraps, that's a very good thing!

Enough blocks today, now I have to get back to hand quilting!

Keep on quilting!