Week Five: Two Blocks Finished

One very easy and one fairly easy blocks today. It helped that I had already prepared A7.

A7 Dad's Plaid

A4 Courtney's Stethoscope

Oh wow my MIL just came to whisk the baby away for an afternoon of frolicking with her cousins so I may have time to do another today.



17, 3, 0, 305

Week Five: A11 Finished A7 Basted

You know it's a bad day when there is more thread on the floor than in your block. As usual it was worth all the heartache. Beautiful intricate block.

A11 Pebble's Protest

This was a paper pieced block. In the end I could not do the inset seams with such tiny pieces and rather than take apart the inner section to re-draft without the inset seams I chose to applique one side of the seam. All but one seam looks better than the re-drafted blocks I have seen.

I felt so good I tackled the easiest block for the week as well and managed to get A7's background pieced and the melons basted.

No knitting today I am wiped out.

Week Five: Block A11

I find it patently ridiculous that a 4.5" square block is made up of 17 separate paper pieced sections. That is just too much in so little space. Shame on you Jane. Shame.

Ignore the numbering I printed two but cut out the wrong one. /sigh

Seventeen! 17!

This is also the block with inset seams. I have seen the block re-drafted so there are no inset seams but I prefer the "original" block. Therefore I will just have to suck it up and get it done. I hope it doesn't go wonky on me because I can predict I will not want to re-do this one.



15, 3, 0, 274

UFO Complete! - Next!

Last night I finished piecing Flying Pirates and am able to move it to the "to be quilted" list. I will post about my list soon - tomorrow or the next day.

I am quite please with Flying Pirates and decided it didn't need another border. The sashing on the alternate blocks and the binding should be enough. This photo doesn't do the quilt justice. When DH came home last night and saw me pressing it he said "wow that's really nice!"

Hanging off my ironing board while being pressed.

I didn't think I would have time today but by cheating just a little bit on Dear Jane and not taking a nap I managed to gather and organize everything for my next UFO Rainbow Circles. I hope I come up with a better name soon.

Tuesday is becoming my favorite day of the week. If it wasn't for the extra family time on the weekends Tuesday would win hands down.

Week Five: Preparation

Week Five

This week I have my first "advanced" block to look forward to. Plus /sigh ... inset seams. Ugh. Who likes insent seams? No one, sane, including me. Plus I have two blocks with applique and one with applique and reverse applique. Joy. This week I will be completing A2, A4, A7, A9, A11, and B11. A9 (yellow block) is the advanced one. Look at all those teeny weeny itsy bitsy eensie weensie pieces!

I really shouldn't complain. After all I didn't have to take on this project. But you know what? I am putting in the work so I can complain if I feel like it. I can already feel my eyes crossing over A9 and I can see my joints seizing as I work on A7. Pretty sure the inset seams will cause a headache. Oh well. It will be worth it in the end.

To be fair A7 should be fairly easy it is just hard for me to hold applique pieces properly while I sew for extended periods.




15, 3, 0, 274

UFO Flying Pirates

Status: Blocks finished

Facing Geese block

I really pushed hard this weekend and finished all the blocks for Flying Pirates. I ran out of the white I was using and had to substitute another but it blends in fine. I have to admit I was starting to hate the pirate fabric again but now that everything is all assembled and laid out I love it.

Flying Geese block

The fabric is fun without being cutesy and masculine without being drab. I am hoping to assemble the top while DD is napping this afternoon. Not sure about borders. The pattern doesn't call for any but I put borders on almost all my quilts so I will have to see how the quilt looks once it is assembled.

In knitting news I am working on a cabled baby blanket. The yarn is giving me some trouble. I had knit about 15 rows when I noticed I seemed to be getting unintentional yarn overs. On closer inspection it seems that the extra thik and fuzzy yarn wasn't drawing very close. So I tried pulling on the yarn to tighten it up but as there is almost no slack this made it impossible to get the needles into the loops to knit them. Therefore I am just going to have to live with the occasional "hole" and be sure to pull the cabled bits tight - but  not too tight. Therefore this project is going to take longer than it should.

UFO Flying Pirates

Watched Popeye last night with DH and it put me back in the mood for this fabric. Everything is progressing well. All the flying geese are pieced and paired. All the facing geese are pieced and all the pairs are pressed.

Pressing pairs.

On to the four patches!

This afternoon during snack time I photographed Isabelle wearing my finally finished "Determined" hat from Hattitude. Love, love, love this hat. Gorgeous colour and the design is very cool.

Please excuse the peanut butter.

I also had her model some previously finished but never photographed hats from the same book.

Haughty

 

Rebellious

Sidebar: Mr. Noodle was in Popeye. I don't think Isabelle would have recognized him.

Week Three: Finished Scans

Wow I can't believe it's Thursday already. I'm so sorry I've been neglecting you. On with the photos!

I did the foundation pieced blocks first because although I find the technique very finicky it is not as bad as applique. Behold my first triangle blocks:

BR1 Rosemary's Rainbow

Very easy to put together and the pieces aren't small enough to become a nuisance.

TR1 Spanish Moss



Easy but a bit finicky due to very small pieces.

TR3 Checkerboard

Good grief! Look at how small those triangle pieces are. Especially near the top. I really need this week to recover.

A3 Hunter's Moon

Not difficult but I still need to improve my technique. I must have tried a zillion different ways to put this together (ok four) but in the end I decided the appliqued melons looked best. I used a freezer paper center to help keep the melon's placed properly. I don't think this quilt will turn me into an applique artist. I have always admired applique quilts but it just hurts my hands too much. It would take me three years to make an applique quilt. Ten to make a Baltimore Album quilt.

B12 Starflower

Reverse applique. Ugh. In the end this isn't too bad for a third effort with this technique and the melons aren't too bad. But look at that poor tortured center. This block is definitely a do over once I get better. I may have to consider some practise exercises despite the pain in my hands.




15, 3, 0, 274

Week Three: Finished!

A little late but I finished all the blocks scheduled for this week. I am truly terrible at reverse applique. I am sorry I did not post as I finished but I wasn't feeling well. I will post scans of the finished blocks tomorrow.

I will definitely be re doing some of the applique blocks once I have more experience and (hopefully) get better. I certainly couldn't get worse.

I bought a pair of runners this week-end and the box is just the right size to store my blocks and triangles safely. Huzzah!

15, 3, 0, 274

Week Three: Preparation

This week's blocks include my first triangle blocks. I will be making B12, A3, BR1, TR1, and TR3. All the blocks are supposed to be beginner level but looking at the wee pieces on TR1 is already giving me a headache. Both of the square blocks are applique. I think B12 is a combo of applique and reverse applique. I just have to remember one at a time. One at a time and I can do almost anything.

I printed out all my templates and foundations so hopefully I will get a chance at these tonight or tomorrow. Tonight is not looking good but I am optimistic about tomorrow's chances.

In knitting news I am definitely going to run out of that gorgeous blue yarn I am using and must get to the store and buy another ball for my hat.



12, 0, 0, 201

UFO Flying Pirates

Status: still working on the flying geese units.

Today I was super tired (hubby was a chain saw last night) so I didn't get much more done on these geese. I also seem to be falling out of love with the fabric. Maybe I should have gone with black instead of white for the background? Oh well too late now and I loved it before so I am sure I will love it again soon.

In other news I found a cool block on another blog which would be perfect for Dad's quilt. I want the project to be a bit of a surprise so I am not going to link it but I found the block at Quilt, Knit, Run, Sew.

Week Two: Finished

Details to follow. Here is a sneak peek:

A1 Pinwheel Gone Awry

B10 Jud’s Trophy

12, 0, 0, 201

Week Two: Blocks A5 and B3

Last night I finished A5. Thrilled with it. I love the Drunkard's Path unit.

B3 Mirror Image

Not a difficult block. I'm used to curved piecing after putting together a drunkard's path quilt recently.

This morning I finished A5. Foundation pieced and pretty easy except I got a little overzealous while pressing it and distorted some of the seams. I'll have to go back and fix that because it is way to wonky to be acceptable.

A5 Cathie's Campfire

Just two blocks to go hopefully I can finish them tomorrow so I will have time for some UFO work during nap time on Monday.Unfortunately they are both foundation pieced and those blocks, no matter how easy, seem to take me forever.



10, 0, 0, 145

Week Two: Block B1

B1 Bachelor's Buttons

Finished this during nap time. First time doing reverse applique. I'm pretty sure a small area like this should not take two hours to sew. Hopefully I will get faster and neater. I think I may have clipped to far. I had a lot of poke threads to deal with and some edges aren't as smooth as I would prefer. Looks great in this photo but in my hand it looks much rougher. Acceptable but not nice and smooth weird because normally scanning makes these blocks look a bit rougher.

8, 0, 0, 109

Week Two: Blocks B1 and B2

Bad design.

 Last night I was helping my niece with a polar fleece project and we managed to break a rotary cutter. The handle snapped while Aubs was cutting. Looking over the cutter I am going to blame shoddy design. I was preferring this cutter (it came as part of a mat/cutter kit I was given as a gift) because of how the action for engaging the blade worked I felt it was safer around the baby. But this design feature is exactly why it broke. Just to weak for something that is going to have that much pressure on it all the time. I tried to look it up to find the name but it seems it has been discontinued. I did find a picture so beware if you see this blade on sale no matter how cheap don't buy it.

 I should add my other cutter is also from Fiskars. I have had it for 15 years and love it.

B2 Sweet Tater Pie

Anyway today I did some prep work on blocks B1 and B2. I cut out all the fabrics, basted and clipped B1, and managed to finish B2. This is the first time I have done applique in a really long time and I was doing the stitch backwards for the first third or so. I may take this part out and restitch it because those stitches really bother me but right now I am super thrilled with this block. Those stitches are whack, the line is a little wonky in a couple places, and I didn't quite match up the seams BUT I am still thrilled. Love love love this little block. I made two over sized pinwheel blocks and cut a circle from one and appliqued it to the other rotating the colours to contrast as per the block design. I will square it up and cut out the circle from the bottom pinwheel tomorrow. I would not wish quilting over that seam mountain on my worst enemy

B1 is prepped and ready to be stitched. I have never done reverse applique. Wish me luck.

I may not get to these tomorrow because my niece and I have plans to get together and work on her project again but we'll see.




7, 0, 0, 104

Week Two: Preparation

This week's blocks are A1, A5, B1, B2, B3, and B10. Three are foundation  pieced, one is reverse applique and two involve curved piecing. So a little bit of everything.

I didn't get any quilting done today. My MIL took the baby for the morning but I used that time to play catch up with the housework and I used nap time to, well, nap.

I did manage to get all the foundations and templates for these blocks printed despite my printer's best efforts to thwart me. It took all day (off and on between stuff) and a few tears wrestling with the bastard but everything is printed. To be fair the freezer paper is a bit curly so I imagine its hard for the printer to work with but he'll just have to get used to it or he will be replaced. Printers are super cheap these days and I will bin him if he puts me through another day like today.


 6, 0, 0, 88

UFO: Flying Pirates

Status: Working on the flying geese units.

Today during nap time I managed to finish sewing all the geese and cut them apart. Almost got them all pressed but the maintenance man came to fix the light in that room so my time was cut short. I should be able to finish pressing alter today and I am hoping to get the next step done tonight. Probably not going to happen but if I get even a few squares pinned on for the second side I will be happy.

Looking ahead to tomorrow I am worried about doing applique for the first time in years. Much harder and more fiddly than foundation piecing.

UFO: Flying Pirates

Status: All fabric, thread, and notions for quilt top are ready to use. Preliminary cutting done. No sewing.

This is a project I started around Thanksgiving. Not quite sure but it has been a few weeks. It is based on a tutorial I found while searching the Moda Bake Shop blog for "layer cake". It uses a fun layer cake from Benartex called Buried Treasure and some white yardage. The tutorial is Flying in Squares from Happy Quilting. I love flying geese so I was hooked as soon as I saw it.

I had already finished drawing the diagonal line through all my white squares and had started to line them up and pin them to the larger printed squares. I managed to finish putting these units together and sew on either side of the diagonal line on all the large squares.

I had company and errands to run today so that is all I had time for but I did squeeze in a couple more rows on my hat tonight while watching Dr. Who with the hubster.

Week One: Finished

These blocks took all day to make. I forgot how fiddly foundation piecing can be. Only way to do them though as some of these pieces are barely 1/4". I would estimate about six hours to complete these blocks which means two hours each so that does sound right. I always mean to keep track of time while working on stuff like this but I rarely remember. Thus week one is finished ahead of schedual and I have time to work on a UFO.

A8 Florence Nightingale

B4 Chris' Soccer Field

C1 trooper Green's Badge

6, 0, 0, 88

Week One: Blocks B13 and C3

I finished these while my daughter was napping. Very easy blocks. Both are machine pieced and rotary cut according to dimensions from the software. Tomorrow I tackle foundation piecing for the first time in years.

B13 Four Corner Press

C3 Rayelle's Fence

3, 0, 0, 43

Hattitude: Determined

I gave my first "Determined" hat to my Mom because she loved it. I recently started a new one for me when I found this yarn on sale. Yes, I have already broken my "No new projects in 2013" rule but this yarn and hat are worth the shame. I haven't been able to work on it in almost a week due to back issues but its half finished and I can't wait to wear it.

Can't resist colour

From the book Hattitude by Cathy Caron

Week One and First Block

These are the blocks I am planning to do this week. A6, A8, B4, C1, B13, and C3. They should all be easy blocks. Techniques used will be rotary cutting, machine piecing and freezer paper foundation piecing. Its been a long time since I have done any foundation piecing but these look like a good reintroduction for me.

All my quilt plans and layouts will be shown with a white background because white displays better than black. I don't know why but the black tends to look muddy.

Here is my first block, Uncle Homer (A6), in all it's scanned glory.

A6 - Uncle Homer

I'd go so far to say eensy weensy

Very easy block to cut and piece. I used the rotary cutting guide from the software for the correct dimensions. While I knew this was a quilt made of small blocks and each block was made of small pieces it wasn't until I was actually handling the wee patches that I realized just how small each patch was - teeny tiny.

Unfortunately even though my DMIL took my daughter this morning and I had lots of time to play a stiff back and dirty dishes prevented me from doing more than one block today.



1, 0, 0, 9

The Plan

For almost fifteen years I have wanted to do a "Dear Jane" quilt. For Christmas I received the software and templates from my DH. I've had the book for almost fifteen years.

I played around with the software to determine my colour scheme and decided to do bright rainbow on black. The colours will be placed in a trip around the world pattern. I purchased a fat quarter in each colour (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple) and some black yardage. I am going to use a mix of fabrics for the prints and the background but I am not going to use a different fabric for every block. This way I can buy more fabric as I need it without having to worry about it being out of stock or discontinued. I still haven't decided about the sashing but if I do use sashing it will be all of the same fabric.

Over the New Year holidays I planned my attack. I decided to do approximately six blocks and/or triangles per week. I used a post from Quilting Board to help decide the difficulty level of each block and tried to keep a good mix of hard and easy in each week. I added a break for catching up approximately every four weeks. Hopefully this will keep me from getting bogged down or frustrated. If  all goes to plan the blocks will be ready for assembly in 54 weeks.

I am very excited about this project.

0, 0, 0, 0