One Block Wonders

I spent yesterday playing with my friends - we all worked with the book "One Block Wonders". This is a technique we all have been wanting to try, but were either too chicken to tackle it on our own or couldn't quite find time. By setting aside a time to work together, we all had a great time and are no longer scared of the process!

Sue used a piece of Amy Butler fabric. This pic shows what her fabric looked like before cutting and how some of her blocks turned out.

Diane chose a Kaufman novelty print that is very "Jetsons"-like. She's making this quilt for her husband who likes to read science fiction.
Sarah chose the new Jasmine line of fabric.
I fondled every bolt in the store before making my choice. I ended up picking a Moda fabric depicting moose and woodlands. Not that I'm into mooses, but I liked the colorations of this scenic print. I guess I thought by using a scenic print, I would get more variations of blocks - and I did!
I must say that the whole cutting out thing was much easier than I anticipated. The only rule we broke was that we split our fabric on the fold so that we were only working with a half-width of fabric at a time. We just figured it would be easier than trying to cut a 45" strip of fabric - we wouldn't have to keep moving our mats or our rulers. After I got home last night from running errands, I finished piecing the first half of my blocks
The premise of the layout process is that you use a design wall and putter with your blocks to get your colorations laid out in a pleasing manner. This was my first attempt at throwing the blocks on the wall - I'm not crazy about this layout. But until you see them all together, you don't really know how they're going to flow together. I can see that there are more predominantly blue blocks; when I re-arrange, I think I'll start with the blue blocks towards the center and work outwards with the rest. The other thing I am considering is stopping with this amount of blocks. My best guess is this will make a center approximately 30" x 45" which would turn into a small lap quilt with borders. I can't decide. Do you think I should make the other half of the blocks?

All in all, this is a fun quilt to make. My only problem is now I want to whack up all sorts of fabric to see how the blocks will turn out. Just what I need.....another addiction......

Juggling

It's been a busy couple of weeks. I've been juggling a couple of projects - you know - those "but first" things. Several quilts were in various stages, and I needed to get them done.

This is my completed "Not so Square" quilt. I had to finish this project before I could begin the Strip Club sample for May because it was taking up the design wall. I've had several comments from people who have seen this quilt in person, because the blocks are bigger than they perceived when they saw the blocks in process on my blog. This is a pretty good-sized quilt - 78" x 90". I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with this quilt - but it's completely finished and I'm just proud that it didn't turn into a UFO.

This Jo Morton Log Cabin is a sample for the shop. Diane pieced it, but I needed to quilt it before I could begin the Strip Club sample because we already had the kits cut and on the sales floor. Didnt' it turn out pretty?

And finally, the sample for Strip Club for May. The fabrics are Dimples by Andover and the pattern is "Butterflies and Blooms".

Whew! I've been really intent on getting things done, not only because done is good, but because I'm going to meet a couple of friends this afternoon to play. Remember this book?

I talked about it when it first came out about a year ago - I feel in love with the quilts but just haven't taken the time figure it out. We all want to learn this technique, and decided that our best chance was to just schedule a time to do it all together. I'll let you know how it goes....

Project "Next"

This is the current project I'm working on (not including the hand-appliqued BOM sample that is on-going).

I bought a fat quarter bundle at the P&B fabrics warehouse the day we set up our booth at the Dallas quilt show. I had absolutely no busines buying it, but it jumped in my hand and wouldn't leave. The infatuation with the fabrics has cooled a little bit, but I'm committed to finishing the quilt.

I found a pattern at the show written by a friend of mine. These are the blocks, and there will be sashing in between them. That's all cut out and waiting to be sewn. Now if I could only find a few hours of uninteruppted time to put it together!

The Latest Finish

Bonnie over at quiltville.com recently posted her method for making spider web blocks. The week of the Dallas quilt show, I made a couple of test blocks. This past week I went ahead and finsihed the whole quilt. It's not very big - about 47" square, but done is done.

What do you think about this horrid orange? When making the test blocks, I pulled a hunk of solid from my stash. Instead of starting over when I decided to make the quilt, I went ahead and kept using it. It's the hunk of fabric that would not die- I still have a little over 2 yards left!

Remember those 3" rail blocks that I kept making after I finished the rail quilt? And I wondered why on earth I kept making them? Serendipty! Those blocks were the basis for the piano key border. I think I only had to make 12 or 15 additional blocks.

Don't you just hate those quilts that finish between 42" and 50" wide? I'm ususally too thrifty to cut that second length, so I split the fabric on the fold and usually piece something in.

Here's where serendipity comes in again. I had a stack of crumb blocks almost finished so I finished up 9 of them to go down the middle of the backing. It still wasn't wide enough, so I added a couple of pre-cut 3-1/2" strips down the sides of the blocks. I must say it was quite fun to be able to use pre-made and pre-cut things for this quilt - even if they weren't intended for this purpose.

I came THIS close to throwing out the leftover strings in the bucket when I finished this project. I swear, the bucket looks fuller than when I started. And it seems like all the same fabrics are still in it! And it's not like I don't have tubs of strings from the last 15 years, too. Why can't I throw anything away? It's a sickness! How on earth am I supposed to use this stuff up? I'll leave you with that rhetorical question....