Back in the game with Craftsy BOM

Now that the Patchwork Prism Quilt Along is no longer distracting me, I finally caught up with my blocks on the Craftsy Block of the Month. This project is turning into what I would call "eclectic". There is sooo much variety in the block styles from month to month. I'm hoping the consistent colors and fabrics will hold it all together to make a beautiful quilt.

In April, we learned English Paper Piecing, hexi style. I had never tried this technique so it was exciting to learn something totally new. The hand stitching slowed me down a bit, but was well worth it. I learned new admiration for anyone who makes an entire quilt out of hexagons.

The background is a Kona Ash and it is saving me on many of these blocks. I am terrible about choosing all mediums and darks for quilts, which often makes for a dull quilt. The Kona Ash is plenty light enough so it makes up for my leaning toward darker fabrics.

All that light background just begs for some interesting quilting. In May, we learned about Wonky Log Cabin blocks. These were fun to make because perfect piecing was not required. Neither was perfect measuring. I enjoyed feeling a bit improvisational while making these blocks.

I was a little disappointed that two sides of my center ended up parallel to the edges on the second one. That took just a bit away from its wonkiness. This version of the Wonky log cabin is essentially string piecing without a foundation so I had to be careful not to stretch or distort my strips as I made my way around the block.

In June, we learned about Modern 9-Patch blocks. It was nice to go back to some standard techniques with these two blocks. I can't say enough good things about this FREE class and the instruction offered with it. Amy Gibson is an excellent teacher. Each month offers a video lesson that runs a little under thirty minutes. My theory on classes is that no matter how skilled you are, there is always something new to learn.

When I'm all caught up, it is hard to wait for the first of the next month to get here. There aren't many more days left this time and in July we'll be learning about Dresden Plates. August is Stars and September is Curved Piecing. Here's how April, May, and June look all together:

Add those to the blocks from January, February, and March...

...and we're well on our way to a quilt!

Patchwork Prism Finished

My first big finish for the year! I am so pleased with the way this quilt turned out. It's one of those quilts where I just had to go with the process. There were certainly times where I thought, "I don't know about this," and I'm glad I didn't hesitate.

This quilt was made "charm" style, meaning there are no fabric repeats in the quilt. It is also made entirely from my stash. The only purchase for this quilt was for the batting. For the quilting, I wanted to accent the fabric without taking away from it so I went with simple quilting 1/4" away from each seam. It's been a while since I quilted something this large so I added extra support around my sewing machine to hold the weight.

The ironing board was lowered to the same height as the sewing machine, and a folding table was set up behind the sewing machine cabinet. It worked great. This really helped the quilt move smoothly through the machine without a lot of pulling and tugging.

I had a few large triangles leftover that didn't make it to the front of the quilt. They worked nicely into the backing which kept them from going to the scrap bin and added some interest to the back of the quilt.

The fabric on the back is a Kona solid. I don't have the exact color name, but I've been calling it cranberry. I also used it for the binding. Here's a close up of some of the quilting as seen from the back.

And here's the finished front.

This quilt was made as part of the Patchwork Prism Quilt Along. The deadline to finish is this month and there are some great prizes for winning participants. That gave me just the motivation to get this one done on schedule.

There are lots of beautiful quilts being finished with this quilt along. Some have used all solids, some have changed the color placement, and there's even one being made in neutrals. I always love seeing how the same pattern can turn out so many different ways. You can check out all the quilts that have been posted by going to the Flickr group.

Patchwork Prism Progress

The Patchwork Prism quilt along has been keeping me occupied for the past few weeks. After combing through my stash to choose enough fabric so that there would be no repeats in this project, I started cutting. Because this project uses templates, it took a while to get all the pieces cut.

This pattern has great cutting instructions along with a full color map for laying out the pieces. My design wall would only hold a little less than half the quilt so I laid out as much as I could, then started sewing. Laying out the second half was a bit more challenging since there were fewer pieces to choose from for placement. I ended up replacing a few of the pieces to get the light/dark and color transitions to work a little better.

I am pleased with the results. The secondary designs stand out much more than I thought they would. There are a few leftover triangle that will be incorporated into the backing, which will be primarily a solid Kona berry (I don't know the exact color name). Originally, I planned to choose a single thread to use for quilting, but after auditioning just about my entire thread collection, I decided to use a different color for each color ring in the quilt (purple in the center, then pink/magenta, then orange/red etc.).

The quilting will likely be all straight lines, highlighting the secondary patterns in the quilt top. I hope to have this one quilted and bound by June 12 so I can participate in the linky party that will conclude this quilt along. Fun times; fun quilt alongs!

Here, There, and Everywhere

This is my 100th blog entry. It's hard to believe that I was nervous about sticking with it when I started this blog. I love writing here. When my sewing mind gets a bit foggy, writing here clears it. This is also my way to keep track of my projects...when I started, when I finished. I'm terrible at keeping up with it any other way.

So, I've been up to a little bit of everything this week. I made part of one block for the New York Beauty Quilt Along. I love the colors in this one.

For the Craftsy Block of the Month, I finally started working on April's blocks. They use English Paper Piecing which I had never done. I don't do a lot of handwork, but this technique is perfect for a take-along project. I am keeping all the pieces in a bag and they go everywhere with me. This is also another great use of scraps. There may be more English Paper Piecing in my future.

All of the fabric for the Patchwork Prism Quilt-a-long has been selected.

I started cutting it this weekend. I was able to find enough fabric so that I can make this quilt with no repeats. This one is going to take a while to cut so I'm hoping to do a little bit each day.

As I have been scoping out fabric for this project or that in my stash, I've been keeping an eye out for bigger pieces to use for summer skirts. My wardrobe needs a bit of refreshing and I don't have a lot of yardage in my stash. This weekend I made this cutie, which will look great with my pink t-shirt. It hits just below the knees and will be a great addition to my summer work wardrobe.

It's been kind of fun bouncing from project to project this week. Here's hoping for another week of sewing fun!

Becoming a Quilt-a-Long Junkie

So, what's one more quilt-a-long? Yep, I did it. I joined the Patchwork Prism quilt-a-long which is based on a pattern designed by Anna Marie Horner for Janome. No matter that I'm fully involved in two other quilt-a-longs. There's always room for more. There are many, many reasons for joining this one...
   - Anna Marie Horner - What can I say...I'm a big fan.
   - Janome - My sewing machine is a Janome and I just love it.
   - It's a stash buster, which is high on my list this year.
   - It's a color challenge.
   - I'm going to make it a charm challenge too, meaning that no fabric can repeat in the quilt.
   - There are some super cool prizes to be awarded at the end of this quilt-a-long.

My color muscle needs a bit of exercise and this quilt-a-long is just the thing to do it. You can learn all about it by clicking on the button over there on the right side. And one more reason I'm participating is the on-going quest to clean and organize my sewing room. Fabric selection is supposed to be completed by May 8. Here's what has happened in my sewing room so far.

All of my blues are refolded and sorted. Above that are all of my Kaffe Fassett scraps, again all refolded and sorted by color. I intend to use many of these in this new project. And just to give you a bit of perspective, here's a picture that shows what the neighbor cubbies look like:

Don't worry, I'm not abandoning my other cherished quilt-a-longs. In fact, I have officially completed half of the blocks for the New Your Beauty quilt along.

It's okay. I've accepted it. I am a Quilt-A-Long Junkie.

New York Beauty QAL Progress

Four more pretty blocks to share from the New York Beauty Quilt Along. I started timing myself to see just how long each of these little boogers was taking.

It takes at least 30 minutes for me to choose fabric for a block, then another 1 1/2 hours for piecing time. So, being the kind of girl I am, I decided to change the order of the blocks.

The quilt along sort of goes back and forth between an easier, then a more challenging block. Since I want to make progress at super-human speed, I'm going to start with the simplest block and work up to the hard ones. That should at least make me feel like I'm making faster progress, for a while.

I am very pleased with most of my color choices, even though every now and then I get the tiniest urge to supplement the stash with a little something new. Resistance is successful...so far.

Here's how they look on my design wall most of the time. I can keep up with my progress better when they are all neat and orderly.

But sometimes, I just have to play with them a bit. That's when I get really excited about where this project is going. This one is definitely going to be a keeper.

Spring Break and Some New York Beauty

My sewing room looks like this because my younger two kids are out of school all week. Since I just started a new job in January, it is a bit soon for me to take time off. They are in good hands, though. Dad is taking a spring break with them. There is a list of possible activities hanging on the refrigerator, and there has already been some progress on the list.

Adam has wanted to spend the night under my cutting table ever since it was installed, so I cleaned everything out from under it this weekend. Even though it is a large 4 foot x 6 foot space, it wasn't quite as fun as he was thinking. Both boys are getting on up there in size so tiny spaces end up being a bit more cramped than they imagined. There were a few hard head clunks and I didn't give them enough covers to stay warm through the night (it was hot when they went to bed). It was an adventure for both boys and I don't think I'll hear that request again. Check that one off the list.

Today when I went home for lunch, I was told that the trampoline "almost broke" because of all the crazy jumping. The beginnings of a bird house were under construction in the driveway, too. I think they are going to have a fun week.

I've been making small steps of progress on my New York Beauty blocks. The quilt along just started week six which means I should have 24 blocks by the end of the week. I have finished eleven and plan to focus on this project all week long.