Blocks from the Past Week 13

This week we are headed over to Tiffany's place for pages 29, 30, & 72 over at Sewinsomethin.blogspot.com

Happy Quilting.

More blocks from the Past

I managed to get some more blocks ready for stitching. I enjoyed having some time this Sunday evening to just match fabrics from my scrap bin (one of many). I think it is just about time to switch to different bin for these, since I have soo many more scraps that want homes. This week check out Barbie's blog, you'll be glad you did.

This week has been rather crazy which is why last week's post didn't get written. My littlest buddy got sick last weekend, and it resulted in me being sick all the rest of this week. I have been having issues with all of my illnesses residing in my throat, so we have decided to rid my body of tonsils on the 13th of April. I will try my darndest to make sure that my blog post for the 20th with still run as scheduled, but I may be off the grid a bit for a little while in preparation for my Mother-In-Law coming to visit and help with the boys, and the obvious surgery and recovery.

Here's to better health and Fun Applique blocks. Happy quilting friends. 

Wow, I'm behind

Wow, I guess I didn't realize I had fallen quite so far behind. This week's Blocks from the Past post can be found here. Go check it out.

8.5 finally

1 8.5 inch block down 8 to go. I don't know why, but I really dragged my feet about making the extra 8.5 inch blocks for my Red and White (and Black) Quilt. It might have been because the blocks I picked were paper pieced. I actually really like paper piecing, but the idea of oversizing pieces and trimming (and throwing out those trimmings) really bugs me for some reason. Not to mention there are those odd shaped pieces that if you don't oversize enough they can be fussy, and difficult. Anyway... So I started with this one and they went relatively quickly after that. This pattern and all of the ones I used for the extra blocks came from the Quilter's Cache. There is a wonderful gallery of blocks available and they can be viewed by name, block size, or when they were added to the collection.

Improv blocks

When I laid out my red and white (and black) quilt I found I didn't have enough 4.5 inch blocks. I also happened to be out of red. So these 2 blocks were pieced randomly from the scraps I had leftover. They are a fun addition to my quilt and I know that no one else will have blocks exactly like these, which helps to unique-ify my quilt. It also helps me feel good about the fact that I am using what I have.

Red and white finish

Red and white quilt top. It is so big I couldn't get a full picture of it. I'm leaving the edge jagged. I loved the stark contrast in the blocks that we exchanged, but was having trouble with ideas for how to maintain that look without buying too much more fabric. (5 yards of white later...) The black was in my stash, and I still have strong feelings when I see red, white, and black color combinations because those were my high school colors. I love how colors play together, and work to both accent themselves and to draw attention to the other colors around them. A few of the 4.5 inch blocks had to be put on point within their on point block because they didn't look as good on point. I really love this quilt top. Now to get it quilted quickly because it needs to be done soon.

3.5 red and white

Here are 3.5 inch red and white friendship stars to join the big red ones in the border for my red and white quilt.

Matching pillow

This quilt needed a pillow to go with it. I wanted to make something simple and modern. This is what I came up with. I decided that a simple use of the "Bacon Stitch" was perfect to add a little extra spice. I stitched an even distance from each other (used the edge of my machine as a good guide) in black, and then found a yellow, orange, green, and pink thread I thought matched, and used my random number generator to figure out which columns got which colors. It is one of my favorite tools for randomizing.

I even made the pillow myself with some Poly-fil that I bought several years ago and a Polyester feeling fabric that I believe was the lining for curtains that I got in a random box of fabric.

Sew my stash Precuts Challenge

This was a fat quarter bundle that I picked up in Cincinnati, Ohio when I went to the International Quilt Festival there with my mom in April of 2012. It was the end of a grand trip that Nate, My Mom, and I took, that included visiting my Aunt and Cousin in Tennessee, and a Cousin and her family in Texas, and of course ended in Cincinnati. This line was Garden Strings by Kim Schaefer. I loved the vibrant colors. I finally found a pattern for it when Amy Smart decided to host The Virtual Quilting Bee on her blog during 2013. I then set aside the bundle for when I would have time to start the project, but as most quilters seem to know, there is always one more thing to do. That one more thing actually became the Christmas quilts that I made that year for my family. So into the pile of waiting projects it went.

This year I decided I was going to drastically cut down on my fabric buying. So when #SewMyStash2015 started taking over Instagram, I started following and lurking. I was still using my stash and only my stash because I wanted to see how long I could go without buying fabric just to buy fabric. I can say that I have only bought fleece after an incident at Joann's, white to finish 1 quilt, and, a clearanced fat quarter bundle that has been backordered, since October 10th.

Anyway, I continued to lurk, but had not really gotten the hang of hashtags, so didn't want to go overboard. Well, when she issued the first challenge I jumped right in. Then when this precuts challenge came up, I started looking through my precuts, since I keep them all together, and rediscovered this bundle. I hunted down the patterns for the squares and went to town. It was hard to motivate myself to start cutting into the fat quarters, but once I did, the blocks went together super quick and easy. Now I can proudly say that I have another finished top, completely out of my own stash (with backing and a scrappy binding all ready, too) ready for quilting. Now I am beginning to gladly use the #SewMyStash2015 hashtag. Thank you Leasa. To find more on this challenge and to see what others have completed go check it out here or on Instagram with #SewMyStash2015PrecutsParty

Konda's Hexagon Runner

This is a pattern by Konda Luckau, found in her book Simply Hexagons. She had me test the pattern and I loved it. She addresses the tricky subject of y-seams spectacularly. I was very impressed. Her method allows you to chain piece all of it. The only trouble I had with it, was when I accidently shifted a row and had to rip the seam. I then accidently turned a corner and ripped the wrong seam. Otherwise, it was fun and quick and used a precut hexagon pack.

Quilt along

My progress this week included starting on the applique for this block. For this week's blocks, go check out Marion's Blog and Ginny will walk you through them.

 I know it isn't my week for helps, but I just want to share just one little tool I've decided I love. It is a glue stick. When doing applique I find that a glue stick gives me the least amount of fabric bunching, with the least amount of prep work, which allows me to utilize more of my available time in getting a finished product. 

Cool Dudes

I love this picture of my boys from May 2014. Nate wanted to share his glasses with his little brother. I can't believe how little Kyle is here. Nate wanted Kyle to be a Cool Dude.