Category: Quilting and Sewing

I was looking for something today in my sewing room when I reached behind the fabric stack at the front of a shelf, and found this:


It’s my partially completed Moda Modern Building Blocks quilt!  I began this quilt nearly a year ago, and it’s been almost that long since I last worked on it.


It’s always fun to look at blocks I’ve sewn after not seeing them for a long time.  In some ways I like them more.  I really liked this quilt pattern made in all solids, but couldn’t justify spending more on fabric, so I chose my Anna Maria Horner stash for this quilt, with a few others mixed in.  I remember being worried/disappointed about some of my fabric choices back when I made these, but I’m not bothered by them now.


I also found a stack of fabrics that I remember choosing for my next blocks before I stalled on the project entirely.  The problem is, I don’t remember which fabrics were for what blocks, and I didn’t write it down, so… we will see.  There are a lot of six inch blocks ahead!


I would really like to finish this quilt, but I think it will need to wait until the new year when I hope things will settle down a little.  (wishful thinking, I know)  Still, it’s nice to have rediscovered these blocks.

What unfinished project have you rediscovered lately, lurking in some random place?  I wish I could say this is my only one, but in truth I have several.  One of these days I’ll finish them up!

I am making steady progress on my Collection quilt, finishing sections 5-7 in the past couple of weeks.


I was able to assemble six of the sections and loved having it come together!  I have two more sections to go and then the quilt top will be completed.


I am following the general color scheme of Carolyn Friedlander’s original quilt, but using fabric from my stash.  It is fun to mix and match as I work with the colors and the prints to achieve what I want.  Section five (above) was particularly fun to plan as I chose the bottom print and built the section from that point.


I had a little mishap with fabric placement in the bottom right corner where the applique is hard to distinguish from Sarah Watson’s awesome print, but I decided to leave it and enjoy the little things about this Collection quilt that will make it mine.


Section 6 features another Sarah Watson print that I just love, paired with Anna Maria Horner’s gorgeous Loominous stripe.  I took a couple of risks with this section.  First, the print is much larger in scale and in contrast than anything I’ve included in the quilt.  It’s also busier, and I worry the applique won’t show up well at a distance.  Additionally, the weave of the stripe made me worry about using it for applique.  I hope it holds up and that there is no risk of it coming undone.  I was very careful while stitching these blocks.  I must say that I love that blue and am happy to have it included in the quilt.


Section seven was one of the most fun blocks to stitch, although I didn’t read the instructions carefully enough at first and had to re-cut all the applique fabrics.  The second try was a success, however, and I continue to learn!

I remember when this Collection quilt pattern was first released.  I loved it so much but was intimidated by it.  I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to just make it.  It isn’t as hard as I thought and is such a unique quilt design.  It is also smaller than I thought it was, and I am thinking about adding borders to make it bigger.  My children are growing so much that they rarely reach for the small quilts anymore; everyone wants them larger.    The question is, what would I use for the border?


I have selected my fabrics for sections 8 and 9, and have only to make time to cut and baste them.  Once that step is completed, it is easy to find a few minutes here and there for some stitching.  I will share more soon!

Jennifer

I shared my first ever English Paper Piecing (EPP) blocks earlier this year, and now there are ten of them.  The block, designed by Jodi of Tales of Cloth , is called Ice Cream Soda and it’s been a great learner project for me.


I continue to use this project to practice fussy-cutting, both by showcasing certain images and also by using the fabric to create repeat designs as the sections are sewn together.  This is not a natural thing for me (it makes me cringe a little that fabric is wasted) but I do feel that with practice I am getting better at seeing new ways to use prints.


I am also trying to pull out favorite prints and include them.  I did this with a particular print that is out of print and precious to me.  I was so proud of myself for cutting into it and now I can’t find those block pieces anywhere!  I remember doing it and have searched high and low but cannot find them.  They were with the rest of the blocks I cut out at the same time and how one of them went missing is beyond me.  I really hope it turns up somewhere!  Such a bummer.



When I last posted about this project I had tried two different methods of sewing the pieces together.  I liked the way the flat back stitched pieces looked (because I couldn’t see any stitches) but I just couldn’t seem to hold them together firmly enough and my points were off.  It was also slower.  So I have gone back to the method of holding right sides together and carefully stitching along the edges.  The stitches are more visible but I am a little quicker.  On this project I believe the title “slowest sewist” is appropriate.  The schedule for the stitch along says I should have most of my blocks done by now, but I just finished the first month’s blocks.  Lots of slow catching up lies ahead, and that’s ok.  I am making these blocks to improve my skills in preparation for making a La Passacaglia quilt.


When I put the blocks together like this I feel excited, like maybe I”ll actually have an ice cream soda quilt top that I like when I’m caught up on all this stitching!  At this point I have no plan regarding color other than to use lots of it.  I figure I have plenty of time and blocks to go and I’ll be able to adjust as necessary along the way.