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In the sewing room, no. 4

January 30, 2013 jennifer Quilting and Sewing

What a great week it’s been! We had blue skies and sunshine on Monday – such a gift – and 11 inches of snow on Tuesday. As for sewing, Saturday was a quiet day and I was able to put together this:

It’s the back for my Choreography quilt top , and I think I like it every bit as much as the front. I used an Ikea print for the top and bottom and the center section is made using the remainder of my “arrows.”

I’m really excited to put this quilt together. I want to push myself in quilting it, and am tossing around a few ideas. I (who am HORRIBLE at free motion quilting) spent some time playing with an idea. This is also one of my goals for 2013, to pay the price and put in some hours learning to FMQ. Here it is:

It definitely needs work, but I might like it. I always have this inner battle over finishing a quilt quickly using quilting methods I’m comfortable with, or letting it be a “slow craft” as Denyse Schmidt calls it (I wrote about it here ) while I learn to do new things. I’m trying to take the slow craft approach with this quilt, telling myself I’ll love it even more if I do.

I made six more blocks for my Scrappy Trip quilt. I now have 18 done and am half way there! I’m still really enjoying this quilt. One thing I’m learning is that my fabric stash is pretty shallow on yellows, and I’m wishing I had a few more yellow strips to add. Interestingly, I read Joanna Figueroa’s thoughts on yellow in her book With Fabric and Thread.
She writes, “I would like to share with you that yellow goes with everything! Many years ago, I heard another designer say this in a workshop on brights and contemporary fabrics. The same principle has translated very well into vintage color combinations. There is no color on the color wheel that looks bad with yellow…Many of the most classic color combinations are paired with yellow…and yet somehow many people seem to be afraid of this wonderful color” (p.66). While I’ve never had an aversion to yellow, I haven’t really been drawn to it, either. Right now I’m wishing I had a lot more yellow in my stash… perhaps it’s time to consciously watch for yellows I like.

Speaking of yellow, I started working on my Sawtooth quilt, which is my first project using yellow for the background. I’m really loving this happy, sunny color and hope the quilt is as cheery as I think it will be.

My Scrappy Swoon quilt is coming along:

I discovered that when cutting all my squares I went a little crazy with the pink fabrics and have way too many. Rather than pack them away, I’ve used this little stack to plan a little Valentine project:

I’m thinking the pink will look pretty with some gray. I hope to piece it right away!

I guess that’s it this week. Can you believe the month is already over? I had hoped to do more, and yet I’m also grateful for all that has come together so far. February will be great.

Have a beautiful week, Jennifer Linking to Freshly Pieced

5 comments in the sewing room, quilting

Scrappy Swoon-Along: Sections 5 & 6

January 28, 2013 jennifer Quilt Alongs

Welcome back to the Scrappy Swoon-along! Today we’ll tackle sections 5 and 6.

Section 5 This is a simple patchwork section which will come together quickly. For section 5 you’ll need 72 – 3.5 inch squares of your secondary color.

Each block will require 18 squares, laid out in three rows of six squares each as seen below:

Piece the blocks together in to three strips.

Then piece the three rows together to make a block that is 18.5 inches long and 9.5 inches tall.

Make four of these blocks.

The section 5 blocks will sit on each side of the star between the section 4 blocks you made last week.

I love the way the center star really pops when it’s completely surrounded by the secondary color. So pretty! Let’s start the next section…

Section 6 Section six will require 12 – 3 7/8 inch squares of both your background fabric AND your secondary fabric. You’ll also need 24 – 3.5 inch squares of both background and secondary fabrics.

Again, pair up each 3 7/8 inch background square with a 3 7/8 inch secondary color square to make 24 half square triangles.

Each block will require 6 half square triangles, 6 – 3.5 inch background squares and 6 – 3.5 inch secondary color squares. The layout of this block is the same as section two, except you’re using the secondary color instead of your primary color. Once more we’re making three rows of six squares with the half square triangles forming the “v” for a patchwork flying geese block.

Again, sew the squares into three strips of six squares, then press.

Piece the three rows together to make an 18.5 inch by 9.5 inch block.

Make 4 of these blocks.

Section six forms the outer block in the center of each side of the quilt. It’s getting big! Now we just have to fill in the corners.

Hooray! We’re more than half way finished with this quilt top. Only two more weeks of piecing to go and then we’ll put it all together. It’s been great to see your beautiful quilts taking shape in the flikr group . So many fantastic color combinations and fabric choices. I hope these sections come together quickly for you and that you enjoy making them. See you next Monday!

Happy Sewing, Jennifer

One comment quilting, Scrappy Swoon Quilt Along

In the sewing room, no.3

January 23, 2013 jennifer Quilting and Sewing

It just wasn’t a week for sewing, I guess. Too many random things going on. Here’s what I managed to do in a few stolen moments:

My scrappy trip blocks now number 12. I’m planning on making 36, so I’m 1/3 there.

With my Choreography quilt top finished, it’s time to knock out the backing. I have a few more pieces to finish and then I’ll lay it all out.

And finally, I found a few minutes to sew my strips together for the star points in this block. Now I need to piece the block. Y seams, here I come!

And, of course, my top priority right now is being prepared every week for the Scrappy Swoon Quilt Along , which I’m enjoying very much. I’m so excited to see this entire quilt top come together!

And that’s all the progress I made this week. I didn’t touch the sawtooth blocks and I’d really like to get moving on the Fireworks quilt that has one lonely block hanging in the closet. I hope the next week is a little less eventful than the last. At the moment, all my furniture is piled in the kitchen and dining room so the carpets can be cleaned. I confess that having some empty rooms and some impassable rooms has me feeling a bit agitated. The fact that their machine broke and they won’t be back to finish the job until after all the children are home from school doesn’t help. I’d love to have just a regular old day where things flow the way you plan for them to. A girl can dream, right?

Happy sewing!
Jennifer linking to Freshly Pieced

4 comments quilting

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