As I have mentioned previously in this blog, I am participating in a block swap with several quilters from Australia and New Zealand, using patterns in Make Modern magazine. It is a great online magazine and I would encourage you to check it out!!!
This week I finished the second set of blocks for Debbie from Australia. We have already made one set of Butterfly blocks for her and here is the second set of bright and wonderful butterflies…..
They are fun to make and I am definitely getting better at seam allowances so they are coming out REALLY close to the needed size!!
I am up for the months of August and September and have been thinking about what I want to do with my blocks. At the moment I am thinking about something like this….
… although the light blue needs to be a LOT lighter than in this picture.
OR maybe I want to do it in bright colors!!! I REALLY need to decide!!!
The group would provide twenty, 10-inch blocks and I would need to make an additional 16 blocks!!!
I think that I will wait to see what they send and then go from there!!!
Yesterday, I started describing making the next block in the 2021 Monthly Color Challenge, and when I left you, I had made 8 flying geese using the “No-Waste” method.
Next, I needed to make a Square-in-a-square block.
I love these blocks but have always struggled to get them to be the exact needed size. But Jen fixed this problem by having us cut the center square to an exact size of 1-7/8ths inch.
The outside triangles were cut a bit larger than needed and then trimmed after being sewn on. This was SO smart because I didn’t have to worry about getting the corners of the triangles to fit just perfectly!!
When it came time to trim the block down, I once again used a washable pen and marked two lines on the ruler. These lined up with the points on the inside square…..
….making the cuts easy to determine!!
Now it was time to sew the patches together into the block and I ran into a problem as I prepared to sew the final row. The row was visibly smaller than the previous one!!!!
I decided to video the stretching process so maybe it will help when you are struggling with the same problem……
I really like the final block……
….and it will be a great addition to my color challenge quilt!!!
I am still trying to catch up on the 2021 Monthly Color Challenge from Patterns by Jen.
The block for June is the amazing Pumpkin.
With the other inspirations, I have used the actual fruit or vegetable, but it was IMPOSSIBLE to find a pumpkin in mid-June!! The Produce manager in my favorite store looked incredulous that I was even asking!!!
So, instead of comparing the fabrics to the colors on hand, I just went from memory and quickly picked out two orange fabrics…..one darker and one slightly lighter. In retrospect, I wish that there had been a bit more contrast but, hey……the block is finished!!!
As with most of these challenge blocks, the cutting sizes were very specific, including several that were cut to a 1/8th inch measurement. Needless to say, I was VERY careful with my cutting!!
…..there are two other triangles that didn’t make the photo!!!
First, I was to make 8 flying-geese blocks using the “no waste” method. I had read about this technique but had never used it so I had to follow the instructions carefully.
The first step was to draw a diagonal line on the back of the 8 smaller squares and then place them on opposite corners of the larger square and then sew 1/4-inch on either side of the line…….
The next step was to “pre-iron” the triangles before I cut them apart…..
This helps to set the seams and keeps the bias stitching straighter.
Then I cut the piece along the drawn line…..
I pressed the triangles out, leaving this weird looking shape…..
Next, add another square to the open corner and sew along each side of the drawn line……
Again with the “pre-iron”….
….followed by cutting on the drawn line.
The result was 8 flying geese blocks, although they were too big and needed to be cut down to size.
As I started trying to figure out how to best cut them to the correct size, I remembered my previously mentioned trick about putting markings on my ruler that will make the cutting easier.
In this case, the block was trimmed to 1.5 x 2.5. The first mark that I made was at 1.25-inch (1/2 of the 2.5 width). I then marked the 1/4 inch at the top and the lines of the flying geese as well…..
I am using a wash away pen so that I can easily clean the ruler!!
Before making the first cut, I positioned my drawn triangle on top of the pieced one….
….and made the cuts. You can see that the right hand triangle is a bit short but not by TOO much!!
For the second cut, I turned the block the other direction and just used the normal ruler lines to line it up…..
I really enjoyed making the flying geese by this technique and especially like that I am not wasting a bunch of triangles!!
I learned even more while making this block and want to show you all of it, so come back tomorrow for the big reveal of the “GREAT PUMPKIN” block!!!
I am still trying to catch up on the 2021 Monthly Color Challenge presented by “Patterns by Jen”. You should zip over to her blog to learn more about the challenge and see some of the amazing designs that Jen concocts!!!
In May, we were using the mighty potato as our inspiration….
Many times in the last few months, I have spent a LOT of time trying to pick fabrics but these two jumped OFF of the shelf and onto the cutting table…..
The cutting directions were easy and very soon I was ready to start sewing…..
I have always struggled with making a “square in a square” block, especially making it the exact size that it needed to be, but Jen gave precise directions and I was SUPER careful in cutting. I was thrilled when the block turned out to be the perfect size!!!
I continued in the vein of being SUPER careful with my seam allowances and sewing and was happy that the block turned out to be 6.5 inches……
Jen has encouraged us to “up our game” when we are presenting the finished block and to play around with “flat lay” designs. Although I like this one……
I REALLY like these two……
When I think about potatoes, I immediately think about creamy, buttery mashed potatoes. My husband, Michael, makes the BEST ONES EVER!!!!!
….and if I am really sweet to him, he will make cream gravy to go with them!!!!
Cast your mind back to March when I was happily chugging along on the color challenge by “Patterns By Jen”. It is a great challenge using fruits and vegetables as inspirations. Since that last post, I have fallen behind…..WAY behind, and now it is time to catch up!!
As I headed upstairs with my “supplies” for the day…..
….Michael looked quizzically at me and asked EXACTLY what I was doing. Looking down at the array of items on my tray, it was an understandable question!!
The block for April is based on CHERRIES…
….one of my favorite fruits, and I kept dipping my hand into the bag and eating my inspirations!!
Cherries are amazing spheres of goodness and the color is so deep and saturated…..
It was fun to pull out my red fabrics and decide which ones to use for the block…..
The block for this month has TWENTY-EIGHT fabric pieces in a SIX inch block….whew!!
The directions began with cutting 1 inch strips of two fabrics and sewing them together. I was not confident of my seam allowance so decided to fudge it a bit and cut them bigger to begin with…..
….sew them together…..
….and then trim them to the needed 1.5 inch size with 3/4 of an inch on each side.
Because the strips were so narrow, I found it hard to get them to lay completely straight on the cutting mat so that I could make a clean cut. I solved this problem with a bit of painter’s tape…..
The tape was used to hold the bottom edge against one of the lines on the mat. Remember that I was NOT using the mat for the measurement. This made the cutting SO much easier…..
I did have to be careful when pulling the tape off as it shredded a bit of the fabric edge…..
Next I sub-cut the strips into 3.75 inch segments and carefully sewed them into blocks containing 6 strips….
I was thrilled that the blocks trimmed easily to 3.5 inches.
The next step was to cut two, ONE inch squares from each of the fabrics. These are SERIOUSLY small pieces…..
After marking a diagonal line across the square, it was sewed to the blocks…..
I was thrilled to come away with an almost perfect 6.5 inch block!!!
Now came the fun of designing a “flat-lay” with my block and my inspirations….
This one is a bit flatter…..
Each month we are supposed to share something about the inspiration and this time I was reminded of the first time that I ever ate FRESH cherries. We were traveling in Portugal and were taken into the Douro valley outside of Porto. We ended up in a small village that was preparing for a festival and it was fun to see the floats and other decorations!! We stopped at one roadside vendor and ended up buying a kilo of cherries (for $2!!). If you would enjoy spending the day with us, please check out THIS POST…..
Okay….that takes care of one month…..more to come!!
