I set out a couple of projects to work on for the last week of the month and I really did manage to get a lot of it completed!
There's these two quilts.... one from a quilt along last fall - Aiming for Accuracy by Michele Foster.... I named it my Bluebird of Happiness Quilt since it has little bluebirds sprinkled in some of the stars. [This was a free quilt along last fall where I learned a tremendous amount about accurate piecing! The tutorial is now for sale here Aiming for Accuracy] And there's a quilt from 2006.. hand pieced and scissor cut before I really knew anything about quilting! It is from an Around the World Block of the Month series.... and the first fat quarter I ever bought is in this quilt. Anyway, I squared, backed and machine quilted it THIS year and it actually turned out pretty good all things considered. I stitched the labels on them (and did a little extra hand surgery on the older quilt) and they are FINISHED and ready to USE!!!
.......and there is a quilt that I took a class for last summer.. a double Irish chain pattern. I set out to finish making the individual blocks.... and I DID :-) The next step for this quilt is to measure each square and even them up. This will take a while.. so I can put this project aside for a little bit. Actually I will put this project by my ironing board because I should press out each square a bit more before I measure - and I can do these one at a time - along as I work on other things.
..... the third focus this last week is a couple of Churn Dash quilts that I started in mid-May. I am doing them in two colorways - one is all aqua-teal-coral-pink.... and the other is bright red-green-orange-blue & white.. I am really just starting.... and there are almost 100 blocks to do. It was from a quilt along hosted by Amy Smart and uses speed cutting & stitching methods. [This one is on the Bernina website Churn Dash Sew Along] They are done in sets of two and I have now moved along to next to the last step. A little more cutting and pressing and these babies will be ready for block construction.
.... the fourth focus is a class I just started called the Traditional English Ladies Quilt. I've just barely started the medallion center.. but the next class is not until July 17... so I am good to go here!
... last of all, I have a quilt along class (again by Michele Foster [ a paid quilt along at Delightful Stars - of course you know I rarely pay for something I can get for free but Michele is a skilled instructor and the cost is nominal]) that will require several borders. One of the inner borders is made up of scrappy 4-patch blocks using 2-1/2 inch squares.
My first step in creating these is what I have been using as an anchor cloth project... that is, they are the last thing I stitch and I leave the needle down in the cloth (which keeps the machine well threaded and help the feed dogs get started as I begin stitching next time). I took each of the fabrics in my bright scrappy quilt blocks and cut a 2-1/2 inch strip. Then I methodically began sewing the strips together, cutting off the extra and continuing to sew - hoping to get as many random combinations as possible.
At this point, I have a pile of 'two-strip combinations' that I will begin to cut into 2-1/2 inch sections. Since I need around 150 some odd of these, I am curious to see if I have enough!
..So that's what is keeping my sewing machine hot this week! I'll be setting the machine up for quilting soon and will share those projects with you next week!
No comments:
Post a Comment