As I had planned, this summer has been busy with a lot of traveling and down time because of school break, but it's been a good one so far. My whole intention of of my Summer Garden Chuck Nohara blocks was to have a slow sewing project that can be taken almost anywhere, (well maybe except the beach) and even though sixteen blocks is no where near a quilt top finish, I'm still happy with "only" sixteen blocks. Just look how my garden has grown...
It's been somewhat surprising to me that a couple of the blocks have taken so much time, but it's the detailed blocks that give the most bang for the buck. This block is becoming one of my favorites... hmm, could have something to do with the notion fabrics, not to mention the other favorite snippits.
I've always been a sucker for a clamshell design, and this block is no exception. Even though I've never done an entire clamshell quilt, I can see myself revisiting this block for another small and fun project.
This fun yellow text print has been in my stack of background fabrics for a while, and I knew that it would need just the right fabrics to make it stand out, but also needed to not overpower the applique design. Doesn't this look like a fresh and juicy basket of summer oranges?
I think that the blocks are playing well with each other and it's fun to see how each block changes the feel of the quilt. I've glue based the majority of the blocks, but there are still several that still need to be stitched down. I've been using invisible thread and a straight line stitch to finish them.
Mary, Mary, quite contrary... how does your garden grow?
Linking up this week to Let's Bee Social
It's hard to believe that the first quarter of the year has already passed! Even though I am not a disciplined "write, review, and revise" those New Year's resolutions that we all make, I have been thinking about my original goals that I set out to achieve. My let's-start-the-year-out-right goals were sparked when I had my "Eureka moment"... keep my projects small so I can try out a variety of quilting techniques. Well, before we go any further, let's just start by throwing that one out the window!
Gee... how do I transition from that into my latest WIP's (I'm sharing a little bit of the process now on Instagram)... well, this is essentially the review and revise part of my original goals. I know I am not the only one who struggles with the eternal dilemma of size... and as they say, size really does matter. My thinking behind making smaller projects was to try different quilting techniques, but the flip side of that is that such projects are not always practical. What do I do with a big stack of wall hangings?!?... and I think I am working on my one millionth pillow now! (that's what this one will be - ha!) With my Facing East blocks, I've far surpassed the baby quilt/wall hanging size a long time ago, and am now just two blocks shy of a lap quilt! Then I start all over again and think, what the heck am I going to do with a lap quilt? Well, you can understand the vicious cycle, right?
... but I am proud to say that I have been experimenting with my current projects. I recently visited a blog where the blogger shared her "flop moments" instead of a beauty touched up version of perfection... and I found it to be very honest and totally refreshing! So, with that being said, my latest experimenting has been with curved quilting, but let's just say that it didn't exactly go as I had envisioned... wanna have a peek at my big pull-just-as-many-hairs-out-as-you-do-stitches goof-up?
After much seam ripping... and I mean much seam ripping, I was finally able to get some nice circles. I'm not completely satisfied with my inner circles, and I can't say that I'm ready to do spiral quilting anytime soon... perhaps not even the wisest choice since I needed the spiral quilting to line up with the circle shape, but I guess it's all a learning process... which I think was exactly the core of my original goal in the first place. So, looking at it that way, perhaps I'm right on track!
Another question was what to do with the cut off triangles from the flying geese blocks... I really hate throwing these little guys away, so stitched the other side like you would HST's and I ended up making this pinwheel strip that will actually be perfect for the back of the pillow.
What are you experimenting on this week?
Fabrics: Alison Glass, Sun & Handdrafted prints
Free Pattern: Heidi Pridemore
Linking up this week to WIP Wednesday.
