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
Back in January, during the pattern testing phase of my Tiptoe Through The Tulips quilt pattern, one of my pattern testers shared with me about an applique project that she had just finished... essentially if one could take on Chuck Nohara blocks, then the "small amount" of applique in my pattern should be just fine too. I had never heard of the quilt designer before and was sent on a wild goose chase.
When I checked out the #chucknohara hashtag on Instagram, I knew I needed to watch myself lest I be sucked into yet another bucket list project... but I kept my cool. After I had found the 2001 Nouveaux Blocs de Patchwork online, I decided to put it on the back burner instead of in my shopping cart like the impulsive side of me had said to do. The disciplined side of me reasoned that if I just couldn't get it out of my head, then perhaps it might be worth re-considering.
If you are the average quilter (with or without kids), you know that summers, even though they are without the daily schedules and appointments, can still be busy... very busy. How many of you opt to be in the garden or traveling when the sun is shining rather than sweating from the steam of a hot iron?
So, since the thought of this book just would not leave me, (and trust me, I sat on this for a while) I decided to make this my summer travel, take it with you, basket project that I work on here and there as I have time. No pressures, no deadlines, no worries... just like summer. Even in those relaxed summer months my idle fingers can't go for too long without making something.
The book is a pretty no nonsense book with only small illustrations that have to be enlarged to the desired size. No instructions, no assembly diagrams, no fabric requirements... nothing. I have to say that it appeals to me the challenge of trying to try to figure out how blocks are put together. Everyone has their own approach, but since discovering the starch applique method, I'll not go back! The book, however, is not limited to only applique blocks, but uses traditional and other piecing methods too.
I've really been focused on using scraps for this. I'm planning for green to be the main/focal color with accents of pinks, oranges, and yellows. Even though Greenery is Pantone's current color of the year, my love for nature's color extends far beyond the passing trend.
The beauty of it is that I can prepare the freezer applique shapes and take them just about anywhere. We've been having the most divine weather, so these have been my afternoon on the terrace project these last days.
Want to read more about Chuck Nohara? Check out this blog post or this one. There are even some fun how-to videos (in French, but one can easily understand the process) or get inspired by some fabulous Chuck Nohara pins on Pinterest.
Linking up this week to Let's Bee Social
If you've followed me on any of my quilting journeys you know that color is my favorite part of the quilting process and feels easy to me, while the actual quilting part is what I struggle with the most. Since my Jeweled Improv Mini is my first improv project, I really was a little clueless where to even start quilting. Sometimes balanced designs give you little hints, but
there's nothing symmetrical here!
Somehow the obvious choice seemed to be to shadow the points: Obvious, but perhaps a little too obvious... predictable was not what I wanted on an improv project. Instead I really wanted to challenge and push myself, not to mention avoid the downside of having several points that would have to be backstitched since this gal doesn't bury threads!
In the end, I actually did let the design dictate the quilting to me. I started by making the white open V at the bottom of the quilt my starting point, and filled it in. Once the radiated V was in place, I changed the direction of the quilting lines into an L shape on both sides.
I really wanted to use my variegated threads that I had purchased a while back (with no particular project in mind), but I decided that to use it all over might be too much and take away from the overall design. I used a white Auriful thread for the main quilting, and simply accented a few random points, which I think continues with the improv style.
This past Saturday was the first HH Patchwork Treffen with my girls since we've moved, and my first time back at the sewing machine in three weeks!?! Let's just say that it was a much needed sewing time, and I'm super excited to have my first project checked off my Q3 Finish-A-Long list!
Linking up this week to Let's Bee Social.
It's no secret that I've become a huge fan of paper piecing since the very first stitch... but what I'm not a big fan of is the amount of seemingly still good and usable scraps that can be produced throughout the process.
I really wish that I could make grandiose claims of being a good little quilter that uses every last little delicious bit, scrap, and snippit that one creates when cutting up fabric only to sew it back together again... but I have to admit that large amounts of scraps overwhelm me, and in a big way! No worries, I don't throw away every little snippit that happens to fall to the floor, but the reality of it is that if it's too small then it lands in the trash before it lands in the scrap bin.
After finishing a few of my bee blocks, I realized that I had too many great scraps to just scrap (pun intended!) So, I decided that it was time for me to try out an improv project. I made up several long, wonky half square triangles and played around with a few design layouts.
This is the design that I finally settled on, and I kind of like how it's come together. It's not a highly improv piece, but improv enough for me. I have a few more projects and techniques to get out of my system first before I jump in with both feet.
How do you use your leftover bits and pieces? Do you save every little scrap or are you able to let the teeny tidbits go?
Linking up to Let's Bee Social and Sew Cute Tuesday and Scraptastic Tuesday.
If you are a hand quilter then you automatically fall into my utmost-and-highest-respect category. The patience and endurance to hand quilt something is just levels far, far above anything that I can fathom!
Flipping the story just a bit, some time ago, when my mini mini phase was all you saw around here, Tracy, had left a comment on one of my posts that she just might get sucked into all the craziness. So, I naturally asked her if she wanted to swap with me too. After she gave me a long list of all the reasons that she shouldn't, she spontaneously decided to jump and take the plunge too as I had.
Like only husband's can, it would seem that both of ours poked fun at us because of the silliness of a "mini mini" quilt... I mean, what the heck do you do with these sweet, but labor intensive goodies, anyway? After having made my mini mini and finding that it was not as fun as she had thought it would be, Tracy graciously offered for me not to make a her's in return... but that's not exactly a swap, right?
So, determined to make both of our husband's eat their words, I decided to take it to the next level and make Tracy's mini something practical. I relatively quickly decided that a travel needle would be the perfect thing for her since she does a good amount of hand sewing. (and her stitches are just so tiny, delicate, and so perfect... I really don't know how she does it?!?) I loosely followed this tutorial, but had to make some adjustments since our sizes where not the same.
I really enjoy adding some nice little decorative accents myself...
Be sure to read Tracy's blog post and see what she made for me... her post touched me very much when she explained why she chosen each thread, fabric, and her inspiration behind it. It left me laughing out loud and smiling the whole time!
So, here's another WIP, finished and marked off my 2016 goals! Just one more quarterly goal to knock off my list.... and it's only Febuary!
