Projects

Westering Women BoM 2016 II

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I think it’s fair to say that Barbara Brackman’s Westering Women BoM Block 3 has been the cause of major headaches for our little sewing group! The block is called Sweet Gum Leaf and, oh joy, it calls for a whole lot of inset, or ‘Y’ seams.

I tried and tried to get good matching points, but I guess this is where my inexperience shows as I couldn’t come up with a block that really satisfied me. Practice is supposed to make perfect I know, but my best effort remained my first try, the others were all downhill from there.

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Sandra – WW Block 3

At our Friday night get-together I was relieved to find it wasn’t just me that was having problems. So, we put our heads together and came up with an alternate design using only HSTs. It’s not quite as elegant as the original but it’s manageable, achievable and it gets the job done.

Angie – WW Block 3
Tracy – WW Block 3
Sandra – WW Block 3 Version 2
Button – our supervisor!

Button was being her adorable self and insisted on getting in on the act too – she’s a stern supervisor. (You might notice that Angie and Tracy haven’t quite got round to appliquéing the stems onto their blocks yet, so I had to use a piece of stand-in fabric for the photos!)

A few days later I felt in a more relaxed frame of mind to tackle those dreaded inset seams, so I chose a whole new colour scheme and spent an afternoon carefully cutting, marking and sewing pieces to make the original Sweet Gum Leaf block. I was so pleased with the outcome, until…..

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Sandra – WW Block 3 Version 3

…..I compared it with my previous blocks and discovered that I’d cut my six leaf pieces without the addition of the quarter inch seam allowance. So although the block worked, it was a miniature version of what it should be. Talk about frustration!

It was another week before I could bring myself to have yet another crack at it. Thankfully, this time everything went well and I have a passable block, but it’s going to be a long time before I approach inset seams without thinking about sweet gum leaves.

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Sandra – WW Block 3 Version 4

In the meantime, Blocks 4 and 5 in the Westering Women series have been published so there’s quite a bit of catching up to do.

…link to previous Westering Women BoM 2016 post.

 

Stars ‘n Stripes II

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I’m pleased as punch at the way my Stars ’n Stripes quilt has turned out. I made it as a lap quilt, but as it’s to go in the cab of an old Chevy truck, I sewed some fabric triangles into the top two corners, so it can be hung up for display if wanted. One things for sure, I’ve had plenty of practice at HST’s now.

I finally found a starred fabric on the internet with the right depth of blue, and the fabulous backing fabric was a lucky find at one of the shows we’ve been to recently. I think it fits in well with the whole flag theme.

It’s only 50” by 35” but it’s the biggest quilt I’ve completed so far. Anyhow, now it goes into a cupboard to keep hidden until my other half’s birthday at the end of July. I do hope he likes it.

Sandra – Stars n Stripes
Sandra – Stars n Stripes
Sandra – Stars n Stripes
Sandra – Stars n Stripes

Link to previous Stars n Stripes post

Tracy’s Chevron Quilt

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Tracy completed her beautiful Chevron Quilt just in time for our Friday night reveal this week.  I think the bold chevrons and sherbet candy colour prints give it real zing. The finishing touches she’s added to the corners are so cute, especially the little appliqué heart.

I’ve only ever done stitch-in-the-ditch myself, but I think that the echo quilting lines Tracy’s used alongside the seam edges are very effective and make the chevrons stand out well so it’s something I’ll definitely have to try for myself.

The flange binding is another technique I like since it not only adds a pretty raised detail, but also saves having to do any hand sewing because it’s attached to the back of the quilt first then folded to the front and machine sewn again .  What’s not to like about that!

Tracy – Chevron Quilt
Tracy – Chevron Quilt
Tracy – Chevron Quilt
Tracy – Chevron Quilt

 

Almost and Nearly There!

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With the summer months upon us, Angie is wont to spend more of her free time at her hideaway home in beautiful Wales, so there are less opportunities for our Friday night sewing group to get together.

Of course, that doesn’t mean our patchwork activities are at a standstill. At the moment though, some of us seem to be just a stones throw away from finishing our projects.

I’m currently hand sewing the binding strip to finish off my Stars and Stripes quilt. I love the way this has turned out – It’s just simple HSTs but it seems to work fine.  And, I found some darling fabric in just the right shade of blue with white stars to represent the top left corner.

Meanwhile, Angie is close to completing the blocks she needs for her Starry Checkerboard quilt. Plus, she’s in the closing stages of making the Album quilt. A pattern taken from Kathleen Tracy’s excellent book, Civil War Sewing Circle.

Tracy, our Tracy that is, has a few sections of quilting yet to complete on her lovely summery bed quilt. The colours really pop and it just goes to show that the most simple of blocks can be put together to make a very effective design.

Give us a few more days, and we’ll be showing off our finished work at our next Friday night sewing session.

Angie
Tracy
Sandra

Stars ‘n Stripes

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I had thought that my other half regarded my sewing with benevolent disinterest since every time I waft my latest achievement under his nose I’m greeted with a glazed smile and a ‘that’s nice.’  Turns out he thinks my patchwork passion is neat, and can he have a quilt in the shape of the American flag for his birthday, please?  He’s renovating an old Chevrolet Pickup truck and wants to drape the quilt across the seats when it’s done.  What can I say, of course, but yes?

So, when we went to the quilting show at Uttoxeter, I was on the lookout for deep reds and warm white fabrics, but most of all I was interested in a way of representing all those stars on the blue part of the flag.  I did buy some blue fabric with white printed stars, but now I’ve had chance to look at it properly I don’t think it will fit the bill as the stars are too large.  I’ll have to surf the web to see if I can’t find an alternative.  Either applique stars or a printed fabric might do.

In the meantime, I’ve decided on a series of half square triangle blocks in shades of deep red and off-white for the flag stripes.   I discovered a method for making eight at one time on the Generations Quilt Patterns website which makes the work a whole lot faster,  but don’t let anyone tell you that HSTs are simple because if you want to maintain accuracy when making loads of them you still have to concentrate. I made them oversized and trimmed each one down to precise 2½” squares.  So that’s where I am at now.  I’ve sewn up the red stripes and I’m working my way through the white ones.

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I may take a break from it soon though, because the new Westering Women BoM has been posted, and I do love a challenge….

.. link to Stars ‘n Stripes II

Westering Women BoM 2016

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In February I discovered the Civil War Quilts blog.  It’s a fascinating website focused on the fabrics and quilts made and inspired by America’s recent history.

Angie adores the soft muted tones of the fabric collections Barbara Brackman designs for Moda, and a few of us at our Friday night sewing circle decided to do her Westering Women BoM for 2016.

Block 1 is Independence Square and Block 2 is Indian Territory.

Sandra – WW Block 1
Angie – WW Block 1
Tracy – WW Block 1
Sandra – WW Block 2
Angie – WW Block 2
Tracy – WW Block 2

March’s Block 3 is Sweet Gum Leaf.  It’s a little more challenging and I may redo mine.  The fabrics I chose for the leaves could be better arranged, and I don’t think I have the centre points quite right.

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Enter a caption

…link to Westering Women BoM 2016 II

Jackleberries

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Angie and I have been to a few day workshops now at White Cottage Country Crafts in Seisdon, and each time we learn more patchworking skills and grow in confidence.

On one of our early visits, I fell in love with the Jackleberries Quilt – a beautiful quilt that hangs on the wall in the sewing room at the back of the shop.  It’s a sort of sampler quilt with each block set designed to teach a different technique to the maker. Of course, I bought a pattern, and I’m slowly working my way through it.  I’m finding it challenging at times, but then it’s so satisfying when I actually produce a block I’m happy with.

I’m doing mine in shades of red.  I may not use all of the blocks when I’ve completed them as I plan to make a tablecloth for the dining room with them which is quite a bit smaller than the double bed size of the actual quilt pattern.

Sandra – Jackleberries
Sandra – Jackleberries
Sandra – Jackleberries
Sandra – Jackleberries
Sandra – Jackleberries

…link to Jackleberries II