Craftsy Block of the Month - September

The September blocks for Craftsy Block of the Month were all about curved piecing.  I really enjoyed putting these blocks together, but it was not without its challenges. 

Sewing a curved seam is all about precision and easing your two fabric pieces into each other.  I cut a couple extra and luckily worked the kinks of the process which involved some finger pressing of the two fabrics to help with the easing and strategic pinning.  I also pulled out my dress makers pins though I mostly use extra fine pins anyways which helps if I get carried away and don't remove them as I am sewing.

The cooling thing about quilting blocks is since everything is in miniature they are a good place to practice skills you can use on garments.  I sort of struggled in the past with curved seams on dresses.  I am looking forward to some pretty awesome curved seams in the future!

Only one month of blocks left to go and then I can show off my quilt top!  It is exciting to have learned so many skills and come so far over the past year.

Craftsy Block of the Month - August

Yay! we are picking up steam again and rolling right along into the Craftsy Block of the Month for August!  I am so excited that I am nearly complete, as my goal was to finish this quilt in 2012.  While they are only a few days left, I should at least have the quilt top to show for my efforts.

By the way, since my return I know I have posted more on quilting than anything else but pending the weather holds up I should have some garment posts after this weekend!  I won't spoil the surprise, but after months of almost complete inactivity I am back at it again.

Back to the August blocks, the theme for this month instead of being focused on a skill was a type of block - the star.  The block pictured above is called and Ohio Star and it is pretty easy on the eye without much effort.

I don't have a whole lot to say about this one besides it would probably look best if you had something to "fussy cut" for the center block which I did not.  For non-quilters, fussy cut is to cut out a specific motif from your fabric like a large rose such as to showcase it in the block.  What a fun term right?

This second block is a just a star within a star, but the sharper angled triangles are called flying geese and are used in many blocks.  This block, and well flying geese in general take a lot of cutting work!  This block was much more time consuming then a lot of others I have made in this class.  The instructor also mentioned using highly contrasting colors for the three portions of the star and I broke the rules a little by using background fabric for the middle of the star, but with my fairly earthy/neutral pallet I felt it gave it a really nice look. 

That is also one of my favorite things about quilting so far, just because an instructor or pattern design tells you something would be a preferred method or give a more desirable affect there is lots of room for improvisation and changing it up so it is visually pleasing to you.

Lastly, sewing Helper has not been as enthusiastic on my return to sewing and was snoozing on the job (in the lining for my uncompleted Sew Colette Licorice dress).  This project runway contestant was clearly going to have to send her model down the runway in an unfinished garment!

Craftsy Block of the Month - July

We all know the old saying "Christmas in July" - what about July in Christmas?  It just doesn't have the same ring, but somehow that is where I am at currently.

One of my main goals for this year was to finish my very first quilt while participating in the Craftsy Block of the Month class with instructor Amy Gibson from Stitchery Dickory Dock.  The class is great and I have learned so much!

The July blocks used a Dresden template which is a pretty traditional quilting method. I am pretty sure most of us have seen this before whether we have quilted or not. 

I'll tell you a secret, for being such a beautiful block, it is easy!!  I did make a few mistakes along the way - in my rush to finish the block shown above was only supposed to have 20 petals.  I cut too many and planned to take out the ones that didn't look right, but forgot!  I ended up having to make a larger circle for the middle to compensate.

In the class the second block is a more modern Dresden which ends up being a large wheel shape.  I understood the concept but really wasn't so fond of the final product.  I ended up making another standard Dresden block but only used two alternating colors.  Since this block reminds me of a flower I have nicknamed this my "he loves me" - "he loves me not" block.

The instructor also encourages you to play around with your stitching types. So, while the top was hand appliqued the bottom block was put together (sorry picture is somewhat blurry) with a zig-zag stitch. 

Keep your fingers crossed for my success! I am currently halfway through the August blocks with September and October to go before I start stitching them all together and finish up the quilt.  Can I get this all done before January! - I guess time will tell.

Craftsy Block of the Month - June

For the month of June the Craftsy Block of the Month focused on the modern 9 patch technique.

The first block pictured is the Octagon Block.  This block really just used techniques learned in past classes.  It was a slam dunk - not much to say here.

The second block is a Greek Cross.  This block had a bit more cutting and piecing together but another straight forward technique.  Despite its simplicity I am pretty impressed with the overall outcome.  I definitely could imagine doing an entire quilt based on this block.

That is it for now.  I have some great posts to get up, but the weather has been way too hot for outdoor pictures and I am not great at taking indoor pictures.

Craftsy Block of the Month - May

The Craftsy Block of the Month class featured log cabin style logs for the month of May.  It has been awhile since I put these together, but I am pleased to finally be posting about them.

The first log cabin block is called a floating frame block.  I really like the concept of this block, but I am not sure I had the best fabrics to feature its strong points.  I think this block would be best if you have a strong focal point for the center, something that really draws you inward and really ends up looking framed.  I also thinking going somewhat smaller scale on both the middle block and the different frames would be best. I wanted to do something large and chunky, but I don't think it translated as well as it could have.

The second block is a wonky log cabin block.  This block was creative, random and fun.  I could see doing a quilt with nothing but this block and every block still looking unique and fresh.  This is another block that is great for showcasing a focal point fabric, which I was able to do since I decided to start the middle of the block off with a smaller print.

I enjoyed the May blocks and I am looking forward to catching up on June, July and August!  After I get caught up there will only be one month of blocks left -  September.  The remaining months of the year will be spent piecing together and finishing off the quilt! 

Been away for far too long

Wow! I can't believe how long it has been since my last post.  While I have been gone - I hope I have not been forgotten.  As I mentioned previously the girl I was working with quit leaving me the only one at my company doing my job.  We have a very large project going on which has kept me busy and while we still have not found a replacement for the position I am finding some very small junks of time to sew.

As someone who has never had an issue before finding time to sew, it has been challenging for me to be on the other side of the fence.  For me having something that normally just takes a few minutes of my sewing time be all I get done in a day (ie. trace and sew the bust darts) has been very disheartening and distracting!  However, I just can't stay gone any longer!
For August, I am going to keep it simple but treat myself to some hard earned sewing time!  I am going to finish the last project of the Sew Colette challenge (better late than never right?) and finish my Cherry Fabric truffle dress that is cut out and part way finished at the moment (bust darts complete lol).  I am also going to finish my Ice cream Sundae Obsession dress and catchup on my Craftsy Block of the Month class, and lastly join Sew Colette 2.0 and sew the Macaron dress.

I am hoping since the first two items are about 75% complete and normally I could have finished each of them in a day that this won't be too much!

I also want to branch out from just finished garments and add some more meaningful content to the blog.  However, at least for the next week I'll be posting up the remainder of my Spring Palette challenge items that completed before my break.

Pictured above is an IPAD case that I made using one of the Craftsy workshops with some modifications.  The case was a mother's day gift for my mother-in law and I am pretty happy with the overall results, but wish I had made a mock-up first.  The case was pretty heavy into machine quilting which while I don't mind using that to piece what would be the block portions together - I found machine quilting the design or actual "quilted" portion to just look poor.  I would much rather have put the effort into hand stitching.  The instructions also were not great and found that due to the instructions not being complete nor clear that I ended up with unfinished edges inside the bag. However, at the end of the day mom is pleased with her gift so I am as well - next time you can bet I will be doing a mock-up!  But it is pretty darn cute isn't it?

Craftsy Block of the Month - March

If you have been following along, you know that I have been participating in the Craftsy Block of the Month Quilting class.  It takes you through 10 months of creating two different blocks each month using different techniques then the remaining months of the year the class will teach you to piece it all together for a beautiful quilt!

This months blocks shown above used the foundation piecing method. I absolutely love these blocks!  They were fun and simple to construct but really gave me a chance to play with the colors in my quilt.  I added in some smaller pieces that were in my scrap bin.  You may even notice some of the taupe and white polka dot fabric from the Minrou jacket that I have been working on!

For this type of quilting you really do not need any big pieces of fabric.  So, this would be great for collecting scraps from my sewing projects and making them into something useful!

Just a quick note, I now officially have my own sewing room!  We moved some things around and instead of sharing this space with my husband's gaming items - it is all my own.  I am so excited!  There isn't a lot of wall decorations currently as the room had gaming posters up, but I did put all of my quilt blocks on the wall!

Block of the Month Club Progress

I finally dove in and caught up with the Craftsy Block of the Month club for my 1st quilt.  Pictured at the top are the February blocks which used two different half square triangles.  I really enjoyed making these blocks and the different methods that were taught in the class.  It is interesting to think how many designs you might be able to piece together out of just these triangles.

The bottom pictures are the January blocks which featured the slash and sew method for quilting.  These were pretty easy but I wasn't really impressed with my blocks when they were done. I did vary slightly from the directions by using more than one color for my asterix block which  I actually think "saves" the block a little.  I wish I had added in more than one color for the pound sign strips as well.

I was going to do a seperate post just on the fabric choice but after making up my mind felt that wasn't necessary.  To be honest, this being my first quilt and not knowing what the finished product was going to turn out like, wether I would like it or not.  I actually just picked up some yardage from Joanne's in colors I liked.  If the end product is less than desireable I might end up with a fancy beach or picnic quilt.

The class is a lot of fun and I am looking forward to the March blocks!



My First Quilting Project

Hello Readers! I know most, if not all of you, are garment sewists but do any of you venture out into quilting? My mother-in law brought me along when she went to several quilting shoes this past year. It was so much fun to look at all the beautiful quilts and of course I picked up fabric for aprons and purses etc.

I know there are many simple and beautiful quilts, but for many reasons I just thought quilting was out side my scope of do-able projects. I have been thinking more and more of making a quilt for my bed. The duvet and down blanket we have is much to heavy for summer and it seems like the color combinations I am thinking are always out of season or style in the stores. I started searching a few months back here and there for a beginner's quilting pattern that I liked, but had not found what I was looking for.

Just last week I received a free class offer from Craftsy (and I just love Craftsy's classes). This is perfect for me! You make two blocks each month through October and then the final months of the year you do all the finishing. You end up with a throw size quilt - which is perfect for a beginner, but according to the course overview suitable for experienced quilters as well. If you are interested leave me a comment below Craftsy is allowing us to forward the FREE sign-up link to friends. I''ll update you with my fabric choice and progress as we near the end of the month!