Red Cedar
More apocalypse, less angst
100 Blocks: Block #1
It feels like cheating to only post on block in a post as opposed to a whole finished quilt or multiple blocks – so I’m not sure whether I will continue in this vein. For number one of one hundred though? I think this deserves its own post.
This is the first of what will be one hundred six-inch (finished) blocks made using the designs of Tula Pink found in the book Tula Pink’s City Sampler: 100 Modern Quilt Blocks.
I downloaded the Kindle* version of this book a couple of weeks ago, around the same time I decided that I wanted to practice my piecing and make samplers – so perfect! Along with the Aurifil BOM, I am making 100 Tula Pink blocks for a Queen-sized quilt.
The blocks in this book range from very simple to more complex, though none of them require any special knowledge to put together (the book includes a section explaining how triangles and trapezoids are constructed, which is the only “tricky” stuff really). Some of the blocks have only five pieces while others are comprised of twenty or more. The most pieces in one block? Thirty. Which is a lot of little pieces for the size of these blocks!
Anyhow – I love them all and they really lend themselves to being treated as little stand-alone artworks. This also gives a mindful quality to the piecing, particularly as I am not using a single fabric line or colour-scheme – I’m hoping to get a rainbow effect at the end, but we’ll just have to see how it all comes together (one block at a time).
* I don’t own and e-reader and would rather have an all-paper library but when it comes to craft books – quilting, sewing, crochet which don’t come with fold-out patterns – I would rather have the e-versions these days. I have so little craft room as it is, and I find it just as easy to work off my laptop when it comes to reading a block pattern.
Aurifil Blocks of the Month: January & February
For some reason 2014 has bit me with a quilting bug like never before. Although I learned to quilt about ten years ago now, I have mostly confined myself to small projects (I’ve made 3 queen-size and 3 lap-sized quilts otherwise it’s all table runners and placemats) – mostly because I hate the actual quilting stage on a small sewing machine (and no, I don’t have room in my life for a long-arm).
Anyways – I’ve got two quilting interests in particular going on and you’re likely going to be seeing it all year long (if you come back that is):
- Samplers – I am fascinated with samplers and have long wanted to make one. In particular I would like to spring for the Mill Book 1852 Fat Quarter Bundle and use it as the basis of a Dear Jane quilt ….. but not before I get my act together and tackle a couple of simpler projects first.
- Piecing – Related to wanting to make a sampler quilt I have to acknowledge that I am an imprecise sewist and my piecing leaves a lot to be desired – so before tackling anything too huge I have decided to perfect my piecing skills bit by bit – while putting together two different quilts over the next year.
What you see below are the first two blocks for my first sampler project – which is a Block-A-Month hosted by Aurifil. I had a box of brown, turquoise and red fabrics (some already cut) set aside for a quilt that I never really started a couple of years ago – and decided to start there rather than purchase more. The top block is January, and the bottom February.
I have not used my piecing foot in a very long time and lined my seams up entirely wrong on my first go at January – what you see below is the second attempt. Even though I almost had it right, both January and February fall a bit short of 12-inch finished blocks — but I hope to stretch the hell out of them when it comes to setting them into a quilt.
Fortunately I have now figured out this piecing foot, though it is so hard to see the quarter-inch plate edge that I need my glasses to use it! (Confession – I need my glasses for pretty much anything close-up these days).
Me and the new market totes.
My days at work have been crazy, and my time at home almost entirely consumed by sewing. My aunt (mom’s sister) was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this week. My 4-year-old nephew has asked for a new crochet dragon as a companion for the one I made him for Christmas. I’m behind on my Directed Study this semester. Mica’s school play opened this week.
And my mind is just like that – from one thing to the next without the time to synthesize it into some grand statement about life and creativity and happiness.
I am meditating a lot, and I’ve started walking (6 km) to work on the mornings without rain or snow. I would like to lose some weight as illness gave me too many excuses for sluggishness. Despite that I’m feeling pretty good these days.
For the next several posts I will only be blogging pictures of what I am working on including the start of my 100-block project. This is the first of the pictures – new market totes!
Our old totes were getting a bit shabby and then I ran into this wonderful owl canvas at Spool of Thread. Matched up with some denim in my stash they make for delightful and sturdy carry-alls.
A little extra detail on the handles too – love those fancy stitches!
More new sewing – Cooper Messenger Bag.
Besides finishing the pillowcases for my quilt set on the weekend, I also managed to get a second iteration of the Cooper messenger bag done – this one for myself.
This bag turned out better than the one I made last month for Brian – not only did I correct the squaring of the bottom, but the detail straps on the top flap went on straight this time. Like the first bag, I made this one out of waterproof fabric and it features several pockets, magnetic snaps and rivets.
What I would do different? I would definitely interface this bag the next time around. I pretty much always interface bags I make – because I like them to have some body on their own – but this time I hoped that the heavy canvas would do the job. Sadly, this bag is a little floppy for my liking. Great if it’s full of stuff but otherwise lacking in structure – which I suppose is the messenger bag way (not the fault of the pattern, in other words – this is personal preference issue.
I am currently working on a pair of market totes (which will be interfaced) and am proud to say that having made Cooper twice I am now adept enough with magnetic snaps and jiffy rivets that I feel comfortable incorporating them into other free form projects. Skill building is a definite win out of doing this project twice.
I do plan to make the Cooper Backpack version in the near future (I’ve got a trip to Hawaii coming up and I thought it would be a cute carry-along) – but in the meantime this is my carry-to-work bag. Waterproof being very important for that function. Thanks to Colette Patterns for the easy-to-follow instructions not to mention the excellent companion PDF.
Patchwork times three
So here is the finished quilt – pattern is Flower Chain, fabric is Flea Market Fancy – both designed by Denyse Schmidt. I appliqued the petals on rough (zig zag stitch) otherwise I would have gone crazy – but in my experience this technique holds up okay in the wash.
I am no fancy quilter – with just a regular sewing machine I can’t imagine trying to move everything around under the needle. I think I will send my next large quilt out to someone with a longarm which isn’t nearly as expensive as it used to be.
I had leftover fabric, so I made a couple of pillow shams to go with, as well as a stamp-block pillow. I need to do a little brag here and say that the cases are french-seamed because I don’t have an overlocker and wanted to make sure they held up to washing and use.
Thanks to Elizabeth Hartman – I am in love with this technique which took me no time at all today and results in perfectly lined up rows of tiny fabric pieces. Also, I now have a quilter’s grid drawn on canvas for future projects.
And this is all the bedding ready to be slept under! This marks the first full sized quilt that I have made for us since moving into this house nearly five years ago (I have made quilts for other people and smaller quilts for us – but the only queen-sized quilt I have ever made for myself is the first one I made 10 years ago). I am counting this as three separate patchwork projects in my attempt to do 52 projects in 52 weeks this year.
Red Cedar 