CCCQ #5

I know. It looks like over ripe broccoli. But it is done and I really enjoyed stitching it. Okay. I stitched over the last 2 days while babysitting my 7 month old granddaughter. Pure heaven. She naps. I stitch. She sits in her bouncy chair watching me. I stitch. She goes home at night. I stitch. It's a win-win.

 

Actually, it looks a bit like the geranium leaves that sit on the window here in front of my desk, minus the flowers. Either way, its done.
Blessings,
Chris

JT2 WIP

The colours are from the Jinny Beyer Pallet that I bought 135 different ones when they went on half price at a local discount store. They are tone on tone rather than solid and are more forgiving then solids. The purple block in the center is the one that set me back. I ran into problems with the first attempt. I had ironed freezer paper onto the back and was needle turning under the edges when I ran into trouble getting between the oak leaf and the plume. I tried doing it all in one section and did not have enough fabric to turn under safely and the fabric is a bit loose weave and was fraying. I was just starting to do needle turn and was experimenting with different ways to do it. I like how the freezer paper gives shape and how the #10 milliners needle sweeps under it so nicely.
Anyways, I decided to start all over again and did the whole thing with a fusible but did not like how it felt and besides, I had hand appliqued all the other blocks, so went back to the first attempt, then realized that the square ruler I had cut the background with was only 15 inches not 15 1/2 so it was too small and then realized that the diamonds in the middle were not centered.
So, I did it a third time but did the leaves and plumes in separate units and the whole thing came together beautifully, this time centering the diamonds which are reverse appliqued. Needless to say, I got behind doing the monthly blocks, but did complete this one. I love this block.
Blessings,
Chris

JT2 WIP

I have been taking another look a photo I took last year of all the blocks I have completed and wonder if I can tweak the arrangement  so I can finish it. There are only 3 15" blocks here and I wonder if I can balance it nicely. It certainly is pretty with all those colours. I was thinking of machine quilting it with Baptist fans. Never done that before and it has stressed me somewhat trying to figure out how to do that. I checked out blogs and tutorials and bought a fancy dancy ruler to draw all the curves and even a disappearing pen to mark the lines.This is not the final layout although many of the blocks are sewn into units.

Blessings,

Chris

CCCQ #16

HOORAY !

I completed block #16. This really is a fun, quick block to applique. Thanks Sharon for being kind to us this month. This is a practice run for the block I will be exchanging with Wanda  as soon as I preshrink some nice white background fabric. Anyone else out there in blog land want to swap? I think I know how to do this now. Any block except #13 and #16.

In the meantime, I have been working on several others at the same time. Why is it so hard to stick to one until it is completed?
Blessings,
Chris

WIP

My 6 year old granddaughter came for a sleepover this past weekend and she loves to take pictures. I once found several video clips of a piece of gum sitting on the cutting board.
I prepped several CCCQ blocks and continue to stitch to my hearts content. I am working on several blocks at the same time so no finishes this week.
Blessings,
Chris

Just Takes 2

I had often wondered how quilters found out about free online Blocks of the Month programs and accidentally stumbled upon the Just Takes 2 red and white mystery quilt just 2 days before it was set to start on Jan 1, 2012 and I actually had enough fabric in my stash to start it  that day. This ambitious project was a response to the Infinite Variety quilt show held in New York City a few years ago.                                                                                      www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty_XgIbH1hQ‎

 

I chose to use different colours from the Jinny Beyer Pallet that I had purchased several years earlier when they were on sale for half price and I bought a half yard of every colour, about 135 of them.

This was an opportunity to make individual blocks from both simple and complex patterns. 100 of them no less.

That winter I was taking 3 courses to complete my masters and looking forward to the release of the new blocks twice a month was a fun way to reward myself for getting homework done each day. Turns out that this was a good way to manage the ADHD. I had colour coded all the reading and writing assignments on my calendar and after I checked off completed tasks, I spent an hour cutting out, or stitching up the next block.

In seminary we were expected to read through the entire Bible at least once every year. The day I made the feathered star, which is my favouritest block, I listened to the 12 minor prophets and the entire New Testament. I had not done much paper piecing before taking on this project but Brenda Papadakis told us that what we do most we do best so I started to do more paper piecing. What I did best was un-stitch. I redid one of those star points 7 times before getting it just right, then the next one went in perfectly first try.

Problem is, I eventually graduated, ran into a glitch on a couple of blocks and started on another degree without deadlines. All these blocks got put into a neatly labeled box and are on the shelf with many others awaiting completion. I think there are about 12 blocks left.

But this is not going to stop me dreaming about starting the next Just Takes 2 - The Benjamin Briggs Quilt - set to start Jan 1, 2014. It will run for 25 months. It will be free each month until the next block is released, then it goes into the online shop. I have enough CW reds and almost enough greens to use with a rest-of-the-bolt of unbleached muslin like fabric I bought somewhere last summer. Its going to be a very busy couple of years.    http://sentimentalstitches.net/

Blessings,
Chris
(2018: I call this Serendipity. It is still not finished and is on my 12 ufos for 2018 list. Since then, I have started several other BOM's from Sentimental Stitches like Ben Biggs, Beyond the Cherry Trees, 1857 Album - now being quilted, and Dear Daughter. But I have gotten pretty comfortable with foundation or paper piecing.  This whole pattern is still on sale for  only $10.)

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I'm dreaming of a quilt Christmas

with every pattern that I see

Sigh . . .