Finished: Blocks From the Past Sampler Quilt

It's finished!  Here is my Blocks From the Past Quilt-Along quilt:

Once I finished all of my assigned blocks (you can read about those HERE and HERE), I kept going and made more blocks until I ran out of fabric.

"Birds in the Air" and "Flock of Geese"

 

"Jack in the Pulpit" and "Corn and Beans."  That Corn and Beans block was INTENSE.

"Rambler," "Double Dutch," and "Double T"

Another "Double T" and "Robbing Peter to Pay Paul"

"Crossed Canoes, "Carrie Nation," "Windblown Square," another "Crossed Canoes," another "Carrie Nation," and "This and That."  Sorry these next two pictures are so blurry - I can't find my better copies. 
By the way, "This and That" is probably my favorite block of them all.  :)

These panels didn't want to be cut into little bitty bits, so I fussy cut and framed them.  

Here is my finished top.  I sashed them and put them together in a slightly staggered layout.

Since this quilt was all about trying new things, I backed it with with this fun orange Minky.  I skipped the batting because I wanted a nice drapey summer blanket.  The minky really wasn't that bad to work with - I would totally do it again!  Maybe it would have been harder with batting?
For the quilting, I just stitched in the ditch between every block.  I considered going back and adding something in the sashing, but never got around to it and now I've decided it's pretty good the way it is.  ;)

Again, in the spirit of challenging myself - I bound this one completely by machine.  I was actually pretty surprised and how straight and even my stitching lines came out, even though my binding has a funny waviness to it.  Also - the quilt curls up a little at the corners!  I'm not sure why, although I suspect it has something to do with my basting job and the minky fabric.  Oh well...

All in all, this quilt was fun to make.  I stepped outside of my comfort zone in a LOT of ways (green background, tiny piecing, old fashioned blocks, minky backing, machine binding) and learned a LOT - I especially got good at working with teeny tiny HSTs.  And I learned a lot about using appropriate and contrasting fabrics for teeny tiny piecing.  :)
I'm not totally sure what I'm going to do with this quilt, but for now we are keeping it and Noah is using it. 
I really do like sampler quilts, and I really do want to make another one someday - just with bigger blocks.  ;) I love the variety of making lots of different blocks rather than a million of the same block, although it does take a lot more time.  It's nice to sit down and make one block at a time - it gives me a sense of accomplishment.  :)  Sampler quilts are also a fun way to use a coordinating fabric line, in my opinion.  Hopefully I can try another one someday!  Thanks for hosting this QAL Marion and Natalie!

Quilt stats:

Started: January 2015

Finished: June 2015

Fabrics:"On Our Way" by Riley Blake - 1 Layer Cake

Batting:  None

Finished size: Approx. 37.5" x 45"

Recipient: Noah

Methods used:  Piecing, Applique, Paper Piecing, Straight Line Quilting (on my home machine)

Binding: Completely machine stitched

This quilt was goal #1 on this quarter's Finish-Along list.  Linking up:

Blocks From the Past: Week 24

It's my turn on the Blocks From the Past Quilt Along again!  Check out my previous post HERE.  Check out the schedule and intro post HERE.

We are getting close to the end!  Only a few more weeks to go!

This week I am in charge of the Lemoyne Star block (page 55), the Oak Leaves block (page 84), and the Crossed Canoes (page 92).  Just like last time, I made each block twice so that I could try two different methods for each block.

First up is the Lemoyne Star:

This block is made using set in seams (y-seams) - yikes!  I was a little nervous, but excited to try a new technique.  Of course, for my first attempt, I just jumped right in and followed the limited instructions in my book.  But the pieces are just so darn tiny!  After awhile my block was looking so horrible that I had to scrap it.  And then I went to the internet for some more in-depth tutorials.  :)

I found a set of AMAZING video tutorials featuring Edyta Sitar on the Fat Quarter Shop Youtube page HERE and HERE.   Seriously - I learned a ton from these videos.  The block came out super flat and my center points came out perfectly!  Of course, my block somehow still ended up too small, so I had to add a little bit to the top and side...

For my second version of the block I decided to try paper piecing.  I found a free pattern HERE, which I sized down to six inches and it worked GREAT!  The points didn't turn out quite as wonderfully, but the block ended up the perfect size - yay!


Block #2 is the Oak Leaves.  It's an applique block and I knew I wasn't going to try needle-turn applique again.  Fortunately, I know lots of different applique methods, so I was still able to try two new ones on this block.  :)

For the first block, I simply applied Heat N Bond to the back of my fabric and fused it onto the background.  Then I stitched around the raw edges using a fun veriegated thread and a fancy stitch on my machine.

For the second block, I followed THIS tutorial to make my block using reverse applique.

The last block for this week is Crossed Canoes.  It's a paper pieced block.  Normally I'm a huge fan of freezer paper piecing (tutorial HERE).  But for this one, I decided to go the normal route with normal paper since the pieces are so tiny.

Now, I've done paper piecing a fair amount of times (check out my Storm at Sea quilt HERE), but this one was a little different.  It took some real practice in precision to get the little sections to line up correctly.  You can probably tell which sections I completed first...

For my second version, I decided to throw caution to the wind a completely reverse my solids and prints.  I like it, but I'm not really sure where it's going to fit with all the rest of my blocks.  :D

Now I just need to make a few more filler blocks and decide how to pu them together!  This quilt-along has really been a good challenge for me.  I'm learning (or rather, realizing that I need to learn) a lot about piecing tiny units, and about contrast.  Usually the biggest issue I have with my blocks is that the prints get lost in the tiny pieces and I end up with a block that reads all muddled together.  Hopefully I figure it out soon! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Blocks From the Past: Week 13

Welcome to my stop in the Blocks From the Past Quilt Along!  If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out the button in my sidebar.  Basically a bunch of us (click on the button to see who) are sewing our way through this old book of classic blocks to make our own modern sampler quilts.  They are all going to turn out so different and unique!

If you've been following (or sewing) along with the quilt-along, you probably know by now that these blocks are kind of intricate, but mostly TINY (finishing at 6")!  And the author's method for creating HSTs (which there are a lot of) is to cut two triangles and sew them back together.  None of us seems to be a huge fan of this method.  So before I show you my blocks, I have a few tips for working with teeny pieces:

First of all, I like to press all my seams open when I'm working with lots of seams in a small block.  It just helps cut down on bulk and allows the block to lie flatter.
Secondly, trim OFTEN!  Like after every pressing.  Try to keep those edges straight, but don't over trim!
Third (and this one probably seems like a no-brainer, but it's something I don't always do) - line up ALL the edges of the two pieces you are sewing together.  Usually I just line up the edges I'm sewing together, but if I also make sure the tops/bottoms/other sides are aligned, my blocks will come out more accurate in the end.  Hopefully that makes sense...
Fourth, use starch!  
And lastly, there is of course the whole HST issue.  I make all of my HSTs according to THIS AWESEOME TUTORIAL at Blossom Heart Quilts.  If I'm making 4, I use the alternative method (my favorite).  If I'm making 2, I use the traditional method.  The wonderful thing about Alyce's tutorial is that she provides all the measurements needed for pretty much any size HST you would like to make.  And she leaves room for trimming - which is a super big deal to me.  I ALWAYS make my HSTs a little big and then trim them down.

NOW.  Let's talk about my blocks.  I decided to use a layer cake of "On Our Way" paired with a green solid for background and sashing.  The green is a little out of my comfort zone.  I'm pretty much a white background kind of girl.  But I decided that the point of this quilt-along is to stretch myself and try new things.  So here goes.

Also.  I made each of my blocks twice.  Once according to the instructions in the book, and once again using some kind of alternate method.  I guess I have a hard time following the rules all the time.

This week I will be talking about the blocks on pages 29 (Hovering Hawks), 30 (Ocean Waves), and 72 (Swirl).

Hovering Hawks, page 29
I thought you might like to see how my blocks compare to the original versions in the book.  Just so you can see how colors and fabric choices can change the look of a quilt dramatically.  :)

The original version of this block is the yellow one.  I wish I had use fabrics with more contrast, though.  It's amazing how much of a print design is lost when you cut it up into teeny tiny pieces...
For the second version (the red one), I made the block entirely out of HSTs, rather than piecing a bunch of triangles together.  There were more seams in this block, but I still think I like it the best.  This block was also fun because there are lots of alternate ways to arrange the four quadrants and I went with something a little different for my block.

Ocean waves, page 30
Once again, I made the second version of this block entirely out of HSTs, rather than sew two big triangles onto the sides.  This time I like the book version better.  Although I did cut my triangles a little big and trimmed them down to size as I sewed them on.  I was pretty worried about my block coming out too small.
Once again, the second block just doesn't have enough contrast.  :s

Swirl, page 72

Alright, so I didn't even make either versions of this block the way the book recommended.  The author created ALL of her applique blocks using needle turn applique, which is kind of insane.  There are some teeny tiny pieces in this book and I am NOT good at needle turn applique.  Although I will admit that I did try it once with another block.  I'll show it to you soon.
For my swirl blocks, I used two of my favorite applique methods.  For the first block (the red checks) I just traced the block onto my fabric, glued it onto my background with a glue stick, and stitched it on with a 1/4-1/2 inch seam allowance.  I'm going to leave the edges raw because I want this block to get a little raggy once it is washed.
For the second block, I used a method I picked up during the Hello Sun quilt-along over at April Mae's blog.  First, I pieced together some randomly sized strips, then fused my "fabric" to some Heat N Bond and traced my design.  Then I fused it to my background and created the "sketch" look by stitching around the design three times in black thread.  I love this method of applique. 



 And there you have it!  I'm working on a few more blocks from the book and hoping to end up with a babyish size quilt by the time I'm finished.

And because I promised to share it with you, here's my needle turn applique block:

After a frustrating attempt at doing one of the blocks regular size, I finally had to pick a different block (which was difficult to do since most of the blocks have flowers on them and this is supposed to be for a boy quilt...).  I went with the Indiana Rose block on page 75.  I blew it up about 200 percent or so, but then I could only fit about half of the block onto my 6" square.  I think it turned out looking kind of cool and much more little boy appropriate.  I used the awesome Freezer Paper/Starch method from Gigi's Thimble and it really wasn't too bad.  I could maybe do it again with simple (and larger) shapes.  :)

Anyway.  Are you working on any blocks from this quilt along?  Link up your progress over at My Quilt Diet. 

A few blocks and a WIP

This is just a quick post to let you all know what I've been up to!
I thought that my Etsy shop would die down after Christmas, but I was wrong!  Once I finally got caught up, it was SO WONDERFUL to work on a few quick "me" projects and I really went to town!
Because I'm awesome, all of these are iPhone photos.  ;)

First up, one of the members of our Do.Good Stitches quilt bee dropped out at the last minute so I offered to take over for her in January.  I chose this star block and a simple nine patch block for my bee mates to make.  The star block was a BEAST (those pieces are tiny) and I think everybody probably hated me at some point for picking it, but look how awesome it turned out!  If I had known it would be so hard, I might have picked a different one but since I only had a day or two's notice, this is what I went with.  SORRY BEE MATES!  Next time I am going to pick something super fun and easy. 

But seriously, this quilt is going to be gorgeous.  I just received the last blocks in the mail and I'm excited to put it together.  I want to try practicing some semi custom quilting in this one.  Any suggestions?

And then Brittney picked string blocks for February and I was super pumped to pull out all my string scraps and go to town.  I love a good stash busting block.  She only needed two from each of us, but I couldn't stop and made four!

These blocks were also awesome for stash busting!  My local quilt guild is going to make a couple charity quilts using these solids-only courthouse steps blocks.  They were quite liberating to make.  :)

And of course, I've been making blocks for the Blocks From the Past quilt-along.  These are just a few of the blocks I've made so far.  Blog posts coming soon!  As for now - check out the link in my sidebar for more!  We've already seen posts from Natalie, Konda, Marion, and Machelle.  Check them out!

And now for my favorite WIP!  My awesome Sister-in-law FINALLY got engaged!  We are super excited for her and her amazing fiance.  (KORINA, do you read my blog?  You should let me know if you do so I can stop posting spoilers!)  I immediately sent her my entire pinterest board for quilts and said "Narrow this down for me."  She picked a few and I decided to go with Jaybird Quilts' "Radio Way" pattern.  My SIL requested light green, white, and black (no yellows, possibly some blues).  And then she said she trusts my judgement (YAY!).  This is what I ended up with.  It's a mix of gorgeous Up Parasol (Heather Bailey) prints, a couple of Amy Butler prints, a jelly roll I picked up at Joanns a long time ago, and a jelly roll of black and white prints I snagged off of Etsy.  I am LOVING these colors.  I just hope they're not too yellowy...

This quilt was SO fast to put together.  It was probably less than a week from the above picture to a finished King sized quilt top!  I love that Korina picked something so simple.  :)

Speaking of too much yellow, don't you just LOVE the awesome wall color in my basement?  YIKES!  Personally, it's too much yellow for me but it's staying for now...

And here's a peek at the top.  Now I just need to decide how to quilt it!  Yikes!

Thanks for stopping by!

Announcing the Blocks From the Past Quilt-Along!

This year I will be participating in a fun new quilt-along being hosted by Marion over at My Quilt Diet and Natalie at Natalie Ever After.  I'm super excited and have even been asked to guest post a few times.  :)

You can read all about the quilt along in Marion's introduction post HERE.  Basically, we are using an old book (get yours on Amazon.  Mine was about $5) to make a modern sampler quilt.

Most of us will be putting some sort of spin on our quilts to make the blocks a little more updated.  :)  In fact, when it's my turn to post, I will be showing you TWO versions for each block.  One made using the directions from the book, and one pieced using an alternate method.  It's going to be awesome.

Not your style?  No worries!  Follow along to see fresh, fun versions of these blocks.

For my quilt, I plan to use a layer cake of On Our Way fabric by Riley Blake Designs that I picked up for FREE (well, I paid shipping) when the Fat Quarter Shop was having a super awesome sale on layer cakes.  At the time I didn't have a plan, but I knew I was having another boy so I picked up something boyish.

The fun part about this fabric is that my husband is a transportation engineer so it's right up our alley.  :) I think I'm going to try something new (and modern, I might add), and use a bright green solid for all of my background and sashing.

I'm going to make as many blocks as my layer cake will allow (which might be QUITE a few, since the blocks are only 6 inches square) and then put together a baby quilt (or two).

Come join us!

Here is a list of the schedule with all of the bloggers who will be participating:

Week 1 Jan 5 Intro to QAL and Schedule (Marion) myquiltdiet.blogspot.com

Week 2 Jan 12 Fabric requirements (Natalie) natalie-ever-after.blogspot.com

Week 3 January 19 p, 8,9,60 (Natalie) natalie-ever-after.blogspot.com

Week 4 January 26 p.10, 11, 61 (Konda) moosequilts.com/blog

Week 5 February 2 p. 13,14,62 (Marion) myquiltdiet.blogspot.com

Week 6 Feb 9 p. 15,16,63 (Machelle) cherrytreecottagequilts.blogspot.com

Week 7 February 16 p. 17,18,65 (April) april-makingendsmeet.blogspot.com

Week 8 February 23 p. 19,20,66 (Terry) natalie-ever-after.blogspot.com

Week 9 March 2 p. 21,22,67 (Ginny) myquiltdiet.blogspot.com

Week 10 March 9 p. 23,24,68 (Maggie) shortcookie.blogspot.com

Week 11 March 16 p. 25,26,69 (Emily) Simplegirlsimplelife.com

Week 12 March 23 p. 27,28,70 (Barbie) thequiltingmill.blogspot.com

Week 13 March 30 p. 29,30,72 (ME!!!) Sewinsomethin.blogspot.com

Week 14 April 6 p. 33,34,74 (Maggie) shortcookie.blogspot.com

Week 15 April 13 p. 35,36,75 (Natalie) natalie-ever-after.blogspot.com

Week 16 April 20 p. 37,39,76 (Katie) ocouss.blogspot.com

Week 17 April 27 p. 40,41,77 (Marion) myquiltdiet.blogspot.com

Week 18 May 4 p. 42,43,78 (Barbie) thequiltingmill.blogspot.com

Week 19 May 11 p. 44,45,79 (Konda) moosequilts.com/blog

Week 20 May 18 p. 46,47,80 (Machelle)  cherrytreecottagequilts.blogspot.com

Week 21 May 25 p. 48,49,81 (Stacy) Sewnicetocreate.blogspot.com

Week 22 June 1 p. 50,51,82 (Barbie) thequiltingmill.blogspot.com

Week 23 June 8 p. 53, 83, 91(Natalie) natalie-ever-after.blogspot.com

Week 24 June 15 p. 55,84,92  (ME!!!) Sewinsomethin.blogspot.com

Week 25 June 22 p. 56, 86, 93 (Marion) myquiltdiet.blogspot.com

Week 26 June 29 p. 87,88,94 (Katie) ocouss.blogspot.com

Week 27 July 6 Sashing and setting (Natalie) natalie-ever-after.blogspot.com

Week 28 July 13  Wrap up (Marion) myquiltdiet.blogspot.com