This year I decided to do the Summer Sampler quilt along. This is despite the fact that I have yet to finish the other two quilt alongs I joined this year.
The appeal of the Summer Sampler is the skill building aspect of this. I didn't want to think about colour for this sampler so I purchased a kit from Mad About Patchwork. Even though last week was fairly busy, I am happy to say that I managed to finish the first block within the week. The block was designed by @lynncarlsonharris. A lot of people struggled with this block and I learned from their trials.The summer sampler folks also point you to lots of online resources to improve your skills. I did a really good check on my quarter inch seams so the tiny piecing turned out the right size.
I used Best Press on all the fabrics that needed to be cut on the bias. Despite all this, in true quilty confession I'm letting you know that the block is not quite square. The first triangular border I pieced turned out a bit small in the width. The other borders turned out ok as I became more comfortable with the technique. I haven't decided yet if I will redo that border before I put the quilt together or if I will try to iron it into submission.
One of the things I did in my busy week was go to a workshop on disappearing nine patch variations with @billstearman. He will be giving similar workshops at Quilt Canada in June. Bill also gave a talk at our guild and he is a really interesting guy. He's only been quilting for about 5 years and he has all sorts of quilts juried into shows including the Canadian Quilters Association and Quilt Con. He makes a lot of incredibly interesting quilts with variations on the disappearing nine patch. Here are two of my class samples.
Both blocks are made with Bill's hand dyed fabrics. The block below is made with Indigo. Isn't it gorgeous. Bill suggests that you make your samples into pillow covers and I will definitely make the Indigo block into a pillow cover. I might just quilt up the one above and make it into a mini.
There was a third sample as well but as I'm in full disclosure with the mishaps, I managed to make an incorrect cut. I still think my sample can be salvaged but I have put it aside for now.
Well last week was pretty busy but this week will be busier yet. Eli turns two on Wednesday so we are going there for dinner, and I believe our daughter will come back to spend a day or two at our place. I'm out every evening but one this week, and back babysitting the boys on Friday.....so I think week two of the summer sampler is out of the picture for me...but no worries I'll muddle along as I always do.
I know I promised you a finished quilt last week....but I decided to hand sew the binding slowing down the process on that. With work, weeding and babysitting the finishes are slow and far between.
You can see by this photo taken early last Sunday that it was a pretty dull day for Mother's Day. I thought you might like to know that I finished putting the quilt top together for the Clamshell Quilt. I first worked on this quilt back in 2015 when I took a class on curves with Susan Forbes at Greenwood Quiltery (my local quilt store that is with us no more). Finishing this quilt top was my UFO challenge for my guild and also my one thing with Amy finish for that week. It's been on and off FAL lists since taking the class and I have worked on it on and off since then as well.
It actually came together very quickly in the end. Don't you just love it when a task you have been avoiding turns out to be easier than you anticipated? Somehow over the years I managed to finish all the block components so all that was left was to sew the four curved pieces into blocks (many blocks where already together) then sew the rows together and add the borders.
This week has been pretty busy so I didn't manage to sit down and finish this post until today. I'm working for a co worker later today so I had just enough time to squeeze in this post. I spent a good deal of time visiting my friend Wendy and our mid arm over the last two days and I managed to finish quilting my project so I will share that with you later in the week. I still need to sew the binding on and then I'll have a Friday Finish.
I'll be linking up my post at UFO busting at Tish's Adventures in Wonderland and at Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts.
Today the Sun is Shining. We haven't seen much of it lately as in the entire Winter and the now Spring. Oh it's shown it's little head here and there, but not enough for me. As soon as I finish this post I'm heading out to the garden!
Last month I set two goals and I managed to finish them both, so I am feeling pleased about that. I have a few goals I would like to accomplish this month as well, and I will list them all but I have decided to choose only one for the One Monthly Goal. So my OMG will be making a runner for my co worker Brenda from these fabrics. I owe her this gift since some time in January. Remember when the machine stopped working and went into the shop.
I'm going to make it in an improvisational style figuring it out as I go along. This is my favourite process so there should be happy sewing for me this month.
In addition to the runner I am hoping to finish a quilt top with these blocks by April 12th. Finishing this top is the month's goal at my guild. This project has been on and off the Finish Along Goals on this blog for a couple of years. Obviously I am not as comfortable with curves as I would like to be.
Lastly I would like to finish making the gazillion little plus signs for the Modern Plus Sign Quilt Along. This quilt along is over, but not for me. This is the most time consuming part of the quilt and once it's done I should be able to finish the rest quite quickly.
The last month has brought us lots of extra time with our grandsons. Oh how I love those boys. Gabriel is learning to pedal a tricycle and will be joining a soccer league for little ones in a few weeks and Eli is starting to string three words together. Life is good. Now off to the garden to see how the weeds are coming along, but first I'm linking up with the OMG link up at Elm Street Quilts.
