Miniature Block of the Month December 2015 - The Quilt Room

Miniature Block of the Month December 2015 - The Quilt Room

I am pleased to say that I have managed to complete the December Miniature Block of the Month offered FREE by The Quilt Room, called 12 Pointed Star.  Even after twelve months of trying to get my foundation piecing up to scratch, I still made mistakes and had to unpick.  I love the sharp look of this technique, but my brain hasn't yet worked out how to get a successful 'flip' first time.

Miniature Block of the Month - The Quilt Room

But my perseverance has paid off and here you can see all twelve completed blocks together.  They still have all their papers in them and I think deciding the layout for the them within a quilt will be a job for 2016.

Miniature Block of the Month November 2015 - The Quilt Room

Miniature Block of the Month November 2015 - The Quilt Room

I am not sure whether anyone had noticed, but I had got a bit behind with my Quilt Room Miniature BOM.  With the imminent announcement of the Part 1 of the Allietare Mystery Quilt, I felt I needed to get my house in order before 2016 was upon us.  So here is the November block, 'Evening Star'.


Miniature Block of the Month 2015 - Foundation Piecing

With each block being a month apart, I still haven't managed to get into the swing of foundation piecing, so it was a relief that this one was just simple strips.


Miniature Block of the Month  2015 - The Quilt Room

I now have eleven blocks complete and this next week should see the release of the December block and possibly the options for the final layout.  I still have to remove all the papers, but it has been nice to see this quilt quietly move along throughout the year.  Does anyone know of any BOM's starting at the beginning of 2016?

Miniature Block of the Month October 2015 - The Quilt Room

Miniature Block of the Month October 2015 - The Quilt Room

Yes, I know. It is nearly December and I have only just completed the Quilt Room's October Miniature Block of the Month.  This was due to a bit of a muddle there end and a bit of a muddle my end, so I am willing to share responsibility.  I wanted to get them done before I started this years Quiltville Mystery quilt and get ahead of myself.

This one is called 'Pinwheel Star' and could have had loads of different colour combinations.  The layer cake of 'Snowman Gatherings' which I have been using is coming to the end of its useful life and this is BOM becoming a scrap project.

I don't actually live near to the Quilt Room shop and haven't found many others doing this BOM online which makes me think that I need to update my social media habits - where do you spend most of your time these days to get you quilty fix?

Miniature Block of the Month September 2015 - The Quilt Room

Miniature Block of the Month September 2015 - The Quilt Room

I had been hoping to get this BOM done earlier this month, but it was only released earlier this week.  It is nearly six weeks ago that I did the last one and the foundation piecing never seems to get easier.  It goes in a pattern of stitch a row, unpick it, stitch it again, move on.  With the magic of editing software I have digitally trimmed it so you can't see the errors!


Miniature Block of the Month September 2015 - The Quilt Room

There are only three left to go and then I will have to think about how I will set them as a quilt.

Miniature Block of the Month July 2015 - The Quilt Room

Miniature Block of the Month July 2015 - The Quilt Room

For the past few months I have been a bit late completing my BOM, but this month The Quilt Room were slightly delayed themselves, only posting the details of the Miniature Block of the Month for July yesterday.  Today I have had a bit of time to get it done and it came together quite easily.

Miniature Block of the Month July 2015 - The Quilt Room

I find flying geese blocks quite easy with the foundation method, but  it doesn't look as if I have been very generous with the seam allowance at the edges of this one.


Nearly Insane Quilt borders, with Suzi the cat

Meanwhile, progress is being made on the Nearly Insane Quilt borders.  They are all together and I am slowly applying them to the main quilt.  This Nearly Insane progress is due to the 2015 Tour de France.  I love to relax and stitch, whilst I watch the cyclists work up a sweat in the French countryside.  I might be 'nearly insane', but those cyclist have to be 'completely insane' to endure 3 weeks of relentless cycling. 

As you can see all that effort on their part has completely exhausted Suzi the cat.

Miniature Block of the Month June 2015 - The Quilt Room

Miniature Quilt Blocks - Quilt Room Free BOM

We are half way through the year and I am pleased to say that I have kept up with the FREE Miniature Block of the Month currently being offered by The Quilt Room. Each month I pull out my shoe box with my fabric selection and a new block joins the group. I am starting to think how I will set them - at the moment I am thinking of putting them on point.  The fabrics I am using are mainly from 'Snowman Gatherings' by Primitive Gatherings and I see from a few online stores that there is now 'Snowman Gatherings II' available.


Miniature Quilt Block- June 2015

I quite enjoyed the June block.  I only had to undo one line of stitching!  With the foundation piecing the flying geese have come out perfectly. Not quite a star this time, so to keep on theme I have included a tiny star print.

Suzi the Cat

Suzi the cat hasn't featured on the blog lately, so here is a photo for all her fans out there.  It is only June, but we are starting to think about the August extravaganza - Pets on Quilts 2015!   

Miniature Block of the Month May 2015 - The Quilt Room

Miniature Block of the Month May 2015 - The Quilt Room

I have just been catching up with myself again.  The Quilt Room have issued their FREE Block of the Month foundation pieced star for May 2015.  This month there was a log cabin centre. It is only the fifth block I have made, but it feels as if I should have a lot more.

Carol Doak's Foundation Paper

I am continuing my search for the ideal foundation paper.   I was visiting the 2015 Malvern Quilt Show last weekend and Creative Grids had some of Carol Doak's Foundation Paper on sale.  It is a US, rather than UK, standard size paper but I purchased it knowing that. It doesn't say what weight it is, but it feels like lightweight drawing paper that I used to have in primary school. Thanks to Marly and Annie for their thoughts last month.

Miniature Block of the Month April 2015 - The Quilt Room

Miniature Block of the Month April 2015 - The Quilt Room

We are a few weeks into April and I have only just remembered to do my Miniature Block of the Month, currently offered FREE by the Quilt Room.The blocks are turning out to be a collection of stars and on this occasion I merged some of the pieces to get a more satisfying shape.  I am still struggling with foundation piecing - I managed to cut all the pieces backwards and still had to unpick some .... I will keep trying.


Layout Paper - foundation paper alternative?

So far I have been using regular A4 computer paper for my foundation paper, as I print out the patterns in my Electric Quilt software, but was struggling with its heavy  80gsm weight.  I went on a tour of the aisles at our local stationery store to see if there was an alternative I could put through a printer.  The best I could find was layout paper which is slightly lighter at 50gsm.  This works fine through the inkjet printer, but was not so happy in the laser printer.  Have you found any alternatives?

Joining up with Design Wall Monday

Miniature Block of the Month March 2015 - The Quilt Room

March Block - Quilt Room 2015 Miniature Quilt BOM

February was a short month this year.  Already March and another block has been released as part of The Quilt Room, Dorking FREE Miniature Block of the Month.  I will admit that I struggle with foundation piecing as I am easily confused by working on the reverse, flipping, reversing the colours etc. etc, but I do love the look of it.

Quilt Room 2015 Miniature Quilt BOM

They haven't stated how many there will be, but I assume it will continue up until the end of the year so that we have twelve blocks altogether.  So, in just three short months I have accumulated these delightful little blocks, which seems to be filling the void of the Nearly Insane blocks which I completed several months ago.

Miniature Block of the Month February 2015 - The Quilt Room



Miniature Block of the Month February 2015 - The Quilt Room

Here is the February edition of the Miniature Block of the Month FREE from the Quilt Room, Dorking.  I am really enjoying this BOM so far.  Just one block means I can usually get it done quite quickly during one evening after work.

Just like last month I have put the pattern into my Electric Quilt software and printed off the foundation patterns.  I am pleased with the colours of the 'Snowman Gatherings' fabrics I am using.  I haven't taken any of the papers out yet.  I love the firmness and stability it gives - it reminds me of the more refined finish you get with dressmaking when you add an interfacing.


Suzi the Cat on her Cat Mat

We have had some warm winter days here lately which makes for hard work if you are a cat.  Moving from room to room following the sun is exhausting!

Joining up with Feline Friday! and Crazy Mom Quilts.
 

Minature Block of the Month January 2015 - The Quilt Room

January Miniature Block of the Month - Cross Canoes

If you read my last post you will see that back in November I had every intention of doing Bonnie Hunter's 2014 Mystery Quilt, Grand Illusion.  I had the fabric and everything.  Sadly I was just too busy and it just feels too late now.  I know that if I am joining in a mystery quilt or Block of the Month, I need to be sure that I have the time to complete them.  To satisfy my stitching itch, for 2015 the Quilt Room in Dorking, UK is running a FREE Miniature Block of the Month. Yes, just one miniature block a month.  I think I can manage that.  The blocks are released on the first Monday in the month on their website.  I assume that there will be twelve 4" blocks altogether and they are using a blue and white colour scheme.  To make life easy I am following the same colours using up a Snowman Gatherings Layer Cake that I have.  BTW, we did have a very light covering of snow here this morning ....


Cross Canoes Block - Foundation Piecing

The first block is a Cross Canoes block.  After all the Canoe blocks I have made for my Nearly Insane quilt, it was very familiar.  They are providing the patterns and instructions FREE online and if you are local to the shop in Dorking, they are providing fabric packs and support. 


Foundation Piecing - Cross Canoes Block 

I transferred the pattern into my Electric Quilt software and printed off the foundations papers. I love the sharp finish you get with paper foundation piecing, but I will admit that I find it quite scary, especially the bit when you flip the fabric and discover that you have not sewn it correctly! So far so good.

With the Cross Canoe block completed for January 2015 I feel that I am well on track. 

Joining up with other finishes at Crazy Mom Quilts!