Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 71 Chimney Sweep / Album Block

The spring flowers are starting to show their faces, especially with the first few days of warm spring weather, so I thought I would capture the moment with Block 71 against some 'Tête-à-tête' in the garden.


Block 71 Nearly Insane Quilt, Spring 2013

For Block 71 of the Nearly Insane Quilt, I have used just two fabric colourways, both spots, to build up this block which is constructed similar to using bricks to build a wall. With the right colour choice, this cross pattern emerges, but I guess you could equally use different scraps for each piece, for a really scrappy looking quilt block, which would be fun.

This block has already escaped a few dodgy moments during its early life. Its little 'travel' bag slipped during a car journey and all the pieces fell out across the car. It was only when the block was together that I breathed a sign of relief, knowing I had not lost any. 


Suzi the Cat inspects Block 71, Nearly Insane Quilt

Then I took the block for Suzi to inspect.  She took particular interest in this one and was keen to test how robust it was.  Unfortunately, I had to step in before she was able to complete her quality control process.  She loves the crunch of the paper used in the English Paper Piecing method - perhaps a little too much. 

Suzi the Cat inspects Block 71

So far I don't seem to have reached the 'insanity' of this quilt - YET.  I know it is still to come, but this block was easy.

PS: Surely, THIS block must have a name!
( Edit: Sandie at has identified this block as an Album Block, which could be added to a quilt with space for signature.  A little further research has uncovered that it is also called 'Chimney Sweep' block. Thanks for your contribution)

NUMBER OF PIECES: 29
DIFFICULTY: 1/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Triangle, 1" (25mm) x 1 11/16" (17mm) x 1 11/16" (17mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Rectangle 3 1/8" (77mm) x 1" (25mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS:  Apple Red Snaps #5497 Mama Said Sew by Sweetwater for Moda
"Polka Party Petite" (Buttercream) "Lakehouse Dayz" Collection by Holly Holderman, Lakehouse Drygoods (LH05037)

Joining up with Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times and Connie over at Freemotion By the River to share my progress on my Nearly Insane Quilt.

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 41, Basket Block

Apple Patchwork Fabric - Nearly Insane Block 41

How cute is this apple fabric?  I recently picked it up as a remainder fat quarter at Country Threads in Bath.  It is not strictly the red and cream scope of my Nearly Insane Quilt, as it has a tiny bit of green and yellow in it, but I thought it would add some 'character'. 
Block 41 is a fairly traditional patchwork Basket Block, so I thought I would pair this up with the Minick and Simpson "Christmas Past" red spotty fabric that I have talked about in the past, to make this block an 'Apple Basket'. I have added a 10 pence coin to give some scale to the finished 6 inch block.


Block 41 - Traditional Basket Block, Nearly Insane Quilt

Here are the 31 paper pieces that make up this block, plus the handle of the basket which is an appliqued bias strip.

Block 41 Nearly Insane Quilt - Basket Block

You will see that during the construction of this English Paper Pieced block the incremental growth of the strip due to the fabric being wrapped around the paper, meant that I had to fit a 4 5/16" strip of half square triangles onto a 4" plain strip.

English Paper Piecing

The easiest way I have found to counter this is to level up the ends and start sewing (Stage 1).  By fixing the two pieces together at the beginning, you can then start to manipulate the two pieces, so that they are eventually a perfect match.

Stage 1

Once they are fixed by a few stitches, I then bend the two pieces around my fingers, with the longest edge on the outside.  Like a race track, the outer piece has to travel further than the inner piece, and with a bit of a 'jiggle', you can get them to line up (Stage 2).  For further accuracy, because the fabric is on paper, the paper can be folded in half, and I tend to use the sharp creases as markers to match up as you fit the two edges together.

Stage 2

Always check it as you are going along, unfolding the seam to adjust, giving it a tug here and there to ensure that there will be no overlap at the end (Stage 3).  It is easier to adjust just a few stitches that the full length of the seam.

Stage 3

At the end, the two edges of the pieces should be sewn together with no overlap.  As you can see from the picture below, the end result has a bit of a bend in it.  

English Paper Piecing - Block 41, Nearly Insane Quilt

Never fear.  In this situation I tend to give the joined piece a good steam with the iron.  Also, at the moment the pieces are being held rigid by the paper, once they are finally removed, the shape of the block will be fixed by the sashing, and it will then be able to relax and mould itself into place.  This technique works for me, but probably only because I am confident that the papers will keep the shapes accurate. I know there are some 'corkers' coming up where the half square triangles are half the size of these, and there are many more of them. I think I will just take each block at a time.


Basket Block 41, Nearly Insane Quilt

I built up the block for piecing into smaller blocks, but this was not before I had added the bias strip basket handle, which I appliqued onto the large triangle.  I make my bias binding using a cheap and clever technique I picked up at a Sandie Lush Applique Workshop at Busy Bees Patchwork in Newport.

Folding Bias Binding using a Pin and Ironing Board

I cut my bias strip 1" wide, for a 1/2" wide handle on my basket block handle.  To set the width of the bias strip, I secure a pin to the ironing board, with a 1/2" gap, which I then feed the folded bias strip through, pressing as I go.  By adjusting the pin you can make a bias strip of any width.

Attaching bias strip for handle

I sewed on the bias strip with the paper still inside, and following the line on the paper which was visible through the spotty fabric.  Then, when I sewed the two halves of the block together, I hid the ends of the strip in the seam. 
This seems like quite an epic post for this unassuming block, but once I worked out what I was doing, this block was not too bad.  I know this block also makes up some of the edge blocks, so down the line maybe I will have a 'Cherry basket' too!

With another block finished, this Friday I am joining up with Crazy Mom Quilts.

NUMBER OF PIECES: 31 + 1 (Handle)
DIFFICULTY: 5/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Triangle, 1" (25mm) x 1" (25mm) x 1 7/16"" (36mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Triangle, 5" (127mm) x 5" (127mm) x 7 1/16"(180mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS:
"Christmas Past" (14547) by Polly Minick and Lauri Simpson for Moda
Apple Fabric - unidentified
Red Dot on Cream - unidentified

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 21

With the quick win of Block 91, I was eager to move on to the next Nearly Insane Quilt block, so made sure a few of my pre-prepared kits were packed in my bag before I left for work this week.  Block 21 was the next choice from my latest Nearly Insane Lucky Draw. During my lunch hours I was able to tack all the fabric around the paper pieces that I had cut out, and piece them together.  No problems with this block, as the construction was very straightforward, with just 25 pieces.  It felt like it came together in no time at all.  These fabrics are from the 'Mama Said Sew' Collection by Sweetwater for Moda.  This is the second block complete, and on my side bar I have added a picture of the whole quilt, so you can see my progress as I go along.

Block 21 Nearly Insane Quilt - English Paper Pieced

When I am at the early stages of a scrappy project, I am always keen to make sure I have a wide selection of fabrics, so you can imagine how excited I was when visiting Freemotion By the River today, to see that Connie is hosting a Giveaway, which is a charm pack, 'Ruby' by Bonnie and Camille for Moda.  This pretty fabric collection has a lovely fresh colour scheme, which includes some RED and WHITE fabrics ... I think I could give a good home to them.  Well, enough of that, or you all might enter.  To quickly change the subject, like all the others, this block does not have an official name, does anyone recognise it? 

Block 21 Nearly Insane Quilt - English Paper Pieced

NUMBER OF PIECES: 25
SMALLEST PIECE: Square, 1/2" (12.5mm) x 1/2" (12.5mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Triangle, 2" (50mm) x 2" (50mm) x 2 13/16" (71mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS:
"Red Hoops" (5493-31), "Cream Hoops" (5493-12), "Apple Red on Cream Pinking Shears" (5498-31), "Cream on Apple Red Snaps" (5497-11) all the "Mama Said Sew" Collection by Sweetwater for Moda

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 91

Nearly Insane Quilt Block 91, English Paper Piecing

With all the preparation to do the Nearly Insane Quilt, the anticipation for starting had built up into quite a big thing. I thought I would break myself in easily with attempting one of the edge half blocks, Block 91. Overall it did not take too much time.  The tacking can be done quite quickly, and this block came together really easily, in total just a couple of hours of hand sewing at most.

Block 91, Nearly Insane Quilt, Paper Templates

As a half block, it only had 18 pieces, and I was only using two different contrasting fabrics.  The little pieces seem very little, with the seams taking up more fabric than the actual piece on some.  It is tempting to have the seams in proportion to the piece, but you do need the full 1/4" to make the seams more secure. I believe there are much smaller pieces to come.

Nearly Insane Quilt Block 91, English Paper Piecing (Reverse)

As I am English Paper Piecing it, I have not removed the papers yet, and knowing me, I won't do that until the entire quilt (or at least the centre) is put together, so bear with the green tacking thread, I know it is going to become a close friend in the foreseeable future.

NUMBER OF PIECES: 18
DIFFICULTY: 1/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Triangle, 5/8" (16mm) x 5/8" (16mm) x 7/8" (22mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Rectangle, 2.5" (63mm) x 1.25" (31mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS:
"Polka Party Petite" (Buttercream) "Lakehouse Dayz" Collection by Holly Holderman, Lakehouse Drygoods (LH05037)
"Lazy Daisy Red" by "Mama Said Sew" Collection by Sweetwater for Moda (M 5494 21)

Red and Cream Fabric Choice - Nearly Insane Quilt

Now that I have decided to embark on the 'Nearly Insane' quilt, I have spent a lot of time preparing for it.  I will be hand piecing it, probably using the English Paper Piecing method, but I can also see a need to some foundation piecing work for the more intricate blocks.  I have put all the blocks into Electric Quilt 5, and I have also now scanned all my red, white and cream fabrics into the package.  Despite having the Electric Quilt software for years, this is the first time I have done this, and it went relatively well.


'Mama Said Sew' by Sweetwater for Moda

The foundations of my colour choice are based on the red and cream colourway in the 'Mama Said Sew' fabric range by Sweetwater for Moda.  As soon as I saw this range, I knew I wanted a piece of it.  Not only is it in a red and cream colourway, but it has an appropriate set of sewing themed fabrics.  I particularly like the little red pinwheels.


Red and White Fabric Charm Squares

I have also gone through all my charm packs, charm squares, and fabric scraps searching for red and cream fabric.  This has included some of the reds from a Bonnie and Camille, 'Bliss' Moda Candy Bar, and some Civil War pre-cut circles I bought at Keepsake Quilting in Meredith, USA, several years ago.  As you can see, nothing is safe - even the tiny little charm squares are in for a shout, especially as a lot of the blocks have very tiny pieces in them.

Red and Cream / White Fabric Stash

Then finally, the red, cream and white fabrics from my stash.  Lots of red and white spots and dots.  With the project probably taking a few years, no doubt my antennae will be up for red and cream fabrics that are within arms length.

Mini Hexagon Mug Rug

A Morris Tapestry, Hexagon Mug Rug

As you would have read in my last post, I have been aching to do some sewing this week, and finally I have managed it. Firstly, thanks to Sarah at Sarah Did It for the gentle nudge and inspiration for this Mini Hexi Project, which has kept me quiet for the past 24 hours. I wanted a little hand piecing project, using the English Paper Piecing method, AND I needed to produce a little birthday gift for this Monday, so this little hexagon Mug Rug fits the bill nicely.

English Paper Piecing Templates in MS Powerpoint

The other night, whilst doing some work on the computer, I quickly popped into MS Powerpoint and drew up some paper templates. I found that the actual 'hexagon' shape in the package did not have equal length sides, so instead combined six equilateral triangles and some lines to make up the hexagons. The sides are 3cm each.


English Paper Piecing Hexagon Templates

I was travelling yesterday and NOT driving, so I seized the moment to start the project. This meant a rather hurried choice of fabric, so I played safe and went for a fabric range I had in my stash.  I was literally cutting out the fabric with my coat on, and the engine running on the car! 

A Morris Tapestry Fabric, MODA,
(L-R) 8172-15, 8177-17, 8176-15, 8171-34) 

The fabric I chose was from 'A Morris Tapestry' by Barbara Brackman for Moda. They are reproductions of some William Morris (Arts and Crafts Movement) prints from about the 1890's, featuring the Strawberry Thief and a pretty Daffodil print. I thought this was appropriate because, it was a lovely sunny day here today and a chance to see the progress of the Spring DaffodiI bulbs - little way to go yet!  

Daffodil Bulbs - February 2013

During the hour I had in the car, I was surprised to see that I had covered all my paper templates and that they were ready for stitching together.  I tend to use cheap tacking thread in a contrasting colour and stitch right through the paper.  It is the way I have always done it.  I like this method, as you never know how long it will be before you actually are going to stitch it together when you are hand piecing, so they can sit there for years without a worry.

But this project had to be done today. After a little thought, I decided that the easiest way to construct the little Mug Rug was to do it in columns, this avoided any awkward seams, and you can see here the different stages.

With only tiny pieces, it did not take long to piece together, and in no time at all it was time to take the paper out.  This is a picture of the reverse of the mug rug, after it was stitched together, but with the paper still in place.  I tend to give  projects like this a good press whilst the papers are still in place - I find it helps to keep their structure.


Hexagon English Paper Piecing - Reverse

With the papers removed, I pressed out the seam, and made up a quilt sandwich from some scrap wadding, and some fabric for the reverse.  I just did some simple hand quilting, outlining the shapes. If I am hand piecing and hand quilting an item, I usually like to keep the integrity of the piece by banning ALL machine stitching, but lately, once the top is quilted, I have started to machine stitch the edge, to stay stitch the quilt sandwich, which will then be hidden in the binding. I used a straight edge binding.  Again, for this little project I did use the machine to sew on the binding, and then hand stitched it on the reverse. 


Hexi-Puzzle Mug Rug - English Paper Piecing

The good news is that the gift is completed in time, and that I still have the rest of the day to do some stiching!  If you enjoy hand piecing, especially Hexagons, Sarah Did It has a special Hexi Link Up on the 17th of each month - do be sure to join in!
Today I am linking up with Connie at Freemotion By The River and Crazy Mom Quilts.



Fat Quarter Bundle - A Rite of Passage

Cherry Blossom at the Keukenhof Gardens

A few years ago, I visited the Keukenhof Gardens in the Netherlands to see the seasonal beauty of their lovely tulip fields. There were thousands and thousands of beautiful tulips on display, and I took loads of photographs of them. I really recommend a trip in March or April if you have the chance. However, of all the pictures that I took on that holiday, it was this picture of the spring blossom which was my favourite.

Sakura Park, Sentimental Studios, Moda Fabric
Fat Quarter Bundle

A late Christmas present (to myself) arrived this week.  This beautiful, Fat Quarter Bundle, Sakura Park by Sentimental Studios for Moda. The range features cherry blossom flowers and petals, and as you can see, the colours of the fabric are almost exactly the same as the picture I took. As a rule, I don't really go for pastel colours, but I was drawn in by the pretty blossom prints on the fabrics, reminiscent of the cherry blossom, when it comes out in the Spring.
I have had charm packs in the past. I have had a Jelly Roll, but a Fat Quarter Bundle, really feels like a 'rite of passage' in my quilting life. I have had it for several days now, and I still have not untied the knot and dismantle this perfect little package. 


Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street Quilt - Part 8 (Borders and Binding)

I think it is fair to say that Part 8 of the Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street Mystery Quilt involved quite a lot of work, so this is the second instalment of my progress so far.  The top is pieced together, and this weekend I put some time aside to choose the borders and the backing.


Easy Street Mystery Quilt

After letting the cogs in my brain do their bit, I have decided not to add further borders.  With the quilt being quite large already, I felt it was large enough, and probably heavy enough, so to finish off the edge of the quilt I have decided to add a very thin, red inset into the binding.  The red adds some intensity to the purple and although only very thin, gives a nice outline.  I have pieced up the red inset from red scraps from 20cm to 70 cm long, and it is ready to go. 


Plans for Easy Street Quilt Border and Binding

For the binding, I looked to see what I had left over in my stash, and one of the largest pieces remaining was the Sandy Gervais Moda print  'Friendly Folk'.  This looked better than the 'neutral', as the red berries and the green foliage on the print added something, and tied in the red inset strip.  I have enough of this to go around the entire quilt.  Again, it is all pieced together in a strip nearly 9 metres long.


Easy Street Quilt Binding

These decisions usually take me a very long time, but in the long run it is rarely time wasted.  It also allows the luxury of playing with your fabric stash, as you audition the colours.  With the decision not to add borders to the quilt, it slightly altered my plans for the day, as these will be added once Easy Street has been quilted - no plans for that yet.

Meanwhile, I have been able to enjoy the first of the snow for the winter.  On Friday it snowed all day, with almost 6" settling, with advice to stay off the roads and many schools and offices closed. With the temperature not rising above 0 degrees, the snow is still about, but slowly thawing.


Snow, January 2013

Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street Quilt - Part 6

I managed to print off the instructions for Part 6 of Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street Mystery Quilt just before I left for a weekend away on Friday, only to read that we are heading for a Rapid Fire Finish! Being away, I have not managed to sort our Part 6 until today. 
It looked easy, but for some reason I have laboured over it for most of the day.  I think this is partly because I have reached the end of my 'black and white' prints, and the mix is more limited, so I have had to introduce some fabric from my Moda 'Seasonal Little Gatherings' 5" Charm Pack, which has taken longer to cut and sew. 
It was the same for the squares, some of my 'greens' were too narrow, so I was making the triangles up from smaller strips.  However, as you can see, I got there evenutally.

Part 6 Easy Street Mystery Quilt

Bonnie has set the release of each part of the mystery quilt for when it is about 11 o'clock in the morning in the UK, so Part 7 has been live for over 7 hours. I have resisted the temptation to look at it before I completed Part 6, so that is where I am heading now.

Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street Quilt - Part 3

Removing cat hair from fabric

I started the day knowing I had to cut a lot of pieces of fabric, so I thought I would do a bit of housekeeping before I started.  Suzi has adopted the role of my 'fabric manager' , so I needed to remove her cat fur from where she has been sleeping keeping guard.  The most effective way I have found to do this is to put on my Marigold's and rub them across the fabric.  Suzi's cat fur is not as prolific as the other cat, so there was not too much to remove.  

Removing lint from cutting mat

I have also been fastidiously trimming my blocks for the Easy Street Mystery Quilt, and a lot of it has been tiny slithers of fabric, which disappeared as I cut them off.  I have found the same rubber glove technique works nicely to remove the lint that gathers up on my self-healing cutting mat.  Once I had tidied up, we sat down and read the instructions with a cup of tea.


Suzi cat helping with cutting fabric

Before I cut the whole batch, I cut out a few pieces, to check that it worked. It is the first time I have made a block like this before.  As usual, I followed Bonnie's instruction, and the blocks have come out fine.  By lunchtime all the cutting was done, and by teatime all the blocks were pieced, ready for trimming whilst I watched 'Strictly Come Dancing'. For some reason I cut way too many red triangles, so I will wait to see if I can use them or work out another project to use them up.
I was pleased to be using a different colour.  I am using for red fabric for Bonnie's turquoise, for this part, and for this colour my stash has plenty of choice.  The latest addition to my red stash has to be the most perfect fabric - a red dotty tone on tone which is from a Moda Collection "Christmas Past" #1457, by Polly Minick and Lauri Simpson.  I bought a large piece of it, knowing that I will want to include it in every quilt I ever make.  Another favourite in there is a crimson floral tone on tone fabric, from the 'Oriental Traditions' range designed by Adam Guan for Robert Kaufman.  This piece is getting smaller and smaller with each project, and I think this quilt will use up the last of it.  However, as this is a scrap quilt, it is an opportunity to scatter in some of those prints which are perhaps not my 'favourites' too.
 

Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street Quilt - Part 2

 

Easy Street Quilt - Part 2 Flying Geese Units

Here are some of my 128 Flying Geese Units that are required for Part 2 of Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street Mystery Quilt.  I am using GREEN where Bonnie is using PURPLE at this stage, mainly because it is the colour I have least of.  My cutting seems to be OK, as my finished units are working out the right size.

Flying Geese Units - Strips

Already I am loving the way my colour scheme is working out. Here are some of the green strips I have cut out.  I have snuck in a sparkly fabric, "Sing a Song of Christmas" by Woodrow Studio, some Primitive Gatherings for Moda, and the 2002 Classic Cottons range, of which I seemed to have plenty.

I have made Flying Geese before, by a different method, and was quietly dreading the prospect when I saw the Easy Street Part 2 instructions on Friday, as before I had found that my corners frequently went down the black hole of my sewing maching, chewing up the fabric.  However, a MAJOR penny dropped when I realised I needed to use a single hole sewing machine plate, instead of a zig-zag plate. 


Pfaff 2058 Sewing Machine Zig Zag Plate and Single Hole Plate

I had read about it, but had never acknowledged its importance.  The next challenge was, how was I going to get hold of one in order to keep up with the weekly Easy Street Quilt tasks?  I didn't know what I was looking for.  Then another MAJOR penny dropped.  When I purchased my Pfaff 2058, it came with a bonus Quilters Toolbox.  But where was it?  I checked online to see what was included in the kit, and sure enough Pfaff included a single hole plate.  But WHERE was it?  I checked all the usually places, but with no joy.  Since buying the machine, we have moved house, and most of Friday and Saturday were spent pulling everything out to find this 2" square piece of metal.  Yes, I finally found it.  It was in the side pocket of sewing machine trolley. Sew far, sew good - no fabric down the black hole.  I also changed the blade in my Rotary cutter - that improved things too!

I don't follow Bonnie's Scrap User's System (a scrap in  my book starts when it is less than 2" square), but Suzi the cat and I watched her very informative video on her Quiltville blog, and decided to construct the Flying Geese Units in the same way.  Since we are meant to be shopping our stash, I also used the rulers I already had.  I prefer to use the Creative Grids range, and have the Multi-Size 45 / 90 degree Triangle for making Half and Quarter Square Triangles from Strips.  From what I can gather, this one ruler does what the Easy Angle and Companion Angle rulers do together.  I did a few samples, checking the lines I was following, and the units came out to be the right size.

Multi-Size 45 / 90 degree Triangle for making Half and Quarter Square Triangles from Strips, Creative Grids



 

Not all of them are sewn together yet, but most of the cutting is done. I had a few obstacles along the way. Here is Suzi the cat sitting on my cutting mat, just as I am about to cut another strip. You may be able to see the blur of her tail moving - this is usually moving within inches of the Rotary Cutter!

 

West Country Quilt Show

Today I visited the first ever West Country Quilt Show.  It was at the Bath and West Showground, near Shepton Mallet, Somerset. 
The traders had some lovely fabric, which I found hard to resist, especially with Bonnie Hunter's Mystery Quilt, Easy Street, currently at the forefront of my mind.   The Laughing Hedgehog , normally based in Buckhurst Hill, Essex, stocked the Kansas Troubles fabric from Moda, which I am using for my 'background', so I was able to stock up on that, as I had realised that with the scraps I am using, I will not have enough for the whole quilt.  I also managed to get some of the 'Seasonal Little Gatherings' by Primitive Gatherings for Moda, from Sew Enchanting, based in Ashburton, Devon.  The Cross-Patch had a lovely display of the Lynette Anderson Designs, with a good selection of the fabrics, buttons and threads. There were so many other lovely stalls there, I had to pull myself away.


Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt - Boutique by Chez Moi

I only heard about it a few weeks ago, and saw that the deadine had not closed for entering quilts.  With nothing to display myself, I encouraged my sister to enter her Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt, which she made using a range called Boutique by Chez Moi for Moda Jelly Roll.  It was Hand stitched using the English Paper Piecing method, and hand quilted.  I was her first quilt.  She got the pattern from a Mystery Block of Month published on the blog of The Quilt Room, Dorking, which started in March 2010.  The pattern is now published in their book 'Jelly Roll Sampler Quilts' (Pam and Nicky Lintott).

Easy Street Part 1 - Mystery Quilt

'I think it is time you made your decision ...'

 

I have been putting off making the FINAL colour choice decision for Part 1 of Bonnie Hunter’s Easy Street Mystery Quilt, but my assistant, Suzi the cat, insisted that I start it today, in order to keep up with everyone.  Suzi only joined us in April, but already she is a VERY keen quilter.

My final decision was to use the tan ‘Kansas Troubles’ print from the ‘Back to the Prairie 2 - 9195’ Moda range, for Bonnie’s grey (yes, it is grey here in the UK) .  I don’t think I have the full yardage for this, but I think I will have enough for Part 1 of Easy Street.  Any remainder, I can supplement with some other scraps from the same range, which I have. Let’s hope I get away with it.

The background fabric is made up of similar tan based fabrics, but with prints all over them.  Again, a lot of my scraps are from the Kansas Troubles ‘Christmas’ range from a few years ago which I purchased as a lovely fat quarter bundle from Sunflower Fabrics.  There is also a lovely Sandy Gervais 'Friendly Folk' Moda print in there for which I have about 2 yards.

The 2 inch strips from these scraps have varied from a full bolt width to 4 inches – so no scrap is safe.  The other colours will be red, green and purple.  The key thing was to ‘shop my stash’, which I should be able to do for 90% of the quilt.

I have been quilting for several years, but all my quilts have been hand stitched and hand quilted. Machining a quilt together has not really entered my radar, until recently, and I am using the Easy Street Mystery Quilt, to bring me up to speed. Using the machine is much quicker, but I do like to get my seams accurate.  Sew far, sew good. Bonnie’s tips about how you feed your units, and the pinwheel seam were great.

Part 1 Easy Street Quilt Twosies



Part 1 Easy Street Quilt 4-patch





With my scrappy scraps, I am having to cut in batches, to ensure that I still have a good mix of backgrounds for later on, as I don't have a clue how much I am using. So far I have done about 50 units, but have some more time today and tomorrow to get this first step finished.  Everso pleased that I have got started on this. I wonder what pattern it will end up to be?