Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 53



Block 53, Nearly Insane Quilt, at Yosemite National Park, California

Another landmark, another quilt block.  Here is Block 53, showcased at Yosemite National Park in California, as part of our Road Trip.  We camped here for two nights, did a lot of walking, and managed to keep my stitching safe from the bears.


Block 53, Nearly Insane Quilt

This block features a heart fabric.  I have fussy cut it, only in that I have got all the hearts going towards the centre.  The hearts were too big to do anything clever with.  I am not big on heart / valentine fabric, but by choosing red and cream as my colour scheme, they were hard to avoid completely.  The other main fabric is from the Cabbages and Roses, Northcott Range which I used in Block 47.  Both of these fabrics have a bit of pink in them, which is slightly 'off piste', but with nobody watching, I think I can get away with it.
Linking with Freshly Pieced

NUMBER OF PIECES: 29
DIFFICULTY: 3/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Square, 1/2" (13.5mm) x 1/2" (13.5mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Triangle 3" (76mm) x 2 1/8" (54mm)  x 2 1/8" (54mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS: 
Northcote Range, by Cabbages and Roses #35204 -21 by Moda
Red with White Pindot (Unidentified)
Heart Fabric (Unidentified)

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 36

Here is another Nearly Insane Quilt block which I completed whilst on holiday in the USA. And yes, I did stand out in the 100F heat of Death Valley to take this picture for you ...


Nearly Insane Block 36 - Death Valley, California, USA

I am not sure whether this is the most attractive block, but I really enjoyed doing it.  It went together nicely, and I enjoyed the challenge of choosing the fabrics.  The central square has a diagonal direction, so it was a bit tricky to find fabric combinations that would work with this pattern, but I think I got there in the end. In contrast to Death Valley, I took the picture below when we returned to the UK - yes, summer has arrived and the garden was verdant and blooming.


Nearly Insane Quilt Block 36

This block has 78 pieces, and that seems to be about the right number for a block to turn out nicely, with large enough, even size pieces to keep it interesting.  There are some to come which will have at least twice as many.  To be honest, when there are less than say, twenty five pieces, I find them a bit boring


NUMBER OF PIECES: 78
DIFFICULTY: 4/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Triangle 1 1 1/16" (46mm) x 3/4" (19mm)  x3/4" (19mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Triangle 2 1/8" (53mm) x 1 1/2" (38mm)  x 1 1/2" (38mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS: 
"Christmas Past" (14547) by Polly Minick and Lauri Simpson for Moda
"Days Gone By" Exclusively Quilters
White on cream sprig print (unknown)
Red with white pindot (unknown)

Joining up with Design Wall Monday!

Nearly Insane Quilt - May 2013 Progress

Nearly Insane Quilt - English Paper Piecing

Because we are currently celebrating the Queen's 60th Anniversary of her Coronation, I thought it was a good excuse to show you the progress of my Nearly Insane Quilt (imagine doing the same job for 60 years). I am not sure when her pension kicks in. I hope it doesn't take 60 years for me to complete this quilt!

Nearly Insane Quilt - May 2013 Progress

I love doing these pictures.  I usually only do them once a month, which is the same as when you get to see it.  The more I do, the more excited I am to see what it will look like when it is complete.  There are a few blocks in this picture that are yet to be revealed, so if you compare it to the last update, you may be able to spot them.  See all those little cornerstones - they look great too.  I am so glad that I have kept up with them. 

Working out the statistics I have done about 21% of the quilt so far, over 4 months, so with that progress I guess I should finish the components of the quilt in October 2014. Progress so far is

22 Blocks

8 Side blocks

23 Cornerstones

56 Sashes

I think this is more a display quilt than a bed quilt.  It would be great to have it hanging on a wall to see all the different fabrics and block patterns.  When they laid the floor in our house they took a lot of time to keep the tiles in line - next time I must remember to line up my quilt along them.

BTW - Did I mention the royalty that live at our house - introducing Princess Suzi. Joining up with Feline Friday over at Sarah Did It! and Crazy Mom Quilts!

Princess Suzi enjoying the sun

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 80

Since Block 12  I have wanted to make more of the Nearly Insane blocks scrappy.  As soon as I saw Block 80, I knew it was a perfect candidate.  The design has lots of small pieces in it and I have started to accumulate a jar of red and cream scraps which are so small that they are only going to find homes in certain blocks. 

Sweet jar scrap storage

Whilst my motives may be honourable, when it came to cutting the seventy two 'scrappy' pieces for this little 6" block, it took a lot longer than most, and on that day I did not get as much preparation done for my Nearly Insane blocks as I had hoped, so it feels as if it has been hanging around for a while.

Block 80, Nearly Insane Quilt, visiting California

I finally have had time to finish it during my Road Trip to the USA, and here it is on display our pitch at Turlock Lake Campsite, California.  This was fun, and quite easy to put together, and I think it is my latest favourite.  Remembering that these blocks are only 6" square, I think that this is a really cute block - imagine a whole quilt of these with some sashing in between - it would look great.


NUMBER OF PIECES: 72
DIFFICULTY: 4/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Square, 3/8" (9.5mm) x 3/8" (9.5mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Triangle 1 7/8" (46mm) x 1 1/4" (32mm)  x 1 1/4" (32mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS: 
Scrap variety

USA Road Trip / USA Quilt Shop Hop

May 2013 Progress - Nearly Insane Quilt

You may have been wondering why I have been so quiet lately. As if my quilt adventure to the Dear Jane 150th Exhibition in Nantes, France, wasn't enough, for the past few weeks I have been on another Quilt Adventure.  We have been away from the UK, on a Road Trip in the USA.  The majority of the trip was in a hired RV (campervan) touring the West Coast in California, travelling up Highway 1, across to the Gold Country, visiting the National Parks (Yosemite, Death Valley), with an excursion to Las Vegas and Kansas thrown in. Our van at home is half the size of this, but this was the smallest we could find to hire!

The Quilt Road Trip stopping at Roxanne's Quilt Shop, Carpinteria, California

It works out like this. We enjoy driving and touring around.  We get to see new places, and I get to do my hand stitching - but how to decide where to stop on the route? Quilt shops naturally.  So over the past few weeks, as we have been doing our sightseeing, I have been busily stitching my Nearly Insane Quilt blocks, as well as keeping up with the cornerstones and sashing, with plenty of breaks at quilt shops, building up my stash along the way.

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of quilt shops in the UK, but let's put things in perspective.  The current exchange rate between US dollars and GB Pounds means that in the UK you would normally pay between £9.99 - £13.99 for a metre of fabric, which is equivalent to $15.29 - $21.41.  In the US you pay between $8.99 - $12.99 (+ Sales Tax) for a yard of fabric (which is about 9cm / 3.5 inches shorter than a metre), which works out about £6.33 - £9.16.  Throw in a 30% Memorial Day Sale, and it works out about £4.43 - £6.41 a yard. Happy Days!

You can see above the Nearly Insane blocks I managed to complete on my journey, and in the next few posts I will keep you up to date with that progress, and some of the great shops I visited along the way.

Joining Up with Freshly Pieced

 

Nearly Insane Quilt - Draw 8

I am trying to get ahead of myself at the moment, so I have also made the next draw for my Nearly Insane Quilt.  Those blocks are

28 - 53 - 64 - 90

I have also updated the image of the overall progress I am making on the quilt, which is always sitting on the side bar of the blog.  I get this image from the Electric Quilt 5 software that I have.  It is easy to do, File - Export Snapshot, select the area you want to copy, and then I usually save it on the clipboard to open up in Photoshop.


Nearly Insane Quilt Progress
May 2013

Considering it is all hand pieced, and that I only started it in February, I am please with my progress.

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 87

Block 87 - Nearly Insane Quilt Corner Block

I drew another corner block for the Nearly Insane Quilt.  As you may remember I have mixed it up a bit and changed a few edge blocks around, changing the original corner Block 92, for Block 87.  With just eight pieces, I almost did it in my sleep. It uses the 'Christmas Past' fabric by Minick and Simpson - did I say I met them in Nantes? ;)

Sometimes I think I should have approached the quilt like I would a jigsaw puzzle - seek out the corner pieces, then the edge pieces, then fill up the middle - leaving the sky until the end!

FABRICS: 
Christmas Past (#14547) by Polly Minick and Lauri Simpson for Moda
Calico
Red and White Stripe (unidentified)

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 40

Block 40, Nearly Insane Quilt

Presenting Block 40 of the Salinda Rupp / Liz Lois 'Nearly Insane' Quilt.  
This was a relatively straightforward one.  It has some of the largest pieces I have come across so far in this project,  so I took the opportunity to use a red and white Scandinavian fabric I have in my stash. 

Block 40, Nearly Insane Quilt

The pattern has diamonds with snowflakes in it, rather than exact squares, and I have been having trouble incorporating it into any of the other blocks, because the pattern is too big for the tiny pieces.  With a bit of fussy cutting, I think it has turned out nicely.  This is quite a simple block - does anyone have a name for it?

PS: I can't wait to get that green tacking thread out!

NUMBER OF PIECES: 21
DIFFICULTY: 2/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Triangle, 1 1/16" (28mm) x 3/4" (19mm) x 3/4" (19mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Rectangle 3" (76mm) x 1 1.2" (38mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS: 
Calico
Red and White Scandinavian Snowflake Fabric 
Red Dot on Cream - unidentified

Celebrating Hand Quilting and Laura Ashley 60th Anniversary



Red and White Pinwheel Quilt
Laura Ashley Red Spotty fabric

Over at Celebrate Hand Quilting they are hosting a blog hop this week.  It is well worth a look, as hand quilters all over the world are sharing their love for hand quilting.  I am not part of the Blog Hop, but I thought I would take this opportunity to show you my current hand quilting.
This is my current hand quilting project, my Red and White Pinwheel quilt, and on the reverse it is backed with a red spotty cotton lawn that I bought in the Laura Ashley sale many, many years ago.


Vintage Laura Ashley fabrics 1980s - 1990s

If you delve into my everyday fabric stash (as opposed to my quilting fabric stash), you will find that it is largely made up from lengths of Laura Ashley dressmaking fabric purchased in the sales back in the 1980s and 1990s.  In those days the Laura Ashley Sale used to be a phenomenon, with people queuing around the block to get in.  I know -  I stood in the queue!  I always used to make a bee-line for the dressmaking fabrics, which were either Seconds or left overs from a print run which had been used to make last seasons dresses. Most of it was a lovely cotton lawn, very similar to the Liberty Lawn fabrics, but at a fraction of the price at £1.99 a metre. In those days I used to make loads of colourful summer shorts and trousers out of the fabric, and used to wear them until they were threadbear. Some of the fabrics you see here are old Laura Ashley skirts. I even have a set of the patchwork kits in my stash. Happy Days!

Today I have just heard that Laura Ashley are putting on a pop-up exhibition of their vintage clothes, celebrating 60 years, on 13th and 14th June 2013, in  London.  As it is on for such a short time, tickets are limited.  Not sure if I will manage to get up to London, but it would be great to see.

Also, between 13th July - 26th August 2013, the Museum of Costume in Bath, UK, is holding an exhibition alongside their normal display of historical costume, "Laura Ashley - The Romantic Heroine", which features the Romantic Style which she influenced during the 1970s.  It's a great costume museum, with a collection on par with the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

If you have nostalgic memories of Laura Ashley, Ann Rippin has a blog, and has a strong interest in how Laura Ashley fabric touched everyday lives and their patchwork and quilting, and there may be an opportunity to get involved in her research.
 

Nearly Insane Quilt - Draw 7

Here are the latest blocks chosen for my Random Lucky Dip draw, which I use to determine which blocks I will do next in the Nearly Insane Quilt.

36 - 40 - 48 - 92

When I draw my Lucky Dip, I usually go straight to Liz Lois 'Nearly Insane' book, to see what they look like - how 'insane' are they going to be?

'Nearly Insane' Block Pattern book, by Liz Lois

Then I move onto my Electric Quilt software, where I have already drafted out each block - and then I play.  There are so many combinations which I could choose from, I am almost glad I am sticking to  just red and cream!  

Working on Blocks in EQ5

If there is a colour combination that I like, I either save it in my EQ Sketchbook, or simply take a picture of the computer screen on my iPad.  This allows me to compare the different options more instinctively, and once I am making up the block it acts as a quick reference for which fabrics should go where.
One of the reasons I am doing the project in batches, is so that I can get the fabric cut and prepared when I have more time at the weekend, in preparation for 'found moments' during my week, when I am usually working.

Electric Quilt Software Templates

To include in the travel pack, I print off a full size Paper Template for cutting up into templates for each of the pieces, and a smaller Pattern Template sheet, as an indicator of which block I am making.  On the Fabric Template, Electric Quilt has its own indicators for each piece, but before I cut up the Paper Templates for my English Paper Piecing, I often mark which piece belongs to each fabric.  I have also found that if some of the pieces are asymmetrical, it is important to indicate which side is the front.  Once all this is done, I am set to go!


Nearly Insane English Paper Piecing Travel Packs

As I make each draw, I am finding that fabric ‘fashions’ change quite quickly in my workroom.  Sometimes I want modern, sometimes traditional, sometimes I want it busy, sometimes more subdued.  Sometimes the blocks have a greater red influence, others a cream / white influence.  I think under the circumstances, my Lucky Dip works well, as each batch tends to have its own flavour, and by choosing the blocks randomly, they will eventually get mixed up together, rather than rows of what was in vogue at a certain time of making the quilt.  In contrast to my original thoughts, any attempts to make this a sophisticated, and refined quilt have slowly been going out the window, and I am more focussed on using as many fabrics as I can in the quilt. Scrappy is the name of the game!