International Quilt Day - Report

Suzi the cat on the Butterfly Quilt

This is how International Quilt Day started out here at Fabadashery.  Suzi the cat lay on top of the butterfly quilt, whilst I lay underneath it, browsing quilt blogs and online quilt shops on my iPad.  I had a good browse of  What's New at the Fat Quarter Shop, and enjoyed a thorough read of some of the blogs I follow.

International Quilt Day - The Quilt Show - Free for 24 hours!

Like last year, The Quilt Show was celebrating International Quilt Day by offering access to their quilty shows for free for 24 hours.  It was great seeing quilters in action.  I knew many of the names, like Gwen Marston and Jenny Beyer and it wasn't too long until I was adding their books to my Wish List on Amazon. I also spent a lot of time watching the longarm quilt episodes ...

Nearly Insane Quilt blocks

With my Nearly Insane blocks needing to be done, I felt I could justify a bit of multi-tasking, by watching the TV and keeping up with my English paper piecing, and over the day I managed three blocks, which I will tell you about in due course.

Suzi busy supervising in the workroom

We had such a great time, Suzi says "Why can't it be International Quilt Day, every day?"

Check out all the other crazy quilty cats every Friday at Sarah Did It!

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 23 + Giveaway Info!

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 23

I am really squeezing in every bit of sewing I can at the moment.  A few weeks ago I prepared quite a few Nearly Insane blocks, by cutting out the templates and fabric - it really pays off having them ready to go.  I have come to learn that the actual preparation of each block is quite a time consuming part of the Nearly Insane quilt.  There are no repetitions, there are very few opportunities to cut in bulk, and each block is like doing a mini- quilt on its own.  I have mentioned that I am thinking of doing the Dear Jane quilt in the future, and I can see that that quilt has the same issue.


Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 23

This is another block where I have featured the Mama Said Sew fabric range.  When I first saw it over a year ago, it was the inspiration for the colour scheme of this quilt.  This block also features the red spotty fabric which is in the cornerstones and which make up the zigzag border.

BTW - One of my recent blog visitors who stopped by to comment was Cathy Daniel, an artist who creates patchwork-inspired homewares and handmade ceramics in the UK - she has a GIVEAWAY (closing 22nd March 2014) to get your hands on some of her lovely stuff.

NUMBER OF PIECES:  61
DIFFICULTY: 2/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Square  3/8" (9mm) x 3/8" (9mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Triangle  3" (74mm) x 2" (52mm) x 2" (52mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS:
Red Hoops (5493-31) Mama Said Sew Collection by Sweetwater for Moda
Apple Red on Cream Sewing Guide Mama Said Sew by Sweetwater for Moda  #5490 11
Christmas Past  (14547) by Polly Minick and Lauri Simpson for Moda
Calico
                                                  

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 24

Block 24 - Nearly Insane Quilt, visits Dartmoor National Park, Devon

I have been out and about again with my Nearly Insane Quilt blocks.  This time Block 24 had a trip to Dartmoor National Park, in Devon over the weekend.   Even with all the rain we have had over the past month, the moors were quite dry, and I even caught the sun on my face. It was a beautiful day - just look at that blue sky.

Block 24 - Nearly Insane Quilt

The block isn't too bad either!  Flying geese and stripes all round.  The flying geese can become a bit  bulky, but the square pattern of this block helped to keep things lined up.  A nicely balanced block.


English Paper Piecing - Nearly Insane Quilt

If you are new to this blog, here's a photo of the back of the block, showing you the English paper pieces, and also to give a sense of scale of these completed 6 inch blocks.  At some time in the future, all the blocks will be sewn together, and quilted together in the quilt, so all this work will be hidden.

NUMBER OF PIECES:  89
DIFFICULTY: 2/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Triangle  7/8" (21mm) x 5/8" (15mm) x 5/8" (15mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Square  1 1/4" (31mm) x 1 1/4" (31mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS:
Red Garden Pindot by Michael Miller Fabrics 
Red and white stripe - unidentified
Designer Beads (Red) Freespirit for Westminster Fibers
Calico

Joining up with Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times and Connie at Freemotion By the River.

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 79

Block 79, Nearly Insane Quilt

The more blocks I do for the Nearly Insane Quilt, the more I am trying to 'fussy cut' my pieces.   In reality, I tend to gravitate to tone on tone fabrics or small prints, which don't really lend themselves to this sort of thing, but I am increasingly starting to appreciate the potential of larger prints. For this block I have just used a roundel in the centre from the  Mama Said Sew range. Over at Lixie Makes It, she is experimenting with a One Block Wonder quilt, creating hundreds of fussy cut blocks using just one fabric. (She is also having an a big adventure in Japan - it is fascinating - especially the reports on the cat café!)


Tangled Threads in Apple Red on Cream, Mama Said Sew, by Sweetwater

I have also featured the 'Sew' fabric from the Mama Said Sew range. It says 'Sew, Sew, Sew' all over it, and that is my mantra for the moment.

Block 79, Nearly Insane Quilt

I have added the smaller red triangle corners onto this block. In the original pattern, there were large outer triangles, which made the block a bit boring.  I think the bright addition perks the whole block up, and may be a technique I adopt for some other blocks.


NUMBER OF PIECES:  29
DIFFICULTY: 1/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Square  11/16" (18mm) x 11/16" (18mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Trapezoid  4 1/4" (108mm) x 1 1/2" (37mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS:
Red Hoops (5493-31)"Mama Said Sew" Collection by Sweetwater for Moda
Tangled Threads in Apple Red on Cream, Mama Said Sew, by Sweetwater for Moda
Christmas Past  (14547) by Polly Minick and Lauri Simpson for Moda
Cherry Sketch Basic Collection by Timeless Treasures #C8224
Tried and True Raindrops Garnet(04273) by Nanacy Halvorsen, Benartex
Calico

Nearly Insane Quilt - Draw 21

Nearly Insane Quilt Blocks - Draw 20

 

It has been a bit quiet around here lately.  Firstly, I was in bed with flu. Then just as I sat down to blog for the first time after a few days, my internet connection stopped working.  After a few days living without email and the web, finally this morning the internet has been mended and I am back online, hoping to have some time to bring you up to date on my blocks, and catch up on everyone else's progress.

The next blocks in line for completion are

24 - 73 - 79 - 86

As you have already seen, Block 73 has already been completed.  I have also made progress on the other blocks too.  With no internet, it is amazing how much more time there is to sew! 


Helebores, Spring 2014

With the arrival of March, the weather seems to have realised it is Spring, with several days of sun, and the crocus and daffodils suddenly showing their faces.  Also this year we are enjoying the hellebores which we planted as cuttings when we moved into our house three years ago.

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 73

Block 73 - Nearly Insane Quilt

This is Block 73 ... I have moved onto the next draw if you don't mind.  Only 25 pieces to this cute Nearly Insane quilt block, so EPP made it nice and easy to do whilst watching Sunday night TV.  It went together so nicely that I can't wait to do the next one.


Block 73, Nearly Insane Quilt

I like the way the fabric patterns are graduating towards the centre.  It will look even better when the green stitches are out. 


Floral Gatherings Shirtings, by Primitive Gatherings for Moda


Also, I have finally managed to get my hands on the Floral Gatherings Shirtings, that go with the other Floral Gatherings selection I already have.  These are lovely tiny prints - there are even a few red and white ones which aren't too late to make it into this quilt.

Linking up with Design Wall Monday.

NUMBER OF PIECES:  25
DIFFICULTY: 1/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Triangle  1 7/16" (36mm) x 1" (25mm) x 1" (25mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Triangle  2 3/4" (71mm) x 2" (50mm) x 2" (50mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS:
Calico
Chloe's Closet 30's Playtime - Red Flowers
"Friendship" (Tonal Red) by Howard Marcus for MODA (Collections For a Cause) # 46130
Red Sprig on Cream (Unidentified)

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 3

Block 3 , Nearly Insane Quilt

No time to stop, I need to get these blocks done.  Block 3 of the Nearly Insane Quilt was a nice little easy one to get things back on track.  I have also been designing, cutting and packing up my little travel packs, so that I have to excuse for idle hands.

Unpicking English paper piecing ...

On my year review I realised that there were a few blocks that could do with a revamp, so if they are not too much trouble, I am hoping to make a few improvements here and there.
Block 36 was the first to be done.  I just had to unpick the four corner pieces, cut out four more pieces of fabrics and get them sewn back on.


Block 36, getting a make-over!

Somehow the red corners seem to bring the block together, more than the original design.  It didn't take long, but I know there are some that need a bit more work than this.

I have also been starting to consider how I will quilt this special quilt.  It has required a lot of research and consideration of how I get my tops quilted in general. Any thoughts?

NUMBER OF PIECES:  44
DIFFICULTY: 1/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Square  3/16" (10mm) x 3/16" (10mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Square  1 1/2" (39mm) x 1 1/2" (39mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS:
Cherry Sketch Basic Collection by Timeless Treasures #C8224
Red Garden Pindot by Michael Miller Fabrics 
Spraytime (Scarlet) by Makower #2800-R06
Chloe's Closet 30's Playtime - Red Flowers
Calico

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 45

Block 45 - Nearly Insane Quilt

I mentioned in a previous post that Block 45 had caused a bit of a stoppage to the progress of the quilt.  It looks like a simple block, after all, it only has 44 pieces.  I  cut out all the paper templates, the fabric, and covered them.  However, once I started hand sewing them together, something was going SERIOUSLY wrong.  The shapes were not matching and were jutting out beyond the edge.  I knew I had to be careful with this block, as some of the edge pieces are asymmetrical, so you have to make sure you have them the right side.  But it looked like I had this correct. 

In the bin!

The mystery led me back to the pattern I had draw up in Electric Quilt, which is where I found the problem.  One of the lines I had drawn was not quite parallel to the others, making some diamonds distorted.  I tried to work out which pieces were causing the problem, to replace them, but it became so frustrating that I decided the safest approach would be to ditch the whole lot in the bin and start again. Is it a coincidence that it is a Lone Star pattern, very similar to Block 43, another previously troublesome block? 

Block 45, Nearly Insane Quilt

To let the dust settle, I  moved onto Block 8, which with its 193 pieces I found much easier!  Then I made sure I had an accurate template, and chose a new set of fabrics.  It still caused a few problems during its construction. I don't know why. Anyway this block has been done (almost twice!). As a result, it gets a rare 10/10 for difficulty.

NUMBER OF PIECES:  44
DIFFICULTY: 10/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Triangle  11/16" (18mm) x 1/2" (13mm) x 1/2" (13mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Triangle  3" (76mm) x 2 1/16" (54mm) x 2 1/16" (54mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS:
Cherry Sketch Basic Collection by Timeless Treasures #C8224
Ivory on Red Cameo Bud Yardage # 14764 Midwinter Reds by Minick and Simpson, Moda
100 Red/White Sweet Hearts Stof - Quilters Basics Calico
 

Nearly Insane Quilt - 1st Anniversary Review

Fabadashery - Nearly Insane Quilt , February 2014

It is exactly one year since I started my journey on the Nearly Insane quilt.   This morning I have laid out all the pieces on the floor, so I can get an overview of how I am doing.  I have done 59 blocks which represents nearly 70% of the quilt. Doing a few sums I reckon I have another 6 months to go on the quilt - so August 2014.


Red and white Nearly Insane Quilt

You would think that I would be tempted to lay it out more often, but it took ages to place all the bits and pieces.  As soon as I can, I hope to start sewing some blocks together, but at the moment there always seems to be a piece of the puzzle missing. For now, just having a photographic record will suffice - I know my photos will be the source of much contemplation over the next few weeks.  

Glass half full? Glass half empty?

You can see from this photo how much I have left to do - all English paper pieced.  I am pretty much up to date with the sashing, but even with my 12 Days of Sewing over Christmas, I still have lots of cornerstones to do.  Part of me is pleased with the progress, the other part is frustrated with how little time I have to work on it, so I can move onto the next project.


Sashing, cornerstones and blocks - Nearly Insane Quilt

Here are the statistics for the quilt so far ....

Blocks = 59

Edge blocks = 20

Cornerstones =44

Half Cornerstone = 11

Sashes = 135

Border Units = 13

And here are the sums for how many pieces I have done so far. 

Blocks and Edge Blocks = 3424

Cornerstones = 396

Half Cornerstones = 66

Sashes = 135

Border Units = 52

TOTAL = 4073

Electric Quilt EQ5 - Nearly Insane Quilt

From the Electric Quilt image, you can see that the quilt is filling up with the blocks.  I have also spent a bit of time adjusting the borders, so that the chevron border appears less heavy. I think this stage is the hardest part. 

I can see the end in sight, but currently I feel in a hurry to get it done.  Lately my sewing time has really been curtailed by my day job, and I am eager to be working on other projects, but I am quite disciplined when it comes to finishing projects, before starting the next.  I could really do with a sewing retreat.

 

Nearly Insane Quilt - Edge Block 94

Edge Block 94 - Nearly Insane Quilt

The two most recent draws have both pulled out edge block 94, so I will showcase them together in this post.  In the quilt, a block is split in half to make up two separate edge blocks, which are placed on opposite sides in the original quilt.  

Edge Block 94 - Nearly Insane Quilt

Again, these blocks have been done whilst watching the 2014 Sochi Olympics. With only 18 pieces each, they were quick to do, and after a slow few weeks, I finally feel as if I have moved this quilt along.

Edge Block 94 - Nearly Insane Quilt

It is almost a year since I posted my first block on my Nearly Insane journey. I think we are due an Anniversary review ...

NUMBER OF PIECES:  18
DIFFICULTY: 2/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Triangle 3/4" (18mm) x 1/2" (13mm) x 1/2" (13mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Triangle 3 " (77mm) x 2 1/8" (54mm) x 2 1/8" (54mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS:
Tried and True Raindrops Garnet(04273) by Nanacy Halvorsen, Benartex
Polka Party III by Holly Holderman, Lakehouse Drygoods #03035
Redwork Rendevous by Alex Anderson for P&B Textiles
Quilter's Memory", Stof Quilter's Basics #4517-118
The Block in Apple Red Mama Said Sew by Sweetwater for Moda  #5491-11
Apple Line Red Swirl by Alice Kennedy for Timeless Treasures  # C5710
Homeschool Mini Mono Floral Red, LB Krueger for Windham Fabrics SKU# 35182-3
Solid Red