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

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 8

Block 8  - Nearly Insane Quilt

Thank goodness for the Winter Olympics.  It has been an excuse to sit in front of the television, stay inside from the rain, and catch up on some hand sewing.  I finished this block watching Jenny Jones win bronze for the Ladies Slopestyle for Team GB.  In blogland, there is a lot of talk about the patchwork logo being used for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, and if you pop over to the Patriotic Quilter, she has also given details about the patchwork designs on the USA snowboarders outfits - great stuff!

It feels like a long time since I finished a block.  I will give you the full details when I tell you about Block 45... Block 8 has almost 200 pieces in it - 193 in total.  When I had the whole pile of pieces in front of me, I knew I had a long job ahead of me, but it was fun seeing the blocks within a block emerge.  There are little pieces in this one, the smallest being 3/16th (9.5mm) square.  When designing this one, I have added pieces here, and taken them away in other parts.

Block 8 (reverse)  - Nearly Insane Quilt

This photo shows the back of the block, so you can see the English paper piecing. The blocks with lots of tiny pieces in them, have a lovely malleable feel to them when they are complete.  This block does not feel as if it has stiff paper in it, but as if I have created a beautiful soft new fabric.  I'll enjoy it whilst I can, I know I will need tweezers to remove the paper!



Block 8 - Nearly Insane Quilt

Lots of pieces, but lots of detail  - I love the block like that.

NUMBER OF PIECES:  193
DIFFICULTY: 3/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Square  3/16" (9.5mm) x 3/16" (9.5mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Square  1" (25mm) x 1" (25mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS:
Red and White Stripe (Unidentified)
Red Garden Pindot by Michael Miller Fabrics 
Cherry Sketch Basic Collection by Timeless Treasures #C8224
Tried and True Raindrops Garnet(04273) by Nanacy Halvorsen, Benartex
Christmas Past  (14547) by Polly Minick and Lauri Simpson for Moda
Polka Party III by Holly Holderman, Lakehouse Drygoods #03035

Red and White Quilts - Sew Cal Gal Quilt Show

Red and White Pinwheel Quilt, July 2013

Over at Sew Cal Gal, they are hosting a  "Year of Red and White Quilt Challenges".  Red and white quilts?  Here? On this blog? For once, it looks like Fabadashery has lucked out!


Red and White Pinwheel Quilt

Starting off with a Quilt Show of Quilts Made Prior to 2014, I am offering up my Red and White Pinwheel Quilt. Regular readers will be familiar with it.  It was a BIG FINISH for me last summer and it was displayed in the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham.  The design was my own, inspired by antique quilts.  I did draw up the design in Electric Quilt for reference, but mainly I just muddled along.  The reverse is a red and white spotted Laura Ashley fabric, which had been lingering in my stash for many years.

Red and White Pinwheel Quilt

The quilt was hand stitched using the English paper piecing method, and hand quilted. Red is probably my favourite colour.  Red also has a tendency to bleed - but see how vibrant the red stands out against the white - it is all thanks to the Colour Catcher.

Suzi the cat under the Red and White Pinwheel Quilt

Meanwhile, I have been working on my Red and White Nearly Insane Quilt (which is due a 1 Year Anniversary reveal soon ...).  I hope I will be joining up with Sew Cal Gal again later the year.

Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt 2013 - Update

Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt 2013

I just had a call from my sister reminding me that there was a Link UP for Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice 2013 Mystery Quilt today, so I thought I had better put up a post.

Bonnie Hunter's Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt 2013

I haven't done anything more to the quilt since you last saw it at the beginning of January, but I have been busy sourcing a suitable binding and backing for it.

'California Girl' line by Fig Tree and Co for Moda

The fabric I have found for the back is part of the 'California Girl' line by Fig Tree and Co for Moda.  I had used a yellow colour way of this print in the actual quilt, but had originally only bought a fat quarter.  Once I saw this lighter background, I decided it would be perfect for the back.  The range was distributed several years ago, and I have spent quite a lot of time sourcing it on the internet.  Several shops had it, but no more.  Some shops still have it, but only in small yardage, which will not be enough for a back.  As a result I have had to buy bits from here and there, and slowly they are arriving in packages in the post.  Once it has all arrived, I just need to get some wadding and there is nothing to stop me starting the quilting ....

Nearly Insane Quilt - Draw 20

I have done NO sewing this week.  I have been busy at work.  In a spare moment, I have indulged in a bit of Pinterest.  I have a board 'A Lifetime of Quilts To Make' to which I have added a few quilts. However, with the progress I have made this week, I am going to need more than one lifetime! Oh well ... back to the latest Nearly Insane update. 

Red and White Nearly Insane Blocks - Draw 19

This round has been one of the easiest, especially Block 31 which only had twenty pieces in it.  It was almost like a normal quilt block!

6" quilt block

It is always difficult to portray the actual size of things on the internet, so here is one of the 6" Nearly Insane blocks adjacent to my 6" square ruler.

The next blocks are as follows

3 - 8 - 45 - 94

 No promises when these will get done.

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 31

Block 31 - Nearly Insane Quilt

It feels as if this block has the least pieces in it so far, at just 20.  Looking back through the blog from the past year, in fact I have had some with less. The original of this one has 24, but my final design had two square blocks next to each other which were the same, so I merged them.  I have added pieces in other blocks, so I thought it was fair enough.

You would think that just 20 pieces would make it easier, but I find the blocks with just a few pieces in them, far more challenging to select fabrics for.  I came back to this one several times, and even now, I am not quite satisfied with it.  The next one I am working on has over 150 pieces and I am much happier!

NUMBER OF PIECES:  20
DIFFICULTY: 1/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Rectangle 3" (76mm) x 1 1/2" (38mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Triangle, 2 1/16" (59mm) x 1 1/2" (38mm) x 1 1/2" (38mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS:
Days Gone By for Exclusively Quilters (Rose Print & Cherry Print)
Berry Falling Snow by Kate Spain for Moda #27127-11

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 38

Block 38, Nearly Insane Quilt

It has just gone 16:30 here in the UK, and I rushed outside to take a picture of the latest Nearly Insane block before the natural daylight faded completely.  As I write this the sun is just setting. Miraculously, the photo doesn't look as if it is mid-winter here! The red cherries in this block certainly cheer up the gloomy days. The blocks lately have been quite easy to do, with less that fifty pieces in them.  I think the next one only has about twenty pieces.


Block 38, Nearly Insane Quilt

Sometimes it is only once I have put the block together that I think that a bit of fussy cutting on some of the fabrics may have improved the overall look.  However, when I am actually cutting the fabric, I am desperately trying to use every last inch, which isn't always compatible with fancy cuts.  Also, I want to thank you for tolerating the green tacking thread in my blocks as we go along the journey.  For some reason I feel this block in particular will be greatly improved once the tacking thread is out, but there is still a way to go before that momentous occasion.


NUMBER OF PIECES:  45
DIFFICULTY: 1/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Square 1/2" (13mm) x 1/2" (13mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Square  1 1/2" (38mm) x 1 1/2" (38mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS:
Calico
Fine red stripe, Stof Quilters Basic
Days Gone By for Exclusively Quilters
Cream Pin Dot (Unidentified)
Gingham by The Henley Studio for Makower #920 

Christmas sewing stuff

I haven't had time to update you with some of the goodies I received at Christmas which I have added to my sewing stash.


'Floral Gatherings' Layer Cake, by Primitive Gatherings for Moda

Firstly, I managed to finally get my hands on a 'Floral Gatherings' Layer Cake, by Primitive Gatherings for Moda.  These are available in the USA and Australia, according to the internet, but have yet to reach UK shores.  It is one of those ranges that I have had my eye on for months, and I think my Mother picked them up in a flash sale at the Fat Quarter Shop, which helps a bit with the international shipping.  There is also a 'Floral gatherings Shirtings' range, again, which seems to be taking an age to get to the UK, which I am still waiting for.  Both sets have small floral prints on them (as the name suggests!).  In particular there are some red and white prints which I was keen to get my hands on.


Book - Civil War Sewing Circle by Kathleen Tracy

My SIL gave me a book by Kathleen Tracy, 'Civil War Sewing Circle', which has lots of projects in it.  There are lots of small projects in this book which have caught my eye, which I could use the Floral Gatherings for and other Primitive Gatherings prints.


Miniature Quilt Display Stand

Back in the summer at the Festival of Quilts I bought myself a present, a stand to display miniature quilts.  It would hold a quilt 12" by 12.5".  As yet I don't have any miniature quilts to display, but as you can see from the above, everything is in place to make it happen.

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 77

Block 77, Nearly Insane Quilt

I had some fun with this block. It's scrappy, and I played about with the design to achieve the cross design, instead of the more traditional star design. Below is this is the pattern for Block 77 from the Nearly Insane Quilt pattern book by Liz Lois.  The first pattern that jumps out is the Ohio Star pattern, but I will admit that some of the star blocks in the Nearly Insane quilt so far have not been my favourite.  So with a bit of time on my Electric Quilt software, and some creative adaptations to the block, I came up with the above pattern.

Block 77 Pattern, Nearly Insane book, Liz Lois

After the Christmas festivities, I am back in the swing with these blocks now.  Just as well as Sew Cal Gal is hosting A Year of Red and White Challenges.  At the moment I feel I am ahead, with my Red and White Pinwheel Quilt and the Nearly Insane Quilt, but by the end of the year, I think the hand stitching approach may let me down. He ho.


Suzi the cat in the sun

We have had some miserable weather lately, but today the sun is out, and if you find a nice warm spot, like Suzi has, feeling the warmth of the sun on you is quite pleasant.  Also, this is a good reason to join in the Feline Friday extravaganza over at Sarah Did It!  last year Suzi won the feline prize - a catnip toy - it comes highly recommended.

NUMBER OF PIECES:  33
DIFFICULTY: 1/10
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:
Red and White Scraps

Nearly Insane Quilt - Draw 19

Draw 18 Nearly Insane Quilt blocks

Draw 18 is now behind me, as you can see from my pretty blocks all lined up in a row.  It was over a month since I reviewed my Nearly Insane Quilt progress, and I am currently resisting pulling all the blocks out for a photo shoot, as I want to see a bit more progress.  Also there may be a bit more daylight.  Our winter here has been relatively mild, but VERY grey, with lots of rain.  No sign of even a snowflake, compared to last year.

Here are the next blocks to be done for Draw 19.

 

31 - 38 - 77 - 94

Also to liven this post up a bit, I noticed that Keepsake Quilting in the USA currently has a Fabric For Life sweepstake.  You can win 20 years worth of fabric!   CAN YOU IMAGINE!  I visited this store once on a trip to the USA, but sadly for me, you need to be USA resident to enter.  If you live in the USA, get over there NOW!

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 22

Block 22 - Nearly Insane Quilt Block

It feels like this block has taken a long time to do.  The six inch block has about 133 pieces in it, so it is not surprising it took time.  As it was coming together it was looking a bit messy, but now it is completed and pressed, I quite like it (do I say that about all of them?).


Block 22 - Nearly Insane Quilt Block

When I was making the colour selections in my Electric Quilt software, I wanted to create a different pattern from the traditional flying geese look.  I think the result is quite interesting, a bit like an optical illusion. The border is made up from flying geese blocks which are just over half an inch deep, which you can see from the detail, but the impact of the pattern is quite different from a distance.
 
BTW: Did you see that Bonnie Hunter is on her way to England?  The trip she is on covers most of the key quilty places in the UK, and ends up at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, where I exhibited my Red and White Pinwheel quilt last year.  Knowing she will be there in August I feel the pressure to get one of her mystery quilts quilted and entered into the show!

NUMBER OF PIECES:  133
DIFFICULTY: 4/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Square 1/2" (13mm) x 1/2" (13mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Strip, 1/2" (13mm) x 2 1/2" (77mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS:
Calico
Cream Bias Check Mama Said Sew by Sweetwater for Moda  #5495 11
Cherry Sketch Basic Collection by Timeless Treasures #C8224
Somerset Shirtings c 1890 by Julie Hendrickson and Nancy Gere, Windham Fabrics # 35205
"Berry Falling Snow" by Kate Spain for Moda #27127-11

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 74

Nearly Insane Quilt, Block 74

What a difference a week makes.  After all that lovely sewing time of the holidays, I am now back at work, struggling to get just a bit of sewing done on my Nearly Insane blocks in my spare time.  Even finding time to blog seems difficult.  Anyway, here is Block 74.  I actually finished it on Day 12 of my sewing marathon, but only now have had time to take a picture in the daylight and note down the details.  This was a relatively simple block, with some pretty pinwheels, and I always like to add stripes.

Reverse - Block 74, Nearly Insane Quilt

Here is a reminder that I am making these blocks using the English paper piecing method.  This is a view of the back, and you will see that I baste through the paper and I will keep all the paper in until I have at least added the sashing pieces to each block.  I know there are different ways of doing this - this method works for me.

I am currently working away at block 22.  It has lots of flying geese in it and has over 100 pieces in it, but I don't have much more to do.

Also the Nearly Insane plan on my sidebar has been updated, and is a reminder that I am approaching the year anniversary on 16th February 2014.

NUMBER OF PIECES:  53
DIFFICULTY: 2/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Square 1/2" (13mm) x 1/2" (13mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Strip, 3 3/16" (80mm) x 3/8" (18mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS:
Calico
"Prairie Paisley II" by Minick and Simpson for Moda (14739 21)
Spraytime (Scarlet) by Makower #2800-R06
Scattered Red Stars on White (Unidentified)
Red Garden Pindot by Michael Miller Fabrics 
Red and white stripe - unidentified

Day 12 - Twelve Days of Sewing at Fabadashery

Output - 12 Days of Sewing at Fabadashery

I was meant to post this yesterday, but I had a window of time which was either going to be sewing or blogging.  Sewing won (as it should), and it meant that Nearly Insane Block 74 got completed.  So in all, after 12 days of sewing, we have a Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt top, twelve and a half Nearly Insane Quilt cornerstones (which was the aim of the exercise), two Nearly Insane blocks and two Nearly Insane Edge / Corner blocks, plus some of the chevron border.  You will also see that I found the missing edge block.

Makower Advent Calendar Quilt

Also not to forget the quilted Advent Calendar that was finished (but now packed away in the attic for next year).


Dresden Plate Pin Cushion tops

I also mentioned that I had been making some presents that I would reveal.  I actually forgot to take a picture of them before I wrapped them up, but do have this picture of them part way through.  I made two pin cushions in a similar style to my Grandmother's Flower Garden pin cushion, only they were smaller and had a Dresden plate pattern on the top, using some prints from the Primitive Gatherings range. 

This evening, Suzi has been catching up on reading all the lovely comments you have made about our Celtic Solstice Mystery quilt. She is has really enjoyed it and is ready for the next one!

With all that excitement over we are back to the regular red and white theme of this blog, with no other immediate projects in mind.  I am happy to say that my Nearly Insane endeavours have inspired some of you, and Anna has written to say she plans to start one soon, having received the book for Christmas.  We all look forward to seeing it soon!
 

Day 11 - Twelve Days of Sewing at Fabadashery

Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt scraps

In the aftermath of completing my Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt top , I have started to tidy up.  Here are the scraps that I have collected over the past six weeks as we prepared each block.  I am thinking of making some small strip blocks and putting them together for another cat mat, similar to the one I did last year after completing the Easy Street Mystery quilt.

30's Playtime (Moda) & Quilters Basics (Stof)

Whilst very little actual sewing has happened, I have been busy preparing some Nearly Insane blocks.  It seems quite a while since I had a day on my Electric Quilt software, planning, designing and cutting out.  Since then, a few more red and white fabrics have slipped into my stash.  I have seen this red flowery fabric from the Chloe's Closet 30's Playtime range by Moda, as part of Jelly Rolls and Charm Packs, and I finally found it at Cowslips Workshops as yardage.  As a latecomer to the Nearly Insane party, the random draws will ensure that this fabric gets mixed up nicely with the previous blocks.  The other fine red stripe is a Stof Quilters Basic.

1/4 inch seam allowances - even on the smallest of pieces

BTW, I have also had a query asking how big my seam allowances are on some of the smaller pieces.  I hope this picture illustrates that they still need a 1/4 inch seam, even though the seams are more than the fabric that will be visible.  Once I have covered the template, I usually trim off any excess dog ears.

I have also spent a bit of time catching up on everyone else's blogs.  Lots of quilters have reviewed their quilting year, and set up plans for 2014.  My plan is to just keep going and fit in as much stitching as I possibly can. BUT Oh dear...  I found some eye candy.  At the Fabric and Flowers blog I saw a lovely medallion quilt, Midnight at the Oasis, a Jen Kingwell pattern published in the July / August 2013 Quiltmania magazine.  I have seen it before, but I decided that I really fancy doing this one. 


Suzi taking a well earned rest after the Celtic Solstice marathon

And here is today's photo of Suzi.  She hasn't done any sewing either, but she is at least sitting on a quilt.