Wednesday 17 April 2013

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 62

Block 62 - Nearly Insane Quilt, with Cornerstones and Sashing
Block 62 - Nearly Insane Quilt, with Cornerstones and Sashing
Here is Block 62 of the Nearly Insane Quilt, which I finished stitching last night.  For this picture I have set it against the cornerstones and sashing, just to give you an idea of how it will look when it is complete in the whole quilt.  I have used this block to showcase my Mama Said Sew Moda fabric, and a very fine red and cream zig zag fabric which looks more pink from a distance.

It was not the easiest of blocks to do.  There is a lot of BIAS going on in this block - thank heavens for the paper templates.  I am hoping that once I get the sashing on, it will hold it all in place.  Some of the triangular 'looking' pieces are actually quadrilaterals, and not asymmetrical.  This meant I had to be extra careful to make sure everything was the right way around, so I carefully laid them out in separate piles.  But Sparky came to help, and suddenly all my five little piles of English Paper Pieces disappeared! 
Cat Helps with Patchwork and Quilting

Where was the rest of the block?
 
 
It's great to have help, but Sparky seems to be magnetically attracted to my patchwork block pieces, and saw them as a nice change from his usual resting place - the television remote control!

Anyway, today is 17th of the month, so it is Help for Hexi-Aholics over at Sarah Did It!  Strictly I don't have any Hexi projects on the go, but with all my English Paper Piecing, I think I can make a valid contribution - especially if I showcase my 'Hexi Table'!  (OK, strictly an octagon, but I KNOW they won't be fussy).  If you have any long standing Hexi Projects, pop over there and share it.
 
'Hexi' Octagonal Wooden Table Fabadashery
'Hexi' Octagonal Wooden Table

NUMBER OF PIECES: 52
DIFFICULTY: 6/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Triangle, 3/4" (19mm) x 3/4" (19mm) x 1 1/16" (27mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Square 1 3/16" (36mm) x 1 3/16" (36mm)

TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS: 

Reunion Cherry Sally's Skirt by Sweetwater for Moda #5473
Kona Cotton (Solid Red) by Robert Kaufman
Tangled Threads in Apple Red, Mama Said Sew, by Sweetwater for Moda
Tangled Threads in Apple Red on Cream, Mama Said Sew, by Sweetwater for Moda

Linking up with Freshly Pieced too!

Tuesday 16 April 2013

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 87



Back when I was doing Block 92, I announced my change of plan to swap a few of the blocks around, replacing Block 92 with Block 87 as the corner block for the quilt.  Well, Block 87 has come up in the draw this time round, so I get to do a corner block for the quilt.  I have shown it with one of the 6" sash pieces, to illustrate its size.
Only eight pieces in this little triangular block, and not so much time committed to choosing the colours as I know I have four more to make, which I will do in different colourways.

NUMBER OF PIECES: 8 (Corner Block)
DIFFICULTY: 1/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Square, 15/16" (22.5mm) x 15/16" (22.5mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Triangle 1 1/2" (38mm) x 1 1/2" (38mm) x 2 1/8" (54mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS: 
Little Spots Red, Pierres Famous Travelling Circus, Michael Miller
Scattered Red Stars on White (Unidentified)
Red and White Stripe (unidentified)

Monday 15 April 2013

Nearly Insane Quilt - Draw 5

Here is the block selection for Draw 5. Again, nothing too bad here - when will those 'insane' blocks make themselves known?
 
10 - 57 - 62 - 87
 
Nearly Insane Blocks 4, 30, 61 with Spring Polyanthus
Above are the set of blocks from my Nearly Insane Quilt Draw 4, Block 4, 30, and 61 .  I thought I would showcase my blocks against our Spring polyanthus. We have had a few warmer days this week, and I just managed to take this picture before the rain started again.  My posts have got a bit out of sync, due to having more time to sew, and less time to update my blog, but I think with this post I have pulled it all back into order.

Nearly Insane Quilt, English Paper Piecing Fabadashery
Nearly Insane Quilt, English Paper Piecing
I have started to gather a good pile of blocks, along with other bits and pieces for the Nearly Insane Quilt, but overall, it only represents about 17% of the total.  As you can see, I have made good headway with the pile of sashing strips, but the cornerstones are falling slightly behind.   So this is a review of my 'Design Wall', and so joining up with Patchwork Times today.

Sunday 14 April 2013

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 4

Block 4 - Nearly Insane Quilt Fabadashery
Block 4 - Nearly Insane Quilt
Another block completed for the Nearly Insane Quilt. Block 4 seems to be another Ohio Star 'variation'.  It was an easy block to construct, but choosing the colours for it seemed to take ages, and I am still not sure if I quite got it right.  It is amazing how much of your life you can waste on Electric Quilt!
On another note, whilst out and about at the weekend, I came across this card, which I just had to have  - I think it is a great ' Mission Statement' for my current project.

Don't Suffer from Insanity Enjoy It
NUMBER OF PIECES: 33
DIFFICULTY: 2/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Triangle, 1 1/16" (27mm) x 6/8" (17mm) x 6/8" (17mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Triangle 3" (76mm) x 2 1/8" (54mm) x 2 1/8" (54mm)

TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS: 

Gingham by The Henley Studio for Makower #920
Red Pinwheel Cream Apple Red Mama Said Sew by Sweetwater for Moda  #5496 11
"Christmas Past" (14547) by Polly Minick and Lauri Simpson for Moda
Kona Cotton (Solid Red) by Robert Kaufman

Friday 12 April 2013

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 10


Block 10 - Nearly Insane Quilt
Block 10 - Nearly Insane Quilt
I think you would describe Block 10 as an Ohio Star Variation – just one of many variations which I have already done, and have yet to do, as part of the Nearly Insane Quilt.

In this block I am showcasing my new ‘favourite’ fabric which I have recently purchased, Polka Party III by Holly Holderman for Lakehouse Drygoods, which I picked up at the Patchwork Basket in Newent. The cream fabric on the star has a subtle spot print on it, which is pearlescent  - just enough to add a little special something when it catches the light. I hope you can appreciate it from the detail picture. 
Polka Party III, Holly Holderman, Lakehouse Drygoods
Polka Party III, Holly Holderman, Lakehouse Drygoods
Just a reminder that I am doing the quilt using the English Paper Piecing method, mainly because I need it to be portable, as I am travelling around, which is why you can see large green tacking stitches still in the block.  I don't usually take these out until I am putting the quilt top together.
(WHOOPS! - I have just realised that I have forgotten to let you know the latest draw of blocks - I will get you up to speed over the weekend!)

NUMBER OF PIECES: 25
DIFFICULTY: 2/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Square, 1/2" (12.5mm) x 1/2" (12.5mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Square 2.5" (63mm) x 2.5" (63mm)

TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS: 

"Polka Party III" by Holly Holderman, Lakehouse Drygoods (#03035)
"Friendship" (Tonal Red) by Howard Marcus for MODA (Collections For a Cause) # 46130
Red Sprig on Cream (Unidentified)

Joining Up with Crazy Mom Quilts!

Wednesday 10 April 2013

Spring Quilt Festval, Exeter, April 2013

At the weekend I popped down to Exeter, in Devon, to attend the Spring Quilt Festival, where I met up with my mother, to enjoy the Quilt Show.  We did a workshop with the textile artist Vineta Cable, I looked at Long Arm Quilting options, and as usual, we did our best to prop up the economy by supporting our local patchwork and quilting shops.

It is not a big show, but sometimes the smaller shows give you the opportunity to take more time to enjoy the individual quilts.  Below is a detail of one my favourites, which featured scrappy patched apples and pears, and was part of a display by Kernow Quilters.  I love the scrap fabrics used for the fruit.
Up the Old Apples and Pears' Quilt - South West Quilters
Up the Old Apples and Pears' Quilt - Kernow Quilters
Another one I liked was a simple pictorial quilt hanging, depicting the harbour at Mevagissey in Cornwall, by Di Wells.  Simple, but very evocative of the Cornish coast.

Mevagissey by Di Wells, South West Quilters
Mevagissey by Di Wells, Kernow Quilters
Otherwise, I think I was quite restrained - just a few red and white fat quarters from Stof, purchased from a new vendor, Clarris, who I understand will be opening a new patchwork and quilting shop in Winchcombe, near Cheltenham, in the very near future.  These fabrics have been added to the stash, ready to be used in some of the Nearly Insane blocks in the very near future.

Red and White Fabrics - Quilters Basics, Stof
Red and White Fabrics - Quilters Basics, Stof

 

Sunday 7 April 2013

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 95

Edge Blocks - Nearly Insane Quilt
Edge Blocks - Nearly Insane Quilt
I thought I would give the Nearly Insane Edge blocks a little showcase of their own in this post.  As you can see four are now complete, including Block 95, which is the latest to the collection.

Block 95 is one of the edge triangles for the Nearly Insane Quilt.  I admit I have 'innovated' with this one (AGAIN!).  I was struggling to make the centre work, so I have adapted to make my own design, which involved more pieces.  Is this cheating?  (Note: I have just checked in Liz Lois book to see HOW much I have cheated.  It looks like I have innovated on the little nine patch too.)   There seem to be some Chinese whispers between the book, the Electric Quilt software, and me actually making it.  It works for me, and the Scarlet Spraytime is REALLY red and adds some punch to this one!

NUMBER OF PIECES: 26
DIFFICULTY: 3/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Square, 1/2" (12.5mm) x 1/2" (12.5mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Strip 1/2" (12.5mm) x 6 " (152mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS: 
Pom Pom de Paris by French General for Moda #13575-13,

Spraytime (Scarlet) by Makower #2800-R06

 

Friday 5 April 2013

String Quilt Cat Mat - Easy Street Parking Lot!

Way back in January, I mentioned that I had plans to do a project with the scraps from my Easy Street Quilt, the online 2012 Mystery Quilt over at Quiltville.  However,  I woke up planning to do a machining project, and instead ended up with ALL my patchwork and quilting fabric out of my cupboard.  I had decided to reorganised my fabric stash. Several months down the line, I have revisited my original plans, and this week have produced a lovely new Cat Mat, which I am calling “The Easy Street - the Parking Lot”. 

String Quilt, Easy Street - The Parking Lot
String Quilt, Easy Street - The Parking Lot
In Bonnie K Hunter's book 'String Fling', she introduces her scrap user system, and a technique of using pages from an old telephone book as the foundation for stitching small scrap fabrics.  This was the technique I wanted to try out, but as my paper alternative, I had put aside the Christmas edition of the Radio Times, which by removing the centre staples has given me a double width of paper to stitch.  It has also highlighted to me how much of the Christmas period I spent on the Easy Street Quilt – I don’t  think I watched any TV!
2012 Christmas Edition Radio Times Cover Snowman Raymond Briggs
2012 Christmas Edition Radio Times - String Foundation Piecing
I did do a rough design in my Electric Quilt software, but I haven’t followed it slavishly, and instead have used my usual technique of muddling through trying to get everything the right size.  My colour scheme for Easy Street Quilt was Purple, Red and Green, with a Tan background, and most of my leftover scraps are pretty small, so my paper strips are only 3” wide. 
Easy Street Quilt Scraps Red Purple Green Fabadashery
Easy Street Quilt Scraps
Sewing the strips was easy on the machine, and I managed to get a production line going. I found it was better to remove the paper before tidying up the edges, as once cut, the stitching seam was not as strong to resist the ripping of the paper. 
String Foundation Piecing Pfaff 2058
String Foundation Piecing
As regular Followers will know, most of my work lately has focussed on hand stitching my Nearly Insane Quilt, so it seems like an age since I sat down at the machine (Note To Self: I really do need to set up a Leaders and Enders project, especially if Bonnie rolls out another Mystery Quilt at the end of the year!)  For the quarter square triangles, I tried to use the clever technique I used on my Broken Dishes Cat Mat, but my scrap pieces were too small and I had to cobble most of them together in a more ‘traditional’ method. 
Eventually, the quilt top came together, and was ready for quilting. 
I had some scrap polyester wadding to use, and I still had plenty of the Kansas Troubles 'Bound to the Prairie' fabric which I used for the backing on my Irish Chain Quilt, which I have used for the backing. Up close it is a lovely little print, but from a distance it looks like a murky porridge – however, murky porridge is good for hiding any less refined stitching when machine quilting…
Quilt Sandwich being Machine Quilted Pfaff 2058
Quilt Sandwich being Machine Quilted
My actual Easy Street Quilt has yet to be quilted, and part of this project was to gain some strength experience of machine quilting to tackle this large project.  I was recently inspired by a little quilting video tutorial on the Green Fairy Quilts blog, by Judi Madsen, which although aimed at long arm quilting, highlighted to me the importance of marking your quilt, and planning the design head.  Also, I decided to abandon the worry of getting the tension right for free machine quilting, and stuck with using my straight stitch with the feed dogs up.   I went for a simple channels of stitching in the squares, rotating it by 90 degrees on each quarter. 
Quilt Detail Fabadashery
Quilt Detail
I think for this little quilt, the quilting has worked well, and enhances the pattern nicely – just as it should be.   This cat mat is only about 20 inches square, but manoeuvring it on my domestic machine was not as easy as you would want it to be, which makes me think – how realistic is it going to be to get the full size Easy Street Quilt under it?  I think I need to sit down and work out a design, and be realistic about how long it is going to take.  One assumes that using a machine means it will be quick, but I think on this occasion, I need to put that assumption to one side.
To finish it off, I pieced together some binding from the scraps, machine stitching it on the back, and hand sewing it on the front. 
Cat Kitty sitting on quilt
Suzi the Cat on the new Cat Mat
I am really pleased with how it has turned out, but think I have enough projects in this colour combination for now.  It did reduce the scraps, but there are still plenty more.

The good news is, the Quality Control Department has already signed it off.

Featuring Feline Friday and Crazy Mom Quilts!

Tuesday 2 April 2013

Nearly Insane Quilt - Block 30

Block 30 - Nearly Insane Quilt Fabadashery
Block 30 - Nearly Insane Quilt
What I am enjoying most about the Nearly Insane Quilt, is that there is no time to get bored with repeating the same block, as each one presents a fresh challenge.  When planning this block I was going to change the direction of the HSTs, but once I remembered that the block would be on point, I changed my mind back.  I really like the use of stripes on this one.

I am really pleased that I loaded all my fabrics on to the Electric Quilt software, as it allows me to indulge in choosing the fabrics for each patchwork block.  The software has really worked well with this project because of this,  and I get to use it at least once a week.  Before, my experience of it was limited to designing a quilt, and then spending the next year making it!

PS: I have just done a really SILLY thing. I measured the finished size of the block.  It has turned out 6" x 6 3/16"  - that is a problem for another day!

NUMBER OF PIECES: 34
DIFFICULTY: 4/10
SMALLEST PIECE: Triangle,3/4" (19mm) x 3/4" (19mm) x 1 1/16" (27mm)
LARGEST PIECE: Rectangle 1/2" (12.5mm) x 6" (152mm)
TECHNIQUE: English Paper Piecing (EPP)
FABRICS:
Roc-Lon Unbleached Muslin
Kona Cotton (Solid Red) by Robert Kaufman

Red with White Dots, Makower
Weekend Rail Stripe Red by Swirly Girl Designs, for Michael Miller # 45533
Red pattern with white dot (unidentified)

Joining up with Connie at Freemotion by the River

Monday 1 April 2013

Nearly Insane Quilt - March 2013

Nearly Insane Quilt, Progress March 2013 Fabadashery
Nearly Insane Quilt, Progress March 2013
Since February 2013 when I started on the Nearly Insane Quilt journey, I have been drip feeding you progress on my work, so as an Easter treat I thought I would share with you an update of the overall progress.
All the tacking stitches and paper templates are still in place, which makes the overall look at the moment a bit strange, but I know when I finally sew all the components together, it will transform the work I have done so far.  I am always tempted in the back of my mind to sew a few together, or remove the papers, but ultimately I see it as the incentive for completing the first stage of making the blocks.  It is also fun playing with the bits and pieces, like I have done here, to get a taste of what the overall quilt will look like in the future. 
You will know from my Random Draws, that this is not the final layout of the blocks, the actual layout can be seen in a very small format on my sidebar.
The completion statistics so far:
10 Blocks
3 Side blocks
7 Cornerstones
25 Sashes
 
Thanks to everyone who takes time to stop and comment.
Joining up with Patchwork TImes.