SBS - Love in a Mist

Well, this block was a little frustrating to put together. I won't even go into all the little problems that arose, or the steps that I had to do over. One thing I know for sure - as my frustration level increases, my perfectionism decreases. "Done is better than perfect." Right? I haven't pieced very many eight-point star blocks. I really do love them though. I would love to do a whole quilt with eight-point star variations. They will not be six-inch blocks though, I can tell you that. This block was a little wonky when I finished piecing it. It's amazing what a little steam can do.

Fiesta de Talavera - Block 1

This is Fiesta de Talavera, an applique quilt pattern by J. Michelle Watts. I fell in love with it the second I saw it. It's being offered as a Block of the Month class at Southwest Decoratives in Albuquerque, NM and my friend Liz is teaching it. My friend Olive is taking the class. I wanted to take it too, but it's kind of a long commute from Virginia. So, I decided that I'd follow along as best I can. In class, Liz will be exploring different methods of applique, but I'm just going to stick with my favorite method - back basting. I like to get stitching as quick as possible and don't really like making templates or overlays. Yeah, I'm lazy. Here's my first block:

SBS BOW - Fool's Puzzle

The block I chose to do this week, Fool's Puzzle, is a Drunkard's Path variation. I generally don't mind sewing curves, when they're large, gentle curves. But, these units finish at 1-1/2 inches and I didn't relish doing 16 of them. So, I decided that I'd try a technique I once saw in a book. I appliqued circles to squares, and cut them into quarters. 

This isn't the final arrangement. I forgot to take that picture, but it looks great, right? Well, look what happened when those units were sewn together.

Not so great. This technique might work for larger circles and squares, but at this size it's very noticeable that the arcs are kind of flat and the circle shape is lost. So I thought. And thought. And thought some more and just before falling asleep a couple of nights ago it came to me. Remarkably I still remembered my "bright idea" the next morning AND it seemed to make sense. I made a template and appliqued the shapes to the squares and cut them into quarters. 

They look a little wonky, don't they? But, here's what they look like sewn together:

I'd say this is a definite improvement. 

(Sorry about the different lighting in the pictures. The completed blocks were scanned whereas the intermediary steps were done with the camera.)

February UFO Finish

For February, Judy drew #1 and on my list that was an Applique Sampler wallhanging. This was made in a class over 4 months that I took back in 2006 (or was it 2007?) learning hand applique from Piece O' Cake's book, The New Applique Sampler. I loved making this wallhanging, but it was never finished when I didn't know how I'd quilt it. The top was done and I had the batting, backing and even the binding ready to go. I am excited to say that it's now done!

2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge - February

For the February FMQ Challenge, Diane Gaudynski gave a wonderfully long and detailed tutorial on free-motion feather plumes. I love quilted feathers, but they can be a bit challenging. The only feathers I've attempted so far have been from a marked design. Free-motion feathers? Yikes! How could we be given something so challenging in just the second month?

Well, it was a really good tutorial and I practiced drawing feathers on a white board for quite some time. At first, they didn't even resemble feathers, but a few minutes here and half an hour there and by the end of the month my drawn feathers didn't look half bad. But drawing on a white board and doing them on the machine are different. I couldn't put it off any longer. Here are my first attempts:

free-motion feathered plume

 Oh boy, was I surprised! I never would have dreamed that I could quilt a free-motion feather plume. Okay, they're not perfect and I definitely need more practice. But you know? I am really happy with my first attempts. I would not have tried this if it hadn't been for the FMQ Challenge. Thanks SewCalGal!

SBS BOW - Handy Andy

This is another block that is paper-pieced. I'm still getting the hang of paper piecing. I have no problem PPing the individual units, but when it comes time to assemble those units it can be a bit of a challenge for me. One thing I really like about working on Sylvia's Bridal Sampler are all the different techniques I get to try out. By the time I finish all the blocks I won't be a master quilter like Sylvia, but I'll have certainly learned a lot.

SBS BOW - Cats and Mice

This is a block that I will most likely do over. I'll live with it up on the design wall and see how I feel in a couple of weeks, but there are just too many things wrong with it. I don't care when my points aren't perfect, but that QST in the lower right is just too far off. And, see the pink triangles? They form a star which is completely lost because the fabric is too close in value to the tan print. I like to call blocks like these my "learning blocks."

SBS - King David's Crown

Because these block are only 6 inches square, sometimes my fabric choices aren't the best. I love that green paisley fabric but it's probably too large a print to go in this block. And, the motif in the dark blue fabric didn't come out in any of the triangles. I thought about redoing the block, but decided that being a sampler and being scrappy, it was okay to leave it as is. Plus, I'm feeling a little lazy.

SBS BOW - Courthouse Steps

I was quilting all last week and most of this week so I thought I'd pick a simple paper-pieced block. I got all my supplies out and realized that it has been so long since I've paper-pieced that I forgot how to start! After a quick refresher I had this done in no time:

My January UFO finish

At the beginning of January I decided I'd follow along with Judy Laquidara's 2012 UFO Challenge. The way this challenge works is you make a list of 12 UFOs that you'd like to complete in 2012. Each month Judy will pick a number and that is the project that you will finish. Because I know that I will not have time to completely finish 12 UFOs, some of the items on my list are just to assemble the blocks into a top, or just to add the borders. I will finish some things and make progress on others. Maybe those "others" will end up being finishes, or maybe they'll be on next year's UFO list. Either way, I'll have made progress.  I'll add my UFO list to my sidebar once I figure out how.

For January, Judy chose the number 5. This was a from a Saturday Sampler program at a local quilt shop in Albuquerque from 2008. We moved to Arlington (the first time) that summer. I have to say that as the year progressed I wasn't liking this quilt so much, but I hung in there and was able to complete the blocks and assemble the top after we moved back to Albuquerque in the summer of 2009.

I needed to get backing fabric and figure out how I wanted to quilt it. That's the hardest part for me - the quilting. Because I didn't want to mark the quilt and because I'm wanting to practice free motion designs I decided to quilt it in swirls. I like how it came out. The swirls added a nice texture and having used black thread, my not-so-swirly swirls don't look too bad. Here it is quilted and bound: