Another UFO pieced!

I started this One Block Wonder several years ago.  After cutting the pieces I really thought it was a very boring quilt so I put it aside for another day.  I have been inspired by the wonderful quilters in the Facebook group for people who make OBW quilts.  They try lot's of different techniques.  I was intrigued by the ones who made different size hexagons.  So I made some half size hexies and some giant size hexies.  

These are going to add some pizzazz to the back of the quilt.  I added enough of a border to some of the smaller ones so they would fit in the quilt and put the rest in the border.  I think it has a little more flare now.

I also started the 2015 Summer Block of the Month with Craftsy.  It began in July.  I finished July, August and September.  Here are a few of the blocks

Now I need to work on my challenge for Art Quilts Around the World.  It's due at the end of this month.  I've started several times but wasn't happy with what I was making.  'Uniform' hasn't been an easy thing for me to create as a quilt.  I keep in my mind going back to the uniform I wore in elementary school, which makes me think of church since it was a Catholic school.  But now I have two quilts to make, the small one for this challenge and a larger one of my childhood church.  Not sure why but something is calling me to try to recreate my church in fabric.  I think it's the stones, I love the texture of stone.

I need to get busy.  I'm planning to go to the AQS Show in Des Moines at the end of this month so I need to get my challenge quilt finished before I go.

Have a creative day

Janet

Progress!

Slow and steady, wins the race or at least it gets the quilt finished.  I am working slowly on this quilt but I really don't want to rush.  I get sloppy when I rush, I'll be the first to admit it, my seams get a little wonky.  I limited myself to four a day.  I am a half square over halfway now!  36 out of 71 finished.  

With my limit it gives me time to play with other quilts as well. 

 I am almost finished piecing all the hexagons for my One Block Wonder quilt.  

I even had a chance to make one cube.

I have more incentive to finish the wedding ring now so I can get the one block wonder up on my design wall and play with the arrangement and make some more cubes.

I didn't forget my Craftsy Block of the Month with Jinny Beyer.  I think I'm improving.

Have a creative day

Janet

Piecing, and planning!

Here is the final arrangement.  I decided to have the joins blend in with the rest of the rings.  I like all the rich color.

I was encouraged, when I pieced the first block, it laid flat!

Here are the first four blocks.  I decided if I do four each day I should be finished piecing by the end of the month.

I have eight finished now and am getting better with each one.  I should be a pro by the end of the month.

If you follow my blog you know I can't be tied to one quilt at a time, and usually have several going all at once.  Well, my distractible mind came across this gem of a quilt the other day.  I saw it on Facebook but Liz wrote a blogpost about her quilt and you can see it here.  I ordered several prints of a panel so I can try this.  She also told me there is a group on Facebook for people who make One Block Wonder quilts.  So I joined!?!  Wow, there are some beauties on that site.  Looking through all the photos reminded me I wanted to try and make one with blocks in the design, such as this.  Of course I have a UFO that will fill this need perfectly.  

I bought this fabric soon after I pieced my One Block Wonder

I cut it out and started looking at the design and decided maybe it wasn't the best fabric for this type of quilt.  (Small design) so I set it aside until I could decide what to do with it.  I pulled it out yesterday and started sewing the pieces together. (After I finished my four blocks for the wedding ring quilt, priorities in the chaos). 

This is about a fourth of the hexagon's.  These quilts go together very fast.  I needed something I could actually see completing before I turn 70.

Now to find some fabrics for the blocks, I want to add a little M. C. Escher in this quilt.  

Have a creative day

Janet 

One Block Wonder, so close!

I'm almost finished with my One Block Wonder, I was just ready to round the final corner when 'it' happened!  That moment we all dread, shudder.  I ran out of thread.  I knew it was going to be close and I started calling fabric shops a few days ago to see if they had this color.  No, no, no, no no!  I did finally find some online and placed the order last night.  Not sure how long it will take to get here.  I changed how I was doing the border which increased the amount of thread I needed.  Lesson learned?  Maybe.  I like to make mistakes several times to be sure I really learn what not to do.  Haha!

I decided I could give a little history of this quilt.  It all began with this fabric.

I signed up for a class at Bear Patch Quilting, it wasn't a lot of help for me as I forgot to go to the first class.  They tried to help me catch up in the second class but really it was better for me to read the book by Maxine Rosenthal called "One-Block Wonders". Here are my hexagons after much rearranging.

It hung on my design wall for quite awhile because I couldn't decide how to finish it.  I really liked one of the example quilts in the book, it just kept catching my eye.  I discovered in her next book "One-Block Wonders encore!", Maxine told exactly how to finish a OBW just like the example I admired in her first book.  And here it is

Now I had to figure out how to quilt it.  Who knew there were so many choices when making a quilt. Once again my poor little quilt sat, and sat in the stack of unfinished quilts.

I am trying to learn new techniques with each quilt. (new to me, not necessarily you).  I decided to go with stencils and chalk for this quilt.  I marked the entire border before putting it on the frame.  I used my bohin chalk pencil and it worked out great. Here is the stencil I used in the border.

I used this stencil for the flowers in the center.

And my circle rulers from Kim Brunner were very helpful with this quilt.

In the meantime, while waiting for my thread, I am finishing piecing my sampler quilt.  I plan to mark at least some of these blocks before I put it on the frame.  Lot's of new things to try on this quilt.  It still needs a border but otherwise I am finished piecing.

Have a Creative Day
Janet

Adding my flavor to a traditional quilt

I was hoping to have my One Block Wonder quilted by this post.

Almost done with the center so it shouldn't be too much longer.  It's garden harvest time at our house right now which takes away from quilting.  Today is tomato sauce and salsa day!  

Yesterday was apple pie, vegetable soup and bread bowl's.  I have never made a bread bowl before.  It was very fun.  If you click on this a new window will open with the recipe I used from chef in training.  I started following on Facebook and this recipe popped up one day.  

The next quilt to go on my longarm is a sampler quilt.  This one is also from the learning fiber arts group.  Quite a few members contributed to this, they would each tell how to make their favorite blocks.  Mine is very scrappy because I did it over a number of years with whatever fabric I had at the time.  I pulled it out a few nights ago because I knew I didn't quite have enough for a quilt yet.  I found I was only missing two.

I finished up those two blocks and had it strewn all over the floor when my son came home from work. I was trying to figure out how to tie it all together with the sashing.  Just could not figure out what color to use.  He looked at it and said, "Does it have to be one color?"  Light bulb moment for me!  Here is the result.  

Now for the corner blocks.  Julie suggested half square triangles for where the colors meet.  I think that will be perfect.  Any thoughts for the border?

Have a creative day

Janet

Big Quilt!

This is a big quilt for me. I haven't made one this large in quite awhile because it was just too difficult for me to quilt on a domestic machine. I took a class at a local quilt shop last summer to learn how to make this quilt. It's a One Block Wonder. Yes, I could have figured it out on my own but sometimes it is fun to do things with other people. Turned out I did most of it on my own anyway because I had it written down wrong on my calendar and missed the first day of class.

I pieced it last summer but am just now getting around to adding borders. So, I went to the store on Saturday and bought fabric for my borders. I brought it home and immediately threw it in the washer, because that's what I always do. After I started to add it to my quilt, I remembered, I didn't wash the One Block Wonder fabric. I don't know if it will really look different after I wash the whole quilt. I always use cold water, so hopefully the centers won't shrink too much. The instructions for the OBW quilt tell you not to prewash so it is easier to cut. Another life lesson in the world of a newbie quilter.

I wish I could say the border design is my original idea but it isn't. This is from the second book, One Block Wonder, Encore. I liked how she did her quilt so I did something similar. I deconstructed my original quilt into panels and began to add all the little border pieces. Now to figure out how to quilt it?!

Have a Creative Day
Janet

Design space

Hello
     I finally sewed my one block wonder.  I've had this hanging on my design wall for longer than I care to admit.  My design wall is a large vinyl tablecloth with a flannel back.  My husband put a strip of wood along the top edge of the wall.  I glued velcro strips to the board and sewed velcro strips to the table cloth.  The flannel side is out so I can stick my fabric to it and move it around while I am designing a quilt.  I have a little step stool to reach it because I have shelves underneath and hanging it higher on the wall keeps the cats from trying to climb up it.  Right now it has my mystery quilt on it.  One more step to the mystery and than I will take a photo so you can see my mystery quilt and my design wall.  I also have a smaller portable design board which I use most of the time.  I't about 3' by 4' and covered with white flannel.  I can move it where ever I am working.  Right now I have all of my postcards on it for inspiration.    Speaking of postcards I received one more yesterday from Peggy in the Valerie Hearder yahoo group.  We make landscapes in that group.  Isn't this gorgeous.  Have a creative day! Janet