Blockdown Quilt – Part 26

It is feeling distinctly autumnal here and that has encouraged me to do more sewing. Last week I managed to add another unit to my English paper piecing project, yes by hand that dirty four letter word. This weekend I made more progress on my double wedding ring project (well one of them I seem to have 2 on the go) I completed 27 more arcs and have another 9 half done. I also cut more foundation papers for the rings. I think I have cut half of them now, I know i have a nice stack to be working on. I hope this week I will finish the last of the fabric strips I have cut so far and next weekend I can prepare more. Ironing seems much more appealing now it is cooler. I am also working on some new class projects and wondering about ways to introduce people to quilting or at least patchwork. I am thinking that with rising fuel costs and more concern for the environment making blanket for the sofa might be more interesting to people. I am not sure yet if this is optimism or delusion. I guess time will tell. For now I need to give you folks the details of this weeks challenge and get back to my quilting. I have a lot of appointments this weeks and I still want to get some quilting done as well.

I hope this week will be popular, the last one of this design was. We have 9″ stars. I know my regular participants had far more ideas for stars than they could possibly use for the last size, so now there is a chance to do some that were left out.

• For the small quilt you will need 1 block and it will be position blue 10
• For the medium quilt you will need 2 blocks and they will be positions blue 10, 15
• For the large quilt you will need 3 blocks and they will be positions blue 10, 15 and 30

Blockdown Quilt – Part 25

I like unique things. I really do. I love owning things that are a bit different, but when it comes to something like a boiler I think I could cope with plain boring and totally standard. Unfortunately I have unique, and of course it doesn’t take the standard parts. So we are still improvising on the heating and hot water. Whilst I also support improvising this is an area that I feel could do without it. I am very glad I have a good selection of thermals and some electric heaters from our old house which had no central heating at all. Oddly after thinking I would do more piecing that needed the iron I have actually done a lot that doesn’t, but that let me sit in the sun. I have been working on some class samples for things to make as gifts.  Inadvertently completely corrupting the ideas and making things I really didn’t expect. I may be incapable of doing anything simple, normal or as described. More news on that to follow I am sure. One of the things I am working on with them is ways for anyone to make them with very limited tools. I am wondering if more people will want to try making things for Christmas this year especially if they can recycle things into gifts. If they do I am sure they won’t want to spend the money they are saving on tools.

This week for the quilt we are making 6″ blocks with the theme curves. I am aware this is not everybody’s favorite thing, but as ever think outside the box, and maybe just give it a shot. 6″ isn’t huge, you aren’t risking a lot of fabric and your curve can be really shallow. I would suggest if you are really worried plan to have a design you can trim to 6″ finished, maybe starting more like 6.5″ or even 7″. Also be prepared to press firmly once you have sewn it. This can often tame a curved seam. Another option would be to applique your curves, in this quilt all technicalities count remember.

• For the small quilt you will need 1 block and it will be position red 8
• For the medium quilt you will need 2 blocks and they will be positions red 8 and 25
• For the large quilt you will need 3 blocks and they will be positions red 8, 25 and 38

Blockdown Quilt – Part 24

I hope this week has been boring for you all. It seems that may now be the measure of a successful week. We managed to get fuel, well enough, it is rationed around here when there is some. Our excitement was the boiler failing, it needs a new pump and the sewage system faulting again, it also needs a new pump. We are now waiting for various people to show up with the respective pumps and working out ways to keep warmish. I guess it is all good practice if we do end up with a disrupted winter. It has shown up that my longarm room gets very cold without it’s underfloor heating. I have been told by a few people underfloor heating doesn’t do much, oh boy are they wrong. I can really tell its not there, and the floor is SO cold. I guess that is at least in part the contrast, and in part that underfloor heating is probably actively cooling when off. The upside of this is it forces me to do some sit down sewing. I have lots I need or want to do, so I won’t be bored, and now having the iron on is nice.

This week we are making 9″ blocks and the theme is uneven. In some ways this is the opposite of most quilts and blocks, but there are a surprising number that are in some way wonky or unbalanced and if there was ever a quilt for those this is it. As we are making a quilt with a more random layout I feel these are ideal for this. I think I may have a go at designing at least one of my own. Maybe with some kind of uneven grid at its core.

• For the small quilt you will need 1 block and it will be position blue 3
• For the medium quilt you will need 3 blocks and they will be positions blue 3, 17 and 22
• For the large quilt you will need 3 blocks and they will be positions blue 3, 17 and 22

Blockdown Quilt – Part 23

As promised by the forecasters, autumn arrived overnight, and here it is wet, very wet. Couple that with the fuel delivery issues and this seems a perfect week to stay at home and sew. OK who am I kidding, EVERY week is stay an home but let us pretend. I would have been out doing loads of who knows what but for the fact it is wet and saving fuel is a good thing. I do really enjoy sewing even more once the weather turns. Actually I enjoy most things better once I get back to my time of the year. I feel doubly lucky this week as this is one of the parts of the quilt I have been really looking forward to. I admit it I have my favorites when it comes to quilt blocks. I love stars and this week we have 12″ blocks to make stars in. For me there is nothing better. My problem will be picking only 3 and making them simple enough to work.

• For the small quilt you will need 1 block and it will be position green 6
• For the medium quilt you will need 2 blocks and they will be positions green 6 and 8
• For the large quilt you will need 3 blocks and they will be positions green 6, 8 and 15

Blockdown Quilt – Part 22

I think last weeks installment was appreciated, as something a bit simpler and quite fun. I loved all the different interpretations, I think it was quite good that I had made such a vague note. Yay laziness pays off, although it did mean we put in more design and brainstorming effort, so maybe it didn’t in terms of actual work done. This weeks theme is a little different. I do know exactly why I picked this one, and I think it may be one of the widest we have had, but hopefully fun, and the research may be interesting too. Our theme this week is alchemy. Maybe this will be blocks about change or transformation, maybe something philosophical or may some thing gold. It really is a very wide subject. We do only have 6″ to play with this time though so don’t get too carried away. I am wondering how much I can link this back to previous weeks, but more on that later.

• For the small quilt you will need 1 block and it will be position red 16
• For the medium quilt you will need 2 blocks and they will be positions red 16 and 26
• For the large quilt you will need 3 blocks and they will be positions red 16, 26 and 43

Blockdown Quilt – Part 21

Doing these posts surprises me every week with how fast time goes. I know probably an age thing, possibly also an effect of the weirdness of the world, but how on earth can we be on part 21 already. It is gratifying to see my project box slowly filling with blocks, but even that doesn’t make the time feel clearer. On the other hand I am already wondering if this will be the last of these or if I will dredge up and old project for next year. Yup, I do have something in the wings that has been waiting years and maybe that will get it’s time. Though possibly in a slightly different format. As summer draws to a close I finally installed some blinds in my sewing room. This isn’t as futile as it sounds as the winter sun can be more of an issue than the summer in my room. I am a bit miffed that the 2 blinds are not the same colour, but I suspect it wouldn’t bother people who don’t work with colour and honestly if it keeps the sun out of my eyes it will do. I don’t like them anyway they were just a cheap tidy solution until i can face the insane cost of having a custom made solution (the window is wider than any standard window coverings). In putting up the blinds we discovered that our dog thinks drills are VERY dangerous. He dutifully saved me from it. My other half clearly wouldn’t heed the warnings and you could see the dog decide OK I will rescue the one I can, bye. It was rather sweet, and he only retreated out of the room so hopefully he will not be too stressed when we drill in the future. Honestly it is quite good he would rather maintain distance than jog our elbows. After last weeks rather intense blocks, we have a nice, hopefully easy design this week. We are making 3″ blocks on the theme “four or more”. That is nicely vague of me, so much so I am not sure what I was thinking when I wrote it. I did debate making it clearer as I wrote this but really why? As it stands it gives us lots of room for interpretation. As there are quite a lot to make I think the extra options might be fun, and I will love seeing what my regulars come up with.

• For the small quilt you will need 7 blocks and they will be orange positions 1,2, and 16-20
• For the medium quilt you will need 12 blocks and they will be orange positions 1,2 16-20, and 76-80
• For the large quilt you will need 15 blocks and they will be orange positions 1,2 16-20, 76-80 and 116-118

Blockdown Quilt – Part 20

This week I did manage to get some blocks done, in fact on my sewing day Saturday I completed 2 weeks and did designs for a third. You would think as these blocks really are quick I would be able to keep on top of them but it just doesn’t seem to work that way. I forsee me having a big push near the end to get the blocks done ready for assembly week. Maybe I will have to add a week or two gap for us all to get organised at that time. This week we have big blocks again, this is the week I have really been looking forward to. We will have 15″ blocks and the theme is Mariners Compass. Once again bear in mind alternative interpretations and yes you can always play your substitute. I will say I have worked out that my fabric choice makes this MUCH harder than I ever intended for me, so even though I love these I will not be getting an easy ride. I love these blocks so much you can be assured I will figure out how to make this work.

• For the small quilt you will need 1 block and it will be position purple 3
• For the medium quilt you will need 3 blocks and they will be positions purple 3, 4 and 7
• For the large quilt you will need 3 blocks and they will be positions purple 3, 4 and 7

Blockdown Quilt – Part 19

I don’t know about where you are, but here it is feeling a lot like Autumn, hot drinks and sweatshirt season. Seems a bit early but who knows with the seasons now. I have made sure I have a selection of gloves ready and I welcome the onset of winter. This week i have learned more than I thought I wanted to know about pumping systems for sewage, but on the other hand I now understand it enough to fix it in the future should I have to. No it wasn’t the most fun. No it’s not fully resolved yet. No not what I wanted for a bank holiday weekend.

It did encourage me to work on one of my box projects and I have nearly made another block for one of them. I am hoping this afternoon to have a go at some blocks for this quilt. This week we are going to work on 12″ blocks and I think a very fun theme, animals. So many blocks seem to have been inspired by animals even before you think about ones that are actual pictures of them, and hopefully 12″ will give us a lot of options.

• For the small quilt you will need 1 block and it will be position green 3
• For the medium quilt you will need 2 blocks and they will be positions green 3 and 9
• For the large quilt you will need 3 blocks and they will be positions green 3, 9 and 17

I will now go and change my clothes and wash the rest of the peanut butter off me, don’t ask.

Blockdown Quilt – part 18

Welcome back, I managed to accidentally have a holiday last week. Well OK I didn’t quilt due to my joints not wanting to play ball. So I didn’t manage to catch up as much as I hoped. Hopefully this week will be more productive. So far it has been with some early morning longarm before even walking the dog. I think this week is one that might have some of you reaching for your alternate option but do consider the less obvious options. This week we are making 9″ blocks with foundations. I probably will be using foundation piecing, I love it, but bear in mind that is far from the only type of foundation even in the same sense of the word.

• For the small quilt you will need 1 block and it will be position blue 2
• For the medium quilt you will need 3 blocks and they will be positions blue 2, 14 and 18
• For the large quilt you will need 3 blocks and they will be positions blue 2, 14 and 18

Blockdown Quilt – Part 17

First thing, before I forget, there will not be a section next week. I will be busy and unable to do the discussion so we can use the week to catch up. I know I need to as broken week is still fighting me. I do now have two of my four blocks done and the right size too. I have no idea why that week has given me so much trouble but I will keep on at it and hopefully soon be past it. I hope after that I can really get on with making a stack of more fun blocks. I do prefer instant gratification instantly and things that slow me up too much make motivation very hard to find. I suspect this isn’t as rare in quilters as people might think.

This week is another small week, we have 6″ blocks again. This may be a good week for the blocks that didn’t quite make the grade in other weeks as the theme is a nice open one, more than 6 pieces. So any block you like that will fit the bill. I know I have a lot I had to reject from other weeks and now a couple will get another chance to be in the quilt.

• For the small quilt you will need 1 block and it will be position red 14
• For the medium quilt you will need 2 blocks and they will be positions red 14 and 34
• For the large quilt you will need 2 blocks and they will be positions red 14 and 34