Wednesday, August 22, 2012

The BOM is back!!!

Okay, I had a few moments the other day so I decided to try to catch up on my BOMs. I've been busy with the Hexy quilt and the Buzz Lightyear quilt but now that they have been given to my loved ones, it's time for some "me" sewing. Technically this is a work in progress and a block "finish" so I will be linking up at WIP Wednesdays at Freshly Pieced and Richard & Tanya's Link a Finish Friday.

Here is the block:

This is one of the June (I know, it's almost September) blocks for the Craftsy Block of the Month. It's called a Greek Cross. The cross was supposed to be all the same fabric, but I have been using only scraps and I thought these scraps would work even if they are not the same color. While doing it, I also learned about the ever popular "scant" 1/4 inch seam. It basically means that you sew the seams just a little bit under the 1/4 inch mark to make up for the area taken up by the stitch itself. It helps to keep highly pieced blocks from shrinking in size the more you sew pieces together. It worked nicely. There is another June block called the Octagon, which looks easy, but I have not got to that one yet. I am also doing the Quilt Story BOM, for which I am still on June as well :(

I also wanted to mention some of my useful tools that I used:
This is the first time I've used a rotating cutting mat. Wow, it's quite handy! I don't have to move the ruler or my body anymore!!! Great for half square triangles and trimming down blocks with a square. Also, my bloc-loc is always dandy! It makes perfect HSTs because it grabs the folded seam and lines up all the edges to trim them down to perfect squares (and gets rid of the dog ears). I love it! Also, I used the draw the line method for making HSTs so you can see my water soluble blue marker in the picture too. This method really saves you time.

I also wanted to mention that I am doing the Shades of Grey charm swap (from my last post) and I finally got all the fabric squares cut out and ready to mail off:
I found myself trying really hard to be exact. These will be used by others, so I could not just settle for close enough like I normally would.

Again, I am linking up at WIP Wednesdays at Freshly Pieced, and Link a Finish Fridays at Richard & Tanya Quilts.
WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Also, if you got this far and feel like commenting, I am currently looking for quilting ideas for quilting a quilt made entirely of hexagons. :) Right now, I am thinking of going with straight lines corner to corner, or maybe some sort design to make them pop, like just outside the ditch. Thoughts?

Until next time,
Mike.

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10 comments:

audrey said...

Dude, I think your Greek Cross looks fierce! I also think your rotating cutting mat looks amazing, and I'm super jealous! :)

Lynn F said...

I think the Greek Cross block looks even better with the two different fabrics for the cross! And I have yet to master the scant 1/4" seam. I'm also jealous of your rotary cutting mat!

Rebecca Lynne said...

Loving the Greek cross, have a finished top with that design that I need to finish! Am sad I missed out on gray charm swap, damn! Hoping to host a low volume swap soon...if you are interested let me know! And I'd go with straight line quilting for hexagons, something about that quilting really makes the hexagons show up.

deborah said...

I like the scrappy cross. I've been on the fence about buying a rotating cutting mat. I think I need one!

Rebecca said...

Good for you for getting back to those BOM's. Thanks for linking up to WIP Wednesday.

Richard Healey said...

I love that block and had never seen it before (going to pin it as I like it) Last night I started a new project making HQT and looking up measurements for how wide I need to cut I found a site that showed a new method I had never used before. I was making 4 1/2 inch blocks. If you cut 2 7 inch blocks put them face to face and sew around all 4 sides. Cut a diagonal across both corners you will end up with 4 4 1/2 HST. I hate doing the draw the line method and sewing on the angle sucks so just loved this and had to share.

Anonymous said...

The Greek cross looks great in two colors. I am a scrap quilter myself, and love that you are using only scraps. Great going! Only 2 months behind? Relax! LOL

Carla said...

Hi Mike. Just had a look around your blog. Your hexie quilt is wonderful. I can appreciate how much work goes into one, as I have made several. My smallest is 3/8"
Enjoy the finished quilt

Gene Black said...

I agree that the cross the way you did it is very nice. I think it pops more.

Not sure of the size of your hexagons, but I really like the look of a combination - in the ditch and then echoed INSIDE the hexagon. My echoing skills are not up to that to do it myself.

Amy Gay said...

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