WIP Wednesdays, Block of the Month and Do you think I'm Hexy?

I've been working on the block of the month over at Quilt Story. They are doing a nice simple monthly plan in which this month was HSTs (half square triangles). Last month was 9 patch. I am doing 2 of each BOM so that I have a larger quilt at the end of the series. It started in March. Below is a picture of my March and April blocks.

I really got some good use of my Bloc-Loc. I got this tool at the Quilt Show in New Jersey last month. It was expensive, but I think I already got my monies' worth. It's great the way it grabs the piece making it easy to square off. I also used the draw a line technique that I learned in the Craftsy Block of Month for February 2012. Basically you add 1 inch to the size of the finished block (including the seam allowance) and then draw a diagonal line on the back of one square, put the two squares together and sew 1/4 inch on either side of the line. Then, you cut on the line and voila! You have 2 squares. I then square it off with the Bloc Loc to the finished size (3 1/2 inches in this case). It makes them perfectly every time (not wonky looking) and it gets rid of the tiny dog ears on the corners. It's important also to note, that if you press the seams open before you square them off, the tool will not grab the seam! Learned that the hard way ;)

In the background on my cutting mat you can see strips of fabric. This is for a quilt I am working on for my Aunt L. I will talk more about that on another WIP Wednesday. In the meantime, I've been whipping up some hexagons on the train. There were some German tourists on the train at World Trade Center and they were standing over me when the gentleman said "a stitch in time saves nine." Turns out his English was not very good, but he just wanted to try out some of the English cliches he had learned in Germany. His wife said I was doing "patchverk." :) It's an obsession to some degree. So, "Do you think I'm hexy?"

I'm linking up at Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesdays.



Until next time,

Mike.



BTW, I am still deciding how to celebrate turning 50 (in blog followers!) I'm thinking giveaway, but I need to ponder what to give away :)

Work in Progress Wednesdays

In the last week I worked on 2 things. The Quilt Story Block of the Month and my Mom's quilt.

This is the Block of the Month. I blogged about it on Sunday. 

This is my Mom's quilt. I blogged about it here and here.

I do not have a picture yet, but I finally got all 42 blocks sewn together. I am now working on the border. It's a huge quilt for me and a lot to handle. Also, some of the seams are very bulky where the points come together. I decided they needed steaming. (I blogged about this.)

I am linking up at Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesdays.

Anyway, until next time.

Mike.

Peace Out

I'm doing another block of the month at Quilt Story. I really like this one because there is a ton of leeway. They just tell you what kind of block to make and you do the rest. There are only 12 blocks, so I am doing 2 of each to make a larger quilt. I haven't decided yet, but I may add a sashing and border that will make it even bigger. I prefer quilts that get snuggled with rather than those that you hang on the wall. Here are the pictures for my March blocks, for which the theme was 9 patch:

The purple in the left block is from an old work shirt that was going to get thrown out. The rest are just bits and pieces I've collected here and there. I don't know why I was attracted to the peace fabric. I just had to have it and I had no project in mind. I haven't decided if I am going to keep going with it on future blocks for the BOM.

Later!

Peace out!

Mike.

I BOM'd today :)

The Craftsy BOM is sooooooo beginner. It's perfect for me. And, I'm learning a TON about piecing. That's why I was so excited about March 1st coming up. (Here are January and February). Well anyway, I finished the first block for March (there are 2 blocks every month):

It's called a String Block and you use what's called Foundation Piecing to do it.

The following pics are of my progress:

I was very impressed with it. It's very different. The one strange thing I noticed is how thick the fabric layers/block become as you go along. My only concern is that when I quilt it I will break a needle because of all the layers (especially with the seams). But I think the end result was absolutely beautiful.

Until next time, I love comments, +1's, followers and shares on Facebook or email :)

Mike.