Block-a-Palooza Block 6

Block 6 joins the fun courtesy of the Happy Zombie. My first rendition adheres to my self-imposed fabric guidelines (new solid and one new print each block; repeat the green leaf print in every block), and turned out very well:

That's the last of the purple stripe, BTW, so I'll have to come up with something equally fun (from stash, of course) for the next ones. Now that I've got six blocks done from these guidelines, the blocks are starting to look more cohesive. This one, especially, helps the first two blocks play well with the others.

Meanwhile, the pile of "outliers" (anything goes versions, not required to socialize unless they want to) is growing. I made two extras of this block, because I wanted to experiment with light vs. dark backgrounds. I did a dark-background one first, with pleasing though not spectacular result:

I've been itching to include a piece of that butterfly fabric somewhere, but with dark b'flies on an ivory background it's a tricky fabric to use. It's okay here, but will be better in larger pieces somewhere else.

This light background one might be my favorite, in spite of my needing a couple time-outs during construction. I repeated the background fabric around the center so the "arrows" would pop more:

This one gave me more trouble than all my other 'palooza blocks combined. Partly due to user error: I sewed in one big unit backwards. Twice. Plus, in spite of what I thought was my usual care in cutting and seaming, nothing about this block wanted to stay square or line up. The fact that it turned out square in the end, and most (not all) points seem compliant, is due to forceful and repeated use of a hot steam iron and an uncharacteristic (for me) willingness to rip out and redo a few inches of seam here and there as necessary. I even used a  pin in one spot! Folks, when I resort to using a pin, even just one, you know things are in a bad way .

I'm very glad it's only early afternoon on Saturday, because I need a day off before the next block goes "live" on Monday.

Plus, I have a secret project up on the design wall that I'd like to work on this afternoon. Don't worry, it won't be a secret forever. I'll show it off in a few weeks when it's further along. I'm also working on a pieced border for the purple and green OBW. That doesn't look like anything but a huge pile of scraps right now.

Block-a-Palooza Block 5

That's a lot of little geese:

This block is all about the border, so for the central 9-patch I choose a "light" and "dark" with similar medium tones that blur the seam lines a little. The dark squares look almost fussy cut, but are not: I cut them from scraps left over from fussy cutting my first Block 3, and did not fuss over them.

Wanted to incorporate a solid light blue, and discovered I had 4 FQ or smaller pieces of very close but slightly different blues, so I used all of them.

My rows of border geese turn at the edges of the 9-patch, rather than at the edges of the block, as patterned. I made half the geese from the little green leaf print I'm using in every block, and then picked three other prints (repeated from this Block 4) for the rest of the flock. I wanted the magenta geese to be at the head of their row on each side, but didn't like the effect of having them out at the edge. Here they keep movement in the block turning around the center, instead of flying off the edges.

Miss Print did a lovely job designing this block, but I think one of this one will do for me. For now.

I won!

... the January Amy Butler Style Stitches Sew Along fabric giveaway!

Seems only fitting that I use these for future AmyB sewalong projects if I can match these prints (AmyB Geisha Fans, and Alexander Henry Abstract) to good bag choices:

The Alex.Henry abstract will be a challenge, but I'm up for it. As soon as I've earned a longer break by getting some "real work" (vs. fabric fondling) done, I'm going to make a cup of tea and sit down with the book and daydream about the possibilities.

Thanks SewAlong organizer Bree, and Jan. sponsor SewSweetness!

Block-a-Palooza Block 3 Revisited

Better camera luck today. Here are the two new versions of 'palooza Block 3 I sewed up yesterday. I love the bluey-greeny deliciousness of this one...

... and the pow! factor of this one: 

They both go well with Block 4, version 1. Here are my 'palooza "outliers" so far:



Block 5 goes "live" tomorrow. Maybe I'll get another outlier from that one, too.

Block-a-Palooza Block 4

I'm happy to report that my machine is back from the spa and purring along "like buttah." I sat down yesterday to sew up some of the piece sets I'd cut earlier in the week. Here's Block-a-palooza Block 4. (Design by the talented Cherri at Cherry House Quilts)

This pinwheel block features my current favorite fabric, the lime on white batik, which I've had since last year sometime, a more recent purchase (the Philip Jacobs coral print framing strips) and a Bird of Paradise print that's been in my stash for at least five years. The corner squares are all Kaffe Fassett prints from the scrap drawer. I love how this block turned out. It's very "me."

I haven't entirely given up, though, on following the tone set by Blocks 1&2 and the fabric guidelines I came up with to (fingers crossed) ensure some kind of balance between variation and consistency across the 16 blocks I'll end up with by the end of this journey.

Block 4 above does repeat a couple prints from earlier blocks (in the corners), and bring new ones in, but does not include a solid. And, as you know, I've earmarked a certain purple stripe for more "geese" (or, in this case, their close cousin, the pinwheel). Plus, I'm really liking the little green leaf print I've used in all 3 previous blocks, so I've added "include the little green leaf print in every block" to my 'palooza self-challenge.

So I made a second Block 4:

I'm not as excited by this one, but since I was aiming for a transition block (in terms of color intensity and style) between Blocks 1&2 and Block 3, it turned out perfectly. It does a very good job of pulling this set of blocks together. With Block 4 in the picture, Block 3 (upper right) feels more like a member of the family:

I also made a couple more Block 3s just for fun (including my wildest block yet!), but they refused to be photographed yesterday, so I'll have to try again in a little bit when the light is better.

My sister rightly asked "how many 'palooza quilts are you making?" to which the answer is still "one." Probably. I do expect to collect extra blocks along the way, but it's too soon to say what I'll do with them. I might have enough for a second quilt top, or they might end up as pillows.

Block-a-Palooza: a new direction

My sewing machine is still at the spa, so unless I undertake handsewing (no thanks, the ongoing hexies project provides enough of that) completion of Block-a-Palooza Block #4 will have to wait. I picked some fabrics for it, though, because a day without fabric fondling is like a day without sunshine:

I'm not sure I'll love the top one, although I''m confident it will be plenty nice enough to use. I want to keep open the option of including one solid and the green/blue little leaf print in each block, so the top row selection will satisfy that criteria, should I decide to stick with it to the end.

But I'm branching out into some wilder combos that are more "me." As much as I love my Block 3, it's brighter and bolder than my Blocks 1 & 2. So I thought maybe I'd make at least one more of those two, in a more muted (for me) fabric range, to fit better with the first two.

It didn't go well. My "more sedate" fabric combos came out like this:

Do those look tame to you?

Clearly my muse has spoken and there's only one thing to do: go back and make bolder versions of Blocks 1 & 2. I'm not especially eager to do that, but if I don't get my machine back soon I'll go ahead and cut some pieces for those just to keep myself entertained until sewing can begin again.

Sitting this one out

I dropped my sewing machine off at the BabyLock dealer for servicing yesterday, which means all active sewing steps on various works in progress are on hold. That makes this a good time to fondle my stash and cut more of it up.

I thought I'd get started on February's project for the Style Stitches Sew-Along: the Reversible Everyday Shopper.

I like the reversible idea a lot. I like the one big pocket either-side-out thing. But once again this bag is huge: a whopping 19" high, 16" wide at the base/13" at the top, and over 5" wide. Fill that baby up and carry it around for a while and you'll be crying for a chiropractor. And Amy, sorry, but I don't much like the shape or proportions of this one, something that you usually do so well.

This seems like a good choice for mothers of multiple young children who need to carry several bushels of what-have-you around every day, and who are fit enough for pack-horse duty. I'm reasonably fit, but don't have young kids or any need to carry vast quantities of personal items with me much of the time. Nevertheless, the "sew your way through the book" appeal is strong, and as you know I have no qualms about shrinking a pattern, so I was on the fence about this... until I googled the bag and read this post . Check out those real-world photos.That's huge!
It's not that we don't use tote bags, and large ones. We do. We carry home vast quantities of local produce from the Hilo farmer's market every week, and do most of the rest of our shopping at health food stores that have bring-your-own-bag policies. So we do use market totes. Lots of them. I did a quick count and found 12 errands bags for a two-person household, and there's probably another one or two in the car.

All that aside,what really stopped me was the lack of a good fabric pairing for this one. It's made of home dec fabric, of which I have some lovely pieces in the stash. What I don't have is two lovely pieces that look good together. So I'd either have to shop for fabric (nixed by my "make it from stash" vow), or make the bag from a single fabric.

I'd be willing to do that if I loved it enough to use some of my lovely stash fabric on it, but I don't. Or if I needed another tote, which I don't. Or if I could think of a friend or family member to gift the finished item to, but everyone I know is already weighed down with more totes than they have use for. Except possibly my Mom, but she's in her 70s and giving her a bag this size could consitite elder abuse.

So I'm going to sit this month out. It's not like I need to make another bag just for the fun of it. I've got plenty of goodies-in-progress in the sewing room to keep me busy. And I might jump ahead to April and get started on the Checkbook Cover, which I really do need. It's a nice one:

 ... but again, bigger than necessary.

I have multiple checkbooks for our various business and personal accounts, and I want them to look nice while taking up as little space as possible. So this pattern, too, is heading for modification.