So Much for My Quilting Hiatus

Quilting is addictive - I can't give it up. Actually I had already prepared some "hexies" for a quilt block and I didn't want them getting lost in the shuffle, while I worked on the window treatments for my trailer. So I figured I'd better finish that block. And another, and another, and...
All of the blocks for this post are from  Craftsy's 2012 Block of the Month.
For the April blocks, it was English paper piecing, something I never thought I'd do. Not only is it tedious, but it involves a fair amount of hand sewing. Years ago, when I bought my first sewing machine, one of the requirements was that it must have a blind hem stitch, so that I would never have to hem by hand again. I do not hand sew any more than I absolutely have to. When I crocheted a cardigan for my grandson for Easter this year, rather than sew it in separate pieces, I crocheted the front and back all in one piece. And the sleeves I crocheted as a long tube, instead of a flat piece that I would later have to sew together. I didn't sew any more seams in that cardigan than necessary. So, the idea of doing English paper piecing was really not appealing to me. However, I was determined to do every block in both of the BOM quilts I'm doing, even if that meant hand sewing and tedious paper piecing. So, here are my April blocks:

I have to admit that I'm still quite happy with my fabric choices. I love the way the black background just makes the bright colours "pop." While I don't particularly care for some of the individual fabrics within the fabric bundles - browns have never ranked high with me, and I would have been happier with more purples and at least one true orange - generally I've been very satisfied. 

In order to make all of these hexagons, I would have had to trace and cut out a template (one for each size) and then trace the template onto paper/cardstock in order to have one paper hexagon for every fabric one. As I said, English paper piecing can be quite tedious. So I skipped that step and purchased precut paper hexagons online here: Paper Pieces. The prices are reasonable, my order was shipped quickly and I got good customer service. And it sure beat cutting out all of those hexagons myself. I still had to cut out the fabric hexies, but I used my rotary cutter for that. 

The block on the left is the Hexie Stripe Block and the one on the right is the Sunny with a Chance of Hex block. I used all but two fabrics from one fat quarter bundle in the first one and every fabric from another fat quarter bundle for the second one. All of the hexies had to be basted by hand and sewn together by hand, and I actually hand-appliqued the hexie stripe on the first block. And I survived. :-) So, hand sewing really isn't deadly after all. But I doubt I'll be in a hurry to use hexagons in a future quilt. However, I am glad I did it and am pleased with the results. 

Here are May's blocks:

This month's topic was Wonky Log Cabin Blocks. On the left is the Modern Log Cabin and on the right is the Wonky 5-sided Log Cabin, though mine looks more like a spiral than a 5-sided figure. I have to be honest: I really didn't like either of these blocks in the course materials. The Modern Log Cabin is kind of boring to me. And the Wonky one is a little too disorganized, chaotic - I'm not sure what word I'm looking for. I just know I didn't really like it. Certainly, I feel that my use of colour improved both blocks immensely. I hope that doesn't sound too arrogant, but let's face it - there is a reason why I picked those fabrics. It's because they appeal to me and everyone has different tastes. You might think my blocks are horrid and you're entitled to think that. My niece was over and I was showing her some different blocks and quilts online, and some that appealed to her did not appeal to me, and vice versa. It's not a cookie cutter world. And that would be extremely boring if it was. 

But back to the blocks, I have to 'fess up that I didn't do the Modern Log Cabin exactly as I was supposed to. I hadn't watched the video yet and only briefly glanced over the instructions. The centre square was supposed to be outlined in a round of background fabric, then a round of print, then another background and a final round of print. I did the opposite. In the video, the instructor used all one print for each print round and I used 4 different ones. But I'm still happy with my block. 

Another confession: I had originally planned on using only fabric from the three fat quarter bundles that I bought for this project. However, I was trying to follow a rainbow sequence in the Wonky block and really didn't have enough oranges and yellows, so I borrowed from my stash. You may recognize the one yellow along the left edge - it's the centre fabric from the offset log cabin blocks from the 2013 BOM. There are also a couple of orange pieces, one above and one to the right of the aforementioned yellow strip, which are from fabric I have purchased for a quilt for my daughter. And both of the fussy-cut centres are from my stash. 

I think I prefer the hexie blocks over the log cabin ones, but I doubt I will use any of these blocks again. However, you never know...

Now, will I be able to leave quilting long enough to get those curtains done?

Offset Log Cabin Quilting Block

As I mentioned in a previous post, I hadn't quilted in years up until this year. Most of what I know about quilting, I've learned from books and magazines. I live in rural Alberta, so access to courses is limited, as is the time I have to go to courses. So when I discovered Craftsy, I was quite excited. I could finally actually take quilting courses from experienced, expert quilters at my convenience and in the comfort of my own home. There's no lugging a sewing machine and quilting supplies back and forth to some classroom somewhere. And I can review the lessons as often as I want as my access to them does not expire. Best of all, some of the courses are free and, for the ones that aren't, there are frequent sales.
I was actually enrolled in the ET Nurse program this year, but resigned from the program for various reasons. And while I'd still love to get my ET certification, I'm not disappointed with the extra time I now have to pursue other interests, like quilting and crocheting. So, after I had enrolled in the 2012 Block of the Month, which is a free course, I then saw the advertisements for the 2013 Block of the Month, which is also a free course. And I decided to take both. That way, I could learn even more quilting skills.
Due to various and sundry distractions (plus waiting for fabric to arrive), I didn't really get started in either course until this month (April, 2013), so I'm kind of scrambling to catch up so I can finish both this year and just have to do one block for each quilt per month. That's why you are seeing so many quilting posts on this blog in one period of time. Trust me, I will get back to blogging on other topics eventually. I just want to get my quilting caught up first. Then I will return to recipe and cookbook reviews and whatever other ramblings I care to discourse on, with quilt blocks thrown in and I will probably discuss crocheting projects as well. Just today, I enrolled in a Craftsy course on Artisan Bread Making. I'm excited about that and you can count on hearing about my experiences with bread making as well. Meanwhile, here's the link to the class:



 


Now I need to discuss the blocks in the picture above. They are from the 2013 Block of the Month, January's blocks. As with the 2012 BOM, I chose to use my own fabric, rather than go with the fabric package available from Craftsy. The final product is going to be throw-size, 60"x63", so I decided to make it for my living room. I chose to make it with greens, purples and some yellows for accents. I purchased all of my fabric on eBay. One vendor was offering 40 green fat quarters for $40. One dollar per fat quarter is practically a steal, so I bought it. Inevitably I did end up with some "duds" amongst the lot, but they all appear to be good quality fabrics, some even name brand (not that I know much about name brands in quilting fabric, but I'm beginning to recognize them). Initially, I thought I would try to sneak some of these duds into my quilt, but then I realized that I don't have to feel obligated to use ugly fabric just because I paid for it. Maybe I'll sell it in a yard sale. (I was raised by parents who grew up through the depression, so it's hard for me to "waste" anything). In addition, I purchased several fat quarters in purples and yellows. I also have some charm packs in purples. Finally, I chose a pale green for my background fabric, which was not easy to find. And it's not easy to know from an online picture if a fabric is the exact colour you want. After buying 2 separate green fabrics, I decided to not continue trying different ones and just selected one of the ones I had already bought.
This block is called "offset" log cabin because the strips on one side of the block are wider than the strips on the other side. In the course, the wider strips are all from the same fabric and the narrower strips are all from the same fabric. I chose to use different fabrics for each strip and made the required four blocks, as above. Normally, when I complete a project, I'm pleased with the results. Not so with these blocks. I was disappointed with my fabric choices and how they worked together. I have had compliments on these blocks, but personally, I'm really not satisfied with them. I don't intend to remake them, but they really don't "speak" to me.
This is going to be an interesting quilt because not only is each month's block different, but the blocks are not always the same size and not always the same number of blocks. 
If you're interested in enrolling in the 2013 Block of the Month course, it doesn't have to be the beginning of the year. You can start - and finish - any time. Here's the link: