HOORAY - I AM UP TO DATE

I have been steaming away at my sewing machine this week, and it has paid off, because I am right up to date with all the blocks now, I just have to make the one that was loaded today. To say I have a BIG smile on my face is putting it mildly!!!!

Wyoming Valley - week 5

Cathy's Star - Week 14

Flyfoot - Week 18

Northumberland Star - Week 33

Hope of Hartford - Week 37

Castle in the Air - Week 35

I have no idea how I got it back to front

Fool's Square - Week 39

Double Quartet - Week 36

Nelson's Victory - Week 38

Mosaic 3 - Week 32

Blindman's Fancy - Week 43

This one drove me half nuts, what on earth is 11/16 all about cos it didn't fit for me!

I will give it a good press and hopefully it will lay flat, darn thing...

Game Cocks - Week 44

Flight of Swallows - Week 41

Yep I know the colours are not as the block on site, but my birds are

entirely surrounded by sky - that's my story and I am sticking to it!!!

Carolyn's Star - Week 46

This one and the other similar one are very pretty BUT -

never again...

That's my Baby - Week 47

Album Star - Week 40

I really like this block may use it again...

Cross in a Cross - Week 45

Baton Rouge Square - Week 42

Indian Square - Week 48

another really good block, proves that to KISS is the thing to do...

So there we are ladies, I am all up to date, bar today's block.

YIPPEE

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Major Catch-up!

September was a busy month, with an out-of-town visitor and two weeks of travel -- so I fell woefully behind. But I'm happy to say that I'm now almost caught up! Here they are in order:

Northumberland Star -- week 33: I hated making this block, and I don't think there's enough value contrast between the red and the brown.
Rally Round -- week 34: I decided that the 9" blocks are now going to be made with Asian fabrics. This one was a pain to make, too, mostly because I did the little triangles wrong the first time -- but I really love the way it came out!
Castle in the Air -- week 35: One of my favorite blocks. Maybe it's the name?
Hope of Hartford -- week 37: I LOVE this block!
Nelson's (spotty) Victory -- week 38: easy to make, but I don't see much potential for it in a scrappy quilt.
Fool's Square -- week 39: I sort of like the "transparency" effect in this one but other than that I think it's sort of clunky...
Now I'm just missing weeks 29 and 36 -- maybe by next weekend I'll be done with all of them.

Back-up to Catch-up

Well, here I am again. The Big Behind. I've been sewing up a storm but not on Friday Blocks. I'm determined to do all 52 blocks during the year so in an effort to catch up yet again, I am going backwards until I get to one I've already made. (I just took a peek and realized I'm 10 weeks behind! Aaack!)

Week #35-Castle in the Air
Pretty straight forward block made with scraps laying on my cutting table.



Week #34-Rally Round
That center part was a pain to do. I like the block, though, just not enough to make
a bunch for a whole quilt top. Maybe a table runner...hmmmm



Week #33-Northumberland Star
I agree with QP that the pressing directions on this were bad. My poor presser foot struggled to get over those seems. I decided right at the start not to try to keep the plaids going in one direction. Good thing! It was hard enough to keep all the parts in the right position. I would have gone crazy trying to match plaid direction, too. Although I like this block, I can't imagine making more than one.



Week #32-Mosaic 3
A truly uninspiring block. I almost skipped it but I wanted to try the flying geese method. It's actually pretty slick. This block took all of 15 minutes to make, a record for me.



I've been reading all the posts as I go backwards and I love all the fabric choices and helpful hints. It also makes me feel a little better knowing I'm not the only one that gets behind. So with 4 done, I have 6 more to go. If you don't hear from me in a week, send the paramedics. I'm probably drowning under a sea of scraps!

Playing catchup again

I've been using my sewing time to work on a few projects so I knew I was getting a bit behind on these blocks. But I was shocked to realize that I was 5 weeks behind! I'm going to get caught up now.

Here are weeks 31, 32, and 33 (clockwise from top left).



Week 31 is made with some horrible vegetable fabric. This must have spontaneously generated in my stash because I've never seen it before and I know that I wouldn't have bought anything like it. It looks much better cut up into small pieces.

Week 32 was a nice simple block. I made it with 3d flying geese to add some texture.

I actually followed the quilter's cache instructions for week 33. I usually do anything to avoid sewing triangles together. I realized how rarely I use written directions. As I was sitting at the computer taking notes on what sizes to cut, my boyfriend walked by and asked if I was cheating. I had to explain that it is ok to use directions even if he'd never actually seen me do it before.

Just two more to go and I'll be all caught up.

catch up -- week 33

Playing catch up :-) This one is Northumberland star from week 33...

The biggest problem with this one I think, is I followed the directions to press the seams to the darker fabric -- meaning that in some spots there was an abnormal amount of bulk. Another time, when I don't know just where the directions are going to make my own pressing plans, I think I'll try pressing them open.

Ah well. Its not bad and its done.

Week 33: Back Again

Hi, Ladies! My summer projects are finished (except for painting the house!) and Daughter Erin is off to her overseas teaching post, so I'm back to quilting small projects and UFOs - one of the UFOs, though not exactly an "object", is to catch up with you all on FBP!

So... here is my "Northumberland Star". I made it in Christmas fabric because I didn't like one of the blocks assigned for another BOM I'm doing and this nice block can do double duty. I really like the block, but I absoluely hated all the potentially wobbly-edged diagonal pieces! I really don't like the way the feed dogs grab at the fabric when it is on the bias! My points came out OK and the block did finish at 12 1/2" like it was supposed to, so my piecing technique is getting better.

Not so much for my photographic technique, though. I took the picture outside (we're having another really hot day - the 10th one that will be a record-breaker) and the gold print caught the light funny... and the green leaves at some of the corners makes it look like I missed more points than I did - I did miss a couple. Need to get better at NOT "key-stoning" the pictures, too!

Overall the block is elegant, and I could see making a whole quilt of these - but not in just three colors! I'd have to go scrappy with the points maybe (change out the greens for multi-color), and keep the center (all the red bits)and BG consistent.

A Star is Born

Here is my Northumberland Star. When I first saw this block I thought, "Oh, how pretty!" But when I read the instructions, I was not sure if I wanted to do it. It sounded complicated and it was, taking hours and hours to complete! I was up until 3:00am last night! Fortunately I did not have to unsew anything, because I am sure I would have given up if I had. I used the fabrics that were closest to my machine and some mauve that was in my scrap box. I love how this block turned out, but I don't think I will ever have the patience to make it again.

I read that this block was first introduced in America around 1910. It is said to have come from Northumberland in northeast England. I found several other sites which featured this block. They were all created differently. I think the quilterscache method is the most difficult. But that's just my opinion.

August 14; week 33

This week's block is so appropriate for the meteorite show we've been getting the last few nights...

Northumberland Star is a 12 inch block, which I'm thankful for given some of the pieces we need to put together! I'm sure it'll be stunning when complete, and hopefully all this precision sewing is starting to pay off :-)