Tah Dah!

Seems we have all been side-tracked for awhile or at least most of us have. It is great to see many of our group are back participating. Everyone's blocks look fabulous. I, too, have been sewing like mad in an effort to catch-up.


Week 43 Blindman's Fancy was a real struggle. I am convinced the directions are wrong. Nothing fit together so I just wacked of that spacer strip to make the HST edges fit. Maybe I cut things wrong but I sure as heck don't want to do this one again to see where I went wrong.


Week 44 Gamecock went together fine. It will probably join the other homespun blocks in a quilt someday.


Week 45 Cross in a Cross was super easy. I may use this one someday for a whole quilt. It has the appearance of blocks set on point (which I really like) without all those mind numbing math calculations that make my head spin.


Week 46 Carolyn's Star is really nice but I found it too tedious to keep all the parts in the right position. As a single block it's great but to make enough for a whole top, no way!


Week 47 That's My Baby. What a boring block. I guess it would be usefull as an alternative to a Postage Stamp or Irish Chain type scrap quilt.


Week 48 Indian Star is a nice simple block. I'm not sure where the name comes in or what it has to do with Indians but I'd use this one again.


Week 49 Cross and Ring didn't work out for me on my first try. Those bitty little triangles just didn't provide enough contrast and the pattern is all mushed up. So I tried again using different fabric and switched the outside strips, too.


It sure shows up as a pieced block better than my first attempt and the "ring" part stands out.


Week 50 Double Hour Glass should be called Triple Hourglass. I kinda like this one. It's quite different and looks more complicated to construct than it actually is.

I plan to make this week's block today and then I will be ready to make week 52 on time and end the year with a feeling of accomplishment.

I want to thank Donna for starting Friday Block Party and all those who have shared their blocks and offered encouraging comments all year. Thanks, too, to Hetty for stepping in to relieve Donna. I have especially enjoyed reading everyone's personal blogs. I don't always leave comments but I do read them all and get so much inspiration from all of you. I for one would love to see us continue. I am anxious to see what everyone creates with their blocks and continue to enjoy the challenge of putting little triangles and squares together in new combinations.

signs of life!

I'm finally getting ready to catch up again... here are the two blocks I managed this week:

Here is Indian Star -- simple and sweet
And here is Carolyn's Star -- which involved a little bit of ripping out when I used the wrong fabric for those two flying geese...
More to follow!

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

****************************

Star in a star - 12"

My first block for Friday Block Party & it took me almost three tries.  In the end I went with the 12" block because the 9" biases defeated me completely.  Not sure if it was the little stretchy pieces or the cold medicine I have been taking  although I DO blame the cold medicine for the first set of pieces in mis-matched sizes: the first two colors cut for a 9" block & the rest for a 12" block.

In the end I like the look of this block a lot, but I would probably recalculate for half- & quarter- square triangles made by sewing two squares together on either side of a corner-to-corner diagonal line, rather than fiddling with all the open bias edges.  It would leave me with quite a few scraps, but then again, so did doing it 2-1/2 times.

My Little Nine-Inch Star

I decided to make this week's block in the 9-inch size. It made for some very small triangle pieces!

Star in a Star

Not my best effort! I made the 9" as I didn't have enough fabric scraps for the 12" so those little triangles were crazy. Unfortunately I chopped off some of the points in my haste to finish. Ros

week 46

this week's block is VOS - Carolyn's Star

fancy pants

I was hoping to get a little further ahead -- and I might still! -- but here is Blindman's Fancy from a couple of weeks ago. This may have cured me of any desire to do a feathered star quilt...

I drafted this in EQ6 which made everything much easier. I'm happy to send the file to anyone who has the program, or maybe I can convert it to some other kind of document.