Many Mini Modern Blocks: Higgledy-Piggledy

Today’s installment of the many mini modern blocks comes from Kate Henderson who blogs away from the other side of the earth, Australia, at Two Little Banshees.  Ahh to live in far off exotic sounding places. <<Insert dramatic sigh here>>

Something tells me the folks from down under may not consider Ohio to sound so exotic.  And don’t you worry your pretty little heads…it’s not.  Corn fields, cows and football…yep that’s what Ohio is made of.  And I digress…

Anyhow, today’s modern block has a great fun name and it was lots of fun to make.  Adjusted block measurements:

From each of your four different fabrics, cut the following:

(3)     1 1/4″ x 2″

(1)     1 1/2″ x 2″

(1)     1 3/4″ x 2″

(1)     2″ x 2″

And here’s the finished block:

In hindsight, I wish I would have used fabrics with a little more contrast but I just love the yellow and aqua together.  I’d love to see this block made into a whole quilt, maybe alternating blocks with a 90 degree turn?

Stay tuned for the next block on Thursday!

Many Mini Modern Blocks: It’s a Stretch

When I originally picked this block to be earlier in the line up, I didn’t realize that it required paper piecing until I looked at the directions to complete the block.  But, given my propensity to paper piecing as of late, thanks to the Farmer’s Wife, I decided to leave it on the schedule and give it a go!

This block was designed by Angela Pingel, who blogs over at Cut to Pieces…she’s also one of the “stars” of Modern Blocks.  Her block “It’s a Stretch” graces the cover of the book and I’ll be featuring several of her designs throughout the QAL because she’s got lots of great designs included in the book!

Since I’m using a particular color palette I didn’t follow her variegated color styling that’s pictured in the book but I’m bookmarking this one to return for later projects.

Without further ado, here’s the modifications for a 6 1/2″ unfinished block:

1. Print out the template found in the back of the book at 100%.

2. Cut your fabrics into 1 1/2″ strips

3. Get a glass of wine (or two…or three)

4. Make sure you have a bit of time for this one. (It was my first run at the block but I have done a bit of paper piecing and this one took almost 2 hours to complete…yikes!  Wait until you see the results, they’re so worth it!)

5. I also really recommend using an Add-a-Quarter ruler to make trimming your pieces.  It makes for perfect results!

In order to keep all of the pieces straight (there are 28 little bits of fabric to sew together!!!) I colored the back of my paper piecing to template keep everything straight:

And two hours, 28 trips to and from the ironing board later, here’s the finished project:

See you on Tuesday for the next block!

Have you tried a Block of the Month?

I’m still reeling from the idea that January is already over and it didn’t really set in until I looked at the calendar today and realized that it was the 4th of February already!

Then, I realized I hadn’t done my two Blocks of the Month (BOM) that two of my local quilt shops are hosting.  This made for a perfect Saturday morning activity.  Not only did I learn to use “Thangles” (seriously, those little bits of paper are AWESOME!!!) but these blocks are also taking me out of my comfort zone for fabric choices.  One of the finished quilts will likely become a gift and the other a picnic blanket.  And the best part, they cost only $1 a month to do!  Who can’t pass up a bargain like that…entire quilt tops for $12?!?

Red, White & Blue BOM:

I heart Chocolate BOM:

Have you heard of an Amish mistake?  Well, I made a big one in one of these blocks and the first person to correctly identify it by commenting on my blog will receive a pack of 3″ Thangles!  Happy Amish mistake hunting!

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s many mini modern block…it’s pretty sweet!

Many Mini Modern Block 6: Just Passing Through

Another design from Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr (so many great designs from them in Modern Blocks).  This one required much like focus and concentration to execute.

Warning:  I’m not thrilled with my fabric choices, they’re just not as contrasting as I would have liked.

Adjusted block measurements:

Fabric A:
(6)          1″ x 1 3/4″

Fabric B:
(4)          1 1/4″ x 1 3/4″
(4)          2″ x 1 3/4″

Fabric C:
(3)          1″ x 4″

Fabric D:
(4)          1 1/4″ x 4″

And the finished block:

Fabrics I used:
Kaffe Fasset Spots, kona white, Riley Blake Daydream, Deb Strain Cherish Nature

See you next Sunday for another week’s installment! 

WIP Wednesdays!

Really, Wednesday already?  Wait….really, February already?  I don’t understand…where does the time go?  Yeah, I know where it goes…time flies when you’re having fun (or at least it seems to fly when you have many many things to do.)

So the run-down of what I’ve been working on this week:

Progress on the Farmer’s Wife Quilt:

As I mentioned last week I started working on a Farmer’s Wife QAL hosted by Lindsey over at Happier Than a Bird Quilts and I’m happy to say that I’m all caught up now thanks to this week’s progress in paper-piecing.  I think I’ve said this like a million gazillion times now…but I really do love these little blocks (so much so that I’m sharing the images again):

A few weeks ago I “tumbled” upon the Tumbler Party Flickr Group hosted by yolanda and it was such fun! We picked a color palette (this round was yellow, gray and aqua), sent 12 FQs to yolanda who so so generously die cut them all, sorted out the stacks and sent everyone back an assortment of tumbler blocks.  How cool is that?!?

Over the weekend I was able to piece together my quilt top and decided to let the colors “flow” from one into another: grey> grey + yellow>yellow>yellow + aqua>aqua and here’s the completed quilt top:

Crud…I just busted myself on the works in progress.  Just went back in search of last week’s blog post to get the list of last week’s in progress projects and I realized that my tumbler party quilt wasn’t listed…oops!

Here’s the skinny:

No Progress
1. 1600 Quilt…this project is driving me nuts!
2. Quilting of the Bliss quilt: really, it just needs quilted
4. Central Park Sodoku Quilt: needs quilt top assembly
5. Cherish Nature Charm Quilt: needs quilt top assembly
6. Wonky Siggy quilt for sister-in-law
7. Amy Butler Style Stitches Sew-Along
8. LQS Block of the Month (2)
9. Amy Butler Charm Clutch

Some Progress
1. Many Mini Modern Blocks QAL
2. Farmer’s Wife QAL
3. Tumbler Party I quilt

Happy sewing everyone!

 

Many Mini Modern Block 5: On the Fence

Today’s block was designed by Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr who blog over at Craft Nectar.  You may know their names if you’ve seen the book Transparency Quilts.  I saw this book recently in my LQS and I’m hoping my dear sweet husband is kind enough to pick me up a copy for Valentine’s Day (look honey: you can get it on Amazon).  But seriously, their quilt designs are amazing.

My original thoughts on choosing the order for the blocks was to first select designs that would require only straight line piecing and/or minimal piecing.  This block is deceptively not simple.  How hard could it be to sew a few strips together?  Have you ever tried to sew pieces of fabric that finish at just a 1/4″ each?  I won’t mention how I had the brilliant idea to shrink those strips down even further…

Just be warned, precise piecing required!

Here’s the adjusted size dimensions:

Fabric A:
(2)          1 5/8″ x 6 1/2″
(5)          7/8″ x 6 1/2″

Fabric B:
(6)          3/4″ x 6 1/2″

And here’s the finished block:

Fabrics I used:
Kona solids in white and buttercup

Note: The width of the Fabric B strips were not adjusted.  Extra adjustments were made to the Fabric A strips.  I also had to trim my block down by 1/8″ on each side.

See you on Thursday for the next mini modern block!

An old wives’ tale + Ruby, the Farmer’s Wife

I woke up this morning to a beautiful sky (which is rare in Ohio during the winter):

But then the old saying, ” Red at night sailor’s delight, red in the morning sailors take warning”  came to mind and makes me wonder what this Monday has in store.  Bad weather ahead or not, you can’t deny the beauty of the sun rising about the treeline.

The first thing on my agenda for the day is an update on my progress in the Farmer’s Wife QAL being hosted by Lindsey @ Happier Than a Bird Quilts.  I’ve been having so much fun with these little paper-pieced darlings and even though I got a late start on the QAL, I’m happy to say that I’m all caught up (and even working on next week’s blocks)!  It would seem that what I’ve read is true…these blocks are addictive!

So here’s  what I accomplished since the last Farmer’s Wife post:

Block 15: Buzzard’s Roost

Block 20: Churn Dash

Block 31: Evening Star 

Block 39: Friendship

Block 58: Mother’s Dream

Block 73: Rainbow Flowers

And I’ve given my quilt-in-progress a name: “Ruby, The Farmer’s Wife” which I know is not too creative considering it just mixes the name of the fabric collection and the book, but I love old-fashioned names and I’m sure there were many a Farmer’s Wife by the name of Ruby.

Head over to see what everyone else has been working on:

Happy Monday Everyone!

Many Mini Modern Block 4: Links

Today’s modern block was designed by one of my favorite quilt bloggers: John Q. Adams (aka Quilt Dad).  If you haven’t seen his blog (is that even possible?!?) you must must must check it out!

The links block was super easy to piece and has a lot of potential.  It’s perfect for fussy cutting or create an I-Spy quilt using this block pattern.  Hmmm….I just might have to try that with some I-Spy charms I expect to be receiving in the mail in the near future.

Here’s the reduced cutting dimensions for a block that is 6 1/2″ unfinished:

Fabric A:
(1)          3 1/2″ x 3 1/2″

Fabric B:
(2)          1 1/2″ x 3 1/2″
(2)          1 1/2″ x 5 1/2″
(2)          1″ x 2 1/2″

Fabric C:
(2)          1″ x 4 1/2″
(2)          1″ x 2″
(2)          1″ x 4″

Here’s the finished block:

Fabrics used include:
Natural Linen
Kate Spain Terrain
Deb Strain Cherish Nature

Be sure to add your blocks to the Flickr group and stay tuned for the next block on Tuesday!

Today

Today will be the day that I finish getting my sewing room in order.  I can’t take it anymore!!!!  It looks like a tornado blew through here and I barely make it from the sewing machine to the ironing board without tripping over something.

This will happen…

Many Mini Modern Block 3: Pogo Stick

Block 3 for the 3MB is here!

Pogo Stick was designed by Jessica Brown who blogs over at Just Give it A Go but since having a very adorable baby girl, there hasn’t been a lot of activity.  Well, activity on her blog that is…I’m sure she’s got her hands full!  Jessica has some great tutorials on her blog, including this one for state luggage tags…just too cute!

Here’s the reduced cutting dimensions for a 6 1/2″ finished block.

From Fabric A cut the following:

(1)   2 1/2″ x 3″ strip
(2)   1 1/2″ x 4″ strips
(2)   2 3/4″ x 3 1/8 strips

From Fabric B cut the following:

(2)   1 1/4″ x 2 1/2″ strips
(2)   1 1/4″ x 4 1/2″ strips
(1)   1 1/4″ x 2 3/4″ strip
(1)   1 1/4″ x 6 1/2″ strip

Here’s the finished block:

Fabrics used include:
Lizzy House- Castle Peeps
Kate Spain- Fandango

Be sure to add your blocks to the Flickr group and stay tuned for the next block on Sunday!