Hello...hello...hello.........

My poor little neglected blog.  Moving and quitting my job really took the wind out of my sails!  I have been starting to sew again though.  Now it's time to get organized and motivated!

Ah, Affairs of the Heart... On top of my general inability to find enough time to sew lately, I've been torturing myself with indecision about that project and have finally come to a decision I can live with.

Since my blocks are meant for a quilt for my young daughter, I have been very concerned with how practical or durable the blocks are. I really hate the ones that I did on the machine, and I don't feel that the embroidery is especially durable either way. But since they are beautiful and I am stubborn, I have decided to do 9 of my favorite blocks by hand and make them into a wall hanging for my daughter. Then I'm going to take the rest of the pink and purple batiks I bought for that project and make a twin-sized variation of the Civil War Love Letters quilt. Since that one will be paper pieced on the machine it will be much more practical for a little girl, and it will still have a "love" theme. I'm going to make the heart center medallion variation. I'm going to do it on my own schedule and only do the blocks I want to do for my specific quilt. I think I might start a personal diary thread to post my pictures and progress so that I can get all the encouragement and feedback that this board offers without having to follow along on a BOM.

Anyway - that is the plan! If only I can get Penny Haren done.... Here are some pictures of the blocks I've completed recently.  I'm sure I've missed some, so I'll post a group shot soon.

 

Michael Squared

An awfully strange name for a block I think, but I finished Michael Squared last night.  MS is the block for next week in my Penny Haren Pieced Applique Sew-Along.  I also worked ahead and finished Kaleidoscope Star, the block that is "due" the week that we move.  I'm going to start doing two of these blocks a week so that when we travel and move later this Spring I won't fall behind the schedule.

When I first started putting Michael Squared together, I was horrified by my color choices and thought I would really hate the finished product.  But, I stuck to my color scheme and am pretty happy with how it turned out:

"Michael Squared"

I thought it was going to be an orange disaster, but everything seems to work together now.  My Kaleidoscope Star has a little bit more going on color-wise with the red.  Both blocks look nice along side the others I've already done.  I have to keep reminding myself that each of these little blocks is just a small part of the larger project and not a masterpiece unto itself!

Kaleidoscope Star

My next project will be to stitch down the applique pieces of Block #11 of the Baby Love quilt I'm working on in the Affairs of the Heart Sew-Along.  I've got them all cut out - I just need to finished ironing the edges under with starch and then stitch them down with my invisible thread.  I bought some smaller sized machine needles, which should make my stitching a little less obvious - smaller needle holes. I also want to make some significant progress on finishing my baby's dinosaur quilt.  My husband actually asked me about that one last night - and he never asks about any of my projects!

Rising Star and Prosperity

I finished a few more Penny Haren applique blocks tonight.  I'm working a little bit ahead of the schedule that the group on the QB is using, but it's only because we're moving in June and I want to be ahead so I won't fall behind.

The first block is called "Rising Star" and I hate it.  My loathing shows. Typically these Penny Haren blocks require that you piece a small foundation block (I'm doing 6" blocks) and then glue your templates to your fabric for the applique and glue your applique pieces to the foundation.  Stitch, soak to remove the glue and templates and done.  I was really annoyed with this block - Piecing this block required that I complete the middle portion, applique and all, and then piece it into the outer portion.  I didn't like having to applique, soak out the templates and then finish sewing the foundation, stitch and soak again.   Most of the blocks would be too hard to do traditionally.  This one I could have totally done (and actually have done larger versions) using half-square triangles. And it is so plain looking.  I feel like I need to applique something else in the middle.  Not enough bang for my buck here.  I can tell I wasn't enjoying this one - my points are all crooked and I didn't care to do them over!  Not like me at all...

Rising Star - Bleh

The next block made me much happier.  I pieced the foundation, I prepared the applique, I stitched, soaked and voila!  I was done!  I think the block looks much nicer too.  This block is called "Prosperity."

Prosperity

Here are my first 8 blocks all together.  I like them!  I still dislike Rising Star immensely.  I need to remember that it is just one little 6" block in the larger group and I should just let it go...

Chain of Diamonds

I hate "springing forward."  At least maybe my kids will sleep late this morning since it is later than it should be!

The weekly schedule for the Penny Haren Pieced Applique group on the QB starts on Sundays, and since I already have my block for this week completed, here it is:

This block is called "chain of diamonds" and it is the 6th block in the book.  This block went together really easily for me, so this is either one of the easier patterns or I'm getting the hang of the technique - which basically involves stiff templates and glue sticks.  My glue stick ran out in the middle of this block, and instead of just going to find another, lazy-me tried to use Elmer's school glue.  Doesn't work the same at all.  Even though I use the Elmer's for basting and quilt construction all the time, it doesn't work for these blocks.  I had a hard time getting the Elmer's to stick and once it was down, it was super hard to reposition anything.  Forcing it resulted in a couple of shredded templates - but my self-imposed technical difficulties notwithstanding, this did go together very easily.

Penny Haren's Pieced Applique

I've been working through this book with a very nice group of online pals from QuiltingBoard.com.

The technique that PH uses in her book basically involves stiff templates and lots of glue and I have found it easy to use and to get really precise applique.  These blocks are each 6 1/2".  My plan is to sash them, put a simple border around them and make a wall-hanging.  There are instructions in the book for putting them into a star setting and making them into 12" blocks for a bed quilt, but I really like my little blocks and think I want to look at them on the wall.

Here are the blocks that I have so far:

That first block isn't actually sewn down.  It originally had a red center, but I don't think the dark red center has enough contrast with the brown, so I'm doing it over.  Someone on the QB had the great idea to use the original block for a pillow so that it doesn't go to waste.  I think I'm going to do that. It will give me the chance to try the star setting from the book, which I wouldn't otherwise get to do.

We have a very well-thought out schedule for completing these blocks as a group.  I, however, am going to start working ahead of the schedule (Shhhh.... don't tell the ladies on the QB) since we are moving this summer and ultimately I don't want to fall behind.  Look for a flurry of cute little blocks soon!