Well, I did great for the first three months of the year. My two RSC18 projects were worked on each month and one was finished in time for the next. Somehow April and most of May slipped by and I didn’t work on either of them. Knowing myself, I figured I had better get caught up. Once I am too far behind, it becomes very easy to talk myself into skipping it altogether. We know what happens next don’t we? The blocks I did make end up in orphan block land, a very sad place to be.
While I am not totally caught up yet, I feel much better with the progress I made. To remind you, I am sewing along with Angela and Mari’s Squared Away BOM and I am making nine patch blocks for a separate project. April’s color was yellow with a touch of gold. The block tutorial for the month was the 4X Star, also known as the Carrie Hall block. These made for super easy piecing as only squares and a handful of HST’s were required for each one. I love both of these blocks – note that I used the same golden fabric for the four squares in the center but it looks quite different on each one. I was having a really tough time finding scraps of yellow for April because I only had such a small amount of yellow. Mentioning this to Mari, she sent off a huge packet of yellow scraps. Though her idea of scraps might be different then mine because she generously sent a number of fat quarters. So, Mari’s tutorial, Mari’s fabric….. I wonder what it would take to get her to come to California to cut my pieces and stitch them up? Thank you Mari!
May’s color is pink and rose. This was easier for me as I have plenty of pink scraps in my stash. I don’t know if I really went with rose but I like the combinations I came up with thus far. The block for this month is by Nancy Cabot, called Baton Rouge Square. Mari describes it as a package with ribbons tied at the top. I like that! Again, these are easy blocks to construct as long as you watch the direction of each HST. At this point, I still need to make one more of each block for both April and May, and I will be good to go. June’s block will pop up on Saturday so I better get these done!
Here is a shot with all of my Squared Away blocks to date. Looking good, with the exception of the missing pink and yellow blocks! I am thinking of placing them on point and sashing them with a gray that is a tad darker than the background color I am using. But there is plenty of time to figure out those details.
Finally I did make a few nine patch blocks. I haven’t made the wonky stars in pink yet, but these are quick and simple to put together.
Now I am off to the sewing room to make a custom Chemex Cozy for a customer in Virginia. Time to get busy. Also, come back on the first of June as I have some updates about my shop to share with you. Until then, happy sewing!
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Great looking progress, Bernie. It’s amazing how you can change one fabric in a block and get a whole different result.
Good job catching up! I never made it past February ! 😲
Oh shoot! Well maybe you can make a mini with the blocks you made? Or use some wide sashing and make a baby quilt? Hope all is well Pam. 🙂
So many fun blocks in your catching up! Love those yellows (pinks too, but yellows are a favorite)! Every time I see these blocks I like them even more!
Thanks Wendy. Samplers are funny because the blocks are so different from each other and no pattern or secondary themes pop up but I love how these are going together. It just works somehow.
As usual, you have given me too much credit. Your blocks look great, and it’s all you! Though I would love to come to California and sew with you! I feel honor-bound to note that the sampler was designed by Angela, too. And my scraps are all less than 10 inches square, so those fat quarters must have slipped in there by mistake. I have no idea how that happened. 🙂
Great job sticking with it, Bernie. I have a few of those partially completed BOMs floating around!
Hi, Bernie.
At the end of all of your blog posts, you refer to the link ups at the top of the post. I,be never been able to find them. Besides the link ups(!), what am i missing that I can’t find them?
Thanks.
Nancy
Hi Nancy, If you look at the top of the main page of my blog, there are several categories you can click on such as Quilt Gallery, About Me and Link Ups. That is the tab I refer to so people can look at all of the possibilities that are out there for linking up your posts. Here is a link to help you:
https://needleandfoot.com/link-ups-sharing-our-work/
I’m also doing the Squared Away BoM! My sister and I are making them together (even though I’m in Alberta and she’s in Connecticut) so we double up everything we make and trade the duplicates! So I’m making four of each block with two different patterns. I’ve only made 5 of 20 blocks so far, with everything else cut out and ready. It would be so easy to set this aside but with my sister sewing along I don’t want to leave her lacking at the end of the year.
Mindy, what a fun way to do a block of the month project. I love that idea of sewing with your sister. It will be fun to see how all of the blocks look together when you both finish!
Your blocks look great!
I use the RSC color suggestion of the month for several projects and am often behind or sometimes I just don’t have enough of that color to do much! I have seen other ladies in the same boat over the years just substituting some other color or skipping that month…
How nice that Mari sent you some yellow fabrics!
I have my own angel that sent me a huge amount of reproduction fabric scraps not too long ago and what a blessing
Your blocks look great. It is so easy to get behind, and then it’s always so hard to get caught up and back on track.
Your Squared Away blocks are so pretty! I really like the light gray background, and I think that’s what will tie them all together in the end.
Thanks Diann – that is my goal. Hoping the gray makes the overall effect calmer.
Great progress towards catching up. I was happy to see June’s block is super simple and will take no time at all. A bit of a breather will be nice.
Thanks for sharing with Oh Scrap!
I was thinking the same thing about the June blocks. Easy peasy – No HST’s!!