Tag Archives: wonky stars

Playing Catch Up

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!

Linking to Let’s Bee Social and Needle & Thread Thursday.  Info on both of these is found at the top of the page, under Link Ups.

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Catching up on RSC18

First of all, thanks to everyone for the get well wishes.  I am feeling better and have spent the last day or two getting caught up on things.  Whenever I spend time down due to some illness or other, it is always so satisfying to get back to normal and have a regular day.  Do you know what I mean?  It makes me appreciate normal.

squared away

Today I am sharing my RSC18 projects to date.  I finished the green blocks on the last day of March but never took pictures or posted them. The block for March is called Red Cross and dates to 1897.  I don’t get the name but it is a fun block to make.  Luckily I didn’t sew any bits together with the green HST’s pointing the wrong way (unusual for me, I know!) The color was to be light or bright green and this was easy as my green tub is truly overflowing. Like January and February, I tried to keep to the same scrap for each of the Squared Away blocks. Two of the greens look very similar (the lower two) but I am fine with this.

squared away

This green and yellow fabric is striking -somehow I have no idea where it came from.  Usually I can remember but not this time!  I love sampler quilts but sometimes they have a very busy look to them. I think using the gray background and keeping the fabric the same within each block is going to add order to the quilt.

Squared Away

Here are the blocks together, though none have been squared yet.  There is a third purple block but my OCD self couldn’t take the picture with an extra block hanging out in space.  Oh dear, what is wrong with me anyway??

I have said this before but it bears repeating.  Mari, designer of the quilt for Squared Away, does an excellent tutorial and I appreciate the bit of information she provides about each block.  If you haven’t sewn along with her before, I highly recommend her block of the month projects. Organizing, writing, preparing for this sort of event has to be incredibly time consuming.  Thank you Mari!

RSC18 nine patch

 

 

As I make the Squared Away blocks, I have also been pulling smaller scraps from the bins and making nine patch blocks.  These finish at nine inches each.  In February I did a few wonky stars to go with the purple set.  I really like these and will make more as I go along.  I am unsure what I will do with these.  Maybe just sash them in black and use it as a donation quilt.  The nine patch blocks are a breeze and this uses up more of the small scraps in each bin.

RSC18 nine patch

The wonky star blocks add interest to this project.

I need to pull yellow scraps for April.  This could be a challenge because I have so few yellow scraps.  There are some charm squares I might be able to utilize, depending on the cutting instructions for the April block.

Another project I worked on this week was cleaning up my shop.  I have deliveries tomorrow and next week. Hurray for new fabric!!  There was a stack of 1/2 and one yard cuts that were end of the bolt so I did some measuring and pricing.  Each of these is listed in the Bargain section of the shop.  Come take a look, maybe you will find something you like!

Enough for now.  I have lots to do. Hope you are all enjoying a ‘normal’ day too.

Linking up with a number of blogs, including Finished or Not Friday.  See the list up at the top of the page, under Link Ups.

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