Modern Blocks Quilt a Long: January 2014 Everything Equal

 

One project that is continuing into the new year is the And Sew We Craft Modern Blocks Quilt a Long. This month’s block was selected by Alyce of Blossom Heart Quilts. You can find a tutorial for the Everything Equal block on her blog here.

Alyce’s Block

Alyce mentioned that she specifically chose this block as an opportunity to use some of the smaller scraps that remain after cutting the previous nine blocks. I did manage to use a few of these scraps, but I also wanted to use this block as an opportunity to integrate all of the prints into one block to help tie the quilt together. I know normally in these posts at this point, I would share a fabric key. But this time I am going to be a little lazy, because instead of 2-4 fabrics this one has all of the Juliana Horner prints that I own (yes, I am missing 3 prints from the Rosette line). So instead I’m just going to skip to the block reveal this time!

I am pretty happy with my fabric placement and construction, but it was a simple block… I did have to use a few of the prints more than once, but it all seems to balance out nicely.

I haven’t decided on a layout yet, and we still have three more blocks so there is plenty of time. I think I will definitely add sashing and cornerstones between the blocks. I might remake a few of the blocks too (second row right, and third row center). Or I might even make a few extra blocks so that it’s 16 or 20 instead of 12, who knows?!?! I’m really happy that I have joined in on this particular quilt a long, the monthly block allows enough time to enjoy the process free of stress. Make sure you head over to the linky party to see everyone else’s block!

xo,

Tone it Down -American Patchwork and Quilting

I finally finished cutting the fabric for the APQ Tone it Down quilt a long! I really tried to space out my cutting sessions a little due to my arm, but I was getting FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) watching images pop up on instagram so I pushed the limits a few nights and finished it up.

But as soon as I finished cutting I felt the need to stay up and start sewing one of the blocks. So I put in an hour of sewing, staying up until 2 am before sleep got the better of me. But I did wake up bright and early, excited to start sewing again and finish it up! And about 3 hours later I did. Can you believe it? About 4 hours for a single block! This is definitely the most intense and time consuming quilt block I have ever attempted.

I did some more math and figured out that each block has 97 individual pieces! Yikes! But I feel so accomplished having completed one, I can only imagine how I will feel when I finish the remaining 19! I really took my time , but it turns out my 1/4″ seam allowance was closer to 5/16″ so in the end I had to do some careful trimming to make up for this in order to align my corners — if I am consistent with this seam allowance through the entire quilt it won’t be an issue and the blocks will all come out the same size.

So. I have no idea how long this quilt will take me, since each block is so time-consuming. But this might be a year long project! Are you participating in the quilt a long? Did you stick with the neutral background and bright foreground? Have you checked in on the lead bloggers progress or seen a really stunning version by someone else? Let me know in the comments!

 

xo,

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I won! We did it!

Hey! Guess what?

I won the October prize for the And Sew We Craft Modern Blocks Quilt a Long! With your help, I received 120 “Likes” making my block the most “liked” block, and therefore the winner! Above is a photo of the October “Best Friends” block, and below is a photo of my prize, a Fat Quarter bundle of Cypress Acacia by Tula Pink! The sponsor of the October prize, The Fat Quarter Shop, also included a free pattern for their quilt Layer Cake Lemonade. I am so thankful that there are excellent sponsors out there, who give so freely of wonderful prizes, it makes being part of the online craft community so much fun!

I am so happy to have won this prize, I think Tula Pink’s fabrics are really lovely. Now, I will need to buy the fat quarter bundles for the other two color ways in the Acacia line. I think, I am a little OCD about having complete collections… But really they are lovely, and why wouldn’t I want them? So keep an eye out, as these fabrics start popping up in projects in the next  few months. I am not sure what I will do with them yet, but I am very excited to get to work with them!

Finally, I want to thank all of you who took a few minutes to travel over to the Linky party at And Sew We Craft to vote for my block. If you only made it over to vote once, I thank you, that is awesome. If you went back on multiple occasions to vote for my block, I cannot be more thankful for your support, you are amazing people!

xo,

Modern Blocks Quilt a Long: December 2013 Crossroads

Welcome back!

I am here to share the December block for the And Sew We Craft Modern Blocks Quilt a Long. This month’s block is “Crossroads” originally designed by Angela Pingle blogger of Cut to Pieces, chosen and instructed for the Quilt a Long by Amy at Actually Amy. If you would like to attempt the block yourself, and haven’t purchased the Modern Blocks book (compiled by Susanne Woods), you can find a tutorial led by Amy here. Below is Amy’s block, sewn from Little Apples fabrics by Aneela Hoey for Moda, which by the way is currently on sale at The Quilted Castle.

This is another block in the quilt a long that works best if you have a novelty print like those from Little Apples because you can fussy cut the larger pieces, as Amy did for the children playing and the clothes. Because I am using all-over non-directional prints, I really didn’t bother fussy-cutting any of my pieces, but I did choose to use that extra space for larger prints which I haven’t been able to utilize throughout all of the blocks. I also, chose to maintain my background solid to create continuity within the blocks.

So, above is my fabric key, I chose to work with Terrace Main in orange cream, Bouquet in sprout, and Rosebed in Pomegranate. All of these fabrics are from Juliana Horner’s 2013 Rosette line, designed and sold exclusively at JoAnn’s Fabrics (which makes it really accessible when you live in a town without amazing modern fabric shops.) When I purchased my fabrics, back in June/July, I purchased 9 of the 12 prints in the line, there were a few I just didn’t love to pieces at the time. But now, I am really wishing I had purchased those other prints so I could have the full collection, unfortunately those three have sold out at my local JoAnn’s, and they don’t seem to be bringing them back. They are available online, but only in full yard cuts and I really only want half yards, so I’m on the fence about ordering them. But I will mention, that Juliana Horner has already introduced some new fabrics at JoAnn’s in November. I went ahead and snatched up a half yard of each of those too, and am in love with the colors and prints, but that’s for another post.

So here she is, a little unconventional as far as color combination, but I think actually quite lovely.  This was a challenging block to match seams on, and I think I could actually create it with greater success, if I re-organized how the blocks are pieced. But I won’t, because I am overall pretty happy with the outcome.

A few photos to swoon over…

And an updated photo of all 8 completed blocks, thus far. Not too shabby!

The plan is for 12 total blocks, so we are already 2/3 finished with the blocks.

However, I finally purchased the book, and I think I might just make up a few more blocks, maybe an extra four, so it is a 16 block, or even an extra 8 so that it is a 20 block… There are just so many blocks in the book that I want to try, and where better to put them than in a sampler quilt! (There are by the way, 99 blocks in the book, but I won’t be making them all, for this quilt at least!

So, why not pop over to the Linky party to see what the other quilt a long participants are whipping up this month! Also, be sure to return tomorrow for a very special post also related to the Modern Blocks Quilt a Long, which I know some of you have been asking about!

xo,

Modern Block Quilt A Long: November 2013 Pogo Stick

Okay, I’ve been sitting on this post for well over a week because it took me that long to scan my fabric key, but here it is folks! The November block in the Modern Block Quilt A Long hosted by And Sew We Craft. This month’s block is the Pogo Stick block chosen and instructed by Rosalyn of Sew Delicious. As a reminder, all of the blocks completed for this quilt a long are from the book Modern Blocks by Susanne Woods, which I finally purchased from Joann’s this week with my Veterans Day coupon. But you can find the book almost anywhere online, Amazon, Book Depository, etc.

Above is an image of Rosalyn’s block, and  you can find her tutorial for the Pogo Stick  block here. So every time I piece a block for this quilt a long, I always take a look at how the tutorial host has put it together, and also how Amy at And Sew We Craft has put her’s together. Viewing the other blocks really helps me make decisions about my own block, and as I didn’t own the book until now, I can only assume that they pieced their block pretty similarly to what is in the book.  In this case, they both pieced the foreground element in one print and the background either as a solid or a separate print.

Which, I think looks lovely on both ladies’ blocks, but two things occurred to me while I was deciding how I wanted to arrange my block. First, the block is called pogo stick, so what part of the pogo stick are we looking at here? Second, how can I use more than one print in my block, but also retain the solid background fabric that I have used throughout all of the others? So I decided to break the block into a few different elements of the so called “pogo” I separated the square from the side pegs and then separated the center pole and arranged my fabrics from lightest to darkest in an attempt to create depth. So my pieces looked more like this:

I kept my off white background fabric, then chose Posy Navy for the side pegs, Bouquet Sprout for the square, and Garden Main Floral for the vertical pole. All of my fabrics for the entire Modern Blocks quilt a long are from Juliana Horner’s 2013, Rosette fabric line designed for JoAnn’s Fabrics.

Now the question becomes, was I happy with my deviation from the two reference blocks? Yes, yes I am very happy! I actually love the outcome of the Pogo Stick Block. It was so simple to piece, yet came to be such an awesome modern graphic composition! This is one block I can definitely picture as an entire quilt! And with a little google searching, you will see that others agree, there are numerous full Pogo Stick quilts out there and maybe someday soon I will have made one of them!

Be sure to head over to the Linky Party at And Sew We Craft to view the other quilter’s Pogo Stick blocks! I really enjoy seeing the little twist everyone puts into their own blocks, and this month there is plenty of variation!

Happy Hopping!

Lighthouse Quilt A Long: Test Block

Well, I am at it again! I have just started another quilt a long. This time it is the Lighthouse quilt a long hosted by Faith of Fresh Lemons Modern Quilts. Faith has done such an amazing job so far detailing all of the fabric, batting, and template requirements for all different sizes of quilts. The math that she has put into this has literally blown my mind! I cannot be more thankful that she has taken the time to spell it all out for us!

So this past week was the test block week. I chose some fabrics from my stash, a few Denyse Schmidt prints that I had previously purchased from JoAnn’s Fabrics which I paired with Kona Bone. Here is my handy dandy fabric key, this time I sewed a scrappy dresden piece for the fun of it… (Dresden refers to the shape, typically you put a bunch of these “petals” together to make a lovely flower like shape with either round or pointed edges.)

So, the block itself is paper-pieced. Which is pretty easypeasy anyway, but I have a few tips to add to Faith’s excellent instructions.

First, I like to mark a 1/4″ seam allowance so that I have a line to align with the raw edges of my fabric, rather than eyeballing my seam allowance based on the stitch line that is already printed on the pattern.

From this point, I can easily align my fabrics and be certain I have a 1/4″ seam allowance. But I also have another trick before we do that! I lay my fabric out on a ruled cutting mat so that I can also be certain that my fabrics are centered.

In this case, I centered the 2 1/2″ print on top of the 4 1/2″ solid fabric –leaving me 1″ of solid fabric on each side of the printed fabric. Then I place the paper template and as you can see below, the newly marked 1/4″ seam allowance aligns perfectly with the raw edges of the perfectly aligned fabrics!

Now I am ready to stitch along the seam-line which was already diagrammed into the paper template! Bada-bam!

But, there is more! I have one more tip to share with you to further perfect our paper-piecing! Now that we can perfectly align the seam allowance and seam-line, we might also want to know that the paper template is centered on the fabric. This, my friends, is much much easier when you mark the center line on the paper template.

Now, combined with the ruled cutting mat and our carefully centered and aligned fabric, we are able to perfectly align the paper template to get the very best paper-pieced pattern EVER! OCD? Maybe, but isn’t that what paper-piecing is all about? (Don’t get confused, I am now using the second piece of the template.)

Okay, so if you’ve never paper-pieced before you do get to a point where you have this little mess.

Which is my least favorite thing about paper-piecing. It just seems so wasteful… So I’m going to ponder ways that I can reduce the waste produced when piecing my quilt blocks… Speaking of which, I bet you would like to see the finished test block!

TA-DA!

(Sorry for the fuzzy picture, I am working in our basement which doesn’t have the best light and as we roll into winter, I am certain I will be taking more and more photos in dimly lit settings! :S )

Check it out! Isn’t she beautiful? I know…

I do plan to construct an entire quilt but, my fabrics haven’t arrived yet, and I am going to be piecing a very special quilt for a very special project which I will tell you more about very soon! If you would like to participate in the Lighthouse quilt a long, be sure to visit Faith’s blog (the link is posted at the top of this post), to find the template and piecing instructions, as well as all of the wonderful calculations! And of course, share your progress on instagram, flicker or whatever platform you use!

xo,

Help me win!

Hi friends!

This month the Modern Blocks Quilt-a-long prize is going to be vote based rather than a random drawing. The prize this month is a: Fat Quarter Bundle of Cypress Acacia by Tula Pink for Free Spirit Fabrics. I sure would like to win, so if you don’t mind head on over to And Sew We Craft Block 6, scroll all the way to the bottom of the post and click on “Like” beneath block #2 by CollectCreateCirculate.com (which is my blog title). My block is pictured in this post, so just look for that on their website and click “Like” beneath it!
Don’t worry, you won’t receive a bunch of crazy emails for liking my block, your “like” is just one more vote for me to win some awesome fabric!

Recently I have been getting whipped by another block, so it’s time for a come back. I can only win this with your help! Show me the love! There are eleven days left to vote, and each day as my votes increase, so does the other block’s and somehow she always stays about 8 votes ahead. So if you can go back to the website a few times! You can only vote once a day from the same ip address, so I could use help from supporters of this blog to make up the difference!

Please, please, please, don’t make me beg! I would love to do some fun projects with the Cypress Acacia fabrics and share it here for all of you to see!

xo,

Modern Block Quilt a Long: October 2013 Best Friends

And she’s on a roll!  And by “she” I mean me! The ladies of And Sew We Craft posted the October block yesterday! They are in Australia, so for them it was right on time (10/01), and for me in the Midwest United States it was a day early (9/30)– which was fine by me! This month’s block is the Best Friends block, it was hosted by Anorina over at the blog Samelia’s Mum. She gave a little background on the block, apparently the original designer is Angela Pingle who runs the blog Cut to Pieces. I have never come across Cut to Pieces, so I am excited to have another crafty blog to check out.

Above is Anorina’s block, she used a directional print so she utilized some special cutting instructions so that her elephants all run the same direction. Her tutorial for the October Best Friends block is here!

Amy at And Sew We Craft shared her Best Friend block in this month’s Modern Block Quilt a Long Introduction Post. She also cut her pieces with a directional print, and even fussy cut the adorable center piece to align the hula hoop girl!

I love what they both did with their directional prints, but In order to keep with my theme, I also wanted to maintain a similar use of my background fabric, so I cut the larger rectangles from my neutral solid. I was somewhat bummed to leave so much of the block blank when everyone else is employing such awesome prints for their blocks, but really this meshes better with my other blocks.

 Again, I used Juliana Horner’s 2013 Rosette fabric line which is sold exclusively at JoAnn’s Fabrics, which by the way I am in love with. It is so sweet with it’s blend of traditional and modern motifs and colors. This month I made it back to JoAnn’s and found another print (Ivy Tangerine) that had apparently arrived late at my local store, so of course I had to buy it and introduce it into my blocks!

So, the block construction was easy-peasy. It does include a partial seam, but really it isn’t difficult and from the front you can’t even tell which seam was the partial seam!

And since we are six months into the quilt a long, I decided to post a photo of all six blocks that I have completed so far! Half way there!

Are you working on any quilts right now? Did you join the Modern Blocks Quilt a Long? Let me know what you are up to in the comments!

xo,

Modern Block Quilt a Long: September 2013 Escalator Block

Bada-boom! I finished up the September 2013 Escalator block for the And Sew We Craft Modern Blocks Quilt A Long just in time! Phew!

Escalator Block Layout

 

This block was chosen from Modern Blocks by Cate at Life Behind the Purple Door. The escalator block was originally designed by Ann Haley. Like myself, Cate is still quite new to the quilting scene, but she did an excellent job explaining the cutting and construction of the block. Cate’s block is pictured below, and her tutorial for the block is available here!

Cate at Life Behind the Purple Door’s Escalator Block

When I first began constructing this block at the beginning of September, I had a real brain fart and couldn’t figure out what to do with the 2.5″ squares and the 2 .875″ triangles… My brain could not figure out what to do with the extra .375″. So I sat on my cut pieces for the rest of the month, without piecing them (not to mention the first time I started piecing them I had laid them out in the wrong order! displayed in the top un-pieced image above, this is the wrong layout. Don’t follow that image!) Instead, check out the illustrated tutorial I’ve shared below!

 

Cutting vs. Stitching Dimensions

 

Once again, I worked with Juliana Horner’s 2013 Rosette line for JoAnn’s Fabrics. And, like always, I constructed a little key to keep in my quilting notes.

Once I figured out the cutting versus stitching dimensions, the block was very easy to construct! And it was an excellent distraction from my academic work. I took my time to carefully align my corners and am really pleased with the finished block.

Be sure to check out all of the other participants September Escalator blocks at the Linky party!

We’ve completed five months of the twelve month Modern Blocks Quilt A Long, and the next block should be available very soon! Can’t wait to see what’s next from the ladies at And Sew We Craft!

xo,

Half Square Triangles Postage Stamp Quilt

Remember all of those little triangles we trimmed off while making our flying geese in the block below?

Well, I got busy and started sewing those little triangles just about as quickly as I was cutting them to create teeny tiny half square triangles (HST). In this technique for HST, you begin with two equal triangles placed face to face, then you sew them down the long side to create a single square. See the brief illustrated tutorial below.

The Follow the Leader quilt block above has 16 flying geese, therefore 32 HST!. So once, I had all of these teeny tiny HST sewn, I started piecing them together into rows. Then sewing the rows together.

Once I finished piecing the tiny postage stamp sized HST together the finished block was a whopping 5″ x 6″!

By no means is this a perfectly pieced block, but really how could it be when the pieces are so tiny and individually pieced from tiny triangles!

But I do love my tiny little HST Postage Stamp quilt block. Maybe I will attach it to the Modern Blocks quilt backing when we complete the quilt a long!

Goodnight all, xo!