Sewing Saturday!

Jennifer's Block for Amy

Today I had planned to get Amy's block completed plus work on various other quilting projects. I got started on Amy's block and had so much fun experimenting that it was all I worked on all day and into the evening after dinner! As I mentioned in a blog comment last week, my mom had cut all the pieces I needed for the April project. Once I got started though I realized I wanted to use a bigger variety of fabrics. I got out my box of scraps and I made quite a fun mess!

The final piece...I really love the way it turned out. I truly understand the concept of the quilting bee now...I would never want to have to make 12 of these! Amy, it is going to be such a beautiful quilt, I can't wait to see it finished!

For those of you who have not started yet, there were a couple of things that I thought of that might help you too, if you are new to this like I am...Amy suggested using the template and also a ruler to cut the triangles (fabric, template, ruler). This worked very well for me because otherwise it was easy to cut into the plastic template. The other tip I have is to lightly tape down the template on the fabric before cutting, mine kept slipping otherwise. Good lighting was also important.

And finally, I just wanted to share a new quilt that my mom brought over to me. She made it from fabrics that she bought in Colorado 20 years ago! 

I hope everyone is having a great weekend! This first week back at school after the Easter break was non-stop busy and a bit stressful. I am so glad I have quilting to completely change things around during the weekends!

Linsay's block for Amy.

Here is Flora, my younger daughter, modelling Amy's block.  I loved making this block and the rainbow arrangement of colours makes everyone's blocks look very cheerful.  It is going to be an uplifting quilt.  I'm going to put it in the post this morning so you should get it in about a week Amy.

Meg's Block for Amy

Hi Everybody -- First of all, I think I've received all of my Flying Geese and thank you all so much!  The different fabrics, sizes and configurations will all make for a really fabulous and unique quilt.  I won't have time to put it together until later this summer, but I promise photos as soon as I start the design process.

I had a lot of fun working on Amy's block this week.  It's technically challenging, but I like that kind of project.  I've never pressed the seams open for any quilt;  initially, I was skeptical but I found that it helped a lot in avoiding twisted seam allowances.  Fabric selection was the most fun part for me.  I have a plastic storage box the size of a large trunk with tiny bits of every quilt I've ever worked on and it was a blast, looking at fabric that I haven't seen for many years.  Amy, each bit in this block originated in another one of my quilts, so every piece is special (well, at least to me!).  You will notice just a few bits of the oh-so-lovely 'red squares' from my son's quilt that I finished just last week.

Can't wait to see how it all comes together in the end!  xo Meg

Amy's square for Amy

Here is this month's square for Amy. Wow, it was tough! I tried my hardest to make my seams match up, and they did, most of the time... Whew! I love how the colors came together. I wasn't really sure how to arrange them, and ended up just finding combinations that worked for each individual pyramid. I think by doing that, they each have their own volume and tone. I like the end product, and hope you do too, Amy!

Katy's Block for Amy

It is a four-day weekend here, so I took advantage of the time and feeding off the energy of Wednesday night's local stash sharing, and made up your block, Amy....I will put it in the mail Tuesday.

It is by far the hardest block I've ever made.

I tried to be as precise as possible...all of those tiny little seams to match up made me re-do my seams a few times. Ach!!

I loved picking the fabric out and found it a challenge to choose the colours and patterns so that the size of pattern and colour matched well in the original pyramids, and then noticed how different everything looked once it was cut and sewn together as triangles.

I love the end-product. I love the rainbow effect, and looking at the circles, picking out different fabrics and remembering the stories that came with them. The vintage pieces from Micaela, the orange pieces from Genevieve, the green patterned pieces from Shauna or purple pieces from Shauna's quilting friend Pat, and the larger patterned solids that are quintessentially Amy...each fabric represents personality. I remember buying the brown and tiny flower print from Len's Mills years ago when I first started sewing again, and the splashes of AnnaMariaHorner, who still remains one of my favourite designers.

I think the making of this block has made me a better sewer... I checked my 1/4" seam allowance a few times to make sure I was doing it correctly, because I was really worried about how the block edges would line up. I mostly met the mark...

 I found a great tutorial for beginner quilters to calibrate their sewing machines for a 1/4".
http://www.seamstobeyouandme.com/wordpress/2012/02/09/how-to-get-a-perfect-14-seam/

My final block didn't measure 17.25" by 17.25", but it's almost 17"x17". I hope you can do something with it, Amy!

Waterloo Meeting April

The Waterloo faction of the International Stashes met up for the April block. We convened at Amy's house, and all brought our stashes with us to share. Michaela brought her gorgeous new son, Garner, and he helped with our color combinations. He was very opinionated. We talked a lot about the special scraps we had in our stashes, and the history behind them. Shauna brought a beautiful quilt top that her grandma has acquired, and then passed onto Shauna. It was funny how current it looked, even though it must have been several decades old. Shauna commented that when she first got it (twenty years ago), it seemed dated. Funny how trends come and go! Even though we all took scraps from the same combined stash, it will be interesting to see how they come together individually!

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Have a great day everyone!
Jennifer