Design Wall - Blockheads

Here is my Blockhead collection so far from last year's patterns. 
One applique block is missing, but is in progress and should be finished soon.
I just couldn't resist putting all the blocks on the design wall to start thinking about a possible layout. For me, it's a little too crowded and visually jarring when the blocks are placed side by side. What do you think?

How about when they are separated a bit? I think that's a little better. It's more restful and each block can be seen easier. I think this  layout will work ... simple sashing and maybe scrappy cornerstones. What do you think? Any ideas you want to throw my way?

Click here to find all these Blockhead patterns.
If you hop over to the Moda blog you can see Tammy's amazing finished Blockheads quilt. It is stunning and I love her layout idea with half the blocks on point and the other half bordered and straight set. I must remember this layout idea for one of my future quilts. 
Hop over to Small Quilts to see more Design Wall posts.

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly hand stitching party!
Last week we had 35 link ups! And because it was Thanksgiving weekend and Monday was a holiday here, I had time to visit everyone. It was a lovely to enjoy a pot of tea and meander through the links and study the shared photographs you take the time to post for our learning and enjoyment... pure delight! 
P.S. Jocelyn... I can't reply to Google plus for some unknown reason, but wanted you to know that I enjoyed seeing and thinking about Jiggs Dinner for Thanksgiving! The leftovers are even more tasty! YUM!

Thank you to each one of you who take the time to share your projects with us. The variety of hand work never ceases to amaze me. 
And if you are ever wondering about how many people drop by to visit... here's the info from my Inlinkz dashboard tally from the hand stitching party last Sunday... 4,714 views so far!

From Gail Pan's I Stitch Club

I had one of those long hard weeks. You know the kind, where everything goes wrong one thing after the other, and the "to-do" list just requires more energy than you have available? 

But in spite of it all I managed to finish stitching Ms Wise Owl. I adore her because in each of the locations where I had time to add a few slow stitches, I was thinking about how hard life can feel sometimes. And although Ms Owl looks a little discombobulated and overwhelmed, she still stands tall, is kind and loving to others, and remains resilient! She's still able to see the stars and stay grounded to the beauty of nature. 
I know I am projecting a lot onto this little stitchery, but she and I just bonded throughout the challenges of this week! 



Hand stitching keeps me mostly sane!

And so ... I'm asking Santa for this mug for Christmas!

What are you hand stitching this week so that you stay mostly sane?
Link up your blog post below and share your projects with us.

   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   

Scrappy Saturday

October is green month over at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. It's time to sew up our little green scraps into something useable.

I started the month making another Circle of Squares block using dark green scraps.









Here is the block collection on the design wall. It only needs one more block to make my goal of 20 blocks. What colour does it need for the last block?

Hop over to the RSC linkup to see more green scraps being used up.

Two Finished Mini Quilts

I finished up two Temecula mini quilt projects this week. If you remember from Monday's post, there were 15 blocks that were the same size and 11 blocks that were voted off the project. 
Here are the 15 blocks joined together with vertical sashing. I didn't want to quilt through the colonial ladies' heads, so went with simple vertical lines. Then I decided it needed just a bit more quilting, so I stitched around each of the 1.5" blocks. That meant 15 stops and starts, which isn't "fun" quilting, but it was worth it as the extra quilting did make the quilt look a bit nicer.

I took the quilts out for a glamour photo shoot with the lovely fall mums that are planted downtown. The photos didn't turn out as well as I had envisioned, but you get the gist!

Finished size: 16.75" x 21.5"









This little cutie was made from the deconstructed 25 patch blocks (that turned out to be too small), and the first 2 blocks that I made incorrectly. These imperfect blocks fit perfectly together!

Finished size: 6" x 12"



 








And while we're talking about Temecula Quilt projects, they are starting a new sewalong next week! It's called Secret Santa Sewalong and I can't wait until next Friday!

Last Year's Blockheads Catch Up

The first Moda Blockheads project wrapped up in February and you can check out some fabulous finishes here. 

sewing block 43 on my white featherweight Singer

I don't know why it has taken me so long to finish up the remaining 6" blocks since they are adorable and I really enjoy sewing  them. However, since Blockheads II started, I have been distracted by the new block series ("squirrel) and moved on from the first block series. I have recently been feeling a renewed determination to finish up the first Blockheads series before the end of the year. These wonderful blocks want to become a finished quilt.

Block #43 Any Direction

Block #43 - "Any Direction"
It's funny that I chose 2 directional fabrics for a block called "any direction"! I spent a lot of extra time making sure that the background and the brown fabrics were all going in the same direction, but in keeping with the block name should have sewn it together randomly.

Block #44 Lawyer's Puzzle

Block #44 - "Lawyer's Puzzle"
I added little triangles to the large neutral triangles because to make them look less empty. There are 64 pieces in this 6" block. It was so fun to sew and I really like how this one turned out.

Block #45 Double Dutch

Block #45 Double Dutch
A plethora of flying geese and a few half square triangle blocks.

Block #46 Alternate

I made the alternate pattern for block #46 by Lisa Bongean. The star block in the centre measures 2". I loved making that so much, I had a fleeting thought that went something like this... 
"I should make a whole quilt from these 2" star blocks"!
Followed by a stern voice... "Don't even think about it" LOL

#47 Starry Nine Patch

Block #47 is called Starry Nine Patch

I needed a couple more blocks with a dark background, so I reversed the light/darks on this one, which resulted in a brain workout, which then resulted in needing a nap when the construction was complete.

#48 Honeymoon

The final block pattern #48 is called Honeymoon. The was also made with the lights/darks reversed, but seemed easier than the previous block.


I only have 1 more block to make for this project. It's the cardinal applique and then I will put all the blocks up on the design wall and make some decisions about putting this project together.
Linking up to Sew Fresh Quilts.

Temecula on the Design Wall

Marvellous Mini quilt top

Last June Temecula Quilts hosted a Marvellous Mini Monday sewalong making blocks with 1" strips. The sewalong finished in August and it took me a whole year to figure out what to do with my blocks. 

You can see the Temecula quilt here and get the pattern in their new book called Quirky Little Quilts.


My version is quirky indeed! On the design wall today is the layout I finally decided on. 

Collection of blocks made during sewalong

I had a couple of challenges:
1) my first 2 blocks (on the left) were the wrong size, so I remade those and paid more attention to reading the instructions after that! LOL
2) my five 25 patch blocks made from 1" squares turned out to be too small due to an inconsistent seam allowance. Even though I am careful and tried hard, there is no room for variance in blocks this small.
3) I didn't like the four blocks (on the right) with plain squares in the middle instead of a piece block.
So all of these blocks were voted off the project.

I made one more block with a 9 patch centre to add to the collection, which gave me 15 blocks to work with. The blocks were sewed in 3 columns of 5 blocks with no horizontal sashing. The sashing fabric is a sweet print by Jo Morton from her Jamestown collection and it's called "brown stripe with Colonial ladies". It was quite  a challenge to get the vertical lines to meet across the top and bottom borders. Can you see where I sewed tiny tucks to make everything line up properly? 

I'm happy with how it all turned out. I'm ready to baste and quilt this project and now have to figure out what to do with the 11 extra blocks that got voted off the project!
To see more design walls, hop over to the Small Quilts linkup.

Slow Sunday Stitching

Welcome to the weekly link up for hand stitching enthusiasts! Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in Canada and I am thankful for so many things, including this international community of enthusiastic and talented hand stitchers! 

Whether you post your projects in the link ups, or you encourage others in their long term, slow stitching endeavours, or you are stitching along quietly on your own hand stitching projects making your corner of the world calmer and more beautiful, we are thankful for YOU!

Today I am slowing stitching away on another one of Gail Pan's embroidery designs. This week I am stitching a sweet owl design using a size 10 Jeana Kimball Foxglove Cottage Embroidery needle... it's my favourite needle for embroidery with a sharp point and an "easy to thread" eye when you are using thicker threads or floss. This owl is almost finished, and I just have the stars, tree branch, and leaves/flowers to finish today. I will do so while I ponder my thankfulness for each one of YOU! And then I will kick into high gear and cook a Thanksgiving dinner!

If you haven't yet entered the draw to win spools of Aurifil thread, click here to go to the "Save the Bees" hexie block pattern and draw. Good luck everyone... the winning name will be drawn tonight!

Link up your blogpost below and tell us what you are hand stitching today.

   

    An InLinkz Link-up