Monday, March 16, 2015

Sewing with Abandon a.k.a. Guilt Quilting



I couldn't resist jumping ahead, and did the middle
block of the Modern Tradition Quilts Charm
Square Quilt Along 2015. It's my favorite!
I kept in the spirit of the tutorials, and 
finished the other 2 blocks provided.

The yellow electrifies the prints, and gives
these blocks a very tropical feeling.
I keep referring to this mentally as
the Casablanca quilt.




I'm not a total newbie to HST, but not an expert by
any means either. Shannon's tips in her tutorials
are good, and here's a few things I've picked up
both in them, and while sewing.

*If two points aren't quite perfect, pressing can 
make or break them. Try pressing one way or 
the other to see if it's any better. 
Sometimes open is best.

*Spray starch is your BFF--Best Friend Forever!
It makes lining up blocks SO much easier.
I broke down to try it on my last of these blocks.



Just So You Know
I squared and trimmed my charm squares ahead of time.
My solid was cut to 4 7/8", and I made my HST with it.
I then retrimmed with a small square, lining up the 
seam on my 45 degree diagonals. 

*To maintain crisp points, I spent a fair amount of time
checking my intended seam by running a straight
pin through both intended seam placements where
each point met with another.
Tedious, but accurate.
See the Modern Tradition tutorials for pictures.

*I also used my ripper a lot in my first few blocks,
but soon got a feel for where I might run into 
problems. I used great caution at those 
points from then on.

The Pet Project Show #11 has been ongoing this 
past weekend, and has had so many neat link ups. 
You can still link up through midnight Monday 
every week. If you've spent time clicking through the 
picture links, you know that occasionally it turns 
into a real bunny trail. One link leads you to the 
next, and so one.
Lisa in Port Hope posted this gorgeous mini
quilt she made for a swap. I was eyeing
her points, and then I saw the next pictures.


Her print choices give these blocks almost a 3D textured
quality. I've seen the blocks before, but this made my
mouth water for two reasons. One is obvious, they're 
drop-dead gorgeous, but the other is that this is
actually a modified cross block, no less the the 
one I was using for my father's Modern and Manly
quilt just last week. The change is in the
dimensions, and the corner block.
I Needed to make it so I launched into--


Guilt Quilting: Starting a new project on a whim when 
you already are in way over your head, and yet you
continue with wild abandon and glee.


I'd just spent hours sorting scraps, but had
to grap strips from my stash like Lisa suggests
in the tutorial she links to at Bad Skirt Blog.


Mine are test blocks, and I see a few things to correct
next time around. They're mistakes worth sharing here.

*First, I didn't realize how obvious it would look
if my dots weren't truly lined up. It makes the
cross look spirally.

*Second, I am always under-gauging a 1/4" seam.
My white to orange connectors are a little longer
than they should be. I didn't trim them off. Then
when I sewed them to the horizontal orange
strip, there was too much fabric in my seam
causing the bunching. It appears as puckering
on the topside and in the picture.

What have you got lined up for the week?
Hopefully something to stretch your skills,
or make you content. Something green
perhaps for St. Patty's Day?

I'm finishing up my project for the 
Tree Bird Blog Hop. Start here for today's
list of bloggers. I'm on Friday's line up.

Tree Bird Blog Hop

Come on, Doxie Girls.

10 comments:

Kitty said...

I love the yellow as the background in that latest HST block! It's not a color I would normally choose as a background color, but it works SO well with the bright prints you've used. It also sounds like you learned a ton about HST! My husband bought me BlocLoc rulers for Christmas, and they are SO worthy of all the hype they get.

Mary maloney said...

The yellow background is my fav.

Beth @ Cooking Up Quilts said...

Golly - All your points look sooooo good!!! I love making HSTs, but they don't always behave. Thanks for the tips and the links to learn more. I've got some practicing to do! :)

Mary Huey said...

I guess I'm a Guilt Quilter, too -- didn't realize it was a "category"?!? (-;

Sheri said...

I enjoyed your post and seeing your precise points and lovely color combos. I usually undersew my 1/4" seamsalso, which can be a big problem. In your pinwheel star for the Modern Traditions QA, did you put the left bottom hst askew on purpose?

Julie said...

I'll be darned! I didn't even see it! Thanks for the head's up, but I may leave it. I like a quilt with one thing off, but perhaps not so obvious as that.

Julie

Cynthia Brunz Designs said...

So manny great blocks! Thanks for sharing with Oh Scrap!

Nurdan Kulluk-Rennert said...

Love the bright colours!!

Connie Kresin Campbell said...

Looks beautiful and the yellow really adds a lot!

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