Orange You Glad it's Orange Month?

I am! :^D

  
I love orange... but you already know that. Little bits of it showed up on my design wall.

The first at the finish line was Scrap Jar Star.

  

Slowly, very slowly, I am quilting the Field of Poppies top. 

I was able to sew outside last weekend, in the shades of the late afternoon. 
It was so nice. 

My first attempt at quilting the poppies was a disaster in my eyes. There were a lot of sharp angles in the curves. Not pretty. The lines are much better this time around. 

That's all I have for this week. At work, they fired a girl during work hours. It was not a pleasant thing to watch. Even though all the discussions were in private, seeing her pack up and leave was awkward, to say the least. I completely understand why they did it. She was forever criticizing the management even though she was still a trainee; she was negative and harsh. Let's just say I needed a glass of wine that evening, lol, and no sewing occurred. Anywho! On to better things. The atmosphere at work is much better now... but the workload is heavier. Oh well. Hard work hasn't killed me yet and we can hear laughter in the office again making the workload lighter so, life is good! 😁

Hope to get lots of sewing done this weekend but I am doubtful. Lots of laundry and cleaning to do. I might even make a little trip down south. We'll see. 

Happy sewing everyone. 

;^)

Tagging along with 

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérick at Patchwork and Quilts 

Cynthia for Oh Scrap! 

Last Sprint for Purple Sewing.

The time for sewing some purple fabric is running out fast. I still have to do some purple crumb blocks but I did succeed in doing some sewing this week. 

For the colour Purple, my Rainbow UFO Challenge is Framed 9-Patch and it is now a top. A small top. 

It measures 56 X 48 inches. I might add another row at the bottom. 

It won't reach twin bed size but at least it will be a better size throw. It is going back into the closet as the time to work on it is now over. Another month; another UFO Challenge. Wonder what Angela will call for August. 

I love this reversed one. 

Scrap Jar Star in purple and lots of 9-Patch blocks. 

For the solid coloured fabric, I was disappointed in the purple I had to play with. They look like funeral parlor purple. Yuck!

At the bottom of the pillowcase (yes, my solids live in a pillowcase, a huge one too), I found some more purple, but lovely ones this time. So I sew up more of this block. 

Pretty lilac and eggplant kind of purple make these blocks sing. The bottom left is more of a black cherry colour or deep red wine but since I didn't use it when we had the red month, I'm throwing it in this month. :^D 

And for la pièce de résistance, a purple placemat with lots of dots, circles and splashes! 

Even the background fabric has circles. And a cat for free! Haha. 

I finished the binding early this morning. The backing is something between dusty rose and color-me-purple on navy. It's an oldie but I am happy with the result. See Joyful Quilter's blog for more Table Scrap Challenge goodies. 

And here we are at the end. Phew! That was a lot of stuff this week. 

Things have returned to normal at work (whatever normal now means!) It was more fun getting up in the morning to go to work, you know I mean? anywho! It's a long weekend now and sewing is all I can think of. 

Enjoy! 

Joining my sewing sisters

Angela at So Scrappy 

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts

Cynthia for Oh Scrap! 

 

Purple is Painful

♫ I could be brown, I could be blue, I could be violet sky ♪ ♪

♪ ♫ I could be hurtful, I could be purple, I could be anything you like! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CGVgAYJyjk&ab_channel=MIKAVEVO

 (Doesn't this part of Mika's song sounds like the description of a bruise or is that just me? ) 

Purple is a painful colour. Painful to describe, to photograph, to match; it has so many nuances and undertones that it must be the most colourful colour! There is something for everyone to like in this one.

And it's so much fun to work with! Let's see what happened in my sewing room. 

Three more Jericho Wall blocks were made. Can you believe it? I have 6 purple Jericho Wall blocks! Okay! Enough of this. Let's sew something else. 

How about 4 Star Bloom blocks? Love these together. 

I found a cat. I need it in my placemat. 

The little purple scrap had a curvy cut. It wasn't easy to fix it but the cat is on my mat! (Sounds like Dr. Seuss, right?) 

I also work on my Rainbow UFO Challenge. Purple is Framed 9-Patch quilt. These blocks need to be assembled. 

Three quadrants are done. One more to go and then, I will be three seams away from a top! 

It's smaller than what I had in mind. Should I make one more row? Add big borders? Some pondering to do here. 

Also, pondering about these cornerstones. Still. 

Very early this morning, I took it outside to take pictures as the weatherman promised a wet weekend. (It's almost noon now and it's bright and sunny!) Anywho! Black or red? Just one tiny difference and yet, it changes the entire quilt. I don't know which one I like best. 

I need to show you my purple flowers too. 

Colombine 

Aquilegia, the way we see them ... 

... and the insect's view. 

I believe I am done doodling chickadees. It's time to turn to colours. (I don't know why the photo turned bluish. It's weird!) 

It was an awful week at the office.  We are 4 team assistants, but with 2 on vacation = a lot more work for me. Yet, I did a lot of sewing too just to erase the tension from work in the evening. One assistant is returning on Monday. Yay! I survived, haha!

That's all I have for now. 

Cheers! 

;^)

Joining 

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts 

Cynthia for Oh Scrap! 

Star Bloom Sewing (my method)

I received comments from bloggers asking questions about this block. So I took lots of photos while sewing the Star Bloom blocks and will share them with you (in case you want to make this quilt too). Hopefully, it will answer all the questions. If not, don't be shy to comment. (Sorry, Joyce but you appear as a non-reply comment.) 

Here we go. 

I start my HSTs as a square with a line drawn diagonally in the middle. If you prefer the flip-a-corner method, the measurements will be different. 

From the print fabric, cut 1 rectangle at 2 X 5" 

2 squares at 2" 

3 rectangles at 2 X 3.5" 

4 squares at 2.5" 

From the background fabric, cut 1 rectangle 2 X 3.5" 

4 squares at 2" 

4 squares at 2.5" 

I start with the HSTs as it takes the longest to prep. So take one 2.5" square from each fabric and sew 1/4" on each side of the diagonal line. Cut on the line. Press open and trim them down to 2" squares. Set them aside but not too far. 

Take one white 2" square and pair it with one 2" square print. Add to the bottom of this unit the 2 X 3.5" white rectangle. 

Sew one print rectangle with one 2" white square. Do the same with the 2 X 5 rectangle and a 2" white square. 

Sew 2 HSTs together in one direction, then sew 2 more in the other direction as per the picture below. 

(This is where the measurements are different if you do the flip-a-corner method.)

To the last 2 print rectangles 2 X 3.5, you will add one HST at both ends. Pay attention to the direction of the HSTs. They have to mirror each other. 

This is what you should have. 

To the square, you will sew the first pairs of HSTs you have assembled. 

One is added to the top and the second one is added to the right side along with the last 2" square print. Like this. Mind the direction of these units. The white part has to point toward each other, like a butterfly. 

The rest of the block is assembled like a log cabin. Sew the 2 X 3.5 rectangle to the left of the unit and sew the long 2 X 5 rectangle to the bottom. Like so. 

Almost done. The last 2" white square will be sewed to the unit pointing to the right. The unit pointing to the left will be sewn to the left of the block first. Sew the last strip to the bottom. Again, pay attention to the direction of the HSTs. The white part of the HSTs has to point toward the other one. 

Voilà! Your block is done. 

Enjoy! 

;^) 

Joining 

Angela at So Scrappy 

Frédérique at Patchword and Quilts

Cynthia for Oh Scrap! 

While I'm at Jericho Wall (my method)

I thought of showing you my method for assembling this block. 

I've cut many pieces for the blocks: 2.5 X 3.5 and 2.5 X 2.5 from different background fabrics. I've also cut the black center piece : 2.5 X 2.5. I've cut long strips of my constant red fabric and paired them up with a background fabric at 1.5" X whatever I have. 

I subcut these only when it is chosen for a block. There are fewer chances that the stitches come undone when they aren't cut at 1.5 inches. 

Having these pieces at the ready saves me a lot of time when assembling the block. All I need now is to choose the print fabrics. Today it's Lilac! 

From the darker fabric, I'll cut 4 squares at 2.5" and from the lighter one 4 rectangles at 2.5 X 4.5". 

Then, I set up all the pieces, being careful not to have twice the same background fabric or one that is too loud for the rest. You know the drill. 

Next comes the selection of the red corner units. Since they are all different, it is easy to select four that aren't of the same fabric as the background fabrics. 

Voilà! The sewing can begin as I am satisfied with these pieces. 

Clockwise. I always sew clockwise, starting from the top left. In this photo, you can see that it is already sewn together and the red corner unit with the rectangle from the top right is under the needle. 

Only after these are done do I go to the next unit to be sewn: light and print squares. Again in a clockwise motion. 

Why do I work this way? Because of how our brain works. If I were to sew the top pieces, from left to right, consecutively, my brain has no idea what I'm doing. I would need to check the direction of the pieces all. the. time. 

Or else, I would end up with a block like this. See how the top left rectangle is not in the same direction as the others. The block is fine, the red corner is at the right place and all but still ... it's an OCD thing. If I spin the unit around to be vertical, the red corner will be inward. By sewing the same thing over and over, it is easier for the brain to register an error. 

Okay. Let's move on. Again, I sew the units together in a clockwise motion. The first unit is sewn, and the second one is under the needle. 

Then, I press and assemble the block in a 9-Patch fashion. 

In no time at all, my design wall looks like this.  

Enjoy! 

I've been pondering about the sashing for this quilt. I played on the computer with some pics to make a mockup. Now, I have a question for you.

Which option do you prefer?

                        1                                                       2                                                   3

1 - with black cornerstones. 

2 - with bright red cornerstones 

3 - with the same red cornerstones as the blocks 

I know my mockups are crooked (the pictures taken from my blog weren't cooperating as well as those I still had on hand). I'll try to make a better one with the real blocks on the floor. 

Take care, everyone! 

;^)

 Joining 

Angela at So Scrappy 

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts 

Cynthia for Oh Scrap!