Curves class - finishes to date

I thought I would be much more productive this week, but life happens.  Here are some of the projects I completed in the last few weeks, focusing on projects from my Curves Class from Rachel at Stitched in Color.  If you remember, curves projects were my goal for the New FO Challenge for March.  In the end, I could only devote so much time them, but they were fun!

I made this cute clamshell journal cover.  Appliqueing the clamshells was pretty easy.  It almost felt like cheating.



I tried some scallops at the top of my heart here.  They came out so puffy that I had to add 2 extra pieces of batting to fill the heart.




Then I tried my hand at improvisational curves with this table runner.  They did not go very smoothly.  I will need to practice them a bit more.



















I also did a whole stack of Drunkard's Path blocks, but only 8 of them ended up in this finished double-sided potholder - which I was about to send to Tina at Holy Scrap! until her recent blogpost about having an abundance of hot pads (don't worry, Tina, you got something else instead).



I also went back to improv curves with these droplet journal covers, but this time I practiced accounting for seam allowances (does that mean it wasn't really improv if I "planned" the seam allowances?).  These seams laid much flatter and I was pleased with how they turned out.




Yesterday, I was all set to sit down and tackle this gorgeous wheel quilt.  I wanted to do it rainbow style, just like Rachel's, but unbelievably I came to realize that I don't have enough scraps!  Whole colors were absent from my scrap bin.  You can't have a proper rainbow with out green and orange!  I am determined to use scraps for this instead of cutting into yardage.  So, I decided to wait and put off this particular quilt until a little later when I have more scraps to work with.

Unfortunately, Curves Week must come to an end (for now).  I have quilts that need quilting and bee blocks that need making!  Hey, those should generate some more scraps.

A pleasant byproduct of my wasted time yesterday, is that I sorted most of my scraps!  That's one New Year's resolution that is nearly done!  Only an handful or so left to go.


Thanks for reading!

Jen


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Stumbling drunk - WIP Wednesday

I have designated this as Curves Class week.  I started Monday and I am putting aside other projects and only working on stuff from my Curves Class.

My first 2 curve projects didn't go extremely well.  Nothing laid flat, and there was a bunch of fullness in my curves. I am trying to learn to piece curves without using pins, but it seems my machine has other ideas.  For a while now, I have noticed that it likes to feed the bottom fabric through a touch faster than the top fabric.  For most piecing, this isn't a huge problem.  But any long pieces or rows have needed to be pinned.  Evidently curves of any length also fall into this category.  Yes, I have tried my walking foot, but it is still an issue.

The picture above is my version of Rachel's "Rainbow Road" table runner.  I used a bunch of scraps left over from my Discontinuity 2 top (because I am DONE with that design for a while).  Rainbow Road is a lesson in improvisational curves.  As you can probably tell, mine didn't come together brilliantly, but it is good enough for now.  Probably after a washing, I won't notice all those little gathering spots, or the fact that some parts just aren't very flat.  Practice makes perfect, and I definitely need more practice on this method.

Next up - Drunkard's Path.  You can't have a curves class without a drunkard's path project, right?  I have done them in the past, but always pinned them for more accuracy.  Rachel encouraged us to go pinless, and her block allows for plenty of trimming up to size afterwards.  I still had some issues, but all in all, my blocks came out alright.  I'm not sure if I saved any time by not pinning because I was sewing so slowly to make sure my edges lined up that I am pretty sure all time saving was lost.  Here are my first few blocks - destined to become a double sided potholder when completed.

I thought making a few more potholders and practicing the pinless DP blocks was a great idea, so I whipped out a Summersville charm pack I wasn't using and cut some coordinating solids.  Somehow, I ended up with 40 blocks.  Yikes!  Talk about stumbling down the path, drunk!

Now, I am second guessing myself.  With that many blocks, I could probably figure out a configuration for a crib quilt top -- or do I just want 5 potholders for friends?

Decisions.

The possibilities are endless!

This Wednesday...

Completed Projects:

• 2 Star of Africa bee blocks, here 
• Discontinuity Quilt - The demon quilt is done!  Here
• Rainbow Road table runner from curves class

On-going Projects:

AKA - "stuff I plan to touch this week or next".

• Bee Blocks & BOM blocks - Skill Builder BOM blocks (now 2 months), Make it Modern bee blocks, We Bee Learning blocks, and March Lucky Star.
• Star of Africa Bee - Caught up, but February is due 3/15
• Curves Class goodies - catch up in progress
• Les Amis Baby quilt - quilting in progress, but I have put this aside for the moment
• Baby quilt in blue - fabrics chosen.  Must decide on a design soon.
• Discontinuity 2 - top is complete using the log cabin method.

Back Burner:

These will likely be touched in a couple of weeks - I know I've been saying that for more than a couple of weeks.

• Handstitched Medallion Quilt - quilting in progress.  
• Beginner Quilt Along at Quilting Gallery - top still needs to be put together. 
• Charity quilt for the guild - not started.   

This week's stats:

Completed projects - 1 quilt, 2 blocks, 1 other project
New projects - 1
Currently in Progress - 5 +

Don't forget to link up any blocks you have been working on to the Building Blocks Tuesday post!

And as always, thanks for reading,

Jen



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Clam-ing it up - WIP Wednesday

I am almost done with this clam shell goody from my Curves Class at Stitched in Color.  I love this project because it is small.  I mean I love the look of clam shells, but I can't imagine doing a whole quilt, appliqueing each one.  Of course, never say never, right?

I had a layer cake of Sew Stitchy that seemed perfect for this project.  I even have some left over for another day, yeah.

I've also been a bit busy doing other stuff - a touch of spring cleaning, purchasing running shoes so I can make good on one of my resolutions for the year, and shopping for dresses for the girls for an upcoming wedding (still not purchased yet and the wedding is, uh, this Saturday).

This Wednesday...

Completed Projects:

• Star of Africa for December is finished
• Valentine's day wall hanging - see it here.

On-going Projects:

AKA - "stuff I plan to touch this week or next".

• Bee Blocks & BOM blocks - Skill Builder BOM blocks (now 2 months), Make it Modern block need to be done
• Star of Africa Bee - catch up continues, I only have January and February left to do.
• Curves Class goodies - I think I might have to designate one week as curves week and complete my projects.  I jumped ahead in the lessons to complete my Valentine wall hanging, but my curves were not completely successful.  I think it is because I didn't do the lessons from the beginning.
• Les Amis Baby quilt - quilting in progress
• Baby quilt in blue - so those 2 baby girl quilts I thought I needed?? Les Amis is one, Discontinuity was another.  Well, it turns out one of my friends is actually having a boy!  So I need to make a not so pink baby quilt.
• Discontinuity Quilt - I am sewing on the binding by hand, but it should be done to share as a finish on Friday

Back Burner:

These will likely be touched in a couple of weeks - I know I've been saying that for more than a couple of weeks.

• Handstitched Medallion Quilt - quilting in progress.  
• Beginner Quilt Along at Quilting Gallery - top still needs to be put together. 
• Charity quilt for the guild - not started.   

This week's stats:

Completed projects - 1 quilt, 1 block
New projects - 1
Currently in Progress - 5

Don't forget to link up any blocks you have been working on to the Building Blocks Tuesday post!

And as always, thanks for reading,

Jen



Linking up with
 

More today than yesterday - WIP Wednesday

Still working on a last minute Valentine's Day WIP.  Little Olivia has been home sick the last few days and I haven't had time to do much sewing.  Luckily, my dear husband won't be home until tomorrow night, so I hope to be able to finish it up tomorrow when she finally goes back to preschool.

I used some of the scallop templates from my curves class to make the top of the heart, then tried some improv curves to make the bottom of the heart.  I actually ended up with excess pink fabric (it was puffy), so rather than try for the 6th time to get it right, I decided I would just do a little trapunto under the heart.  Hey, when life gives you lemons, right?

I plan on going back and adding some black thread to the message in the heart, "I love you more today than yesterday. But not as much as tomorrow", so you will be able to actually see it.  I am also considering adding the rest of the lyrics to the song around the heart in the white background.  We will see if I actually have time to finish all that.

This Wednesday...

Completed Projects:

• Bee Blocks - Simply Solids blocks for Feb & March done.  
• Star of Africa for October is also finally finished

On-going Projects:

AKA - "stuff I plan to touch this week or next".

• Bee Blocks & BOM blocks - Skill Builder BOM blocks, Make it Modern blocks and Simply Solids blocks all need to be done.
• Star of Africa Bee - catch up continues  
• Curves Class goodies - Finally started working on a few things!  I have some clamshells all fused and ready to be put together.  I did some scallops too.
• Discontinuity Quilt - Quilting in progress
• Les Amis Baby quilt - top complete, batting arrived yesterday
• Valentine's day wall hanging - in progress

Back Burner:

These will likely be touched in a couple of weeks.

• Handstitched Medallion Quilt - quilting in progress.  
• Beginner Quilt Along at Quilting Gallery - top still needs to be put together. 
• Charity quilt for the guild - not started.   

This week's stats:

Completed projects - just blocks this week.
New projects - 1
Currently in Progress - 5

Don't forget to link up any blocks you have been working on to the Building Blocks Tuesday post!

And as always, thanks for reading,

Jen



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