Stars, bicycles and cats

I've still got a long way to go to catch up on all my overdue block of the month projects so there was no time to waste this weekend.

Firstly, the left over Sunday Morning Block from the Lori Holt Farm Girl Vintage project plus the two blocks for this week, Sunny Sunflower and Tumbleweed.

I'm ridiculously amused with how wavy the borders on the Sunday Morning block are. Note to self - never use horizontal prints for narrow borders!

Onwards and upwards though with the Like Riding a Bike block (from August) and the Quilty Cat block (from September) for the Fat Quarter Shop Snapshots quilt along. 

Both came together fairly quickly but can I just say - there's an awful lot of pieces in that bicycle! It took me almost an entire afternoon to make just that one block.

I did just manage to squeeze in one block of the Moda Building Blocks project (which is next on my list)

Plus I also managed to whip up some chocolate cupcakes with raspberry buttercream because cupcake season is now back in full swing.

Nom.

Hmm, blue ice cream - my favourite

I'm madly trying to catch up with my various block of the month projects. I'm so behind that it's going to take a while.

I have managed to do June's block (eek!) for the Fat Quarter Shop Snapshots BoM. This one is called "Triple Scoop Sunday" and features my favourite flavor of ice cream - blue.

It's fairly simple to put together and as always with this project, it took almost as long to cut the pieces out as it did to see the block together. 

It also comes in at a fairly hefty 12.5" by 16.5" which is nice and chunky. 

Kind of like how I like my ice cream - blue with chunks. 

Just a quick reminder that I'm on my migraine detox now and so all blog postings have been prepared in advance. I won't be able to check my blog for at least two weeks so I'll respond to any comments after 17th Auagust.

Hitting the wall

I wanted to be able to post about a finished quilt today. I wanted to be able to show you a beautifully pieced and quilted project. I'd even settle for a sewn top at this point. But no. I've hit "the wall".

I've heard about this phenomenon from friends who do EXERCISE (yes, as fat as I'm concerned it deserves capitals). Apparently it's something that you "hit" at a particular point during a long bout of sweaty, painful, blister-inducing exertion. Not that I've ever experienced such a thing. Exercise I mean (see I'm getting better, no capitals this time). Let alone the wall.

But I've hit it with this double pinwheel commission. If I ever see another half or quarter square triangle it'll be too soon.

This is the plan of the finished project. Cute huh?

And this is where I'm currently up to. Not so cute.

The blue triangle blocks are sewn and trimmed. So that's half of the 960 blocks done.

But one half of the red triangle blocks are pressed and the other half aren't even that far along.

Apparently there are only two options for dealing with The Wall - give in or plough on ahead. I've promised myself that I'm going to crack on with this this weekend, if only to stop the moaning (from both me and you who must be bored hearing me moan!). There may be a slight break to piece this month's Moccasin BOM block from GenX Quilters or maybe even the triple scoop block from the FQS Snapshots but no more! I will stay on task, I will! Maybe.

Perfectly prim and pressed

Next up in the Fat Quarter Shop snapshots BOM was Kindred Kitchen, a 1950s inspired apron. Think Mad Men meets Masterchef.

Like most of the Shapshots blocks, there are a large number of pieces to cut out so this took me some time. Then, as with most of the FQS patterns, the steps alternate between sewing 1/4" seams and sewing on the line. They definitely embrace the flippy corners! Because changing stitch requires me to switch between feet on Naomi the Janome, this also took some time. In fact it took me 3 hours the make the 16" block. I ended up trying to batch sew different steps out of order but which required the same foot to save time.

But it's so pretty! That gorgeous ruffling around the hem, that cute 50s shape! Definitely worth the effort.

And they called it...the April bloooock

It's (just passed) the 15th of the month so it must be time for another Fat Quarter Shop snapshots block of the month!

This month it's the block I know lots of people have been waiting for - puppy love.

This block is fairly straightforward and has less pieces then some of the earlier ones. I made things go even more quickly by pre marking all of those pieces which needed to be sewn on the line. Then it was just sew, press, repeat.

I confess I'm more of a cat person but I even I am charmed by the sheer unadulterated cuteness of this little one.

No eyes yet - apparently they get added after quilting. Which makes sense as I'd only accidentally quilt over them, break my needle and ruin the buttons. See I'm accurately predicting my own ineptitude now!

Ee, put the kettle on luv

I'm confess that I'm a terrible Brit - I don't like tea. I don't hate it; if someone makes a cuppa for me (as people are wont to do when I travel and they hear I'm British) I'll drink it. However in reality I'd rather have a bottle of water or a cup of coffee.

I'm not sure how I ended up not liking the drink. The stereotype of an Englishman obsessed with making the perfect out of black tea isn't far wrong in my experience. In our house the first thing we did when coming home was switch the kettle on. One day I'm going to be design a whole quilt using blocks connected with drinking tea - a tea pot; a porcelain tea cup; a silver tea spoon; a sugar lump.

The first of those blocks will be easy since I already have the Fat Quarter Shop Snapshots pattern for March which is....a tea pot! It's more of a traditional Chinese tea pot than a classic earthenware British tea pot but it's still very pretty.

I confess the steam in my block went slightly wobbly. I'm not quite sure what went wrong but that side of the block is now wavy and will need work when I put the borders on. Ah well, nothing a good cup of coffee can't fix. Oops.

Sew On and On and On

Back to the Fat Quarter Shop Snapshots block of the month with February's block - Sew On and On. It's an incredibly cute replica of a sewing machine, complete with thread and buttons.

Again it's a fairly simple block to piece apart from the sheer volume of pieces; over 30 for one 12.5" by 16.5" block!

I (along with many others it seems) am looking forward to the puppy and bicycle blocks but they're all adorable.

Unlike most block of the month projects, this one doesn't seem to be teaching me any new techniques but still wins hands down in the cuteness stakes! Bring on March.

Let them eat cake and...cake!

The final part of my Fat Quarter Shop Snapshots kit came this week so, already two months behind, I thought I best crack on with things. I try to keep up with quiltalongs as the months pass or I find myself in September with nine blocks to do in one month (see Leah Day's building blocks from last year, oops!).

January's Snapshot block was "Let Them Eat Cake" - an iced layer cake block so pretty it's almost edible.

It's fairly basic to out together - all straight seams and a few snowballed corners. The only bit which requires some thought is marking the diagonal lines on the back of the squares with text print so that, when sewn and flipped over, the text is still readable. I confess to having to check every time that I had it the right way around.

Working on such a pretty cake inspired me to make some of my own.

These chocolate and raspberry butter-cream beauties are from Sally's Baking Addiction. I dare you to go on the site and not want to make at least one recipe!

I'm off to stuff myself with sugary goodness whilst cutting the pieces for my next block. I think rotary cutting whilst on a sugar high should be classified as a contact sport.