Week 20 New England block

Moving right along here is my New England block:


I liked making this block as there was a lot of opportunity to showcase fabrics and the construction was not difficult.


Again I have my block posed in the shop.

Week 19 Missouri Star

Ta dah! I have been away for the weekend and had lots of opportunity to sew so I am finally caught up on my Civil War blocks.

Here is my block for week 19:


I was trying to take some more adventurous photos "on location" for you so keep in mind that my blocks are not quite as carefully groomed as usual i.e. this block is quite square.


I was staying at a place that has a small fabric shop on the premises where they stock, I think exclusively, Moda fabrics. So I took advantage of my location to try some fancy poses for my blocks. What do you think of this red paisley fabric I pulled off the shelf to use as a back drop since my usual red chair was not available?

You can see there was quite a variation in the stock on the shelves.

Week 18 Union Square

In my mad scramble to catch up here is the block for week 18:


When you are "only" making one block there is more incentive to fussy cut. And this time I had a fabric to make the fussy cutting worth while although the blue was not an easy one to match/blend.

This is a relatively simple block but I like how it looks. And in my fussy cutting I guess I have made sure that this block will have to be set on straight and not on point. In discussing the project with someone in the past few weeks we tossed around the idea to make a medallion setting where there are center blocks set on point surrounded by the balance of the blocks set straight. Just another idea to work with.

Week 16 White House

Do not adjust your monitor - I know I am out of sequence with this posting. And that my block being all in grey and white may make you think the color settings are amiss on your screen. I also know I am giving you an example of something along the lines of "imitation is the most sincere form of flattery" so Cheryl, you should feel very flattered.

Yes, I struggled a lot with this week 16 block. Part of the problem was with my self imposed color scheme of grey and blue. Another part of the problem was the "suggestion" that a striped fabric form the focal portion of the block. Many striped fabrics were auditioned and set aside. After several tries I had to go with Cheryl's example and made my own striped fabric.

So with kudos to Cheryl for the idea, here is my week 16 block at last:


The fabrics are cut for week 18 and my ankles are smoking with the heat of being behind as the week 20 block is posted tomorrow.

Gulp.

Week 17 Comfort Quilt

Oh dear, I am four weeks behind on making my Civil War blocks; I was away at the National Quilt Symposium in New Zealand and then took some vacation time with my sisters so that is my excuse.

The patterns for weeks 16 to 19 have all been printed out and I made a start on week 16, White House on Saturday. Alas, I got it mostly pieced and decided I really did not like the fabric choices at all so I set it aside. In the meantime I had also cut the fabric for the week 17 block and happily it turned out



I notice on the flickr site that a few people made this block choosing a different blue fabric for each square. That option appeals to me also.

As for that week 16 block, I'll get to it. But I cannot say it is likely to be a favorite one.

Week 15 Fort Sumter

Gee, it took 15 weeks before I suddenly had a "well, duh!" moment. That was because I noticed right at the end of Barbara's blog posting she has tags for the content and one of the tags for today reads "confederate block". Since I am using a blue and grey color scheme I try to be sure my blocks use the color that goes with the block; sometimes however I am not entirely clear on which I should be using. But today, when I finally noticed the tag, I had also noticed that on the flickr site several people had used the fabric that says "union" right there as the print design on the fabric. I'm not sure why.

I had already decided that my block should feature the grey fabrics but I did need to add just the one blue to represent the water around the fort as much as to recognize who it was firing on the fort. The suggestion to make those strips from the corner red did not sit well for my plan so I used the grey stripe. My fort sits surrounded by water.


I wondered how this block would look if turned on point as that is a potential for how I might set the blocks so here's a second look:


By the way, if you left click on the photos you can see them in more detail and for instance see the grey stripe fabric I speak of.

Are you following along with the flickr site? Some people are doing amazing things with their blocks like the quilter today who printed the photo of the Charleston ladies on the rooftops watching the assault on the Fort. Oh my goodness.

Week 14 Fox and Geese

I keep feeling envious of all the pretty blocks I see others making for their Civil War block of the week block. But I need to keep with my plan. Some of the blocks are such that one block alone is not all that exciting but if you had several sewn together they would make much more of an impact. Today's block is one that comes into this category I'm thinking.

So, for better or worse, here is my block for this week:


In another few weeks it will be a good idea to take a group shot of how all the blocks look together.

This week I was able to get my block sewn on Saturday, the day it was posted. I spent the afternoon sewing with my quilt friends - although there was more chatting than sewing done. Gayle had been to a two day class with Karen Stone last week so she had much to tell us. I was particularly interested as my long term project is a Pine Burr quilt that uses the templates from the KS book. Dustin, who is the host of the Flickr group for the BB block of the week project, is also making a Pine Burr quilt so it is fun to now and then look at his flickr pages and see the progress he is making. I am mightily relieved to see that he is making the same rapid (not!) progress as I am.

Spending time with quilting friends is a grand tonic. Even when we don't get much actually sewn.

This is weird. For my homework tonight I am going to need to try and figure out why my photo appears smaller this week than usual. Your thoughts will be welcome.