New Project - Ruby McKim Patchwork

I was able to spend quite a bit of time in the sewing room this past weekend and managed to finally complete week 2 of my Among Friends SBOW (yes, it is now week 10...). I went "old school" on this set and cut my HSTs from squares rather than using the paper. That gave me 1/4" seam allowances that behaved better with pressing, and I pressed all seams in alternating directions to enable nesting. It might have taken a tiny bit more time to cut my triangles and trim my squares but I felt like the large squares went together much easier this time.

Once I had week 2 behind me I gave myself permission to take a break and start something new. I know that the last thing I need right now is another project but this one has been on my list for a long time and my guild has started it as a BOM so I had to jump in.

The pattern is Ruby McKim's Patchwork Quilt first published in newspapers in 1930. Here's the drawing of the quilt that originally ran when the pattern series was introduced in newspapers around the country:

I'm a huge fan of the old newspaper quilt patterns and acquired a copy of this pattern quite a few years ago. I've been following the preparation for the 2016 Celebration of Ruby's legacy from the beginning and had hoped to participate in some of the activities but haven't been able to thus far. 

I was discussing the Patchwork Quilt pattern with the ladies from our guild who are now running it as the BOM at our quilt show last June and decided then that I had the perfect plan for it. I had been trying to decide on a pattern to use the fabrics I received at the 2014 Houston Quilt Festival 40th Anniversary Ruby Jubilee celebration.  I attended the Ruby Jubilee luncheon at Festival and the tables were beautifully decorated with Moda fabric tablecloths and napkins. I managed to choose the chair with the secret marking at our table and was the lucky winner of the yardage used as the tablecloth (the red below).  The other two pieces are my and my friend's napkins. I had been wanting to do something special with them and decided this would be the perfect use for them.

So, fast forward another year and my guild friends have prompted me to actually get this party started!  I caught up on the first two blocks over the weekend.  I am planning a predominantly red & white quilt using fabrics that match the Houston fabrics.  I plan to use the red piece for the border and will incorporate the napkin fabrics into my blocks. 

The first block assigned for the BOM was the Double Nine Patch. Ruby's original directions used solid red blocks for the four corners but in one version of the pattern published there is a note that it could be made a little more challenging by using five nine patches. I decided to go with that option. 

This month's block is Crosses and Losses. this one went together very quickly. It was nice to start with some of the simpler patterns from the quilt.  There are a couple that are pretty intense!  

The most entertaining part of making these was trying to get my mind around the HUGE pieces!  These blocks finish at 12" which isn't really that big - but clearly I have been working on much smaller stuff for a while because I was getting really tripped up by how enormous everything seemed.  

I finished off my weekend in the sewing room with cutting and sewing a few more hourglass blocks for this year's leader and ender project.  I intend to use it as a true L&E project but would like to get at least one "inspiration" block together to give me some direction. I was able to make a little progress on it before calling it a day. I hope to get the block together over the course of the week - maybe during the August Friday Night Sew In.  Want to join in the fun?  Click on the button below to sign up!

FNSI Update

I was able to get a fair amount accomplished this weekend in spite of being severely handicapped by an overly ambitious workout on Thursday night. I really had no idea muscles could be that sore...I could barely make it up and down my stairs!

My weekend project was week two of the Among Friends SBOW.  I decided to try it old school this time with no triangle papers. I finished 15 of the 44 blocks and prepped 8 more.

I checked each of my HSTs with a 1.5" square ruler and trimmed here and there as needed but found that they are coming out pretty accurate and are going together easily.  So far much more enjoyable than dealing with paper.

I haven't tried sewing them into the larger block yet but I am ironing the seams one direction this time so that I am able to nest them when I put them together.  I am hoping that makes for a much more accurate and less frustrating assembly process.

I took a break from the tiny HSTs to try out a few hourglass blocks.  I was planning to avoid the temptation to start Bonnie Hunter's new leader and ender challenge since I haven't made much progress on last year's, but where's the fun in that?

These were a lot of fun. They go together quickly and seem huge (3.5" unfinished) compared to the other things I have been working on.  I have no idea what setting I will use for these but I am thinking that it would be a good way to use the stack of red and cream fat quarters I have had sitting on a shelf in my sewing room for years.  I remember collecting the stack on a trip to the lake - perhaps a shop hop - that included Homestead Hearth. I recall having a plan for them at the time but have long since lost the plot on that one. I really like them and am anxious to make more!

I figured if I was going to start a new leader and ender challenge then I needed to try to make some progress on the old one.  I finished off a couple more rows and added them to the five I already had together. Seven down, forty to go!

I'm just not very disciplined at using them as leaders and enders.  I tend to use whatever project I am working on as my L&Es instead (starting the next block when finishing the last seam on another, etc.).  What is really amazing is how many times I manage to end up with the same fabrics lined up together. I even have places where there are three of the same blocks lined up. Oh well, I'm still counting on no one really noticing once all 2000+ tumblers are put together!

SBOW Troubles

I couldn't wait for the first SBOW shipment to arrive.  I was SO disappointed when I returned from New York and my package was not waiting for me. And then that weekend when nothing came. Then, on June 20, it arrived.

Even though I knew that the first shipment would contain the background fabrics for all of the projects I somehow didn't expect it to be this large!  It was full of all kinds of wonderful goodies. I was very excited!

Fast forward to the following weekend, when I had already received week two in the mail and was feeling a little behind.  I never expected to keep up with all - or even any - of the projects but figured I would be able to make a respectable dent in at least a couple of them with a weekend of sewing.  I decided to start on Among Friends. Lisa Bonjean recommends starching fabrics - says it is critical - but I am not a fan.  I have previously seen her method of saturating the fabrics with starch and letting them dry and was curious, then saw an episode of The Quilt Show where a "precision piecer" also recommended prepping fabric that way.  I finally tried it with a couple of the 365 Challenge blocks. I saw absolutely no difference in accuracy and didn't feel that it helped in the piecing at all.  I therefore decided I would skip straight to the sewing.  After an entire weekend of sewing I had maybe one or two stars completed and a huge stack of paper-backed pieces to trim and press. Add in another weekend - a long holiday weekend - and I finally finished the first week's blocks. 

Sadly I can't say that I enjoyed it at all!  And there are 12 more weeks to go! I am not a fan of paper piecing (these use triangle paper) and felt that the blocks did not go together well. The instructions recommend pressing seams open and I had a lot of trouble with the intersections not lining up well. I had to rip and re-sew about half of them. I haven't started week two yet, but I am thinking old-school piecing (no paper) and seam allowances pressed in opposite directions. There has to be a better way!

I finished my second album block only one day behind our June 30 deadline. It was a fairly easy block although those ovals in the center wheel started getting old..some are not quite oval-shaped. I am okay with how it turned out, though, and have moved on to block three.

I didn't take a picture of my pathetic orange peel progress for June - only 18 completed after a very strong start.  The new total is 136. I am bound and determined to hit my target one of these months!

I need to decide what I will work on for the retreat this weekend.  I can only attend one day but want to make the most of it!