Saturday, November 4, 2017

Dark Turkey

The RSC colour for November is "dark," which is certainly appropriate for November around here. Next week I'll be putting the snow tires on the car. With luck, I won't really need them until January, but it is good to beat the rush.

As you can see, my three dark Bonnie Hunter Talkin' Turkey blocks, for my quilt Technicolor Turkey, are done.



Most of my dark/black fabrics were bought with my Collector quilt in mind, when I was very interested in the idea of "sparkle" and high-contrast fabrics. I think the prints help to keep the blocks from feeling too heavy.

And my weakness for fussy cutting continues as well!

We're in the home stretch now, so I've made a start on the sashing too. In August I had the idea for a pieced sashing similar to the sashing I made for Hanami.


Stack of beige strips

But, then I thought that a solid sashing would be better, and I cut about half the strips.

I thought I would start sewing them on as I go, but after only three I ran out of steam. Then they sat in the bottom of the drawer for a month.


Second stack of beige strips


For two weeks now I've been seriously looking at all my UFOs, and asking why have they stalled. The answer on this project is that I have to do the pieced sashing after all. It's more work, but doing it right is actually less stress.


Now, all that's left are the two multicolour blocks that were needed for April. I deliberately saved them until the end so I could use leftovers from all the other blocks.

Right now, though, I'm busy re-quilting Picnic. Yesterday I planned to sew together those sashing strips, but the free motion foot was on the machine for Picnic, and I just have to finish it before I change back to regular sewing. So it may be a while! Nothing creates dead time on the blog like a large quilting job.

In the meantime, check out all the other dark blocks at the RSC link up, right here.

19 comments:

  1. I have enjoyed seeing each of your "color ways" for your technicolor turkey quilt. Together, your blocks will be a beautiful quilt! It is good to plan ahead regarding the snow tires. Winter is not my favorite season of the year, although, I do enjoy spending those "snow/ice" days watching old movies or basketball games while stitching away. As for quilting those "big" projects, yes, it takes time and yes, it could make for a dry blog; but, I'd enjoy reading and learning your quilting process. . .if you wanted to share!

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    1. Thanks, Terry! There is no interesting process here, just a whole lot of stippling! One post will be plenty. And hopefully by the end of the year!

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  2. Wow! Those blocks really are TECHNICOLOR. I also hate to change to my walking foot and it does slow down other projects. Also, the Quilting is hard on my arms for long stretches, and I can no longer do hand stitching, so maybe I could be housecleaning. Noooo. Maybe sort my scraps again.

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  3. I've been loving those turkeys right along! The Hanami-style pieced border is going to be fabulous!

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  4. Your turkey blocks always look wonderful. I agree those high-contrast fabrics make the turkey blocks sparkle just like you want. And thanks for the reminder about Hanami, one of my favorite quilts.

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  5. Your DARK blocks will add wonderful contrast to all of the bright turkeys. Happy piecing!!

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  6. OMGoodness, those are some gorgeous turkey blocks. Love this colorway.

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  7. Those fussy-cut figured pieces really pop. It’s a clever take on dark. Longarm Quilting is something I’ve never tried (nor am likely to) so I’d be interested in your progress commentary . Then again, maybe writing is an unwelcome interruption to the process.

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    1. Thanks, Jillian! I am back to quilting on my home machine, not a long arm. Hopefully someday not too far from now there will be a long arm in my home, but for now it's just a long slog. But, I'm happy with how it's going so far!

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  8. Sashing is often where I get stuck, too! It's just not as much fun as making blocks. :) Your dark turkeys are wonderful - lots of fun fabrics in them!

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  9. So that's what people mean when they say they prefer the dark meat. What wonderful turkey track blocks.

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  10. Sashing and borders. Ugh! I am with you. They are the reason for several UFOs at my house, too. Talkin' Turkey is gonna be wonderful. Loving this, the "longest" day of the year when we turn the clocks back.

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  11. Your turkey blocks are great. Love the fussy cutting.

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  12. The fussy cutting makes these blocks so much fun. Good luck on that sashing. Sashing is the reason several of my UFOs are held up. I really don't like making it but sometimes a girl's gotta sash.

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  13. I like your dark Turkey blocks. That's a good project to be working on in November.

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  14. SGosh, your dark turkey blocks are great. Those fabrics give the blocks are modern airy look, but still have great contrast. Glad you figured out what had caused you to stall out. Once we get that figured out sometimes it's pretty easy to move forward.

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  15. Oh splendid blocks - love your darks!

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  16. I think these might be my favourites, but I seem to be drawn to dark and moody at the moment.

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  17. what a great block - Love the use of dark fabrics. neutral sashing sounds like a good idea to me.

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