Pumpkin Block

As promised, here is my second block this month for the RVQG BOM:

I found this to be a pretty challenging block.  The seam ripper was out more than once!  But I am already glad that I started this project, because it is giving me a chance to tweak my skills in a low-risk environment.

I made a very slight modification to the pattern by adding an angle to the stem.  I think it gives him a slightly rakish look!  I was up last night making more extensive modifications to most of the other blocks, and I designed the setting and border as well!

This is all because my sewing light burned out over the weekend, and I am waiting for the replacement bulb to arrive.  So all those new hand sewing projects I showed you last week are on hold!  No worries, though, I have plenty of other stuff to do.  ;)

Fall Leaves Block

Here's my version of the latest Block of the Month at my guild Rouge Valley. I did the whole thing today, so I am pretty pleased with myself. I made my own paper foundations again, and it went pretty quickly. It was a little challenging to put the four leaves together, especially at the point of the dark green fabrics, so it's not exactly perfect. But close enough!

This BOM is a two-year project with twelve blocks and a calendar theme. The first year has already gone, and you can see the first seven blocks here. The patterns are members-only, but they are not hard to figure out if you are so inclined.

I started thinking about doing this project over the summer while I was working on the RVQG website. To me, the challenge is to tie all the blocks together. I thought that might best be achieved by using a consistent background fabric for every block. I thought a dark background would look best, given the wide range of colours in the blocks, but I didn't want to use black. The "calendar" theme reminded me of the moon and the stars, and I remembered this night sky fabric in my stash. I bought it at the San Mateo Rite-Aid over ten years ago!  They had great deals on fabric. But anyway, I am really happy with how it looks.

Tomorrow I intend to do the pumpkin.  The foundation is already made and the fabric is cut, so hopefully it will go together quickly too.  The long term plan is to do two blocks per month, the latest one and one from last year.  By May I should be all caught up!

New Project - Texas Star

My third new project this week is another English Paper Piecing project, Texas Star:

There are probably dozens of different quilts called "Texas Star."  This one is from the 1940s, and was one of the projects in the first quilting book I ever bought, Scrap Quilts by Judy Martin (1985).

There are three quilts in this book that are on my quilting bucket list, however everything in the book is done from templates, and I never got the hang of them.  I would not be a quilter today if we were still piecing from templates!

I did try, though.  I started this quilt back in the late 80s using samples of home decor fabric, sewn on the machine.  I abandoned the yellow middles almost immediately, but I did manage to make around 200 stars.  I didn't get very far with joining them together though, and it became my second quilt UFO.  I found it all in my big stash clean-out 18 months ago.  Both this one and my first UFO from the late 70s went in the garbage.  Some of you may cringe at the thought, but for me it was very helpful to start fresh(er).

So when I discovered English Paper Piecing, this quilt immediately came to mind.  The original is based on 1.5" diamonds, but I wanted to make it a little smaller, so I am using 1.25" diamonds and 5/8" hexagons and jewels.  I emailed the people at Paper Pieces to ask about a custom order for the 5/8" jewels, and they were able to accomodate me immediately.  It did not even cost any more than a regular stock item, and they are now permanently added to their website.  I just love this company!

I have bought a little fabric for this quilt, but mostly I plan to use up the 1930s reproductions in my stash.  In the book Martin calls the mix of colours and use of black "far from ideal," but to me that is part of the charm, so I am hoping to duplicate the look.

None of my tv projects recently have involved fabric, so it is nice to be back to it again.  Do you think I have enough to do now?