To round off the week I've mostly caught up on the 150 Canadian Women quilt along that is being offered by Kathryn Wilson Tucker at Next Step Designs. You can see that I have succumbed to the temptation to start fussy cutting a few of the blocks! The maple leaf batik is by Cantik batiks, a special release for Canada's 150th birthday in 2017.
I was too lazy to dig out any Christmas fabrics this week, but this red plaid is a little festive. And I am fussy cutting it again! (Brinton Hall was the first time, here.)
One of the required blocks is a basic Shoo Fly.
3 by 3...
...switch out the middle and lay down the triangles in the corners...
...sewing lines lightly marked in pencil...
...keep everything pointed the same way...
...and hey, presto! Shoo Fly block.
Editing the photo, I can see the middle row is too wide, but I'm going to leave it. The yellow and tan lines are the main thing, and the rest will vanish into the seams.
I'm sure it would be lovely to photograph all the blocks together, this set and the previous one, but I want to avoid handling the blocks too much. It's going to be a long year.
I've realized that this is four new projects in the past month -- this one, Flamingos en Provence, Wild & Goosey, and Cheddar Broken Dishes. All queen-sized quilts, and all 100% machine pieced. Since I wrecked my back in October, I have not been able to hand stitch almost anything. The ergonomics just aren't working for me. But, I have a very good chair for the machine, and it is almost like physical therapy for my back to sit and machine sew for a couple of hours. More fun than a gym!
So all my hand stitching projects are on indefinite hold, which has taken out most of my current projects. And, I've started to think about things I could do by machine instead. Like binding for sure. And maybe applique... I even think a little free motion quilting may be doable soon. Overall, it's different, but not bad. New things to try!
Happy holidays everyone!