Chaletgirl’s block swap

Around the block, Chaletgirl's block swap, patchwork, quilting

Block swap part 6

These are the last of the blocks I’m making for Chaletgirl’s Block Swap.  They’re not actually due back until the end of September.  I don’t know what came over me with this swap, but I zoomed through the blocks.  A sign of what fun I was having with it!  The first two are for Bronwyn.

Lara vs Bronwyn (whippetgood) by you.

The next two are for Leah.

Lara vs Leah (pugglelogic) by you.

And the final four are for Lynn.

Lara vs Lynn (lydigann) by you.

I’d originally been nervous about Lynn’s fabric, worrying how I was going to match the variety of colour and busyness of print.  Surprisingly I came up with quite a few combinations fairly quickly and I’m really pleased with these final choices.

So now what do I do while I wait for my blocks to be returned at the end of October?  Oh that’s right, I start planning for Around the block – a quilting bee!  I’ll get to make all sorts of blocks in all types of prints.  Another massive learning curve!  What type of blocks will I ask everyone to make for me?  At the moment I’m thinking of blocks with points – pinwheels, stars, flying geese blocks.  And I’m hoping to use stash fabric – possibly my Tula Pink Flutterby collection with some others thrown in for good measure.  Huge thanks to Sheridan for running the nine-patch block swap so beautifully and now for getting us going on Around the block!

by thornberry
Chaletgirl's block swap, patchwork

My block swap quilt blocks – halfway

Thanks to Sheridan I get to show you a sneak peak of the blocks that everyone has done so far for MY block swap quilt!

Lara's Block Swap Quilt in progress by chaletgirl13.

I am thrilled at how this is coming along, but already my mind is swirling with possibilities for joining the blocks.  Sashing between each block?  Sashing between groups of blocks?  No sashing at all?  Random colour placement?  Graduation of colour from light at one end to dark at the other?  Or from the centre outwards? 

If I keep on thinking about all the options my brain just might explode.

by thornberry
Chaletgirl's block swap, craft, patchwork, sewing

Block swap part 5

I’m speeding through the blocks – well, as much as I can speed with various interruptions from my gorgeous little girls.  Stella has started saying “my turn” whenever I am at the sewing machine or overlocker.  Somehow, I think it’s still a little early for a barely 2 year old!

First up, four blocks for Becky:

Lara vs Becky by you.

At first I thought that this fabric might be hard to match, but it honestly only took about ten minutes of staring at the stash and pulling out fabrics before I had what I consider to be four good combinations.  I think that the intensity of colour is more important than whether the colours “match”.  I love these blocks.

The next ones are for the block swap’s intrepid leader, Sheridan.

Lara vs Sheridan by you.

More beautiful pindots, this time in scrummy banana yellow in a  lovely random pattern.  What a great choice of feature fabric!  And it works so nicely with all these Kaffe Fassett contrasts.  I particularly like the full-blown roses:

Lara vs Sheridan B by you.

I feel the need to reiterate that I am learning SO MUCH from this block swap!  It’s such a practical and fun way to get experience in combining different fabrics, colours, shades, values and hues.

by thornberry
Chaletgirl's block swap, patchwork, Uncategorized

Block swap part 4

A couple of us are getting a little ahead of ourselves with Chaletgirl’s Block Swap.  We’re not due to get this finished until the end of October, but I’m already halfway there!  These blocks are for Lisa.

Lara vs Lisa (Bootgirl72) by you.

Pindots are such a great fabric to work with in this swap.  I love all four of these blocks.  There are more photos in the Flickr group here.  The next group of blocks are for Donna.

Lara vs Donna (craftjunk) by you.

Her fabric worked so well with my contrasts from the Chocolate Lollipop line by Anna Maria Horner.  But have a good look at the one in the bottom left corner – that’s right, it’s missing two of Donna’s squares and hasn’t been completely sewn together yet.  That’s because Stella found a nice sharp pair of scissors and took to four of the nine squares I had all laid out ready to sew.  She may have thought she was just doing what Mummy does.  Luckily for me Donna is very understanding and has some spare fabric and the situation is not irredeemable.  She did ruin the beautifully fussy cut square I had planned to put in the centre of the block – I’m still desperately going through my scraps trying to find one large enough to replicate my original plan.  By the way, Stella was okay and didn’t hurt herself with the very sharp scissors.  In fact, she was quite talented at cutting.  Hmmmm.

by thornberry
Chaletgirl's block swap, patchwork, quilting

Block swap part 3

Sheridan keeps on sending me fabrics for Chaletgirl’s Block Swap, and I just can’t bear to let them sit on my cutting table for too long.  Here are the blocks I’ve made for mailout 3.  Firstly, for Helen:

Lara (thornberry) vs Helen (mini_milly04) by you.

The pink feature fabric was beautiful – it coordinated with so many other fabrics in my stash it became difficult to narrow it down to just four.  Helen is an excellent quilter, so I hope that my contrast fabric choices will meet with her approval!  And for Louise:

Lara (thornberry) vs Louise (loulouloves) by you.

Although I found the feature fabric a bit difficult at first, eventually I was able to think outside the square a little and come up with a green theme that seemed to work well.  I think that my favourite is this one:

Lara vs Louise A by you.

Maybe it’s something to do with the print consisting of cakes…

by thornberry
Chaletgirl's block swap, patchwork, quilting

Block swap part two

Ah, it is so tempting when my block swap fabrics arrive to drop all other projects are start matching!  Here are the second set of blocks that I’ve made, now all ready to go back to Sheridan (aka Chaletgirl).

Firstly, for Bianca:

Chaletgirl's Block Swap - Lara v Bianca by you.

It was fun trying to work out what to put with gingham!  Each feature fabric has it’s own challenges, with it’s own “feel” and mood. 

The next are for Maryjane (no blog):

Chaletgirl's Block Swap - Lara v Maryjane by you.

There were lots of fabrics in my stash that went nicely with these white pindots on green.  As you know, I do like green – I can see more pindots in my quilting future. 

I’m not sure who these ones are for And for Rebecca from the USA, with a particularly nice feature fabric.

Chaletgirl's Block Swap - Lara v ? by you.

A very subtle blue and cream print, which coordinated well with a variety of fabric styles.

I am learning so much from this block swap, both from my own matching endeavours and from seeing the blocks that others are putting together and adding to the flickr pool.  I’m learning about style, tone, value, scale, colour, and even emotion.  All things that I never really realised a fabric could have.  Although ultimately it all comes down to whether a combination “works” or not.

by thornberry
Chaletgirl's block swap, patchwork, quilting

Block swap part one

When I signed up to Sheridan’s Block Swap I thought it would be fun, but I didn’t realise just how much fun – or how challenging!  My first lot of fabrics arrived in the mail on Monday – and I’ve already sewn up my first eight blocks.  We are sewing 9-patch blocks using someone else’s feature fabric and matching it to fabric from our own stashes.  Eventually all the blocks containing my own feature fabric will be returned to me to be assembled into a quilt.

I had three feature fabrics to work with, and came up with these blocks.  Firstly, for Bronwyn:

Lara vs Bronwyn (whippet good) by you.

Next, for Beth:

Lara vs Beth (scotlandchips) by you.

and the last two are for Susie.

Lara vs Susie (yarnplanner) by you.

As Sheridan had told us, it only took about six minutes to sew up each block – but she failed to mention the hours it took me to decide which fabrics to match up with each one!

by thornberry