Sue Ross Block of the Month

Sue Ross BOM quilt top finally finished!

Some of you have been reading my blog for a really long time (I started it when I was pregnant with Stella – actually, my 13 year bloggiversary was in February). You might remember that in the early days I did quite a bit of patchwork and quilting; that’s actually how I got into blogging in the first place. I discovered Heather Bailey’s blog, asked a friend to show me how to do patchwork, then off I went! After a couple of years I reverted mostly to garment sewing (my first love) but every now and then it’s fun to go back to cutting big bits of fabric into little pieces then sewing them back up into another big bit again.

In 2009 (yes, you read that correctly) I started a Block Of the Month (BOM) project by Sue Ross, done in conjunction with Material Obsession. They sent me the pattern, templates and fabrics each month, and I constructed the block. I have to say right at the outset that this project was WAY above my skill set. Nevertheless I plugged away at it and eventually ended up with nine blocks, using a mixture of piecing and applique. I then cut out the setting strips that you see in the photo above, folded up all the pieces and set them aside some time in 2011. Last week I finally pulled them out and assembled the quilt top.

First of all I assembled the strips into log cabin blocks. Each of these blocks then needed to be cut diagonally into four triangles.

Once again, I warn the ‘real’ quilters who read my blog not to look too closely. I tend to iron more than press; things are stretched out of shape, and points don’t all line up and match properly. But aren’t those fabrics pretty! Anyway, after I cut these blocks into triangles, I sewed the triangles on to each of the blocks that I had prepared earlier. Remember, there are nine of these! Lots of photos ahead!

Each of those blocks is around 26 inches wide – so larger than you probably imagine when seeing them on a screen! Once they were all sewn together, I had a quilt top! Tada!

I am ridiculously pleased with this quilt top, despite it’s imperfections. I have noticed that there are a couple of bits of applique that still need to be secured, but I might do that when it’s quilted. I am still tossing up the next stage – it needs backing, wadding, basting, quilting and binding. I’d really like to do most of that myself, other than the basting part, but might also get it quilted. I figure that I’ll have enough fabric in stash to piece together for the backing. Stella is keen for me to get this finished; she also has visions of snuggling under it on the couch when watching telly and is especially pleased that it’s large enough for her sister as well.

While I think about what to do with this quilt top, I have a few other quilts that need to be finished off (the tops are done and they need to be turned into quilts). I’ll do the smaller ones myself, but will probably send out the larger ones. Looks like this winter will be a great time to finish off the UFOs!

Sunday, 5 April, 2020 by thornberry

adult's clothing, patchwork, planned projects, sewing, softies, Sue Ross Block of the Month

Humming away

The machine has been humming away. Lots of things are in progress, but nothing has been finished. That’s the sort of week it’s been. Easily distractible, jumping from one thing to the other. But all in the nicest way.

I’ve done a little more work on my Material Obsession Sue Ross BOM quilt. The setting strips are all cut. Block 9 has been fused into place and is now waiting for my mum’s machine to applique it down.

I’ve cut and fused circles onto another two blocks, taking the easy way out to do raw edge applique rather than hand sewing.

There are leftover blocks from Leah’s wedding quilt all arranged and waiting to be assembled into a small zig zag quilt (which I’ll probably keep).

Add to the mix a little pattern testing:

and a little more pattern testing.

Then there are the cut-out-for-the-past-month-and-still-waiting tops to sew.

I’ve got fabric and pattern sorted for the MPB Men’s Shirt Sew-Along (finally something for Mr T) starting next month.

And some plastic tubs of yarn to catalogue for my Ravelry stash (thanks for the reminder Amy!)

So there is lots happening, nothing finished, nothing likely to be finished for a few days yet as it all happends in snippets of time in between school holiday activities. But at least things are humming! And I’m happy with that.

Tuesday, 25 January, 2011 by thornberry

miscellaneous, musings, patchwork, quilting, Sue Ross Block of the Month, WIP, work in progress

Bits and pieces

I realised this morning that I haven’t posted about my day on Saturday helping out Nikki at Stitches. It was busy, busy, busy! There were three of us on the Nicole Mallalieu Design stand and we were all helping customers from the minute the show opened until about 4.15pm, when the crowd thinned out somewhat leaving each of us enough time for a quick shop around ourselves. I have a new respect for people who work in sales and are on their feet all of the time. I was exhausted by the end of one day! Hats off to all of you at the show who did such a great job for five days straight. I hope that you’re all taking a well deserved rest and putting those feet up. I did have a ball talking about bags and bag supplies, especially the importance of using decent interfacings and wadding when making bags. I also had a rather good time purchasing fabric from those Aussie designers I mentioned in a previous post – an early Mother’s Day present maybe? Thanks Nikki for the best fun that you can have working!

Many of you will have read Jodie’s “rant” about attending Stitches. Personally, I had a ball. If I’d had more child-free time there were many talks, craft bars, and studio workshops I’d have attended – many of those free. Yes, this year there weren’t as many exhibitors as in previous years, for a number of reasons. But you know what? More doesn’t necessarily equal better. Because I am “multi-craftual” there were lots of stands that interested me. I’m not interested in scrapbooking or beading or cross-stitch, but I’m glad that those stands were there for those who are. It all depends on what floats your boat, so to speak! I attend other craft/quilt shows as well, and they all have a place, but this one is definitely the best for showcasing new trends and future directions in crafting (while still having a more than healthy dose of traditionally presented crafts). Stitches and Craft are definitely thinking creatively and are moving with the times.

On the Anzac Day weekend I did a class on free-motion quilting at Patchwork Charm. It was great to start at the beginning, so to speak, and to practice a number of different free-motion quilting patterns in different scales.

As I discovered on the weekend workshop I did with Kellie back in February, learning something new is really exhausting! This time I made it a little easier by using my mother’s fancy Husqvarna Viking Sapphire. Oh, the joy of the automatic needle down feature! Oh, the bliss of tap of the foot pedal to change the needle position! Oh, how good was it to be able to adjust the machine speed at the machine as well as with the foot pedal! And those bobbins seem to hold way more than the ones for my machine.

One of the other great features of Mum’s machine was the blanket stitch. I have finally completed my Material Obsession Sue Ross BOM Block 5, which was meant to be needle-turn appliqued. I secretly knew that there was no way that would ever happen, so stopped deluding myself about learning needle-turn and simply raw edge appliqued and machine stitched it instead. The same stitch was used for all my previously made blocks that needed some applique, and to finish off Block 7.

None of these blocks have been made perfectly, but I am hoping that once it’s quilted you won’t notice too much (although you might, because I’ll be the one doing the quilting). You can see the blanket stitch better in this photo.

Mum and I had been arranging and rearranging the 7 blocks I’ve made so far trying to figure out how this quilt would eventually come together. Luckily we got a preview at the Material Obsession stand at the Australasian Quilt Convention, and it looks so much better than we could have imagined – and completely different to anything we’d come up with! I’m so pleased that I signed up for this BOM, even though it’s been fairly difficult. I’ve learned a great deal, and that’s what it is all about. Thanks Kathy for running such a beautiful and challenging (in a good way) program!

Enough from me for now. There hasn’t been much sewing or quilting going on since my father-in-law died – we’ve all been too exhausted to do much other than have early nights – so my usual sewing time has evaporated. I’m mentally planning what I want to sew when I go to Sewjourn soon. Hopefully it will be clothes for me – I’d like to make a couple of jackets, and maybe some tops from some beautiful modal. How much gets done will depend on how much I have cut out and prepared in advance. We’re going to put a curfew on ourselves this year so we don’t return from Sewjourn more tired than when we arrived! I’m also trying to decide what projects I’m going to take along to Sew It Together on Saturday – possibly crochet, because then I can focus more on talking than if I were sewing. I suspect that there will be a whole lot of talking going on…

Tuesday, 11 May, 2010 by thornberry

patchwork, Sue Ross Block of the Month

Sue Ross BOM for February (um, I think it’s March now)

The sewing machine and the design wall called and finally I listened. It took less than an hour to sew up the pieces of February’s Sue Ross BOM block, Prickly Pear.

Easy peasy! I sewed this with my new quarter inch foot and you know what? I think it made it that little bit easier to make everything line up. I could be a convert!

Sunday, 14 March, 2010 by thornberry

patchwork, quilting, Sue Ross Block of the Month

Sue Ross BOM progress

Lots of balls are being juggled high in the air at the moment. I am trying to stay on top of the fun things in my life as well as the more mundane things. Maintaining balance is such a precarious and challenging task! In line with that, I have managed to (almost) finish blocks 3 and 4 (October and November) of my Sue Ross Block of the Month from Material Obsession.

Block 3 still needs to be hand appliqued into place – but who knows when that part will happen. At least the piecing is done.

Block 4 was a little tricky because of all the inset seams. It took me around an hour and a half to sew together once all the pieces were cut out.

Once again, I am thankful for my dressmaking background, because inset seams weren’t really a big deal for me. My dressmaking background is a bit of a problem though when it comes to pressing. I always have my iron on full steam and tend to iron rather than press, which is stretching some of these pieces out of shape, especially along bias edges. Another issue is the lack of a quarter inch foot for my machine. Although I pretty much know where a quarter of an inch is, when making these types of blocks the accuracy of that measurement becomes paramount. Consistency of seam allowance isn’t enough – it does need to be that quarter of an inch. I may need to remedy the situation.

You can follow the progress of others doing this BOM over here. I really like the “pretty” colourway Sue Ross has chosen for this quilt.

Also, I need to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who left such lovely comments on my Advent Calendar! I was so thrilled to read them. I almost feel as though I’m becoming a real quilter now.

Sunday, 6 December, 2009 by thornberry

patchwork, Sue Ross Block of the Month

Sue Ross Block of the Month #2 and almost #1

I signed up to the Sue Ross BOM from Material Obsession because I adore the way that they use colour and I thought that doing a block of the month program would force me to extend my piecing skills. It certainly has – the first month’s block (August) was quite a challenge! So, I shall quickly move on to the September block…

Sue Ross BOM September 2009 by you.

What a gorgeous block! I chose the “Pretty” colourway for my blocks, and I certainly haven’t been disappointed. The fabrics I have recieved all work together beautifully. This block took me around three or four hours to cut and assemble and isn’t quite perfect, but I figure that by the time this is quilted I won’t really notice the imperfections. After all, this quilt is a learning experience for me! Here’s some detail:

Sue Ross BOM September 2009 - detail by you.

Those points aren’t too bad for a relative novice, I reckon! Clearly my years of dressmaking experience have been very helpful when taking up patchwork. So, back to the August block. It was meant to be hand-pieced then the circles appliqued on. I chose to machine piece (after all, I figured it couldn’t be harder than setting in a sleeve) but still haven’t got around to learning how to do the needleturn applique to attach the circle to the backing (or the centre circle, for that matter). Please ignore the pins!

Sue Ross BOM August 2009 by you.

My biggest concern with this one is that the circle is a little wavy – I’m going to have to ease it into shape when I stitch it down and pray that I can press it with loads of steam to sit flat when it is all finished. I like it, but it wasn’t easy to do well! So on to October, which arrived late last week.

Sue Ross BOM October 2009 by you.

More curves and more templates! This is going to be a very pretty quilt in a year’s time, and I reckon by the time that I finish it I may well feel completely exhausted, but very happy.

Monday, 12 October, 2009 by thornberry