Paper Chain

After the ultra-colorful and bright Glass Candies, I wanted to pick a quilt top with more subdued colors for my next finish. I decided on Paper Chain, which is a block-of-the-month quilt that I made last year.

The fabric collection I chose is Breeze by Zen Chic, and the layout is from the Quilt Block Cookbook by Amy Gibson. This quilt really gives me a Japanese vibe!

I have never done free-motion quilting on a sampler quilt before, so this was a bit of a new experience. But at the end of the day, it's not that different from non-sampler quilts, except I have a few more blocks to design.

I tend to not quilt very heavily on foreground fabrics, so I came up with a different design for each block mostly by employing straight lines, curvy lines, and an occasional plume feather. But this was the easy part.

The background was more challenging since there was so much negative space. I decided to try a design that was totally new to me: Angela Walters's paisley feathers. It's an intricate looking design that is actually easier than regular feathers, but incredibly exhausting to do. I had to take my time on this so that I didn't get injured.

I had a lot of fun coming up with a design for each block, and though the background was challenging, I'm very satisfied with the final results.

Paper Chain ~ Final Assembly

I've finally completed my last block-of-the-month of the year! Paper Chain is a paper-pieced block-of-the-month designed by Freshly Pieced. Out of the 4 block-of-the-months I've done this year, this one is perhaps the most traditional: 12 blocks, one block a month.

For me, fabric selection is always going to be the most challenging part of a quilt. This is why I like kits so much, but I decided not to do a kit for Paper Chain and instead curate my own fabric. I decided to use Breeze by Zen Chic.

Paper piecing requires a lot more prep work than other types of quilting, and I admit I really ran out of steam for this quilt about halfway through the year. But then I got some energy back and finished the last few months all in one fell swoop. I definitely got more and more excited as I approached the end!

I wasn't sure how I wanted to lay it out, so I browsed through a few books until I found one that seemed perfect: a modern traditional layout by Amy Gibson from her book The Quilt Block Cookbook. It had sashings and cornerstones like a traditional sampler, but also was off-center and had negative space like a modern quilt. I changed the math a bit because her layout is for a 16-block sampler and I only had 12 blocks, but the general idea is the same.

I feel like when I choose my own color palette, I'm basically holding my breath until it all comes together, because only then do I know whether the fabrics worked or not. In this case, I held my breath for a whole year. At the end though, I'd have to say ... I love it! The colorway evokes feelings of Japan and cherry blossoms, and this quilt feels much more special to me as a result.

Stargazer

Stargazer, designed by Rebecca Bryan, is a block-of-the-month I did last year. It was a big challenge, and after I was done with it, I felt so physically and mentally exhausted that I didn't want to look at it for quite awhile. So I put it away for a whole year ... but I finally decided it's time to quilt this.

Although I usually choose to quilt my quilts to death, I decided to try something different here for a change. I wanted to emphasize the beautiful geometric nature of this quilt, so I did a lot of dot-to-dot geometric quilting. This is the most sparse quilting I've ever done, and honestly it's kind of scary.

However, I didn't want the whole quilt to be composed of straight lines, so I slipped some swirls and continuous curves into what I consider the focal point of the quilt: the center.

I also reflected these designs on the directional points of the quilt.

The color palette of this quilt is so striking with the purples and teals. It was what initially drew me to this pattern, but it presented a dilemma during quilting. If I quilted this very densely, I would likely have to keep changing threads, and I really didn't want to do that. But by quilting sparsely, I managed to get away with just using one color: purple.

Quilting this quilt was nowhere near as challenging as piecing it, but the super bumpy corners did present a little bit of hardship. Miraculously, I didn't break a needle, and I now feel a bit more confident about thick seams in general ... because if my machine can handle this quilt, it can probably handle anything I throw at it!

When the quilt top was first completed, I remembered thinking it was beautiful but lacked a little bit of soul. Solid quilts tend to have that problem for me. But now, I'm really, really happy with it, and I think it has soul now.

Handiwork ~ Build-A-Quilt #2

Handiwork is the 2nd colorway from the Build-A-Quilt program by Angela Walters, and unlike Urban Grid which felt a bit like a risk, I knew I loved this color palette the minute I saw it.

I mean, it's Alison Glass, how could I not love it? What did scare me a bit more than Urban Grid is that I chose a layout I've never tried before: a braid quilt.

This was definitely more challenging than the flying geese layout of Urban Grid, but I'm glad I chose it because it is definitely an interesting and beautiful design!

I was quite apprehensive about this layout, and it was definitely not easy, but I'm very pleased with the way it turned out! Unfortunately I couldn't get a full picture as it's so huge, but I can't wait to quilt this!

Urban Grid ~ Build-A-Quilt #1

Late last year I decided to join the Build-A-Quilt program by Angela Walters. I had trouble deciding between 2 colorways, so I decided to just do both of them. The first one I've completed is Urban Grid.

What drew me to Urban Grid immediately is the really funky fabric. This is not a palette I would usually pick for myself, but something about it was intriguing to me, so I decided to give it a shot.

I enjoyed receiving fabric in the mail every month and making the blocks a lot. I followed the pattern except for one curved block that I substituted.

The best thing about this Build-A-Quilt is that the layout is so interesting! I really enjoyed the look of all those giant flying geese framing the blocks.

At first I wasn't sure how I'd feel about this quilt, and to be honest I'm still slightly on the fence, but one thing's for sure ... the more I look at it, the more it's growing on me.

Solstice ~ Ready to Quilt

Late last year after I finished the Stargazer Block-of-the-Month run by Rebecca Bryan, I said I wasn't going to do another one. Stargazer was a lot of work, and I was still feeling tired from it.

A few months later, when Rebecca revealed the 2020 Block-of-the-Month, Solstice, I decided that yes, I was going to do another one. Rebecca's quilts are never easy, but they're super interesting and unique. I certainly don't have another quilt like Solstice in my collection.

After 8 months of block making, I finally got ready to assemble Solstice.

Solstice wasn't too difficult to put together as it consists mostly of 60 degree triangles assembled in rows. There are no bias edges on the outside which is good news for me. However, some of the seams are very, very thick and I found that the most challenging part. The end result definitely has a wow factor! I would never have thought to use these colors, but they work so beautifully together.

Solstice is the first block-of-the-month I finished this year, and I couldn't be more pleased with it. One down, 3 more to go!

Never Say Never

I said I wouldn't do another block of the month next year because I'm still tired from the last one, Stargazer, which did turn out beautiful but was so exhausting.

So what did I do? I've thus far joined 3 block-of-the-months next year for a total of 4 quilts. I should have known I wouldn't be able to resist when they come calling!

The first one I signed up for is Angela Walters's Build-A-Quilt. I fell in love with 2 colorways and 2 of the layouts ... which means I'm making 2 quilts! The fabric will be mailed to me every month so I won't have a lot to work with at a time, which helps keep stress down.

The Stargazer quilt I did this year was run by Rebecca Bryan, who does these beautiful and intricate designs. But it was challenging and a lot of work, so I decided not to do another one next year. Of course, as soon as Rebecca showed off her design, Solstice, for next year, I caved. It is so beautiful and unique looking, and I really need a purple and orange quilt in my life.

And finally, I also signed up for a block of the month from Freshly Pieced called Paper Chain. I plan to audition my own fabric for this one.

And I already got started on Angela's build-a-quilt, since that kicked off a few weeks ago. The first month's blocks came together nice and easy:

I'm so excited about these block of the months! I hope I will find ways to manage the journey and not burn out too quickly.

Stargazer: Final Assembly

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Such was the thought going through my head as I took out all the pieces from the 9 months worth of blocks and started to assemble them.

I followed the instructions and slowly by slowly the blocks came together. I would say that the toughest part of this is organizing all the pieces and making sure everything is in the right place. The actual sewing, though tedious, was not difficult. What really helped is that I used foundation paper piecing instead of freezer paper piecing, so while I was piecing the triangles together into blocks the paper provided extra stability.

Once the individual blocks were all done and trimmed, I sewed the individual sections in 9 parts. This was a very trying process as almost all the blocks had bias edges, and I'm afraid to even breathe near bias edges. Also, there are some seriously thick seams here. Even with the help of a mallet and a heavy hand on the iron, the seams are still thick enough that I hope I don't break a needle while I'm quilting this!

And finally, after a few months of work, this quilt top has come together. It is quite pretty, but being an all-solids quilt, it lacks a bit of soul. I hope the quilting can put the soul back in.

I'm thrilled to have finished this block of the month quilt. It was my first ever BOM where I had to wait for instructions month by month and do a little at a time, and I'm unsure if I will want to follow such a format in the future. There's a lot of mental and physical setup and teardown every month that can be avoided if I did it in one fell swoop. But I'm glad I tried it this once.

Stargazer Block of the Month ~ Months 5 to 8

Stargazer, designed by Rebecca Bryan, is my Block of the Month for 2019. I've never done a Block of the Month before 2019, at least not one where I did a little bit of work every month. I'm usually the type to wait until it's all out, then do it all at once.

And even though I took several months to get started and scrambled to get months 1 to 4 out the door, I managed to keep pace very well with months 5 to 8. All in all, I think months 5 to 8 were easier than 1 to 4, and I mostly just had to worry about not getting my fabrics mixed up.

Like pretty much all the rest of the blocks, months 5 and 6 are paper piecing. Again, I chose the foundation paper piecing method and did not do freezer paper piecing as instructed. I just like to keep a nice firm paper backing under my block until the last possible moment, and I don't mind tearing out paper, either.

Month 7 wasn't difficult, but it was a lot of work. There were just so many blocks and it took me quite a few days to cut and piece them. In contrast, month 8 took me all of 30 minutes, because it was just cutting triangle blocks. But knowing my propensity to stretch triangle blocks out of shape during piecing, I cut them quite a bit bigger so I can square them up later.

Now that all the pieces are cut, I know the next month(s) will be the final assembly. But I look forward to finally getting this big quilt finished! Or, at least, the quilt top finished. I'm not going to fool myself into thinking that I will quilt this anytime soon, because something that took me this long really needs to marinate on my shelf for awhile to take the pressure off!

Stargazer Block of the Month ~ Months 1 to 4

Well, I'm quite late in posting this. 4 months late to be exact. Toward the end of last year I surveyed the available block of the months starting in 2019, and I decided to join Rebecca Bryan's Stargazer BOM for several reasons: I thought the quilt was absolutely stunning, I was obsessed with star-themed quilts (still am), and I liked that Rebecca provided multiple sample colorways.

I decided to use the Princess colorway, which is a lovely combination of purples and teals. I would never have thought purples and teals went together ... but Rebecca did. And boy was she right. I also decided to go for the 80" x 80" size, because it was going to be same amount of work as the smaller sizes, and I might as well get the biggest quilt I can out of this!

I had planned to start this in January and follow-along with the class, but then I got really distracted with other things in my life and sort of lost my sew-jo for awhile. But in late April, I feel like I got some (most?) of it back, and so I decided it's time to work on this!

Months 1 & 2 were very, very easy. About the only thing I really had to watch out for was that I didn't end up using the wrong fabrics. Although Rebecca taught freezer paper piecing, I still opted to use traditional paper piecing, because that's what I like most.

Month 3 was quite challenging, and took me a few days to crunch through. My points weren't exactly perfect, but they were good enough for me. Month 4 was even easier than months 1 and 2, and once again the only thing I had to look out for was making sure I used the correct fabrics.

Well, I'm almost all caught up, though not quite because Month 5 had become available recently and I haven't gotten to it yet. But hopefully I won't be quite as behind with this project, going forward!