Curved Piecing with Patricia Belyea

I am in the midst of taking Patricia Belyea's class called Creativity & Complex Curves.  I've been wanting to take this class, which has been an immersive, in-person week long class but is now virtual due to the pandemic, so this actually works better for me. 

I have completed two projects so far, but I'm also getting some great inspiration for things I'd like to do after the class is over.

Complex Curves Class Project - 38" square

MegaPixel Quilt for Nils

We had a graduation this year; Nils, our adopted son from Germany graduated from Rollins College so, in keeping with tradition, I made a quilt for him.  I found the MegaPixel pattern and set out to find appropriate fabrics; nothing too feminine, but keeping with what I think are his preferred colors.  I think I got it right; he really seemed to like it.

MegaPixel Quilt

I know his mother liked it, as we got a picture of it on one of their beds as soon as she returned to Germany!

Farmer's Wife Quilt - Finished

I finally finished the Farmer’s Wife quilt and it is on the guest room bed!  I looked back and it took over 4 years from start to finish, but as is often said, “It’s the journey, not the destination.”  It has been a journey, and yet, I'm enjoying the destination. 

Farmer's Wife Quilt - Finished!

Modern Quilt for Nick

I had a hard time deciding what type of quilt to make for Nick, who graduated from college last week.  He has many interests and majored in Mathematics, so I think part of my struggle was narrowing down a topic.  In the end, I went with a modern approach (much admired by me, but never tackled, until now).

Graduation Quilt for Nick

Blue & White Sampler - More Four Inch Blocks Complete

I have completed more of the four inch blocks for my Blue & White Sampler quilt, so I'm sharing a whopping 11 blocks with you here.  A while back I shared with you another 5 four inch blocks, so these will make for a total of sixteen!  But, I'm not done, yet; I still have 6 more four inch blocks to make.

Four Inch Blocks - Blue & White Sampler Quilt

Blue & White Sampler - Starting on Four Inch Blocks

I set aside the Blue & White Sampler project but I never posted the first of my four inch blocks, so here they are.  In case you are wondering, I've been working on the La Pasacaglia Quilt (now being quilted!), the Elephant Splash Baby Quilt (completed and delivered!), and the Pinwheels & Windmills quilt (also, completed and delivered!)

There are five 4-inch blocks, two are improv log-cabin-ish and three are traditional blocks.

Blue & White Sampler - Four Inch Blocks

Paisley Splash Elephant Baby Quilt - for Baby Lively

We learned earlier this year that our nephew and his wife are expecting a child!  It will be the first baby in the next generation on either side of our family, so it's quite an exciting event.  Of course, a baby quilt was in order, and not just one of simple squares of various cute fabrics.  So the search began for patterns and ideas. 

Paisley Splash Elephant Quilt

Pin Wheels and Windmills - Japanese Taupe

I don't even know how long ago I started working on this quilt, but I was inspired by the pictures on the Pink Caramel blog.  The blog post does give much information, but I loved the intertwined windmills, as well as the Japanese taupes.  I can't even say I started working on it with the end goal of making a quilt.  Here's the story of how it came together.

Windmills and French Knots

Blue & White Sampler Quilt - Six Inch Blocks Complete

I have just finished the rest of the six inch quilt blocks for my Blue & White Sampler quilt!  I probably should have posted them in smaller batches, but I'm anxious to keep going.  I previously posted the first eight of the six inch blocks and now here are eleven more.

See each of the blocks below along with an updated layout of all of my Blue & White Sampler blocks so far.

Blue & White Sampler - Six Inch Blocks

As I mentioned in my last post, I have moved on to making the 6 inch blocks for the Blue & White Sampler quilt I have in progress.  It's very familiar territory, making smaller blocks, after all that time working on the Farmer's Wife quilt blocks!  That quilt, by the way, is still awaiting my attention, currently in strips rolled up on the shelf.

This is the first eight of the 6 inch blocks; Pineapple, Hunter Star, Amish Star, Rising Star, Star Burst, Center Nine Patch, Ohio Star, and Christmas Star.

Blue & White Sampler - Eight Inch Blocks Complete

I have finished all of the eight inch blocks for my blue & white sampler quilt! ...and the 10 inch, 12 inch, 16 inch and 20 inch blocks, for that matter.  Here are three more blocks and a picture of how they all look on my layout grid.

Kiss and Valentine: Blue & White Sampler Quilt Blocks

How appropriate that on the heals of Valentine's Day, I am posting my two latest Quilt Blocks for my Blue & White sampler quilt, Kiss Block and Valentine Block!  I really didn't plan it that way, so it's a nice coincidence.

Quilt Blocks: Valentine and Kiss

Gifts for Friends - Coin Purses and Star Wars Bags

I haven't been posting much lately, but I have been busy!  This year, I made a few small items to give as gifts to some of my co-workers and friends.  It's always tough to come up with good ideas for holiday gifts, but everyone seemed to enjoy receiving something hand made.

Coin Purses in modern batiks

Charms Quilt for Baby Vivian

I've never purchased a charms pack, but have always wanted to try some of the cute, quick projects. The beauty of a charms pack is that you get a wide variety of coordinating fabrics, without having to purchase individual cuts of fabric. When a co-worker had a baby, I decided I'd give it a try.

Verdict? Love it!

Garden Fence and Star Puzzle: Blue & White Sampler Quilt Blocks

I completed two more blocks for my Blue & White Sampler Quilt, Garden Fence and Star Puzzle.

Star Puzzle and Garden Fence Quilt Blocks

Celestial Flora - English Paper Piecing Quilt Complete

The last time I shared progress on my first English Paper Piecing quilt, I had finished the center of the quilt.  Now the quilt is done!  I added a small border with a tiny checkboard theme, as well as a wonderful swirl fabric as a wider border.  I named the quilt "Celestial Flora", since it has a feel that is a cross between flowers and outer space.

Celestial Flora Quilt

The quilting isn't visible in this image, but the center is quilted with double lines at various angles.  The checkerboard elements are quilted with straight lines that go out into the outer border, both on the side and at the borders.  I duplicated the hexagon flowers on each corner and filled in between with medium sized swirl filler.

Needless to day, I'm hooked on English Paper Piecing since I'm now knee-deep into a La Pasacaglia quilt!

Below are some close-up pictures of some of the quilting detail.  The quilting was done with a standard home sewing machine using variegated embroidery thread in the center and monofilament thread on the border.

Goose in the Pond Block - Blue & White Sampler

I haven't done much lately on the Blue & White Sampler I have in progress, but I realized that I hadn't posted my latest block, Goose in the Pond.  This is a 10 inch block that I really like.  The little 9-patch blocks are so cute!  The block is perfect for the 10 inch size because it uses a 5x5 grid, so each mini-block is 2 inches square.

Goose in the Pond Block - Blue & White Sampler

I found this block on Generations Quilt Patterns site, where the instructions are spot on.  They don't mention the 10 inch size, but have measurements for 7 1/2, 15, and 30 inch blocks.  Switching to the 10 inch size isn't to difficult.

See more of my finished blocks for my Blue & White Sampler quilt on this blog.

Farmer's Wife Quilt Assembly: Blocks on Point with Sashing

We finished our quilt blocks and I know you've been spending a lot of time admiring your blocks, but it's time to get down to the assembly.

Maybe you've even started deciding how you want to arrange the blocks, making sure that you have a nice distribution of the blocks based on value, color saturation, similarity, etc. If you haven't, you'll want to be thinking about this step. Once you get a good arrangement, be sure to take a picture so you can reference that when all of your blocks become a jumble again!

In this post, I'll give you the steps you need to assemble your quilt top using the traditional Farmer's Wife Quilt layout. This has the blocks set on point with sashing between, "posts" at the corners of the blocks, and triangles around the edges to square things off.  During your internet surfing, you'll see other ideas on how to lay out the quilt blocks and some of this may apply to those ideas.

Farmer's Wife Block Layout

Farmer's Wife - Week 39 - Our Blocks

Our final week of making blocks for the Farmer's Wife Quilt-along is done!  But, we are far from finished with the quilt.  We'll start assembling the quilt, so look for a post about how to put this quilt together.  Until then, here are our last two finished blocks.

Farmer's Wife - Week 39

At last, this is our final week of blocks for the Farmer's Wife Quilt-along!  We only have two blocks this week and they are definitely interesting blocks.

• Block 93 - Swallow
• Block 95 - Temperance Tree