Project Update: 08.04.2021

Hello Friends and Welcome to Another Project Update!

I hope everyone is having a great week, I'm really loving the warm weather that came with spring and even managed to go for a walk without a jacket! Unfortunately, everyday can't be like that, we experienced a leak in the shower drain yesterday. Luckily, I live with a plumber and he fixed everything after work, so everything is back in working order!

I just wanted to remind you all that, for the month of April, I'm experimenting with a weekly Project Update posting schedule. I'm interested to see how this will affect my content and the length of each post. At the end of April I will announce whether the weekly schedule will continue, or if I will return to posting every second Thursday. I would love to know your opinion on the modified schedule; please leave me a comment below!

This post is going to be a little shorter than usual because I've been absorbed with only one project for most of the past week. I'm excited to share some of the process, but I do want to keep some of it to myself until the quilt top is assembled.

Block of the Month

This past weekend was the first weekend of the month, which meant a visit with my Mother! We've been working together on our own Wetlands BoM projects based on the pattern designed for my guild. The past few years, I have challenged her to participate in the MQG BoM; not only does my guild pick great, beginner friendly patterns, I also always end up learning something new from them. At first, Mom was worried the new techniques would be too much for her to keep up with, but with the two of us working together, we've never had a problem!

So far, every month an applique block and a pieced block have been assigned. Last week, I speculated that the assigned blocks for this month would be the two remaining applique blocks, but it turned out that those speculations were wrong. The conveners decided to keep their pattern going in April by assigning the loon as the applique block, and, rather than piecing a new block, adding borders to all the pieced blocks made in past months.

If you're following the instructions, you'll be adding borders to 6 blocks, but my alterations have resulted in a total of 9 pieced blocks.

I made one each of the broken wheel, anvil, and Carrie nation blocks, and two each of the sailboat, patience corner, and Amish diamond blocks. In hindsight, I could have chosen 3 totally new pieced blocks to include in my version of this quilt rather than duplicating half of them. But I was able to preserve some amount of variation by making the duplicates in different colours and reversing the black and colour placement within the pattern, so I'm still very happy with how they came out!

Because some of my blocks were not actually a full 12 ½" square, I cut 2" strips to use in my borders rather than 1 ½" as the instructions suggest. This way I can trim the squares including the border to 14 ½" and they will all fit nicely into my quilt top.

For colour selection, I chose to use black for my borders. I think it will help to separate the colours used in the pieced blocks from those used to piece the applique backgrounds. It will also create some great contrast and should help the pieced blocks to stand out from the scene created by the applique. I would have been really interested to see what effect I would have created by using a coloured border with my pattern alterations, I might keep that in mind for a future project!

I want to keep the full effect of the border a bit of a surprise, so won't be sharing any photos of the individual blocks. But feel free to look back at my past posts and speculate for yourself!

As for the applique block, I made several changes to the loon pattern. As I've been doing with this whole project, I drew my own applique template based on the pattern rather than using the one provided. This gives me a lot more control over scale, posing, and level of detail for each block.

To draw my template, I looked up some photos of the common loon and used these to create an accurate silhouette. I then compared the placement of the markings on the photos to those used in the pattern template. I decided I wanted to remove the accent on the beak, include more detail in the markings on the neck and chest, and to add the spotting on the loon's wings.

To create the applique, this pattern uses a technique called raw edge or fusible applique. This method involves the use of a heat activated fusible netting, which is basically just a sheet of glue sandwiched between two pieces of paper so stuff doesn't get stuck to it. I'm using a brand called steam-a-seam which is available through my local quilt store.

Here's a quick summary of how fusible applique works;

• Trace a reverse image of the template onto one of the paper sides of the fusible net. Cut away some of the excess but don't cut directly on the drawn line.

• Peel away the paper on the side that has not been drawn on, then stick it to the back side of the applique fabric.

• Cut out the fabric and netting together directly on the drawn line. If the pattern includes cut outs like my loon, use a pair of pointed scissors, like thread scissors, to neatly pierce through all the layers.

• Peel off the second paper and stick the applique to the background fabric.

• Use a hot iron to press the whole block, melting the fusible netting and securing the layers together.

• Stitch around the edges of the applique and any cut outs to stabilize the edges and help prevent fraying.

This is my first experience with fusible applique, so I'm interested to see how it holds up with use and washing. I generally associate fusible applique with decorative quilts rather than functional ones, so I have some concerns about its longevity.

I felt that a hand sewn buttonhole stitch would add an extra level of stability and neatness which I don't think I would be able to achieve with a sewing machine. Hand sewing does take longer to complete, so I've fallen a little behind on my applique blocks.

So far, I have finished the cattail, red winged black bird, lily pad, great blue heron, two duck blocks, and of course, the loon. The two swallow blocks have been fused, but the stitching is still in progress. I also have a few original applique blocks that I'm working on and will share when the quilt top is completed.

I'm having a lot of fun personalizing each block, and it has been a really great learning experience! If you would like to make this beautiful pattern yourself, you can find the instructions on the MQG website! The final set of instructions, including the dragonfly block and finishing, will be available after 06 May!

As for my other Block of the Month project, the National Quilt Museum posted the April block last Thursday after my project update. This month's block was designed by Audrey Esarey and is called Angular No. 2. It uses a combination of curved and foundation paper piecing to create a unique circular pattern accented with angular slashes.

While visiting my Mother last weekend, I took the time to print the templates. I've taped together the 6 pages to create the whole pattern for the block, and will trace pieces B and C onto a thinner type of paper for foundation paper piecing. Freezer paper is commonly used, but I've also used cheap, dollar store tracing paper.

You can download the free pattern and instructions for this block from the National Quilt Museum website, as well as the three blocks made in past months. If you're interested in trying new techniques, I would highly recommend participating in this BoM, every block so far has been so unique!

I'm really glad I was able to take so much time to focus on Block of the Month this week. I was able to catch up with some of the blocks I hadn't properly finished, and to prepare myself to make more blocks in the future.

If you're interested in either of these projects, I recommend checking out the free patterns. I've learned a lot of new skills and techniques from both of them, and I love how each can be personalized through decisions like colour choice and block placement.

I would love to hear what you've been up to too! Feel free to share your projects, sewing or otherwise, or whatever exciting adventures you've been having in the comments below. You can also send me an email through my contact page, tag me on Instagram @vafibrearts, or share a post in my Facebook group.

Until Next Time Friends, Keep Creating!

VA