Project Update: 08.11.2021

Hello Friends and Welcome!

After many weeks of rain, the clouds have finally parted to reveal the golden light of autumn. I must admit that I will miss the rain, but I can't complain about the warmer temperatures that emerge in the sunlight. And sunny days are, of course, perfect weather for sewing!

This change has renewed my inspiration to continue progressing on a variety of ongoing projects which I'm excited to share! This includes two block of the month projects, both of which have recently released new instructions, the Generations Quilt project, and after many weeks, Simply Woven.

For any of you who don't remember where I left off last time, check out my October Project Update for a reminder!

Now without further ado, let's take a look at what I've been up to!

MQG Mystery Block of the Month

The first set of piecing instructions were released earlier this month for the MQG Mystery BoM. And after two months dedicated to fabric selection, I am so excited to finally get started!

As I've mentioned, I'm making this BoM project alongside my Mother. Each of us is making our own quilt with our own unique colour scheme, but we only work on the blocks when we're together. I actually leave my fabric at her house so I'm not able to work on it alone.

Last weekend, the two of us got together to work on the November block instructions, which were oddly labelled as block #6. What an interesting place to start!

We were instructed to make four total of the November block, which we were able to complete in just one afternoon!

We also decided to experiment with pressing the seams of the blocks open to see if it would improve the accuracy of our pieced corners. Mom was quite pleased with her results, but I think my blocks turned out about the same as usual.

The only difficulty we had with the instructions was that they called for 32 half square triangle units at 4½" square, but didn't say how to make them. The method we used was as follows:

From fabric #3, cut 16 squares measuring 5" square

From fabric #5, cut 16 squares measuring 5" square and mark a diagonal line across the wrong side

Place one each of fabric #3 and #5 right sides together. Sew a scant ¼" on either side of the drawn line, then cut in half directly on the drawn line.

Open and press to make two half square triangle units. Trim to 4½" square.

Repeat these steps to make 32 half square triangle units.

Instructions to complete the blocks can be found on the MQG website.

And here you can see both mine and Mom's completed blocks!

Mine, of course, are the bottom set in brown and green, while Mom's are shown at the top in yellow and green. Despite using such different colour schemes, we somehow both chose a similar shade of green to use for fabric #3.

I'm very much looking forward to seeing how this project continues to develop. I can't wait to see what blocks we will add in December!

National Quilt Museum Block of the Month

I am not so pleased to report that I am still way behind on my NQM BoM project. I haven't made any new progress as far as the stitching is concerned, but a new block has been released!

For the month of November, the block is called Pretty Spool, and was designed by Laura Wasilowski.

Wasilowski, Laura. "Pretty Spool." 2021.

This is a fun and whimsical block with a lot of great movement, and some lovely stitched detail. While it doesn't fit the abstract nature of the other blocks I've made so far, I am excited to embrace the style and whimsy of the Pretty Spool block!

But before I can begin working on it, I would like to complete some of the earlier blocks. The ones I still need to piece are: En Pointe from August, Lotus from September, and Spiraling from October.

I've been really happy with all the blocks I've made for this project so far, but I think starting the Generations Quilt, a very emotionally significant family project, knocked a little of the urgency out of this BoM. I'm absolutely still excited about this project, especially learning quilt as you go, so I'll have to find a better way to balance my ongoing projects.

If you'd like try making any of these blocks for yourself, check out the National Quilt Museum website for free pattern instructions!

Simply Woven

Here is another project that's fallen somewhat behind schedule.

Simply Woven is an ongoing project that I'm in the process of quilting. It last appeared in my Project Updates back in August (26.08.2021) where I was excited to have kept to my goal of some amount of quilting progress every week.

Needless to say, I have not continued to adhere to that.

However, more recently, I have started working on Simply Woven again! Over the past month, I quilted an additional three bars into the broken frame motif being quilted around the outer edge!

Although this may not seem like a lot, the fact that I've pushed myself to work on it at all is quite exciting to me, and I can't wait to be able to use this quilt after so many years in progress!

Speaking of progress, here's an overview of the quilting progress:

The white lines indicate completed areas of quilting, the orange lines are the unquilted parts of the broken frame motif, and the blue lines indicate the wavy quilting that will fill the areas in between. The wavy quilting will be the last part I get to, but should be easier than the broken frame.

Depending on how my progress continues in November, I may need to actually dedicate a specific time to working on Simply Woven in the future. We will have to see how this month goes before deciding.

To learn more about how I chose my quilting design, check out my post "Walking Foot Quilting Design for Simply Woven" from back in May.

If you'd like to make your own version of the Simply Woven pattern, check out Jessica Kelly's free instructions on the Moda blog!

The Generations Quilt Project

This project is possibly the one project that I'm most excited to be working on!

The Generations Quilt is a collaborative, intergenerational, family project currently being worked on by myself, my Mother, and my Grandma. A set of blocks left behind by my Great Grandmother after she passed away inspired this project and will also be incorporated into the quilts we make. Check out my post; "A New Quilt Project: The Generations Quilt" to learn more!

I've finished piecing the second of my two traditional style Dresden Plate appliques from my previous update. These aren't particularly reflective of my style of quilt making, so for now, I've decided to set them aside.

I'll most likely finish them eventually, but for now, I'd rather focus on making blocks that feel more like me!

For my next couple of blocks, I've used some of the leftover fabric from my patchwork plague mask (more on that to follow). The prints are mostly neutral, using a variety of shades of white, grey, beige, and black, but accented with metallic golds.

I love this combination of colours, so I've used it to complete three Dresden appliques and have enough petals basted for a fourth.

For the background, I like the idea of a solid black or a coppery colour that matches the colour of the leaves in the print above. If we decide to include a central circle in our blocks, I may end up using one colour for the background and the other for the circle.

I have a few other colour combinations I'm interested to try, but I'll be keeping this fabric on hand to make more later. Once I've finished piecing the Dresden Plates I've already started, I'd like to make a few of the Six Pointed Star blocks as well.

I haven't tested the template for this one yet, so I hope it goes as smoothly as the Dresden Plate did. It has only 6 segments compared to 16 in the Dresden, so I suspect I will need to be more intentional about fabric selection and colour placement.

To help plan some colour ideas, I've sketched a few smaller versions of both block patterns. I can use this page to record ideas for colours, test combinations I'm not sure I'll like, or to colour just for fun. If I actually end up using it, I'll be sure to show it off in my next update!

Patchwork Plague Mask

After a long list of ongoing projects, some of which are falling dramatically behind their original schedule, I am thrilled to be sharing a project that I've actually finished!

This patchwork plague mask was a lot of fun to make! It was somehow both morbid and whimsical, and genuinely made me happy whenever I worked on it!

While I mostly followed the original instructions as Sara, the designer, wrote them, there were a few details I made up for myself.

The most obvious addition is the bias tape used to accent the line of the beak. I think the solid black does an amazing job of breaking up the very print-y surface of the mask and makes the beak look like it might actually have an opening.

Though it isn't realistic for the opening of the beak to connect directly into the eye, I think the effect is really interesting.

The other part that is uniquely mine is the closure. To keep the mask on my face, I added a set of long ties near the forehead. These wrap around the head, crossing at the back, and going through two loops on either side of the neck before being tied behind the neck.

This is, perhaps, more complicated than it needed to be, but it feels very secure, so I'm quite happy with it!

I really love the finished mask! The patchwork design and plague related subject work together to create something morbid yet fantastical. It is exactly the type of aesthetic that appeals to me, and I'm so happy I decided to start this project in the first place!

I would still like to make an outfit that goes along with this mask, but I'll have to save that for a time when I have fewer projects on my hands.

Many thanks to the amazing designer Sara, @mctreeleth on Tumblr and Instagram. If you're interested in making this project, check out her blog for the free instructions!

Friends, that's all I have to share today. Thank you for taking the time to visit me, and for your interest in the things I create!

I love sharing my projects with other makers and am always inspired by the things other people create. If you'd like to share the projects you've been working on, feel free to leave stories and pictures in the comments below!

To see what I'm working on between updates, please visit me on Instagram @vafibrearts. I share photos of my ongoing projects and sneak peeks at upcoming posts!

I'm so excited to make new progress on all of these projects and I can't wait to see where they lead me!

Until Next Time Friends, Keep Creating!

VA

Image Citation:

Wasilowski, Laura. "Pretty Spool." 2021. November 2021: Pretty Spool, National Quilt Museum, 2021, p.3, https://quiltmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/novemberbotm2021-final2.pdf.