Project Update: 10.10.2023

Hello Friends and Welcome Back

After the exciting reveal of October's blocks last week, I can finally post the first project update of the Autumn season!

So far, I've focused mostly on my various block of the month projects, some in the piecing stages, and some in the quilting. I've really been enjoying all of these and can't wait to show you!

Hexie Harvest BoM

This project has been in progress since February 2023, with a new set of blocks to make every month along the way, but now that October has begun, it's finally time to start putting those blocks together!

But before we get to that, I do have a few blocks from September I've yet to share!

I made a slight adjustment to the piecing schedule by making my Sandalwood blocks in September instead of August. These blocks were really simple to put together, using three large diamonds to form the hexagonal block, and came together really quickly!

Once those were pieced, I took some time to look through all of the blocks I'd made so far and decided I wanted just a few more to use the coloured fabrics. I decided to omit the three all black blocks from my Honeydew and Aster sets and replace them with their coloured counterparts.

Both Aster and Honeydew were blocks that I really enjoyed making, so I had a lot of fun revising those patterns!

After making that change, October arrived and I started laying out my blocks!

My original idea was to form some kind of design that contrasted the brightly coloured blocks against the dark background. I tried a few layouts with the coloured blocks clustered into groups, but found I really didn't like the proportion of black to colour.

Instead, I've decided to layout my blocks into spiralling chains of colour and dark.

This layout is decidedly not what I had in mind when I started the project last Winter, but I'm really enjoying what it has transformed into!

The Hexie Harvest pattern was designed by Jodi Godfrey of Tales of Cloth. The quilt along is currently in its final month and will wrap up soon!

Stars of the City BoM Sample

This next quilt has passed the piecing stage and is in the process of being quilted! I've learned from experience that I really love hand quilting, so that's what I decided to use for Stars of the City!

After starting this quilt last Summer, I'm continuing to quilt the background, filling it with a mix of different star designs!

Two of these motifs fill an 8" square, while the other four are 4" square. These sizes were chosen to fit within the 4" grid the quilt was drafted on, while also creating some variety in the scale of the quilting. The design is both thematically appropriate and creates some really interesting texture throughout the quilt!

Stars of the City is my own original design, which I am currently running as a free, block of the month style quilt along here on the Fibre Arts blog! Check out the most recent October block release or go back to September for fabric requirements.

Stars of the Lily Pond BoM

I'm participating in the Stars of the City quilt along too with a new twist on the pattern that I'm calling Stars of the Lily Pond!

I'll be working a month ahead of all of you so I can have some samples of this colourway ready when each month's pattern is released. But I'm not planning to get any further ahead than that, so I've only made my October blocks so far!

I'm planning to make Stars of the Lily Pond a little larger than the original Stars of the City quilt, so I made two each of Harbour at Dawn and Square in a Star. I'm also making big changes to the block layout, going for a much more organic look than the original column layout from the pattern.

Remember, I love when makers put their own unique touch on a pattern, so if you'd like to make changes to your own Stars of the City quilt as we go along, I full support your changes and am happy to help if you need someone to talk to!

Once again; Stars of the City is my own original design, here are the instructions available so far for the October blocks and fabric requirements.

So Friends, that's what I've been working on so far this Autumn! Not every one of my different Autumn projects is in progress just yet, but there are still many months left in the season for me to get around to working on those!

Now that I've shared my projects, I'd love to get up to date on what all of you are working on! Please share stories, photos, rants, or anything you'd like in the comments below, I always love hearing from you! You can also reach out to me via email or on Instagram if you've got even more to share!

I'm looking forward to continuing my own projects, and to watching yours progress as well!

Until Next Time Friends, Keep Creating!

~VA