Project Update: 11.06.2024

Hello Friends and Welcome Back!

After several weeks away due to an injury, I'm finally getting back into sewing again!

I started off with some hand piecing to get a feeling for how my hand is moving and noticed relatively little difference, though my thumb is a little stiff at times. I expect that will work itself out though!

And with my sewing machine and serger now back from the mechanic, I'm also able to get back to some machine work!

It's been so long since I was able to share anything, so I'm excited to show you all what I've done! Let's take a look!

Ice Cream Soda

After the little update I shared last week, I was excited to get to work piecing my most recent set of Ice Cream Soda block centres!

I originally cut the pieces for these block centres back in April, so they've been unfinished for about two months now. All of these pieces came from the same print, which featured a lot of different imagery, and I was interested to see how four blocks made with the same central fabric could develop in four unique ways!

I decided to sort the pieces based on like prints; cursive script, florals, typed font, and abstract curlicues, which gave each centre some form of cohesion and broke up any sameness from using just one print.

Once pieced, I continued these blocks by adding a second round to each!

To make each block different, I chose one print from each of the different colours I'm using in the quilt! And since the block centres are pretty busy and chaotic—I was trying to use up the remains of this fabric and didn't have the luxury of fussy cutting—I chose subtle blender fabrics and small prints for the second rounds!

I've even been able to get started on the third rounds of these blocks and have finished one in its entirety!

I had initially thought this black and silver leaf print would go with one of the other blocks, but after laying out the basted pieces, I really liked how it contrasts with the gold print in the second round and draws on the blacks and greys in the block centre!

And though the other three are still in progress, I have taken some time to audition prints for each of them!

I'm pretty happy with my choices for the black and grey blocks—one is very high contrast and the other is low contrast, giving me some variety in the look of the finished blocks—but I'm still thinking about the white block.

It's the quietest of the four blocks in this set, so I think it needs something busy and interesting for the final round! I think I'm leaning towards the sunflowers, but would love to hear which option you prefer!

Ice Cream Soda was designed by Jodi Godfrey of Tales of Cloth. It ran as a quilt along through Winter and Spring 2024.

Uneven Four Patch Blocks

After getting back to hand sewing, I wanted to see how it felt to do some machine piecing as well!

The Community Outreach committee (CORE) of my quilt guild shared a block for members to work on over the Summer months called the Uneven Four Patch. Mom and I wanted to make a few to donate to the guild, so we got started working on those over the weekend!

The instructions were to use a neutral for one part of the half square triangle in the block centre, and assorted prints for the other three pieces. I decided to make rainbow centres with dark grey border strips for some contrast!

These blocks come together really quickly, so I've already finished 26 and have the pieces cut to make a few more!

In hindsight, I have probably made my blocks a little too much like a set and it may be difficult for the members of CORE to assemble them with the scrappier assortment of blocks I expect they will receive from other members.

Knowing that the pattern is so fast and easy to put together, I may keep the blocks I've made so far to assemble on my own and make some new blocks to donate to the guild. I'll have to think on that for a bit!

The designer of this block is not currently credited on the Guild Website, but I believe the Uneven Four Patch block instructions were written by Susie Stuklis of Susie's Scraps.

These two projects have been such a fun reintroduction to sewing after my little break and I can't wait to continue working on them!

In addition to these, I also have a few other projects in the works that I've been missing—Stars of the City, Stars of the Lily Pond, Generations, and more—so I'm looking forward to some more progress on those soon!

And though I've taken so much time away from the blog already over the past few weeks, I will be taking a break from posting next week to help my sister move! She has been living pretty far away for quite some time, first because of school, then starting her career, but she will soon be starting a new job much closer to home!

I'm looking forward to visits that don't require road trips or airplanes, spontaneous outings just because we can, and in person birthday parties!

Until I return to the blog on 25 June, you can keep up with my projects by visiting me on Instagram! And please feel free to share your projects with me by posting them in the comments below! Your work keeps me inspired and I can't wait to see what we create together next!

Until Next Time, Keep Creating!

~VA