Project Update: 16.04.2024

Hello Friends and Welcome Back!

Last week, I took a break from the blog and from social media to visit with my sister! Unfortunately, I completely forgot to share that I would be taking that break, it seems I still need some practice and planning to get my communication skills down. Thank you all for your patience with me!

And with that little break behind us, now seems like a perfect time to get caught up on all of the projects I've been working on over the last month! I've shared several of these on social media, so you may have seen pictures of my progress already, but there are also a few projects I haven't updated in a while, so you may be surprised!

I also think this is a good time to check in on my Spring goal progress. A few of my goals had mid-season deadlines, so this will act as a reminder to myself of which projects I should be prioritizing right now!

Let's take a look!

Ice Cream Soda

Starting off with my bee themed Ice Cream Soda quilt, I'm now up to a total of 19 completed blocks!

Back in March, I completed my first eight Ice Cream Soda blocks. At that time, I also cut centres for an additional seven blocks, which I have since finished piecing!

I know I said seven blocks, but with my goal of four blocks a week, I added an extra block so the math would work. The bonus block is the white one with the plaid print in the third round, shown in the photo on the right.

Like last time, none of these blocks are quite the same, I've achieved a lot of variety throughout them! There are some blocks that I really love, and others I'm not as happy with, but I've had a lot of fun learning which print and colour combinations are most appealing to me!

With the arrival of April, I took a week off to focus on other projects, as per my seasonal goals, then started my next set of blocks last week!

I did some of the piecing while visiting with my sister, but didn't quite finish all four of my blocks. I'm about half way around the third round of that final block though, so pretty close!

And even though I'm not quite done with last week's blocks, I've already gotten started cutting the centres for this week!

While cutting the third round of one of last weeks blocks, I noticed that fussy cutting pieces from it had left relatively little fabric. There wouldn't be enough left to cut pieces for either the second or third rounds, so I cut the remains of that fabric into small diamonds for block centres!

I was able to get enough diamonds for four blocks, so this week's challenge will be making four unique blocks, all starting with the same central print! I'm excited to tackle this challenge!

The Ice Cream Soda pattern was designed by Jodi Godfrey of Tales of Cloth. It is being run as a quilt along scheduled to end June 2024.

Stars of the City

This next project is the original sample of my ongoing quilt along project, Stars of the City!

During my week off from Ice Cream Soda, I spent some time working on the background quilting on this project. The hand quilted motif features a variety of line-drawn stars, several of which are based on traditional pieced star blocks!

The motif is a little hard to see on the front of the quilt, since I'm using white thread on white fabric, but the backing fabric in this particular corner is dark, so the quilting shows beautifully here!

This wasn't the only project I was working on at the time, so I only managed to complete the quilting in one small corner of Stars of the City, but it's one corner more than I'd had quilted before!

It's also more progress than I made all Winter, despite planning to quilt throughout the season. And since I'm hoping to have the whole thing quilted by the beginning of May, I might need to focus a little more on Stars of the City this month, I'm looking forward to spending some time together!

Stars of the City is my own original design. It is currently running as a quilt along project, which will come to an end next month in May 2024.

Stars of the Lily Pond

The final block of the Stars of the City quilt along was released earlier this month, and along with it, I shared a sample made in my secondary colour scheme!

This was the last star block needed for my Stars of the Lily Pond quilt, but I'm still behind on my Drunkard's Path units. Since I want to share the unique layout I'm planning for this alternate version of the Stars of the City pattern with next month's final assembly instructions, I'll need to dedicate a few days to curved piecing before the month ends to get those units finished!

I'm really excited to show how a few little changes to colour and block placement can totally transform a quilt!

The Stars of the Lily Pond quilt is based on my original Stars of the City pattern.

Generations Quilt

In the previous update, I had just finished assembling the last of my Dresden Plate blocks for my contribution to the Generations Quilt project. Since then, I've worked on several sets of Six Pointed Star blocks which, when complete, should be the last I need to make for this project!

The first set of blocks is completely finished and I'm so happy with how they've turned out!

The various prints used in the star applique each contrast a little differently with the background, making some parts of the star stand out more than others. It almost feels like the block is twinkling!

My other three sets of blocks have each had their star appliques pieced and background fabrics acquired, so they're close to being done too!

Each set of blocks uses a different colour scheme and will create a different effect when finished, and I'm excited to see how each of these variations will turn out!

If you want to read more about how I selected colours for each of these four block sets, I shared a colour scheming post a few weeks ago outlining my process!

Completing that first set of three blocks means I've already met my Spring goal of one block per month for the season, but I do have a few other projects with tighter deadlines, so as sad as it is, I think I'll put my last few Six Pointed Star blocks away for now and focus on those other projects. But they will be back soon!

The Generations Quilt project is a collaborative work featuring two traditional quilt blocks; the Dresden Plate and the Six Pointed Star.

Reviewing my Spring goals, I haven't touched on any garment projects, but they aren't on a particularly tight deadline, or on my label making preparations. Based on my current progress through my goals, it looks like my focus for the remainder of April should be on Stars of the City, Stars of the Lily Pond, and my label prep, with the others waiting until May.

Friends, we will have to wait and see if I'm able to stick to this plan over the next few weeks. I hope you'll all stick around to help me out!

In the meantime, I would love to hear about how all of your projects are coming along! Please share stories, patterns, and photos in the comments below! You can also tag my on Instagram or chat with me privately via email!

I look forward to seeing what we make together in the weeks to come!