Project Update: 17.01.2023

Hello Friends and Welcome Back!

With the new year well underway, the Winter weather has finally returned! The fresh snow has been a beautiful change to the dreary, slushy weather that started this month, but the freezing rain that came along with it has made the sidewalks treacherous.

And along with being sick for the first few weeks of January, this change in the weather has convinced me that staying home and quilting is the safest and most comfortable use of my time.

And with so many weeks having past since my last update, I'm excited to share what I've been working on!

Custom Work Table

The first and possibly most exciting update is that the custom work table we've been making for my newly renovated sewing room is finally finished!

As a fairly tall person, I've never had a cutting table that's actually the right height for me. Most tables are short enough that I have to bend over significantly to use a ruler and rotary blade, which is really bad for my back. This new table was made specifically with my own appropriate rotary cutting height in mind, and should make cutting and trimming a less gruelling process!

I'm already in love with this table, but given that it is so tall, it's not an ideal height for machine sewing. I've brought in a bar stool from another room to get myself up to the right sewing height, but I haven't yet gotten a tall enough box to set my foot pedal on.

I think some troubleshooting is needed yet, but I'm thrilled to be doing it! And of course, with this exciting addition to my sewing studio, one of my Winter goals has been successfully completed!

Summer Garden BoM

Moving away from that completed goal, I still have many other ongoing projects that I'm excited to be working on throughout the Winter months.

One of those is my Summer Garden BoM quilt!

December was a busy month for Mom and I, so we didn't find time to work on our BoM quilts together until nearly new years. But the wait was worth it and we both managed to complete our Flying Squares blocks quickly and easily!

Since my colours were inspired by the Queen of Hearts' rose garden, I was inspired to treat the red and white fabrics together as fabric A, making it look as though the white roses were in the midst being painted red. This touch of randomization has added some really fun variety to the blocks, an effect that I really love!

However, seeing these fabric choices together in a block has made me realize how dark everything is. This makes the white really stand out and causes the dark green to retreat into the background. I haven't decided if this lends depth to the block or if the contrast is simply unbalanced.

I may need to see how the blocks play together in the finished quilt to decide.

As for January's block, Dove at the Window, it's still in progress.

I made the one black and white version of the block to show as a sample in last week's post, but having been sick, I haven't been able to get together with my Mom to finish the rest.

However, she has been working on her Dove at the Window blocks independently, so I don't know if we are planning to do a quilting weekend this month or not. Either way, I still have two weeks to finish these blocks before the month ends.

Summer Garden is my own original quilt pattern. To make your own, check out the January block release or start from the beginning with the September fabric requirements!

The $3.31 Quilt

My other BoM project is the CQA members' mystery project; The $3.31 Quilt!

This is one that I'm very close to falling behind on; new blocks are released on the third Wednesday of every month, for January, that would be tomorrow, and I haven't started my December block yet.

McPhail, John. "Caribou Block Facing Left." 2022.

December's pattern was the caribou block. While it's really beautifully designed, the portrait framing of the caribou is quite stylistically different from the full body blocks we've made previously. This is in line with the caribou portrait on the Canadian quarter, but I'm worried it will be a little jarring if all the other quilt blocks feature the full body of their respective animals.

I would love to redesign this block like I did with the polar bear in November, but I haven't left myself with much time to do that before the next block is released. And besides that, the caribou portrait might be a really beautiful contrast within the finished quilt.

I think I'll focus on piecing the caribou block as it was originally designed, see if I can complete it this afternoon, then when the final design of the quilt is revealed in a few months, I can make a new caribou block if I'm not happy with the effect of this one.

The $3.31 Quilt was designed by John McPhail of Art East Quilting Co. and is currently being featured as the CQA member's mystery quilt project.

Chilhowie Mystery Quilt

And falling ever farther behind is the last of my ongoing quilt along projects; Chilhowie. Though the final clue and quilt reveal for this project were released a few weeks ago on 06 January, there are many participants like myself who fell behind and are now working to complete their quilts retroactively.

In my last update, I had just finished clue no.3. That clue had us assembling a small army of QSTs, which, speaking for myself, was a lot of fun!

The following week, we made a variety of HSTs for clue no.4. Then clue no.5 had us begin to assemble quilt blocks!

This is where I started to fall behind. Between visiting with my Mom for our December quilt retreat and hosting some friends to celebrate the coming of the new year, I didn't have much time left for Chilhowie that week. Then, when clues no.6 and 7 were released, I had gotten sick and didn't have the energy to work on them.

So while I wasn't able to keep up with this mystery project as per my original Winter goal, I am proud that I kept up as long as I did and that I let myself take some rest when I really needed it!

I'm really looking forward to finishing this quilt over the coming weeks and enjoyed both the pattern and the community making it along with me so much that I'm already thinking I'd like to participate again next year!

Chilhowie was designed by Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville. As of posting this, the pattern is still available on her blog as a free download, however, she typically moves patterns to her shop shortly after the quilt along has wrapped up.

Simply Woven

After having all my quilt alongs waylaid by sickness, there was one project I was actually able to work on; Simply Woven.

Picking it back up after having ignored it for several months felt a little strange, but I quickly readjusted to hand quilting and found the slow pace and repetitive motions of it were the perfect activity while I was recovering. And now that I am feeling better, I've been able to continue the machine quilting as well!

I spent most of yesterday working on Simply Woven and now, it's very nearly finished!

I do have a few finishing details that need to be dealt with; some thread ends to bury and a final review of the quilting to be sure there are no large gaps, but other than that, I'm done!

Knowing that, there's a very good chance Simply Woven will be finished this month!

Simply Woven was designed by Jessica Kelly of Sew Crafty Jess. I can still view it on the Moda blog where it was originally posted, but have been told some people can only access the pattern via the Wayback Machine.

Look back at my progress over the past few weeks, I'm a little sad to see my quilt alongs falling behind, but am so happy with the Winter goals I've been able to keep up with, like Simply Woven, and the one I've actually completed!

Those successful goals make up for the ones that were delayed and I'm confident that I'll get those ones back on schedule by the end of the month!

If you want to keep up with my projects between updates, you can visit me on Instagram @v.a.fibre.arts where I share pictures and stories!

If you have any projects of your own you'd like to share, you can tag me in your own Instagram posts, comment below, of send me an email! I would love to know if you've made or are making any of the same projects I'm working on! And I'm always inspired to see what other projects you have in progress!

Though it's been a slow, sick start to the new year, I think 2023 is finally looking up for me! I can't wait for all the projects, new experiences, and exciting opportunities the rest of the year may bring!

Until Next Time Friends, Keep Creating!

~VA

Image Citation:

McPhail, John. "Caribou Block Facing Left." $3.31 Quilt - the Caribou, Art East Quilting Co., 2023, p.1, PDF.