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Pacific Northwest, United States

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I've been crafting things for myself and others since my teen years. Designing and creating is not just what I do.....it's Who I Am. Thanks for stopping by.

Monday, January 30, 2017

Scrap Stars and 16-Patch

A few weeks back I made a scrappy star block featuring a scrappy four patch center surrounded by scrappy flying geese units.  The finished blocks will measure 8 inches square.  
 

This morning I finished making the last of the 24 scrap star blocks I need for the quilt I have designed. 
 
After sketching some design ideas, I came up with a sashing design that I think will make a nice bridge between the scrap star blocks and the scrappy 16-patch blocks.  Scrappy flying geese, white background squares and scrappy cornerstones.  

I have begun cutting the patches I need and have made a few of the flying geese units as well.  I used them as leaders-n-enders when sewing together the star blocks. 
 
 
After all my excitement about finishing the star blocks, I counted up the 16-patch blocks.  I still need to make 11 more of these gems.  That means more square hunting and cutting in the near future for me.   Thank goodness I spent a couple hours this weekend stripping my way through a sizeable pile of fabric leftovers and scraps. 
 

Well, that's what I've been up to for the past few days.  Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Quilting,
  ~Diane

Monday, January 9, 2017

Quiltville Mystery Part 7

Last week I posted my Part 6 progress. 

I began working on this final phase, Part 7, of the Quiltville En Provence mystery quilt on New Year's Day holiday.  It didn't take long to cut the patches needed to construct the hourglass units.  Over the course of a couple of days, sewing here and there, I was able to get all the units made and trimmed to size.  
I spent some time calculating exactly how many units I needed to make a rectangular quilt.  Instead of using Bonnie's block layout of 4 x 4, I decided to make mine 3 blocks across and 4 blocks down which should measure out to be about 69"  87" if all goes according to plan.

I laid out all the patches for one block and one sashing.



Because we've had some nasty weather, I was able to spend more time sewing this past weekend.  I got all the blocks and sashing strips assembled and began connecting everything into rows.
 

I'm hoping to get this top completed by the end of the week.
 
I'm linking with Mystery Monday Linkup.   Check it out.  There are a lot of creative quilters out there making some awesome quilts.
 
Thanks for stopping by.  Feel free to leave me a comment.
Happy Quilting,
   ~Diane
 
 

Monday, January 2, 2017

Scrappy Star Block

My fabric scraps are getting way out of control!  I have more than I can keep track of.  It's time to make a plan to get rid of them without throwing good fabric away.  So.....SEW!

In the past I've made several scrappy quilts.  One of the patterns used 16-patch blocks.  These blocks are made from leftover 2-1/2" squares.  
 
This is a pic of the second quilt I made using the same pattern.  

I have been exploring ideas for using these blocks in new ways and have a couple ideas rambling around in my head.  I know I have a bunch of these made up already, but not sure where they are at the moment, so I made a couple more yesterday.
 
 Start by making 4-patch units and then connect four units together to make the 16-patch block.    
Not long ago I saw a QOV (Quilts of Valor) quilt top made with all scraps.  The featured block in the quilt was a star using a 4-patch unit in the center surrounded by flying geese units.  I made some flying geese units with dark batiks for the triangles to go with my 4-patch units before cutting the background squares for the corners. 
Here's my first scrappy star block.  It measures 8-1/2".  I'm liking how it looks.

After I make several more of these star blocks I will play around with alternate blocks and sashing configurations.  Looking forward to putting these into a quilt.
 
Thanks for stoppy by today.  Feel free to leave me a comment.  
Happy Quilting!
   ~Diane

Quiltville Mystery Part 6

I was able to download the Quiltville En Provence Mystery Part 6 on Friday, but did not get to work on it until Saturday, New Year's Eve.  According to my calculations, I needed to make 48 of the required 64 units.  I ended up making 50 units.

I followed Bonnie's instructions and stacked four strips of the required colored fabrics before cutting the triangles I needed with my Easy Angle ruler.  That sure made it easy when I got to the sewing machine.  Each pair of fabrics were all ready right sides together, so all I had to do is chain piece them.  I'll have to try to remember this method for next time I cut and sew units like this.  

Here's one way to assemble these units to make a block.  I'm sure Bonnie has a better idea for placing these in the quilt.
Much to my surprise when I went to Bonnie's site to join in the Mystery Monday Linkup, I discovered that there is no linkup this week.  She posted Part 7, which is the final part and quilt assembly instructions.  Needless to say I have some cutting and sewing work to do this week.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Quilting!
   ~Diane
 

 
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