UFO Domination begins

I mentioned a few posts ago about the Confused Quilter's UFO Domination challenge.

Visit her blog or Flickr group to join!

I was intending to start once I'd finished piecing the top of my Roll Roll Cotton Boll Mystery quilt.  No such luck.   I'm massively behind in the RRCB and with the flooding in Queensland, charity quilts are needed now.

I promised DH I wouldn't start on any til I finished DS Dino quilt and the quilt that's supposed to cover one of the sofas.  They're both on the UFO Domination list so that's excellent and I have 2 more UFOs which I wasn't planning to finish this year as part of the challenge but I think I will since they were supposed to be charity quilts all along.

So...I've quilted another chunk of the dino quilt. It's taking sooo long!

Here's a progress report

My quilting is very wonky and wobbly because I seem to have lost the ability to smoothly move the quilt around while I freemotion the design on.

I simply don't get it. I'm sure I could do it a few months ago when I last worked on the quilt. I double checked that the feed dogs were down.

My wrist is getting stronger not weaker since my last surgery in September so it can't be that but if I have slightly wet hands it seems to help. Maybe I should try those quilters gloves?

Right now I'm just grabbing handfuls of quilt and pulling it around. It doesn't make the quilting look any good. Any thoughts?

Roll Roll Cotton Boll Step 7 (Spoiler Alert)

Step 7 is the big reveal!

I was right in regards to the block layout!  I'm in no way ready for this step though!

I'm still pressing and trimming HSTs from step 5 and plodding on with string blocks from Step 3.  I haven't done step 6 at all except to make one sample block and I'm liking how it looks.

I decided it looked better with the green triangles next to the block rather than abutting the string blocks.

So...we have our pieced block...

...and the string blocks are halved and restitched to make alternate blocks

 

Side by side...

This is what the pieced block will look like once all the alternate blocks are added.

The variety in pinks and purples is huge though so all the blocks will look a bit different.  I can't wait ti start putting them together buuut there is still the issue of the border which wont be resolved til tomorrow night!!!

Roll Roll Cotton Boll Step 6 (Spoiler Alert)

I know I know - this step came out over a week ago and has since been replaced with step 7!  The delay in posting and completing this step is partially due to all the re-organising and spring cleaning  I've been doing and partially being unsure how to proceed knowing I wanted to make the quilt a bit longer and not wanting to wait til the end to make extra units.

Step 6 added to my suspicions about the possible layout.  I can now post these because Bonnie has revealed the block in step 7.

These were my suspicions (which I'm very pleased to say were correct!):

The first part of Step 6 has us stitching last week's HSTs into strips of 5.  I think I'm seeing a pattern emerging which is giving me a clue as to how many extra units to make.  If 4 strips of these HSTs make sashing or borders for one block, it makes 30 blocks.


Step 4 has us making 30 sets, the other HSTs in step 2 are also divisible by 30 - again 4 per block.


The 60 string blocks from step 3?  2 per pieced block?  Perhaps cut in half diagonally and used to set the pieced block on point??


So...IF we are indeed having 30 blocks it would make sense that they might be set 5 across and 6 down to vaguely resemble the rectangular queen sized quilt Bonnie has in mind.


This still doesn't factor in the units from Step 1 which in step 6 require triangles added on the ends to make parallelograms.  They just don't seem to fit in anywhere!


I decided to trust my guess and make enough units for an extra 5 blocks from the units that give me a clue as to what's going on and I'll wait and see as to the rest.  I needed 5 more sets of Step 4 and 100 more HSTs from Step 5.  I already made enough extra Step 2s.

I wont make any extra Step 1s til I see the border design altho I think from memory there are a few extra.

So...here is what part 1of step 6 looks like: (I haven't sewn them togeter since I'm still pressing and trimming)

And part 2: (haven't sewn them til I know how many to make but I did cut pieces)

Quilt goals for 2011

The Confused Quilter has shared her organisational bug and yet again blogged a great idea - to put down on paper (or on screen as the case may be) quilty goals for 2011.

In 2011 I want to:

Complete my RRCB quilt and have it on the bed
Make Melly and Me's Sleepover bag in a class run by the Drapers of Mt Macedon
Make baby gifts for two pregnant friends (and some who are TTC and will prolly be pregnant soon!!)
Start my Dear Jane
Start my Nearly Insane
Make Bonnie Hunter's Carolina Crossroads quilt
Learn handquilting

Finish all my UFO goals (see post below)

Roll Roll Cotton Boll Step 5 (spoiler alert)

I finshed the piecing of this rather daunting step last weekend/earlier this week.  All that remained was to cut apart the squares (I used the 8 in one speed piecing method) and worst of all - pressing and trimming down 600 2" HSTs!!! (and some extra plain squares)

I used 2 types of green in place of Bonnie's constant red fabric.

Here are just a few units but I promise I've made them all!!

I pressed about 25% last night and hope to finish today...or I'll wait until I need them and press/trim as I go.

I've hardly done any sewing in almost a week.  We have been decluttering, reorganising and maximising  what little space we have (Thank you, Ikea).  For the first time in 2 years I'm (relatively) pain free and able to do things like spring cleaning etc.  It's a great feeling!

I'm so unfit as a result because for the longest time even walking was painful as each step would jar my wrist so it's exhausting but I hope to get my energy back soon!

So back to RRCB...I still have 30 string blocks to go along with trimming down the HSTs.  I'm still no closer to figuring out the layout which is one thing I especially love about this mystery.  It's really exciting!

I'm hoping to make the quilt a little longer so if I add more blocks I'll need more of each piece but not knowing how they will be used means I can't be sure how many extra to make.  Maybe I can simply add an extra border at the top and bottom??

I'm desperate to know so I can plan ahead!  Clue 6 comes out tonight and i can't wait!!  I know I'm going to love this quilt.  I already love the units and colours and fabrics and the scrappiness of it!

December Friday Night Sew In Session II Results

Overall a very productive evening.  I planned to keep plodding on with my string blocks and maybe deviate to Step 5 of RRCB once it was auto published.

That is until I saw it.  Click the link if you dare but I don't want to talk about it!

I did cut the fabric for this step though:

 

I also made 10 more string blocks which now brings my total to 30.  I'm halfway - 30 more to go!

I would have liked to  pull an all-nighter but my wrists ached and if not for all the metal holding my left one together I'm sure it should have fallen off!

Also DH came home with my yummy Lay-By from Lorraine's Shop. 

Now I'm itching to snap up whatever she has left of her little bundles of Farmer's Market and Mezzanines fabric!!

Roll Roll Cotton Boll Step 4 (Spoiler Alert)

This was a nice easy step which has allowed most of us to catch up with Step 3.  Not me.  I still have only 20 finishes string blocks and another 5 half done.

Step 4 saw us pairing a neutral strip with a green one (or aqua in my case) and  cutting 4 x 2 patch units along with an extra 4 matching aqua squares.  This step could be done scrappy but I followed Bonnie's lead.

We needed 30 of these sets.  I chose 15 of the slightly more subdued neutral and cut 2 strips of each to try to tone down the wildness of some of the string blocks!

December FNSI Results for Session 1

I definitely didn't do as much as I thought but I did get 5 more string blocks made:

 

That brings me to 20/60! Still a long way to go!

Here is a pic of all the finished tissue holders for Max's teachers.  he gave them out on thursday which was his last day of school.

Roll Roll Cotton Boll Step 3 (Spoiler Alert)

I wasn't sure how I felt when I first saw this step.

It's not that I don't like string pieced blocks - I love them and have been saving strings to make a string quilt - one day.

I just didn't feel ready YET and here was Bonnie wanting us to make 60 of the things using foundation paper and everything!

Given we were told the blocks had to be 8.5 inches I thought I could just cut squares from all my background fabrics...or as a compromise make 4 patches or 16 patches or hourglass units or something else less fiddly.

I only needed a few minutes to come to my senses (along with a good slap upside the head).

WHAT exactly was the problem?  (aside from needed to cut strips from yardage).  I decided given how flat out I am with projects NEEDING to be finished it would really justify taking time out to make this mystery if I had my first attempt at string piecing - with paper at that!  And who better than with Bonnie?

So...here's how I lost my string virginity:

First step...stripping!

Kindly mixed up by the quilt inspector

Foundation paper aka Yellow Pages Circa 2008

Who knew scrapbooking and cardmaking tools would come in handy for quilting too?

 

Adding strips one at a time...

A bit messy looking but one block done!!

The finished products trimmed to size!  

LoveLoveLove them - even tho they're supposed to be neutrals but Bonnie said to be adventurous with fabric and I was!

Now I find myself completely hooked!  It's so satisfying - much more so than normal piecing.  maybe because you get to see each block coming together whereas in usual piecing you stitch 2 bits of fabric together and get...2 bits.  Then you rinse and repeat a great many times before it resembles a block.

Today I discovered I can completed 5 block in 2 hours or so if I chain piece them.

That brings me to a total of 15.  Only 45 more to go!

Roll Roll Cotton Boll Step 2 (spoiler alert)

Well better late than never but I finished Part 2 last night - right after I read Part 3 and nearly died but more of that later.

Here are all my cute HSTs:

 I'm using purple instead of Bonnie's brown and I have a few extra so I still need to sort out which ones I'll use.

Half Square Triangle Tutorial

This little tutorial is for other ladies not using the EZ Angle ruler for making half Square Triangles in Step 2 of Bonnie's Roll Roll Cotton Boll Mystery.

Bonnie wants the units to finish at 3" - this means they'll measure 3" in the finished block so they will need to be 3.5" raw edge to raw edge.

Bonnie made hers in sets of 4 so I speed pieced mine in 4s using the standard formula for making HSTs.  This meant cutting rectangles measuring 3 7/8" x 7 3/4" and a very scant seam allowance.

BUT I feel the seam allowance is a little too scant so I suggest you cut your rectangles 4" x 8"

Next mark your rectangles on the wrong side of your fabric as I've done below - at the 4" mark and then lines extending to the top diagonals.  These will be your CUTTING lines.

Next, pair your pink and brown (or whatever colours you're using) rectangles, right sides together and sew a scant 1/4" seam along either side of the diagonal lines as shown below.

Cut along the ruled lines and you get 4 HSTs

The HSTs should measure 3.5" raw edge to raw edge.  If they're a little large, trim them down slightly.  They should not be too small.  If they are then your seam allowance is too big.

Please email me through my profile or leave a comment if you have any problems.

Roll Roll Cotton Boll Step 1 (Spoiler Alert)

Late friday afternoon I kept checking Bonnie's blog  for the first clue which she promised would auto publish and there it was!

Much smaller and simpler than I thought and not too typical of Bonnie's usual clues I'm led to believe according to the comments on Quiltville Chat!

Here it is - 172 of these little units made up of 2" strips.

While slicing up the pink strips I kept thinking about all the other pinks I have but didn't use in this quilt.  Oh dear - I think I'm a bit obsessed with pink!  I do plan on using them for a monochromatic scrap quilt one day.  I have the very pattern in mind and everything.

I'm eager to see more of this mystery since step 1 doesn't give anything away!  If these were to be 9 patches, she would have had us do the blue/pink/blue strip as well...or would she?  But if the clues were so small we'd never finish a queen sized quilt in 6-7 clues which are Bonnie's usual style.

Roll Roll Cotton Boll Fabrics

Well I think I can say that I have all the fabric I need for Bonnie's Mystery!

She said a wide variety of neutrals was needed so I had to go through my stash again and pick out almost anything with a white or cream background.

Bonnie's example on her blog had a very varied mix of fabrics. 

Bonnie's other colours are pink (which I'm also using)

Green (I'm using Aqua)

Brown (I'm using purple)

And a constant red fabric (I'm using 2 greens instead).

9 days to go!!  I better make some room in my sewing corner!

Lizzy Mae's Medallion Month 3

I had the class at Quilter's Bazaar yesterday.

The great thing about this quilt is that it doesn't have to be assembled as you go so missing month 2 hasn't made any difference.

I have my fabric pack and some extra instructions from Lorraine.

Month 3 was supposed to happen last month and month 4 is in 2 weeks so it's a very busy month classwise!

We made the double X block which came together much more quickly and easily than I first thought due to Lorraine's piecing and cutting shortcuts!

Due to my still fairly fragile wrist I only made one and a bit blocks in class but I'm psyched to get cracking with them.

I can't believe how small they are!  They will be 5" finished so a bit bigger than Dear Jane and a bit smaller than Nearly Insane!  It's good practice for whenever I get around to these quilts I guess!

I'm getting that slightly overwhelmed feeling.  I want to work on Lizzy Mae, I have one Mystery quilt in progress and another to start shortly yet I have 2 quilts tops that REALLY need basting and quilting!!!!

Changing feet on the machine and lugging it to class every few weeks really interrupts my mojo.

I think I'll indulge in my craving for speed piecing at the moment and try to get Lizzy Mae done asap.  I may leave off doing a few clues of the DaChintzy Code and do them all in one go.

Not sure about Bonnie's Mystery.

I'd like to have one quilt basted and quilting underway by the end of the month.  I wonder if it will happen?

I haven't done any sewing today.  I did lots of cutting and pinning last night but the sewing machine is still rolling around in the boot of the car and I have a thumping headache.

On a more positive note, I'm pretty sure I've collected all my fabrics for Bonnie's Roll Roll Cotton Boll Mystery Quilt!