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 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!