Wentworth County Quiltworks

The tutorial for the Children of Israel block is up!  This is another one that is easier to make than it first appears!  This is block #15;  half the blocks of my 30-block sampler are now done!

The Gentleman's Fancy tutorial is up!  It can be a  tricky block;  it's more for intermediate quilters than for beginners. You'll want to take your time with it and be as precise as  you can with your cutting and piecing. 

The Love In A Mist tutorial is now up!  This block is a little more complex than some we've done, but it's a super attractive block once it's done.  The trick is to take your time cutting the templates, starch your pieces and be careful with your placement and positioning when you're sewing it together.

The tutorial for the Greek Cross quilt block is up!  This is a fairly easy block but can be simply stunning with the right colour combination. 

This quilt block is a great beginner’s block because it’s a traditional nine patch made up of half square triangles (HSTs), squares and rectangles.

It's time for another wedding block this month.  The tutorial for the Old English Wedding Ring block is now up!  It's a fairly easy one if you use the quick method for making HSTs.

The tutorial for the Cross and Star block has been posted.  I've also seen this block entitled "Job's Tears," but I prefer "Cross and Star" because that's what it looks like to me!  This is the tenth completed block for my Bible block-of-the-month wedding sampler.  Only twenty to go!

Cross and Crown is this month's block; it's also known as Golgotha.  Here is the tutorial. It's similar to the Walls of Jericho block from last October.   It's a block that looks more difficult to make than it actually is.

Another month means another block!  The tutorial for the Contrary Husband block, another of the wedding blocks, is now posted!

The tutorial and templates for the Whirlwind block are up. This block is a little trickier than it looks because you want to make sure you are sewing the correct edges of the smaller (orange and white) triangles together.   Be sure to pay attention to what you're doing.

The templates and tutorial for the Road to Damascus block have been posted!  This block looks harder than it actually is, but I found it easiest to make with templates and by being as accurate as I could.  You'll want the Key Block diagram on the template printout in front of you as you make this block so you can keep track of your pieces.

The cutting instructions and tutorial for the Contrary Wife block are finally up!  That completes the fifth block to the Bible sampler.

The tutorial and cutting instructions for the Bright Hopes block have been posted! 

The King's Crown tutorial has been posted!  This block was originally published in the Kansas City Star in 1931.  It was also published as “Thrift Block” in the Chicago Tribune on September 6, 1937, by Nancy Cabot.  I’ve seen it made with three fabrics, where the centre fabric is the same as the outer triangles of the Flying Geese, and I’ve seen it made with four fabrics, where the centre fabric is unique and sometimes fussy cut.  In this block, I’ve used three fabrics: fabric one is my white fabric, fabric two is orange and fabric three is blue.  It's a good beginner's block.  The next wedding block will be up in two weeks!

My unstarted project inventory.  These aren't at the WiP stage yet; they're in the USO category:

Baby Nine Patch, only my colours are yellow and purple.

Midnight Shadows quilt kit that'll be made with...

...Midnight Garden fabric

Scrappy Flannel quilt that'll be made with...

...this flannel fabric

Abigail's Garden fabric for the second quilt I make with this pattern.

I also have my two antique Sunbonnet Sue quilts yet to finish.  My uncle's grandmother made the blocks.

As well, I've been acquiring fabric for "Quilted Purr-fection" - the quilt and the tote bag!

I have also acquired a dozen completed Log Cabin blocks and will make them into a lap quilt.

I keep forgetting about this wallhanging!  It shouldn't take long to do.

Don't forget Peaceful Pathways.  My fabric is ready, I just need to work up the nerve to apply paint to it!

I also have a few WiPs:  the Farmer's Wife QAL to catch up on, some thrift shop quilts to refinish and of course, my ongoing Bible quilt.    Plus my embroidered quilt.  And my poor, languishing Sunflower Sampler.

Wow.  I think I'd better call a moratorium on new projects till I get some of this stuff caught up!

As I consider my current works in progress today, I notice that I'm still in the very starting stages of two projects, stalled on one and about to resume my languishing Sunflower Sampler, which is the first quilt top I ever made and is waiting for further hand-quilting. 

Peaceful Pathways by Esther Aliu

Peaceful Pathways is one that's in the starting stages, but farther along than it was last week!  I've now tested and pre-washed my red fabrics and will pre-wash the white this weekend.  I'm selective about when I run my laundry machines because Ontario hydro is billed by time of use and to run the washer during the day costs twice as much as to run it after 7 pm or on weekends. I always forget Esther is a day ahead of where I am, so today is the 15th of the month where she is and part 2 of the BOM has been released! 

Project #2 still in the early stages is my Bible block quilt.  I've done a tutorial for the first block, which will appear in the October issue of the Ruby for Women e-zine.  After making block #1, however, I took a look at the variety of colour in my pile of fabric for this quilt and decided I had best test and pre-wash these fabrics too!  My background is white with little green flowers and the other colours include various shades of blue, purple, red, brown and yellow.

Yesterday I started the soak, and it's a good thing I did!  Connecting Threads' fabric is great and I've never pre-washed it before, but the colours I've used haven't been quite as diverse either.  Some of my blues lost colour, as did the brown, red and orange.  I think to not prewash would've spelled disaster when this quilt was laundered down the line.

I'll finish the pre-soak stage by the weekend (purple and another blue) and then wash all the fabric - including the white - together.  Theoretically, the excess dye should be out of all the richer colours, but if not, I'd rather deal with getting misplaced dye out of plain white fabric rather than the white fabric in a completed quilt!  (Shout Color Catchers are not available in Canada that I've ever seen.)

My Farmer's Wife Sampler blocks are stalled at the moment while I fiddle with all this fabric.  But now that I'm done my summer quilt-along quilts, I want to get back to hand-quilting the Sunflower lap quilt that's on the frame in the basement.  It shouldn't take long to do once I get at it and STAY at it till it's done! I'm linking up to Esther's Blog today, as well as Freshly Pieced.  Check 'em out and you will be impressed!

 I wasn't sure if I was going to get this post done or not, but here goes.  It'll be short because I've been focused on non-quilting stuff for most of the week.  I did re-do two more Farmer's Wife blocks:  Economy and Spool.  They are now 6.5".   I took my new template printouts over to Staples on the weekend and got them laminated finally, so I'm back in business with the FWQAL.

Economy block and Spool block redone

I also went on an expedition within the past few days.  I still haven't started the Peaceful Pathways BOM but I have decided that rather than embroider the verses, I'm going to try stencilling!  I haven't tried it yet, but I like the idea of using fabric paint on quilts.  So, I went out and got my paint and a brush and a designer X-acto knife with a pink handle with which to cut my stencils! I have everything I need to begin Peaceful Pathways; now it's just a question of testing the fabric for bleeding before I start cutting.

excursion treasures

During a separate excursion, I crossed into Buffalo yesterday and finally got some Magic Sizing.  I don't know why it's not available in Canada, but it's not.  I also found some Fabric Fusion Velcro:  no more hassles trying to make Velcro adhere to fabric!  This stuff is great!  Just iron it on for 90 seconds and let your fabric cool and you're done! Oh yes, and while cruising around the Web on the weekend, I came across the Slow Poke Quilters.  Hooray!  That's for me!  I'm an expert dawdler in life and am no different with quilting.  I go at my own pace and will not be rushed.  Things are more enjoyable that way.

Check out the linky fun at Freshly Pieced  and Esther's Blog.  As well, the September issue of the Ruby e-zine is now out!  You'll find the latest Bible quilt update in it and it's also on my sidebar.  I'm also linking to Quiltstory's Fabric Tuesday.