A quiet time for quilting

 Nothing too exciting this post.
I've been busy with my string blocks for the
AHIQ String Tulip QAL just a few more to sew now and
I'm really cutting it fine to have them all complete by the 28th, but
I'll get there!

Green Diamonds

She's not showing quite as bright as she truly is and at the moment
one half is sewn together and the other half is in the process, pinned here and there but
at least I am now heading down from the top right and the
strips will become shorter and more manageable.

Where the two halves meet there's going to be a little adjustment,
a few diamonds unpicked and restitched to have them matching up correctly.

Whilst I've enjoyed putting this together would I make another quilt
all diamonds - I would not. I had to starch because all the fabrics are KFC
and they're a little finer than the regular quilting cottons. Even with the starch
there is stretch here and there.

Apart from the above, the blocks, planning future quilts, the highlight of my
day today was a visit to the quilt store for more pins and an extra
cutting blade, an exciting photo below!

Funnily enough I did feel that I needed just a few more Tilda fabrics
to add to my collection

and I was very restrained and bought just one 1/2 yard from the
KFC fabrics

the reason for my restraint being that I have a largish order of the new
Kaffe Fassett Collective release, which should be here around March.

So folks, that was my exciting week apart from being rated a
Priority 2 case to see the Oral Maxillary specialist within the next
four weeks, such fun. So I best make the most of my quilting as I might
just be out of action for a short time.

Garden - two little flowers, seeds sown a while ago

aren't they so pretty?

The bottom photo is a new zinnia and the top one
a small cosmos.

Enjoy the weekend and stay safe.

Maureen

A rainy day in Alert Level 3 in Auckland!

 Community case of the Covid variant UK has
put Auckland into Level 3, the race is on to track down other contacts
and we have a number of rules to follow to try and knock this
on the head.

The only positive side to being told to stay home as an oldie and medically comprised
is that there are no distractions, it's raining and I can sit and quilt!

I have been plodding along with my string blocks for 
the 
AHIQ String Tulip QAL

and have only placed three up on the wall foe the moment,
I was impatient to see the effect! I've also taken out the papers and sewn
the top two blocks together. I have enough for two sides now and will
get a move on to finish up the remainder.

In between the string blocks I have a stack of fabrics waiting to be
added to their respective stash baskets,

however  because I have a number of quilts on my project list which need 2 and 1/2 squares/strips
I'm going to haul out my electric cutter and cut two strips of each fabric, in fact I intend to slowly cut through as many of my KF Collective fabrics as possible.
I love working with these fabrics when cut down.

Changing the subject slightly I found yesterday a special
piece of Indian, I guess you say embroidery, but when I bought this years
ago from a shop specialising in ethnic pieces I was told this was made using pieces of old
trappings from elephant covers used on special occasions.
I had 'lost' it  a few years, couldn't remember where it was but a certain four legged
member of the household had obviously scrambled up on my baskets and 
 knocked it down the back of the stacks.

Here's the piece - 18"square

and below a close up of the centre

and another small section

click to enlarge these.

Below is the reverse of the piece.

All from me right now, on to more string blocks.

Maureen

AHIQ Prompt January 2021 - String Tulip QAL - my dress rehearsal

Before I begin my post, those  who are unaware of the  AHIQ blog
 begun by
Ann and Kaja
a number of years ago 
please visit their blogs, links above, or click on the AHIQ logo
on my RH side bar.

Briefly, every six months a prompt or challenge is issued
and this time Ann has decided on the prompt in my post title.
Full directions will be issued by Ann but she kindly sent me an early set
to work through, the first step will be the string squares, so here I go,
visit the link below for an overview of the details proper.

https://fretnotyourself.blogspot.com/2021/01/ahiq-prompt-january-2021-electric.html

and the link to the first month's notes from Ann

String Tulip Quilt QAL month 1

Below is one of the quilts made by Ann and  the inspiration for the QAL.

note:I was unable to contact Ann for permission to use this photograph
as it 10.45pm here in New Zealand and all good Texas folk will
probably be fast asleep.

The string blocks are made using paper foundations and I
went with 6 and 1/2" cut for a finished block of 6".

I used ordinary copy paper and cut squares at 6 and 1/2", as Ann
suggested I drew a few diagonal lines on them as a guide.

My string box was hauled out

and a few strings pulled out at random

Ann has lots of detail in her notes on strip sizes, sorting fabrics and cutting

and I followed exactly as she suggested.

At the sewing stage she suggests a shorter stitch length and I went with 1.5 on my Bernina,

and it certainly helped with paper removal!

I read carefully her instructions on placing the strings and followed them as she suggested,  not necessarily keeping exactly to the guide lines on the paper.

I found it easy to shift the second string a little to left or right in order

to create a slightly different angle to the lines I drew initially, I

 used a 1/4" seam, Ann has another method to try also.

After seam sewing the next step was to fold the paper back which

means the seam can be checked for excess bulk, and I used

an 'add a quarter' ruler to trim any excess fabric before straightening

the paper out again.

Then on to the third string and repeated the process of folding back paper and trimming.

I also pressed every pair of strings after sewing. I was concerned about 

the process of removing the papers later but they almost fell out!

Ann has a great tip for

ease of paper removal, you should definitely follow this one, you'll find it

on her last page of process notes.

The corners were no problem following Ann's notes where she

gives three methods, I found her method of using a rectangle a good one 

ensuring that all the paper was covered.

When this piece was flipped over the last piece was easily covered,

I then turned over and once again pressed the fabrics on the front of the block and

also the paper on the back.

When this was done it was time to trim the excess fabric, I used my 6 and1/2" square

ruler.

You can see there is very little waste.

I made four blocks in total, block number one is below, this was made

using a real mix of fabrics and you can see that the orange check fabric with

the brown line in there really adds interest, I think my fabric mix was good

and that this block has the required adhoc look.

Here is my second block and I think you can spot the difference.

I somehow slipped back into my more regulated mode and veered slightly away from

Ann's suggestions.

I mentioned this to Ann but she said I really needed four blocks to see the effect

clearly

and as the master of beautiful string pieced blocks she was so right!!

This was my first time at foundation paper piecing and I really did enjoy the process,

as we progress through February with these blocks I think I will

become looser with my size of strips, not as regimented, but I do think seeing the four blocks

together has me feeling much happier and looking forward to sewing up more.

Ann has written an amazingly thorough and easily understandable set of  instructions

full of great detail and tips for us, much more than I am obviously able to share with you here, 

but I hope I have

given you a peek of my first step of the the process.

I would encourage anyone who is interested to

jump in and join us all, we're going to have an exciting few months.

Thank you so much Ann!

Maureen