While finishing the Chaletgirls Block Swap a few of the girls started to think about the next swap and came up with the Around the Block swap. I have also signed up although I have been very quiet, sitting in fear that I am just not good enough to participate. The first fabrics arrived early, raising the stress level as they are all fabulous fabrics – ones that I have only just read about but never really seen in person. The blocks made by the early adopters were absolutely beautiful and I struggled to understand how I could do the fabrics justice. Until of course, I stopped panicking and just started sewing. I pulled out the fabrics I put together for my (still in slow progress) Mod Sampler Quilt and cut some strips and found some scraps to play with. I really don’t know what I was worried about. After a few practice blocks (the best shown here), I have been able to put together a practice block using Oh Franssons Scrappy Starling tutorial and a scappy block that I sewed myself by just sewing together leftover pieces adding them to each edge of the block as I went and cutting off the excess. The first block allows you to cut a whole bunch of strips and then sew and cut them to length as you go. The second allows you to just pick the pieces you want from your scrap pile and sew and trim as you go. I thought it would be quite wasteful but with a little thought, it has been very successful. And very enjoyable. I like the free flow of both these sorts of blocks with their emphasis on the sewing not the cutting. My problem now is only that I need more scraps because if you start to cut in to large pieces of fabric it sort of defeats the purpose. Possibly perfect for a matching cushion cover or such at the end of a quilt project.
And then of course, I moved on to the real thing. I’m happy with the results of the first block and the second, well, the it does feel a bit like ‘leftovers’ but I think it is ok. What I realised after all the sewing was done is that neither is a true ‘log cabin’ block but I hope that it doesn’t matter too much. The look and feel is there I think and I used the fabrics as best I could to get the result I wanted.
It was really fun in the end. Wonky houses next – bring it on.
ETA – a big thanks to Donna who was there for me when I needed to ‘phone a friend’!
Yarnplanner's Blog 