100 Day Summer Sewalong :: Day 80

Well things didn't go entirely as planned, with me getting a little impatient during the 100 Day Summer Sewalong and finishing the hand-piecing of my 100 bow tie blocks over 20 days early. Ooops.

 

Real life has since intervened, and little sewing of any kind has transpired this last week, but obviously that's just fine. I'll have to clear the design wall before I can start playing with a quilt layout for these blocks, knowing full well I may need to order more Kona Enchanted for puzzling, or even make more blocks. So expect to see more of this project in the future, though I'm not committing to when that might be. Meanwhile, I have several machine-sewing works in progress, and a new Dropcloth sampler to start in on to keep with that summer hand-stitching. So all is good!

100 Day Summer Sewalong :: Day 50

Seriously. How can we be half-way through the 100 Day Summer Sewalong!?! It's been casual and so doable to keep up with my  bow tie blocks. Truth is, it's often hard to stop at just one block when I sit down to stitch, so sometimes I do several, meaning I'm usually a few days ahead. 

I've been itching to put them all on the design wall, though I think it's a little early for that, since I'm also working on other projects. But I AM anxious to see them all together. One.Day.Soon.

100 Day Summer Sewalong :: Day 30

Things are plugging right along in the 100 Day Summer Sewalong! I'm thoroughly enjoying piecing my bow tie blocks by hand, and I'll confess, neither size takes me that long. What I'm especially appreciating is that none of my print fabrics are exactly the same - a few of the same design, but a different colorway - so that has kept things interesting.

My background fabric, Kona Enchanted, is a little tricky to photograph sometimes, but the first and third photos here show it most true. It is definitely more green than blue. 

So it's been pretty random whether I stitch a small block (4.5" unfinished) or a larger one (5.5" unfinished) on any particular day - just whatever strikes my fancy when I sit down to stitch. At any rate, it's going good, and it's hard to believe I'm nearly one-third done with my 100 blocks!

#100daysummersewalong

100 Day Summer Sewalong :: Day 10

Well the 100 Day Summer Sewalong is underway and it's time to report in! Not very many days into the sewalong, I realized that the thread I'd intended to use for piecing my blocks was a better choice for hand-quilting than hand-piecing. I don't know what I was thinking. It was working, but thicker than needed, so I've switched to Aurifil 28wt, which feels much better.

Also, in my prep post, I said I would be making two sizes of blocks, 2.5" and 3", where in reality, those were the sizes of pieces I prepped. The actual block sizes, once pieced, are 4.5" and 5.5", pretty good sized, I think. I've been randomly choosing which block size to sew each day, depending on what else is going on. The variety of printed fabrics definitely keeps things interesting!

#100daysummersewalong

100 Day Summer Sewalong Prep

Anyone else stitching along with Jenn McMillan and her #100daysummersewalong? You know I'm always on the lookout for my next hand-stitching project, so Jenn's sew-along is perfect. Plus it's a little different than my normal embroidery, rather creating a hand-pieced quilt block every day.

Deciding what to do is always an issue, and I finally settled on the traditional bow-tie block. Ever since I learned my grandma made #bowtiequilts, I knew I needed to try my hand at one too. I'm using a tutorial by Wynn Tan of Zakka Art. It includes a template, and to make the best use of my chosen fabrics, I am actually making two sizes of blocks, 2.5" and 3". I know that will complicate things when it comes to quilt construction, but it will also challenge me to create a more modern layout - we hope!

For fabric, I really wanted to sew from stash, and for the block backgrounds, I had enough Kona Enchanted, the 2020 Kona Color of the Year. I guess I stocked up and never got around to using it - perfect! I also found a custom 6" charm pack I'd purchased from Katie Pederson years ago....a mix of wonderfully varied purple prints that play off the Enchanted nicely. That only got me so far though, so I also am incorporating a Social by Melody Miller charm pack and some scraps to bring me to 100 unique fabrics. Minor caveat: due to the second charm pack, there will be blocks with the same design, but different colorways. Hoping there will be plenty of contrast and interest with that dark background.

So I have everything cut and marked for stitching! My little sewing bag is packed, including my Sew Fine thread gloss, scissors, leather thimble, needlebook (made for me by Heidi/@libellenquilts!); and for thread, I'm going to be using Spagetti 12wt Egyptian Cotton Thread in Ecru from Wonderfil Specialty Threads. 

One little thing I did want to mention, and may expand on later, is that I used a sandpaper board (see photo above) when marking sewing lines on all my blocks. I actually got that decades ago in my beginning quilting class, and it works so well to stabilize the fabrics as I draw those lines. Anyway, now I'm all prepped and ready to start my summer stitching on June 1! Anyone joining me?