Calendar Cascade :: It Begins

OK! It was time to really get going on this Seattle MQG BOM, Calendar Cascade. I had a couple of hours on Sunday, knowing it would be a busy (not much sewing) week, and dove in. 

One thing to know about this BOM is that the rows are not being created in calendar order. Not sure why, but that's the case, and I'm going with it. So even though I did the first few assigned rows on Sunday, they were actually rows 1, 4, 7, and 8. (Count how many shapes are in a specific row and that will tell you what month it's for - one for January, two for February, etc.)

I was able to get back and do the final (for now) assigned row, 5, and now I'm caught up. For May, we'll be assigned row 2, and I may do it then, or I may wait and batch create several assignments later. We'll see what else is going on. But for now, I'm caught up, I'm liking where it's headed, and am content with that.

Diamond Flare :: October + November

It had been too long. Focusing on the big project, I had let making my blocks for the guild BOM #SeattleMQGBOM2023 go, and was behind a couple of months. I finally took some time to get caught up.

First the set of blocks for October....

and then the ones for November.

Since these were the last of the blocks, I tried to lay everything out on the floor to get an idea of the final design, but there just wasn't room. And of course, I now have three sets of blocks in addition to the big center section, but I'm not sure how they should be arranged. So I'll put them all away for now and wait for the big layout reveal next month. At least all the building blocks are done!

Diamond Flare :: June

So here's where we left off in May with the Diamond Flare BOM with Seattle MQG. 

A mystery quilt BOM designed by guild member Taylor Krz @toadandsew, we're receiving just a little more info each month. For June, we added to the pieced triangles we made last month, and the resultant 'blocks' are the same width as the center medallion.

So they now are pieced, but not attached to the medallion.... just waiting for instructions for the four corner blocks in July!

Diamond Flare :: April

Happily, the Diamond Flare BOM with Seattle MQG is proving to be very popular! (Take a quick peek!) And after completing March's blocks, I confess I was eager to see what was next.

A mystery quilt designed by guild member Taylor Krz @toadandsew, I was questioning my chosen palette just a bit after adding this month's blocks (the stripes). But Taylor assured me it would all turn out great, and I'm confident it will. This block will become the center of my quilt and currently measures 31" square. Now to pack it all away and wait patiently for May's block release. 

Seattle MQG 2023 BOM Diamond Flare

After barely finishing my quilt from last year's BOM, Seattle MQG presented this year's BOM quilt, Diamond Flare by Taylor Krz @toadandsew. Exciting, right?! 

So our assignment for February was to choose our fabrics. This was important for me to do, since the eight fabric amounts needed were larger than I generally keep in my stash. IE. I pulled from stash what I could, but then needed to order more to supplement. Here's what I ended up with:

My fabric pull is totally inspired by a piece of fabric! It's Annabel Wrigley's @littlepincushionstudio Color Wheel Confetti Green for Windham Fabrics. I wish I remembered where I first got a glimpse of this, but I knew right away that I loved the overall palette. Of course, it's more complex than what I'm going to be working with, but hopefully it'll give a similar feel.

I decided why not make myself a color panel? I find they really help with a months-long project like this BOM will be.

So hopefully tonight at our monthly meeting, we'll get instructions for March's assignment, because I'm anxious to get started!

Seattle MQG BOM Summer Blocks

Back in May, I finally got started - and caught up - on our guild's block-of-the-month, The Year of Doubles. For no good reason, I set it aside then, feeling pretty good about it all, then failed to touch it again until last weekend. We just had had our August guild  meeting, and so I was reminded, and we also received a new block assignment. Happily, now I can say I'm all caught up again!

June - Ohio Star

July - Arkansas Traveler

August - Dutchman's Puzzle

I'm making my own rules, so though the intent for the BOM was to make a two-sided quilt, one side with traditional blocks, the other with improv blocks, I'm only focusing on the improv. Even so, I kinda feel like these blocks are quasi-improv, as though they are all definitely improvisational, they are all still very recognizable. It's fun fabric-play just the same, and I'm using plenty of scraps, so it's all fine by me. The palette is so unique, but it continues to entice me.

#SeattleMQGBOM2022 
#SeaMQGBOM2022 
#YearOfDoublesBOM 

Begonia

When you work on a quilt bit by bit, month by month, all year long, there is a really big sigh when it's done. That said, my Seattle MQG mystery block-of-the-month quilt is no longer a work-in-progress. sigh....

The pattern is by Stefanie Satterwhite, and the monthly instructions are on the Seattle MQG blog. Good news, Stefanie's Begonia pattern will be out soon also, which has a few bonus features, if you'd like to make your own. It's all about half-square triangles, obviously, and Stefanie is a master with them. Be sure and check out her other designs.

For my own Begonia, I chose mostly solids, with just two Carolyn Friedlander prints. I must say, having a swatch card to reference throughout the year made all the difference in keeping things organized.

The backing was pieced from all the project leftovers, plus just a couple stash finds to bring it up to size. [Note that when we took it out for a photo-shoot yesterday, we tried an idea Zak Foster had posted a while back. Well, our haphazard version of his idea. Where Zak had made canvas pockets and basted them to the top corners of the quilt, we actually used push-pins on the front of the quilt, pushing through to a couple of pieces of wood. It definitely worked - and well - put I'm planning on pockets the next time around.]

The finished quilt is 78" square, with a 3" border all around the main design. For quilting, I did an orange peel design, which worked really well with all of the HSTs and squares... ie. very little marking.

For thread, I struggled, as I didn't [think] I had anything that would suit, and I debated endlessly over dark to match the background, or lighter, though I was worried how that would look on the background. When I happened across my old thread stash (pre-Aurifil days), I found two spools - a Madeira Aerofil #8790 [Midnight Teal Green], which just happened to be 100% polyester. I used it anyway, and it was a perfect match to the Kona Everglade background. BUT, I ran out about three-quarters through. So I switched to the second spool, a Sulky variegated 30wt, #733-4021 [Truly Teal], which was my more normal 100% cotton. So did I do the unthinkable, mixing not only colors of thread, but fiber content? Time will tell, but I'm betting it will all be ok. Both blend in so well, I really doubt anyone will notice.

So, Begonia is done and I'm pleased as can be. 

Here's a list of each month's progress, if you're interested:

January :: February :: March :: April :: May :: June

July :: August :: September :: October :: November

This project is on my #2020FALQ1List.

Begonia :: August

At 54" square, my Seattle MQG Begonia quilt has outgrown my reach on the design wall. But every row gives it just a little more character, and there are just two more rows to go!

In addition to getting the latest row on, I've also finished making all the HSTs I'll need for the rest of the quilt! I love that Stefanie/@satterwhitequilts spread that making across many months. The relief is real!

At our last guild meeting, we managed a photo of several of us sharing our progress. Not a perfect photo, but it lets you see how unique - and striking - each one is.

Check out the #begoniaquilt hashtag to see more!

Begonia :: July

Round by round, it's growing!! Now 48 1/2" square with this month's row added, my Seattle MQG Begonia quilt continues to be a bright spot in my month. I think I mentioned that our hostess, Stefanie/@satterwhitequilts, has included HST assignments each month to equal out the construction load, so I still need to catch up on making my June and July blocks which will be used in future rows. But I'll squeeze that in-between other projects and trust I'll be more than ready once August arrives.

Check out the #begoniaquilt hashtag to see more!

Begonia :: February

I wasn't alone in wanting to get right to it when Stefanie posted February's assignment for our guild BOM. Where on January's blocks we only used two fabrics, this time we got to use five of the ten! So definitely, some personality is beginning to show!

Basically, we just had to make a bunch of 3 1/2" (unfinished) half-square triangles, using the 8-at-a-time method, which resulted in a few extras to save for later. I ended up cutting my starting squares at 8" to give me just a little more wiggle room. Considering we need to make three times as many HSTs for March, I'm thinking maybe I should get a head start!

Check out the #begoniaquilt hashtag if you want to see more. There's a wonderful variety of fabrics being used!

Minimal Day :: The Quilt Top

Though all the blocks for this year's Seattle MQG BOM have been presented, our hostess Jonna/@bespokeoutlaw will yet be presenting some ideas for quilting. Basically, our assignment this month was to sew our quilt top together. Jonna offered some suggestions for filling in the couple of blank half-blocks, but I kind of liked the openness they offered and just let them be.

I'm still debating whether or not to add borders of some sort. That decision will probably wait until I'm ready to start quilting. But it feels good to have traveled this far.... appliqueing no less! And I'm glad I took up the challenge. 

Minimal Day :: Reverse Quarter Opal

This month's block for Seattle MQG's block-of-the-month may just have been the quickest and easiest of them all. 

I kinda love the 'reverse' aspect of it and how it 'fits' with its predecessors.

More complicated reverse applique is up for next month, and though it's been a while since I've done that, I've actually done quite a bit, so I'm looking forward to getting reacquainted. Until then....

Minimal Day :: Buildings

True to form, I started in on the latest Seattle MQG block-of-the-month the same day it was posted. With a variety of angles, it was its own unique challenge, but our fearless leader, Jonna, gave some stitching tips, so it all went easily enough.



Once done, I arranged all the blocks so far in a layout somewhat similar to the final, and I liked what I saw!



Still so surprised at how much I'm enjoying this project, I've been mulling what other applique I might do. Hmmm.....

Midway Medallions

You've seen my medallion quilt as I've worked on it through the year, and I thought you might enjoy seeing some other medallion works-in-progress. All the makers are members of the Seattle Modern Quilt Guild, and you can see this year's monthly border assignments on our blog. I know there are a few more where I either couldn't identify the maker, or connect for permission to share, so you might want to check out the Instagram hashtag #seamqgbom. But here's most of them, with links to their Instagram accounts if you'd like to see more.

Allison/allisonehs

Jonna/bespokeoutlaw

Bell/golfhead

Louise/imfeelincrafty

Jaci/j_bartol

 Kam/kammart

Rachel/liketosew

Matt/odditease

Matt/odditease (yes, Matt is making 2!)

Rachel/snippetsofsweetness

Jackie/tinwoman48

Debbie/aquilterstable

We've all got at least a couple of borders to go, and I'll be sharing round-up posts for the guild to get us through all the finishing. Here's the first on squaring a quilt, ideas for quilt backs, and basting. I'm excited to see all of these quilts progress!

Medallions

By some sort of oversight, I've failed to blog about this year's SMQG block of the month project - medallion quilts. In January, we all chose our own 12.5" center block. My choice was HoosierToni's Skinny Churn Dash.

One of the fun qualities of this BOM is that each month a different guild member will design the next border. For February, Yeechi/Glass Snail Crawling... shared her checkerboard-type border along with several variations. (Click through for a peek.)

Now for March, Louise/I'm Feelin' Crafty has given us a wonky triangle border. The corners involve inset seams that are a tad tricky, but not too painful.

I'm questioning my palette a bit - not my norm at all. But I'm trying to use favorite stash prints along with some text and other low-volume fabrics, so I'll just keep forging on for now. I'm finding this one border per month routine kinda fun.