HOORAY - I AM UP TO DATE

I have been steaming away at my sewing machine this week, and it has paid off, because I am right up to date with all the blocks now, I just have to make the one that was loaded today. To say I have a BIG smile on my face is putting it mildly!!!!

Wyoming Valley - week 5

Cathy's Star - Week 14

Flyfoot - Week 18

Northumberland Star - Week 33

Hope of Hartford - Week 37

Castle in the Air - Week 35

I have no idea how I got it back to front

Fool's Square - Week 39

Double Quartet - Week 36

Nelson's Victory - Week 38

Mosaic 3 - Week 32

Blindman's Fancy - Week 43

This one drove me half nuts, what on earth is 11/16 all about cos it didn't fit for me!

I will give it a good press and hopefully it will lay flat, darn thing...

Game Cocks - Week 44

Flight of Swallows - Week 41

Yep I know the colours are not as the block on site, but my birds are

entirely surrounded by sky - that's my story and I am sticking to it!!!

Carolyn's Star - Week 46

This one and the other similar one are very pretty BUT -

never again...

That's my Baby - Week 47

Album Star - Week 40

I really like this block may use it again...

Cross in a Cross - Week 45

Baton Rouge Square - Week 42

Indian Square - Week 48

another really good block, proves that to KISS is the thing to do...

So there we are ladies, I am all up to date, bar today's block.

YIPPEE

****************************

Another Valley

Trying to do something different than directed in a pattern isn't always the best idea ... I re-discovered that in doing this block. I thought the HSTs in the center would look too choppy, so I put in a solid background square hoping to avoid the "lumpy-bumpy" look. Didn't work. The lumpy part didn't happen, but I lost my points! Rats!

I think one of you ladies said that improving HST making was a goal, and I'll second that sentiment. I'm going upstairs to do the "Killer Patch" now. I didn't get that one finished yet (even though it is the current one) because I can see the "ten acre field" fom my sewing room window. That is I can see the field when all the packing boxes allow me to actually see outside - and Friday morning the field was full of ELK! Wow, what a rush! I kind of forgot about sewing as I watched them for about half an hour... then I had an appointment, so off I went - no sewing. Who said "you will have lots of time when you retire?" They had no idea... I wonder how I ever had time for my students, and Mom stuff, and quilting.

Maybe after I get settled and am able to actually find things that I know I brought with me (like my big green cutting board - it has to be in a big box... too big to be in one of the smaller fabric boxes!) I will have time for al that storied "relaxing". I rather doubt it.

Thanks for making me feel welcome.

Em's block #5

Well here it is block #5. I really like this one. Though I did not get all my points to match up. I think I did the math wrong when I figured how big to make the square in the middle. That is were I had the most problems. But I didn't see the point in making all those triangles. Besides I am using scraps and it was easier to find a piece that would work for the square than for all the triangles. If you look close you will see I had to use two different blues. But I am determined to use scraps. I must make a dent in that bag.
Here are all my blocks so far. Do you realize we will have 52 blocks when we are all done. WOW!

It's a Long Way to Wyoming!

I finally completed my Wyoming Valley block this afternoon. I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. Guess it's still too fresh in my mind. I did not stray too far from the original pattern in cutting, sewing and layout.
Because my main reason for doing this weekly thing is to practice triangles and other complex shapes, I did half square triangles for the chevrons (and also because I already had a whole pile of 3in. squares of that fabric which were perfect for the half square triangles). So the whole thing, except for the corner squares, is done in triangles! It took everything out of me - including about 3 hours of my time! Way too long for me to spend on one block! It turned out okay, but I doubt if I will ever do this one again.

finally

Took a while to get this block right.... When I first put it together one of the "v" shapes was pointing away from the centre - fine, rip out the seam, turn it around sew it on... only to realize the corners were then wrong! I'd assembled the whole strip incorrectly with the V and the corners in opposite directions. Sigh. Rip out a few more seams and try again...

All in all I like the block. Points aren't quite as lined up as I'd like, but that's OK. Wouldn't make a bunch of these as I found it very fiddly, but it is pretty. :-)

Floribunda - week 5

I'm not sure I like this block very much -- way too many HSTs to trim, and I didn't see the point of having the HSTs in the middle! I do like the fabrics I picked out of the depths of my stash, though, so I may do a few more of the 12" blocks in this theme.

Wyoming Valley

Staying with the black, white and green although that may change in the near future as I'm getting low on the green. When I had all the pieces on the wall I decided to go with the rectangle facing the other way as I liked the way that the green band seemed to be sitting behind.I can also see cat faces in the corners now.

Lost in Wyoming

I can't say I enjoyed this block. I had a terrible time deciding what colors to use. I was trying to just use stuff from my scrap bin. I made the rectangle thingies first and discovered I had made them all the same instead of doing 4 reversed. I didn't have enough of my original fabric left so I had to pick something else and make a whole new batch. Even doing them twice, they still turned out a bit too small. I had to fudge a lot. The center thing is really wonky. I much prefer cutting a square and adding corners. This block could be made easier I think. The darn thing took me forever. I really like what everyone else has done and the great variety posted. It's a nice design but there is no way I'm making more of this one. I think it will become a throw pillow.

Wyoming Valley - 2 versions

I did two versions because I wanted to see how different the block would look using a white background and a black one. Quite different looks. The green and orange one has a refreshing look to it while the fuchsia and purple one is more dramatic I think.

I have to admit next time I should read the instructions a bit more carefully. I looked at the pattern and thought OK a whole bunch of HST and when to it. I didn't bother to read any further since I don't care for her method of doing HST. Only after I'm putting the whole thing together do I realize that the pattern had rectangles with triangles in the corners. So in my block those sections are actually made up of HST.

I also have a request of anyone here who has any tips or tricks of how to cut their squares so that they turn out consistently the same size, could you share that with the group? I'm still having some challenges with getting my squares to come out all the same size all the time. Thanks in advance.

Heather - Week 5

I'm working on using colors other than black, white, or cream for the backgrounds of these blocks. Those are my default backgrounds. I like the purples in this one but I think if I did it again I'd use a medium purple on the points of the inner star to emphasize that design.




I skipped a lot of the HSTs again by using squares and rectangles with corners added.

Rebecca's Dewey Dream and Wyoming Valley

Dewey Dream

Wyoming Valley, version 1 and 2.   The red points in the upper right hand side were going the wrong way.  I considered leaving them in but decided to fix them. 

argggggg

all I can say is arg.... I had so many possible layouts for this block... I did plan on only using one in the block though....

guess the seam riper and I will be getting re-acquainted.

Making SO much Progress!!!!

I was pleading with Quilt Pixie for something mindless involving maybe...strips, but she reminded me I really needed practice on HSTs and points...the HST and pointy God must have been with me today because this block is actually my favorite from a critical eye standpoint. I took my time and made sure things were meeting in all the right places. While I am not gonna say I have mastered HSTs...very far from that...I will shout out loud, that I think I finally have a working comprenhension!! Woo hoo.

Look at those four corners...they are all meeting up and being friends. I lost some points, but that will resolve itself eventually...I am not gonna stress about that right now.

I too can not believe that it has already been 5 weeks...I am still so excited to get to Friday and meet up with all of you. Have a great week everyone!

Giraffes in Wyoming

Made my block! It wasn't hard, but took a long time.. a little over an hour and a half, for me, working at Saturday speed. I like this pattern (for its prettiness) though I don't think I could stand to make a zillion of these. But I can say that about me and almost any block. I lose enthusiasm when having to make something over and over and over. I need variety. So this block party is fun. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Wyoming this week. :-)

week #5

wow, a whole month is gone... Seems like people are having some fun with these blocks, changing the colour plan and layout to suit themselves. I'm so glad.

This week's block made me groan when I followed the link, but take heart, its a 12" block, so while there's lots of pieces, they also have some space to fit into.... The block is Wyoming Valley -- not all that meaningful a name for those of us from outside the USA, but whatever....

I will master HST by the end of this year -- or have enough practise I have no excuses!

looking forward to seeing how everyone does with this one...