Woven Star & Woven Chevrons Blocks - Skill Builder BOM: March/FMQ

Can't believe it - I'm totally up-to-date finally with the Skill Builder BOM, and I seem to have got the hang of this fmqing lark as I don't need to have my shoulders surgically removed from my earlobes this month!

WOVEN STAR

Kaffe Fassett - Baba Ganoush

WOVEN CHEVRONS

 

Kaffe Fassett - Millefiore

Had a bit of a disaster with my Water Erasable Marker by Clover - I tried out a couple of fmq designs and changed my mind, but they wouldn't erase properly.  I've never had a problem before, and I'd have highly recommended the pen to anyone and everyone. Still, for some reason, and only on the Kona Solid red and orange fabric that I've used in my Woven Star block, it didn't disappear this time when I wet the fabric.  I took some photos to share with you:

I soaked the fabric and gently rubbed it a few times (this has always done the trick with any stubborn marks before) but the lines stayed put.  In the end, I've just quilted my new designs over them, which has made the pen marks far less noticeable, but I'm hoping they disappear properly when the quilt is washed.  I've got a long wait to find out as the quilt won't be finished/washed until next December when the Skill Builder BOM is complete, and that's concerning me a bit as I reckon the ink will be well and truly set into the fabric by then - any ideas/tips anyone???

  

Here are a few photos of my March progress to date; of course, none of the blocks is in the correct order as yet - we're jumping around the quilt each month doing two blocks that use similar techniques rather than building the quilt a row at a time.

and it occurred to me that maybe you'd like to see how the back is coming on -

Next Time: We'll be doing some hand pieced English Paper Piecing, but Alyssa @Pile O'Fabric's going to share a different method with us that involves an applique foundation that stays in place and when the quilt is washed, it becomes part of the fibres in your fabric/quilt - sounds really interesting, looking forward to finding out more.

Related Posts:
Woven Star & Woven Chevrons Blocks - Skill Builder BOM: March/HSTs & QSTs & Bias Sewing 
Em Dash & The Mood Blocks - Skill Builder BOM: February/FMQ 

Em Dash & The Mood Blocks - Skill Builder BOM: February/Basic Piecing and Bias Sewing
Sound Wave & Magnum Blocks - Skill Builder BOM: January/FMQ
Sound Wave & Magnum Blocks - Skill Builder BOM: January/Improv Piecing

A Year Long Quilt? Well I'm Very Excited About It! 

A Year Long Quilt? Well I'm Very Excited About It!

Not a lot of sewing this week; I've been too busy planning, selecting and ordering fabrics ready to join in with the free

Skill Builder Block Of The Month 
organised by Alyssa Lichner at Pile O'Fabric

 

It's a 20 block quilt, and Alyssa will provide us with instructions for 2 blocks each month which we'll 'Quilt As You Go' starting Thursday, 17 January and ending in October.  Then in November, we'll add borders, and by December, we'll be ready to piece the whole quilt together and bind it.  Each block will introduce another technique that we may or may not have attempted before:

• Basic Patchwork Piecing
• Improv Piecing
• Strip Piecing
• Foundation Paper Piecing
• English Paper Piecing
• Curve Piecing
• Applique
• Pixel Piecing
• Log Cabin Piecing

I'm not doing it particularly to learn the skills; I've done them all before (apart from, ironically, English Paper Piecing and I'm booked on a course at my LQS in Manhattan in February for that and 'Quilt As You Go') but there's nothing wrong with maybe being shown new ways to do things we already know and to pick up tips along the way.  I also thought this would be a great way to have something on the calendar to look forward to and motivate me throughout the year. I wanted to be involved again in a group activity with all the new quilternet friends, community, shared knowledge, and fun.

Here's a look at a graphic that Alyssa has created for how the finished quilt might look:

Alyssa has created some great instructions for fabric/colour choices, so I decided to make the sampler quilt top in Kona Solids.  I've chosen 5 colour groups and 5 hues within each, along with Ash as a background fabric.  I've poured over my Kona Colour Card for hours and hours, and I'm really pleased with my choices.  I've put the colours together in the chart below, taking the images from the Kona website, but they aren't represented on the screen 'exactly' as they appear on my Kona Colour Card!

My Kona Solid Colour choices for the quilt top

  I thought this was my opportunity to make a patchwork of Kaffe Fassett fabrics for the quilt back.  Someone once told me that you don't have to worry about which Kaffe Fassett fabrics work well together and just go for it because they're all so stunning that it'll work no matter what.  I'm not 100% sure about that, but I've put a selection together and ordered them, and I'll rethink it if necessary once I've got the actual fabric in front of me.

Kaffe Fassett fabrics for the Quilt As You Go quilt backing

I'll be sharing my progress with you all along the way, and I hope some of you will join in too!  I think I'll be a little late starting as there's not much hope of my fabric arriving by Thursday, but I've got my fingers crossed.  There's no pressure and hurry, though, as Alyssa will post the instructions for the first two blocks on Thursday this week and then we've got 2 weeks until she talks to us about quilting them.

I'm really quite excited!!!