More. Candy.

For the next part of the quilt I designed for the MQG challenge, we’ll that is now past due. But I really like the design and the Color palette so I’m carrying on. This part  is a big sort of pine cone paper pieced block. I’m using the fold flip method.  So, as I watched part of the 18 inning (!!)World Series game, I took the time to fold on each line before ever sewing a stitch.

First stitches and pieces of fabric.

Beginning to see the point(hah) of all this…

All three sections pieced but not sewn together.

Woohoo 🥳 done! And now for 3 more of these babies…

Oh Candy

 

Yet another project getting worked on, this is the start of attempting to make my design for the MQG challenge. I’m not going to be able to finish this by the 10/31 deadline, but I still really like the design I did and the fabrics are purchased, washed and ironed(several times).

I chose to do this with paper piecing.

And I’m doing the fold and stitch method instead of sewing on the line through the paper. But the pieces are quite big and unwieldy.

But it’s worth the effort, especially with the woven material we’re using for the challenge. It sews up quite differently than normal quilting cotton.

A lot of spray starch is involved! Thanks Best Press for always working.

There’s the completed block for one out of four corners of the quilt design. It’s a 14” block finished size. I really like the look of the Artisan Cottons, which are cross weaves.

Selvedge Candy

 Printing out and taping together enormous paper piecing patterns that I'll be using for a new quilt for the MQG challenge. Hope it works out!

This is quite a change from the quilt I was considering making last month. I was thinking about the lovely selvedges and how to use them on the quilt's surface. Glad I reminded myself, and now to think about if that would work with this design...A possible title would then be "Selvedge Candy".

 

Running Out of Raincloud Finish

I have another quilt finish to post! Two in a row, that must be some kind of record for me. This time it is Running out of Raincloud, which just needed the facings to be hand-stitched down and the hanging sleeve to be added. 

I added the facings at the BAMQ retreat in March, but they needed that hand-stitching on the back to be done to count this as a quilt finish. I got most of it done while keeping friend Jaye company while she worked on another very cool quilt in progress. Thanks to her for the excuse to sit and get my hand stitching done! Sometimes a change of venue is what I need to get unstuck and finish something.

More pictures of the finished quilt and the crazy amount of quilting I did on this one.

This was designed and made for the 2024 MQG challenge, but unfortunately it was not finished in the correct year to actually be entered. Oh well, I got it done anyways and learned a lot by making it. 

This is also another one to check off of my 2025 UFO Challenges list, that leaves three left to be finished: Temperature Quilt, Trinket and Bohemian Wife. I'm really glad I signed up for this UFO challenge thing, because I've gotten 3 out of 6 quilts finished now, by the halfway point of the year, too.

Selvedges Showing

Another year means another challenge from MQG, and this year's palette is pretty great. Using six colors of Windham Artisan Cotton. These fabrics are really lovely to work with, so I'm looking forward to sewing with them. They're now available in 90 colors. Along with the challenge fabrics I got the two prints in the picture from Sewtopia.

Because of how they're woven, (cross-weave)  I really love the look of the selvedges. I'm going to try to find a way to utilize those in the design. I would probably not use the blue and pink fabric's selvedges as that bright white might be too much.

I started playing around with a design in EQ8 with some fairly simple blocks.

I'm trying to imagine this design if it was pieced so that some, but not all, of the seam lines would have the selvedges visible on the front of the quilt. Not a thing I can sketch out in EQ8. Just a starting point design idea here, not likely to be the final one I go with.