Square One on April One

Today's pic is of the March installment of the Back to Square One medallion mystery quilt.

It measures about 33" square. This will be my first ever medallion quilt, so I don't know what to expect, but I'm fairly certain that this is the centre of the quilt.

There's going to be a whole lot more brown, because the dark and medium browns are my main colours, blues next, with the pink being a highlight.

April's clue will be out in the next few hours. I can hardly wait to see what happens next!

Dresden Plate

This is the first time I've made a Dresden Plate block!

Dresden Plate

It's block 6 from the Quick as a Fox sew-along. I'm really pleased with the way this came out. I now predict many more Dresden plates in my future

The points aren't stitched down; I'm not sure if I'll do that in the quilting phase or just leave them loose. Each wedge has been ditch stitched - don't look too close, the stitches are visible! - but at least they all stayed on the right side of the ditch. The inner circle was needleturn appliqued down. The background I had to piece; I only had a small amount of the pale orange print, and it was in a strip, so... yeah, I pieced it. And I will confess to being a Fabric Miser, because I realised that about half this block is covering the background, and why should I waste my precious fabric on a part that isn't seen? Like I said, I don't have much of this print, and I've got 13* more blocks to do with this selection of fabric. So I used some calico scraps for underneath the plate...

a frugal background

* 3 blocks to go in the Quick as a Fox quilt, plus 10 blocks to go in the Quilt Doodle quilt; both made with the same fabric palette, because... well, just because I want more blocks for a bigger quilt.

Something out of nothing

Do you ever have that thing where you can't think of anything to write about?...

I haven't managed to do any sewing today yet. I have no new blocks to show, or progress to report. So will it be another Random Cat Picture Day? Or time to find an old photo I haven't written about yet? Or just a rant about nothing?

I hate writer's block. It's so... oh I can't even think of the right word for it, grrr. And so I've decided that instead, I'll have quilter's block. It sounds more fun. I mean, if somebody says to you, "I have writer's block", do you automatically visualise what that looks like? I do. It's a blank piece of paper. Actually, a blank piece of paper devoid of words (as opposed to a blank piece of paper devoid of drawings/doodles/designs/etc). So if that same person - or somebody else, it really doesn't matter - says "I have quilter's block", what is it you see, in your mind?

As I thought about this, I straightaway saw the most simplest of blocks:


 

A one-patch, a plain block, a square... what exactly is this block known as? Because if it doesn't have a name yet, I propose Quilter's Block.*

Excuse me while I go research this ...... ...... ....... ....... ...... ...... ......... ...... ........ ...... Okay, I'm back. I'm a lazy researcher, so only managed two pages of Google (which is pretty good for me, as I usually don't go past the first). I found a blog called Quilter's Block, several blog posts titled Quilter's Block - it seems I'm not the first and only one to have it - but no reference to it as an actual name for a block.

 Hey, did I just come up with something new?

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* The fantastic thing about the Quilter's Block block is that you can make it any size you like. Yup. 'Cos it's just a square. You can use solids, prints, or a combination. It's just so darn versatile!

7 hexagons in 1 square

Today's block finish is from the Quick as a Fox sew-along:

Hexagon Applique

Becky shows us a super easy way of appliqueing (raw edge) hexagons for a quilt block. And, there's a link to a great tutorial on how to draft your own hexagonal template, any size you want!

In case you're wondering, this block will be 12" finished size. My hexagons are 2" along each edge. Do I call it a 2" hexagon in that case?

And another in-case-you're-wondering: the scraggly line things around the edge of the block are blades of grass. I took this pic outside in the sun, and yes, the lawn is overdue for mowing. I'm just waiting for the perfect weather to do it - not too hot, but not cold/wet/windy either, and with nothing better to do in the sewing room.

I think the grass will be growing a bit longer.

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What I learnt today:

I figured out how to stitch around the hexies in one continuous line, finishing up where I started from. I did have to backtrack six times (i.e. six lines were stitched on twice), but the six lines in question together make a symmetrical pattern, making my whole stitching line consistent.

Can you figure out how to do it?



Hint: I began and ended at the red dot.