End of February Recap

For the month of February, I had two quilting goals.  One was to meet my one monthly goal (OMG) of piecing the blocks together of my rail fence quilt.  The other was to keep up with the Quilty 365 project.  I have met both of those goals.  Here's the proof.

One Monthly Goal: Rail Fence

For the Cultural Fusion Rail Fence, here's the pieced top.

I know I've shown it to you earlier this month. I don't want to start quilting this one yet, because I already have a sandwiched quilt that needs to be finished first. The Daisies Chickenpox quilt, which has been sandwiched and ready to quilt since December 2013. Yikes! Wasn't that just yesterday?  I have two sandwiched quilts, and I decided that instead of buying more safety pins or making do with the ones I do have available, I would finish quilting one of the quilts that are holding my safety pins for ransom for March's One Monthly Goal.

Quilty 365: Rule Breaking Quilt

The second goal was the circles. I showed you earlier in the week that I had caught up with making 100 circles in 100 days. Today, I want to show you more circles. Today is Day 105 so I should have 5 more circles to show you, but I should have 6 more for a true end of the month recap.

Blocks 101 and 102

I saw a quilt made of drunkard path blocks to represent sunrise or sunset, and thought I should use that in my quilt.

 Block 103

This skinny block is only one inch wide finished.Who said all blocks have to be square? I didn't sew the circles individually but made a grid pattern to secure the circles.

 Block 104

The pattern for this block comes from the Splendid Sampler quiltalong.  I reduced the pattern to fit the size of this block.  This block doesn't do the pattern justice.  I highly recommend looking into this quilt-along.  The Facebook page shows all sorts of color choices.  Many quilters have also added applique and embroidery to their blocks.  The creativity is amazing.  It is a good lesson on how to take a pattern and putting your own spin on it.

I know there are a lot of Quilt-Alongs this year, and I found a great resource that provides a list of the 2016 Quilt-Alongs and shows you what they each look like.

Block 105

These are scallops made the lazy way.  This block is made to commemorate some new fabric I purchased from Connecting Threads.  I have been feeling guilty about my fabric purchases this year and last because I've probably bought more in this time period than the previous decade. I'm not used to buying a lot of fabric at any one time without having a purpose for it, but when you buy online, you have to buy enough to get the free shipping!

 I also had a hard time using this in a block, but I made myself do it.  It's only two pieces from a charm pack and this quilt is worthy of using new fabric!

This block is very thick because of the layers of fabric and fusible.  I decided not to try to follow the curves when sewing this down because of all the applique blocks I still need to sew.  Those will need more precise work.

 Block 106

I was originally planning on making a large circle with two smaller circles like this in a horizontal setting, but once I had them cut up and ready to place, I found I liked the diagonal placement better.

I now have enough blocks to make a row.  I will add these to the quilt top and show you tomorrow.

 Blocks 107 and 108

These are the scraps from Blocks 101 and 102. It didn't seem right not to go ahead and sew these too.  I didn't want to put them side by side with those other blocks so I waited to make these.  I debated turning these around to make a big four block square, but have decided to leave each as a separate pair.

I know I am making more blocks than I need to.  I am breaking the rule that you can't sew ahead of schedule!  With spring coming, I will be entering a busy season at work, and with yard work, I will be much busier.  I feel better getting a few circles ready ahead of time.  It will mean fewer catch-up blocks further down the line.

Blocks 109, 110, 111 and 112

This one gets four block numbers because it is an extra large block.  I still need to sew the applique down. This one is inspired by the 1857 quilt and uses the fabric from that quilt (I bought less than I need for that quilt and I am using up the fabric before they are truly scraps!)

The pattern for this block is from a Quilt-along at Legends and Lace. Click on the block in the sidebar.  There are several free patterns.  I really, really like the way the background works with the applique in this piece, and am debating whether I should add busier backgrounds to the 1857 Quilt.

1857 Quilt

Speaking of the 1857 Quilt, I have prepared the last block.  I need to sew down the applique for all of the blocks for this quilt.  Besides being boring, the white background makes the blocks hard to photograph.  This block uses the same beautiful fabrics as the last picture I showed you of the Rule Breaking Quilt, but they don't look nearly as good in the pictures for this quilt.

Linked to:
One Monthly Goal 
Moving It Forward Monday 
Let's Bee Social