Amethyst block

Well, it's February and the second block in the Classic Meets Modern QAL was announced by Erin on Saturday. She chose the Amethyst block.

It looked easy enough I thought.

….So why have I struggled all day???  Those Y seams, thats why. I have done Y seams by hand on my sampler quilt but never on a machine. Erin suggested two tutorials to help.

• Elizabeths Easy Y Seams
• Faith's Easy Y-Seams

I followed Elizabeth's method and really struggled. I sewed, snagged, unpicked and almost threw them in the bin. I tried with a second block but I'm not totally happy. The Y's are really lumpy and I would be ashamed to show the backs of the blocks.

first attempt

I've run out of steam this afternoon so I'm going to leave it until next week when I will have more time to try again. I'll try Faith's method then.


If you have any thoughts or tips they would be appreciated. I'm off to crochet!



Catherine

My first completed machine pieced block

The house is full of the most delicious smell of my marmalade simmering on the stove and the kitchen is steaming up. It's so cold outside today. We've had such a wet but mild winter so far.

I finished my (Polar) Bear Paw block last night for the Classic Meets Modern QAL and I am really pleased with it. It is a complete contrast to my sampler quilt both in colour and I hope in style. Its as modern as I can make it at the moment. I've looked at a few blogs and the possibilities seem endless but I'm going to leave doing improv etc until I have more experience with the actual machine piecing.

I'm hoping the block can be counted as modern because it features mainly solids with a sprinkling of a large modern print and the colour palette is cool and looks modern to me.

My very first machine pieced block

Even though I tried to cut accurately and sewed very slowly it came up nearer to 12" than 12.5". This was the reason I had to email Erin to check that the seam allowance was included. I'll have to see how the next blocks shape up. If they all come out a 12" I don't think there will be a problem but I may need to sew it again if all the rest are more accurate. That all said, I LOVE, love, love it!

So, wherever you are, keep warm, keep dry and have a good day.

Catherine

New skill for 2014

I joined six other newbies last night on a beginners crochet course at Calon Yarns Craft Studios in Cardiff. The course is run by the owner, Lynne, who possibly has the best craft teaching technique I have come across. The shop is light, bright and comfy, with coffee and tea offered and the most wonderful selection of wools and crafty paraphernalia.

It turned out we had a wide variety of skills between us. After introductions, Lynne began with the basics of forming the foundation chain and over the course of two hours we attempted double crochet, half treble, treble and double treble stitches. For most of the time silence reigned as we concentrated on mastering the techniques. I soon found a comfortable way of holding the wool and keeping the tension right (once I had frogged my first tight chain!). I'm looking forward to the rest of the course immensely.

My first attempt at different crochet stitches

I thought that at this point I should look at the various projects on the go at the moment.

• Hand quilting and binding my Sampler Quilt- ongoing
• Classic meets Modern QAL.- fabrics ordered and the first Bears Paw block planned for the weekend
• Key to My Heart quilt using a jellyroll of Road 15 by Sweetwater for Moda
• Beginners machine patchwork course starting next week.
• Practising my crochet and possibly attempting a simple corsage this week
• Finishing 2 cardigans for my 10 month old granddaughter Isobel

My Ravelry name is CathP53 

I'm still trying to figure out how to place buttons on the blog but I will not let it beat me!

Have a great day!