The Splendid Sampler Gallery - Falling Behind

What a week I've had!

1. I've done the sewing, taken photos, and written two tutorials for the Summer Purse. 
2. I made two mug rugs and a pattern to go with them.
3.  Thursday was my monthly book talk day school. I presented 12 books to each of two groups of students and tried to get them excited about reading every single one of them.  This is truly one of my favorite things to do. 
4. I was in Omaha with my son for most of the day on Friday.

With all of that activity, I fell behind with the Splendid Sampler blocks, but I did manage to make one of them today. That one, though, is a doozy. (Does anyone even use that word anymore? My age is showing again.)

The Splendid Sampler Gallery

 "Family Affair" is paper pieced, and some of these pieces of fabric are so tiny! The white strips are terribly narrow, so getting the whole block to come out perfectly is a matter of patience. I like paper piecing. It usually goes very quickly, but today I really had to slow down. There were moments of frustration when I was putting the four sections together, but now that it's finished, this block is one of my favorites. It has a bit of a kaleidoscope effect.

Block 15, "Family Affair"

What I like about paper foundation piecing:  I love the precision! Those sharp, sharp corners make me happy. It's usually much faster than other methods, and I love the excitement of discovering the unexpected in the finished block. It never looks like I thought it would. in this case it's way better than I'd guessed. A lot of people hate tearing off the paper when the sewing is done, but I really don't mind at all. It's one of those activities that is slow and monotonous so your brain can wander here and there. I try to save it for the end of the day when my energy is low. Tearing the paper helps me to relax.

What I don't like about paper foundation piecing: The amount of fabric that gets wasted. There is waste, and with good quilting fabric costing upwards of $11 per yard, it's hard to toss out so many tiny bits of fabric that are too small to salvage.

 Your Blocks

Marjorie Colleran

Marjorie sent Block 12 to me yesterday. All of those little 1" squares nearly did me in, but Marjorie's block is absolutely perfect. I really do like the blue and white checkerboard effect.

Marjories' Block 12

Marjorie's email made me smile. She's been terrifically busy with family and friends recently, but I have a hunch that she'll be able to find more sewing time very soon.

She wrote, "My 'fabric solvy'  arrived and I'm hopeful that this will be the week for catching up."

Isn't that the truth of it, though? It's easy to find time to sew when you have the perfect fabrics.

Dixie Moore

Look at the progress with these blues! As blocks accumulate we're starting to get a feel for what the finished quilt will look like, and it's starting to get exciting - and addictive, too.
 

 
Dixie's email said it all.  " I just sent you a photo of my completed blocks, all but the paper-pieced. Now that I’ve had a day or two to remove myself from the frustration, I’ll try again, a few more times.  Never took a class…never really wanted to learn it.  My fabric life is more about appliqué and regular-pieced quilts.  Don’t mind stepping outside of the box now and then, but if you don’t know what you are doing, this paper-pieced block is daunting."

April is zipping by at breakneck speed and I have a Kitty Craft block to make this coming week. I wonder where the cats will be playing this time. Hmm...

Have a super duper week!!