Hubblebird's Quilt Blog

Okay ... 14 blocks in ... and there are some I just don't like.  Here they are up on the wall. I've been so determined to use up scraps, that I think I have just lost the plot with at least 4 ugly blocks.  And here I was rubbing my hands together thinking, "Only 10 more hours to piece two more 'roses' before I start appliqueing the centres!" Disgruntled, I decided I needed a break.  I'm so grateful to Audrey at  ( Quilty Folk ) for posting tutorials on how she hand quilts her beautiful work. I am thinking of hand quilting the roses quilt, but need to practice on something small first. I remembered starting a Quilt-As-You-Go project about 13 years ago.  There have been 3 house moves since I started making the blocks.  Now, where could they be? I went hunting for them.  Found them (and you guessed it) found several other forgotten fabrics in various boxes during the hunt. Some fabrics were picked out for an idea for a long-forgotten bear paw quilt that I als

Thi is the sixth block I’ve made from the Stone Roses pattern that I bought a couple of weeks ago. It’s the only block that is actually the right size and all squared up. Here’s why: So what happened?  Well, five blocks in I became convinced that the pattern was wrong. How can you make a foundation pieced block and have each one differ in size? I checked my seams. I checked the stitch length. I tried both quilting feet on my Bernina. Although the pattern didn’t specify this, I also lightly pressed each alternate wedge so that seams nested. Nothing worked.  I became convinced that the pattern was wrong.  So I printed off a set of foundation papers and taped them together. They fitted exactly. Hmmm.  The problem had to be my piecing. Since each wedge is foundation pieced, the problem has to be with joining the wedges together - hence baggy middles and uneven sides. I had been removing the foundation paper before joining the wedges together.  The pattern isn’t clear on whether or not to

 Stone the crows ... I started a new quilt project! This is my practice block for  Stone Roses  – a downloadable pattern that I purchased last week from  Love from Beth .  Each block is foundation paper pieced.  I’ve decided that this is a great scrap stash buster, and since I’m on a mission to get rid of all my scraps, it’s another smash. The foundation paper piecing went well, but the centre of my rose turned out to be quite baggy.    I tried ironing and steaming it into submission but ended up unpicking and re-sewing a couple of the wedges.    This meant that the centre template was far too big, and I had to draft my own.    It doesn’t quite match up and I’m thinking of re-doing that – perhaps with a red centre – as the fussy cut sunburst seems to be a bit overwhelming.    Mind you, I’m very happy with my first attempt at needle turn applique!    The unfinished block is 14.5” square (something the pattern does not tell you).    I love the block and I’m eager to finish this as anothe