Summer Sampler 2017 - #6

I am slowly catching up on the 2017 Summer Sampler by three quilters:  Katie (swimbikequilt.com), Lee (freshlypieced.com) and Faith (freshlemons.com). Their blogs are informative, wonderful and modern.  I receive their blog posts through email and always read them.  I enjoy their tips and looking at their quilts.

Week #6 block is called the "Marine Star."  I love all of the blocks but this I enjoyed sewing it and of course, the paper piecing.  I know that there are quilters who do not care for paper piecing but I can understand you non-acceptance of this technique:  working on the back of the paper, purchasing the special paper piecing paper and sewing through all of the thickness of the fabric but I love it so much.  To me it is easy and quick especially considering the sharp points are really SHARP!  This block is my favorite, so far.

Well, I have two more blocks to complete:  blocks 7 & 8.  I will continue to work.

Summer Sampler 2017 - Block #5

Once again, I am catching up with these blocks of the week.  I am several weeks behind, four to be exact.  Block #5 is called Alchemy, a medieval slant that reminds me of the Dark Age.

This block was another fun block to sew together.  Not that difficult but you had to be precise in your sewing and pinning (I'm an avid user of pins) to be sure that certain seams would meet in order to look crisp and well sewn.

I don't know what is wrong with me or my camera.  I can't get the correct colors of the blocks to transfer to this post.  I will have to read up on it.

Blocks 6, 7 and 8 still to do!  Catching up.....

Saturday Summer BOM - 2017

Last Saturday was the sixth block in the Saturday Summer BOM.  The block is called the Lyra.  The colors of the original block are very muted and blue/green. I loved sewing both of the blocks.

12.5 Inches - Unfinished

This photo does not reflect the true colors.
I am not sure how to fix it.

Catching up - Sleigh Bell Block of the Month - #10 and #11

I am slowly catching up with all of my block of the month projects.  I find that I catch up and then the month ends and I am behind again. 

Month's 10 and 11 were very sweet blocks:  the Christmas House and the Snow Flake.  I just finished the Snow Flake this morning and the Christmas House yesterday.  I enjoyed sewing them together once they were finished but I must say that I don't like sewing the small pieces.  I feel like I am all thumbs when I try to pin and sew them together.

This block of the month is coming to an end soon.  The twelfth block will be the next one I receive.  

2017 Summer Sampler - #4 - Rosetta Star

Monday of this week, I received the fourth installment of the 2017 Summer Sampler.  It is a lovely block and very easy to sew together because it was paper-pieced.

Week #4 - Rosetta Star - 12" Finished

Saturday Sampler BOM - 2017 - Month #5

Last Saturday was the fifth meeting of our Saturday Sampler Block of the Month (BOM).  We discussed the block and how to sew it together.  There are quite a few beginners in the class so they need to discuss everything.  

Our BOM is called "Ara."  The block was particularly easy this month.  It is basically a large 9-patch block with five of the nine portions were four-patches.  

As always, I do two versions of each of the blocks:  (1) The solid modern version and (2) the Civil War Reproduction fabrics version.

Solid Modern Version

Civil War Reproduction Fabric Version

Summer Sampler 2017

About a month ago, I received an e-mail about joining a summer sampler series.  I received three separate e-mails from Faith of FreshLemonsQuilrs, Katie from SwimBikeQuilt, and Lee of FreshlyPiecedQuilts.  I did participate in their summer sampler series a couple of years ago.  It was called the "Vintage Quilt Revival" and it was based on the book that they (Faith, Katie and Lee) had just published.  That was quite a fun quilt to make.  

Anyway, this time we were to purchase the pattern and wait for an e-mail with instructions on how to make each block every Monday.  Of course, I ordered my fabric late so I just caught up this past weekend with the first three blocks.  I basically stayed with the fabrics that were suggested but I added a few more blues.  I received the first two blocks without all of my fabric so I waited patiently until all of them arrived.  The instructions give a 12" and a 6" version of each block.  I am toying with the idea of making both sizes but I have only done the 12" blocks because I am trying to organize my stash, patterns and quilt books to be in one place and not scattered somewhere in four different places in my house.

Block 1:  Millcreek Star

Block 2:  Tilted Star

Block 3:  Celestial Star

These blocks, so far, have been fun and easy to sew.  Fortunately, I like to paper piece so the third block was easy to do.

I also have to apologize that my blocks do not look very pretty.  I am not a good photographer and I can't seem to get the colors to come out looking like the fabrics that I used.  Sorry....

If you have Instagram, you can see some of the other blocks on #summersample2017.