Sewcializing More MegaBlocks

I continue to work through my A Walk in the Woods fat quarter bundle and Sewcialites blocks. The first post on this project, for six MegaBlocks, was published  6/1/2021. Here are the next five.

 #12 Faithful Block: Camille Roskelley, Thimble Blossoms

Four blocks are shown in the preceding photo. I picked #12 Faithful Block because it had a lot of little pieces so I could use it for my small scale prints from the Moda A Walk in the Woods collection by Anna Hooey. The block skill level for #12 Faithful was listed as experienced but, other than quantity of pieces, I did not see anything particularly challenging. I deceived myself. Several times, even though I carefully laid out my components before joining them I managed to put pieces in backwards or whole rows upside down. Most of this was because of my anal goal to align the directional pink/white fabric in a predetermined manner rather than accepting random orientation. Notice the 4-patch corners; they have a handedness. Selecting a pressing direction for each seam was not as straight forward as one would hope with only two colors. I succeeded to press to the dark side for the most part but there were still some cases where I could not avoid a lumpy seam where both seam allowances were pressed in the same direction. I still find this preferable to a twisted seam that can cause problems during quilting. Instead I steam and pound down the lump and avoid stitching through it during FMQ. I liked this block and will probably use it again in a quilt. Sashings might help the lumpy intersection problems somewhat.

The preceding photos have four blocks, two each in pink/gray version and the other two in a gray/pink complement. In retrospect, it sure is a complicated way to get a 4x4 checkerboard at the four meeting corners. It reminds me of Four Corners in the United States where four states meet.

 #1 Harmony Block: Lissa Alexander, Moda Lissa

This block is quite similar in color and style to the previous. Since it again had a directional print that I wanted to orient consistently, I laid out all the pieces before joining. Those butterflies in the four corners had to each face outward. Once I completed the four blocks I rotated each 90° before making the quartet into an 18" MegaBlock.

 #17 Peace Block: Anne Sutton, Bunny Hill Designs

For variety, I wanted a simpler block without as many tiny pieces. The challenge I set for myself was to have all the lined pieces face the same way. I cut out four blocks at once. When I sewed the half-square triangles I made half the HSTs slant one way and half slant the other. Then I could pick and choose which HSTs to put in which corner positions to preserve one direction in each of the four the blocks. The final orientation came when I joined the four blocks to form the mega block. Rotating alternate block 90° looked too cacophonous. Having the dashes align in the hooks generated at the block junctions was much more restful; or perhaps I should say peaceful.

 #10 Sincere Block Pattern: April Rosenthal, Prairie Grass Patterns

Once again, as my selection for prints narrowed, I wanted a simpler block without as many tiny pieces. Again, I wanted all the lined pieces to face the same way. I laid out all the pieces to be sure of their orientation and then carefully sewed those four diagonal striped corner blocks first. As long as half of those diagonal face one way, and half faced the other, and the two triangles were consistently oriented I was successful. When I joined the four blocks into the one MegaBlock the secondary pattern of the smaller central X appeared without the distraction of the dashes going in two orthogonal directions.

 #14 Serenity Block Pattern: Chelsi Stratton, Chelsi Stratton Designs

For the eleventh and final block set of the fat quarter bundle A Walk in the Woods by Aneela Hoey, I surveyed the previous ten mega blocks I had made. I was a bit dismayed at how busy they all seemed together. That stacked bundle of fabrics seemed so much more coordinated. I reasoned a simple block with large pieces would again be a wise choice. I was also getting a bit worn out with this project at this point and controlling the orientation of a load of itty bitty HSTs did not appeal. I chose the final pattern as the serenity block. Serenity is defined as "the state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled" which is exactly what I needed at this stage of this quilt – the stage when the joyful optimism of a new project dims a bit and the self doubts of "Whatever was I thinking", "How is this ever going to come together," and "Can I salvage this"creeps into the quilter's brain. Again within each block I oriented the lined fabric in a uniform direction when making the HSTs. When joining the four blocks, I auditioned both options and decided against the 90° rotated option on the right in favor of the more calming uniformly oriented option on the left. The assembled MegaBlock is in the second picture.

Somehow those prints seemed much more coordinated when they were stacked neatly in that fat quarter bundle than when they were sewn into the eleven MegaBlocks. I have consumed 22 of the 30 fat quarters, with the larger scale ones having been set aside for some special, yet-to-be-determined use. 

The first six MegaBlocks (post dated 6/1/21) were made from Sewcialites Quilt Along blocks

Spirited, Cheer, Virtue, Gratitude, Steadfast, and Delight

The next five MegaBlocks (this post dated 7/29/21) were made from Sewcialites Quilt Along blocks

Faithful, Harmony, Peace, Sincere, and Serenity.

I hope I can reflect at least some of those virtues as called out in the block names when I attempt to assemble the hodgepodge of MegaBlocks into a somewhat cohesive quilt. I will need to be at least Steadfast for sure. Sashing between the blocks will be a definite necessity!

Sewcializing MegaBlocks

Last fall the Fat Quarter Shop began sponsoring a quilt-a-long titled the Sewcialites in which participants sew one block a week. I thought it might be fun, keep me engaged in the sewing room during COVID times, and not be an overly involved  commitment. One block per week – I could certainly handle that! Also, I could use some of my buildup of scraps. Per the Fat Quarter Shop:

We’re celebrating our quilting community with a free block of the week quilt along. We’ve joined forces with 18 talented designers to bring you a 38-week quilt along with amazing sampler blocks and sew many options! ... We’ll release one block every Friday, starting on Friday, September 25, 2020 and ending on Friday, July 2, 2021. ... The block patterns are offered in three sizes: 3″, 6″ and 9″ finished.

 

The suggested complete quilt as shown was not cohesive enough for my taste but the concept of a block a week and the variety of blocks, all consistent in size, intrigued me. Time passes quickly. I had definitely decided on the 9" size but it was not until May, eight months after the September start, that I experimented with my first block. I picked a light and a dark fat quarter, both in the green family, and not my favorite fabric choices. I felt no compulsion to start with Block #1 and try to catch up. Instead I chose #28 Hope Block. Ironically the block was named "Hope", perhaps a good omen of my upcoming endeavors. I read somewhere on the site that I could get two blocks out of one fat quarter. Therefore it stood to reason that I could get four blocks out of two fat quarters. I laid the two fat quarters face to face and cut all the pieces for the background and main color as well through both layers at once. I would get two pair of blocks, each member of the block pair being the color reversal of the other. I was pleased with my experiment. By alternating a predominantly dark block with a predominantly light block and rotating 90° I wound up with an intricate 18" block, which I dubbed my MegaBlock. There were two options for arranging those four blocks which I show in a follow-on photo. This was cool! I was becoming excited. I very well may make this block again in preferred colors other than green. As a bonus, I had so little waste that I was not tempted to keep the remains of each fat quarter – well, maybe an occasional strip for a future strip quilt of scraps.

 #28 Hope Block: April Rosenthal, Prairie Grass Patterns

My green experiment was successful. But then logic got the better of me and spontaneity fell by the wayside. I would set aside these practice blocks. If I continued to make more with random fat quarters, then at the end I would have 38 blocks in a variety of scraps that had a snowball's chance in hell of blending together. Instead of scraps, I would press into service one of those fat quarter bundles that I am so prone to buy on impulse because a few of the prints in it are just too cute to pass up. I also noticed in February that I had no appropriate red and pink quilt to display. I decided to unbundle my fat quarter collection of Moda's A Walk in the Woods by Aneela Hoey. I set aside some of the large scale prints, like the foxes or the little girl strolling through the woods. Some blocks had small pieces that would chop up  the whimsical print  and fall short of showcasing it to good advantage.

I was not going to buy a background fabric but draw from my stash. Instead I planned to pair a light and dark combination of two fat quarters from the bundle for each set of four blocks. First up were pink and red, and I chose a block pattern that would rotate 90° nicely, especially if I reversed the colors. #4 Spirited Block was a good pick and I liked the four block assembly that resulted, shown in follow-on photo. Has it become obvious yet that my one-block-a-week has now become four-blocks-a-week?

 #4 Spirited Block: Vanessa Goertzen, Lella Boutique

Next, to be different, in #11 Cheer Block I tried a pink and blue combination – not my favorite, but it does seem to work somewhat due to the little blue birds. I learned something interesting with this block design. When I reversed the colors in the block partner, I had to also reverse the rotation direction of the "arrows". In the pink-centered block on the left of the middle blue-centered block, the colors are reversed but the arrows spin counterclockwise in both. In the pink-centered block on the right of the middle blue-centered block, the colors are reversed but the arrows spin clockwise in the pink-centered block on the right and counterclockwise in the middle blue-centered block. I scratched my head on that one for a while. By rotated the HSTs at the four edges I "fixed" it and all meshed much better. When the four blocks are joined, in the follow-on photo, the pink arrows go counterclockwise in the blue-centered blocks and the blue arrows go clockwise in the pink-centered blocks. The bi-color arrows that appear at the block joining seams are an engaging surprise. I think that #4 Spirited Block had symmetry about one diagonal but #11 Cheer Block had planned asymmetry around both diagonals. This Sewcialite challenge is teaching me in ways I did not expect. I "cheered" when I finally got that 18" mega-block together to my satisfaction.

 #11 Cheer Block: Me & My Sister Designs

My next block was the #25 Virtue Block. My color selection of red and blue pops. No rotations are needed to get the two toned layout and neither fabric is directional. It is said that patience is a virtue. I did require patience to assemble all those flying geese – 8 per block, times 4 blocks – 32!

#25 Virtue Block: Bonnie Olaveson, Cotton Way

In #30 Gratitude Block I tried again the pink color, this time pairing it with gray. With this block and fabric combination, I challenged myself to get the rows of circles in the gray pieces to line up the way I wanted them to. It took pre-planning on how to flip those gray corners on pink-centered snowball blocks. Note to self: avoiding pairing a directional print with another directional print. I will drive me bonkers.

#30 Gratitude Block: Camille Roskelley, Thimble Blossoms

I needed a break from 45° angles so the #23 Steadfast Block was a welcome relief. It was not entirely mindless however. I wanted the gray/red railroad-track-like fabric to orient a certain way. Due to tight fabric limitation, the rectangles all had to face with the "tracks" lengthwise. They therefore fell at 90° in some places in the block. I do enjoy the varying size checkerboard pattern that appears in the four block mega block photo below.

 #23 Steadfast Block: Sherri McConnell, A Quilting Life

For my next MegaBlock I paired a white/red basket-like fabric with the mini-mushrooms. How else does one gather mushrooms during a walk in the woods? (Yes, I realize in the previous MegaBlock I referred to the gray/red as railroad-track-like fabric.) Since I had fun challenging myself with fabric orientation in the #23 Steadfast Block, I advanced to fabric orientation of #29 Delight Block. My self-imposed constraints were that the spikes in the basket or the background behind the basket spikes should all face the same way. The pieces within the basket base should also face the same way as if they were woven that way. Thankfully the mini-mushroom fabric was not directional. I very carefully laid out the fabric orientation in both color options before assembling. 

 #29 Delight Block: Me & My Sister Designs

I have made 6 MegaBlocks so far out of the fabric from my selected Aneela Hoey fat quarter bundle. I can make 5 more MegaBlocks out of the remaining five fat quarter pairs for a total of 11 MegaBlocks. I will have remaining the 7 large scale prints and 1 mini-print I initially set side from the 30 count bundle. Let's see where this particular Walk in the Woods leads me.