Log Cabin variation: brights

I've had such a great week, back at my sewing machine at last: chainpiecing and using scrap fabric, my absolute favourite way of spending time!

I am teaching this little Log Cabin variation later this year, and having made a country version (blogged here) I thought it might be useful to make one with bright scraps. 

So having spent an evening cutting out pieces for my Arlington Square project (see my last post), and rotary cutting squares from the same fabrics towards another Emma Newman design, I had lots of new scraps to add to my bag of bright bits.

I sliced the scraps into 1" strips and some 2 1/2" squares, and then was able to chain piece, press and repeat over several days.  The lovely thing about a project like this is that once you have the pieces cut out you can sit and sew for short or long periods when you have a little spare time.

As I used up strips I went hunting for more scraps to chop up: it is a great way of spring cleaning your stash.  All sorts of bits and pieces were included in this pile, my only criterion being that the fabrics should be in bright clear colours with a white base, rather than cream.

I found that I made about 20 - 25 blocks a day and by the end of the week I had a pile of just over two hundred 5 1/2" blocks (I did burn the midnight oil a bit...).  However I note from my previous post that my earlier version of this design was made with 255 blocks, so maybe I still have a little way to go....

The eagle eyed among you may spot that the previous version I made was based on a centre square of 2" (cut size) so those little blocks finished at exactly 4 1/2" (5" unfinished).  I made this bright version from memory and started with a 2 1/2" centre square: this means my finished block will be slightly larger at 5" (5 1/2" unfinished).

Another batch waiting to be pressed.  I like to work on blocks at a variety of stages - I find it keeps the process interesting and I don't get bored as there are always new combinations of colour to try out.

The only problem is that making these little lovelies is slightly addictive, so I really need to stop now, clear the decks and put my remaining scraps to one side.  Not sure I am going to make this quilt quite as big as the last one, so maybe I will lay out what I have so far...

The other thing I did last week was long overdue: I spent part of a day updating my Pinterest board with photos of the quilts I have finished since I started this blog six years ago.  The previous pictures didn't always have effective links back to the relevant blogpost, which is so annoying.  Hopefully it is all OK now and will work properly.  I have also added a few more recently finished quilts.

Here is the link if you fancy a look: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/alisonwood29/my-quilts/.  For me it was a stroll down memory lane, and I was amazed at how efficient I was for a while in finishing off some longstanding WIPs.  As you know, my productivity has fallen off a cliff recently, but I am hoping to put that right over the next few months.

I have also been busy sorting out my store of fabric and associated sewing detritus as I have taken over my older son's room.  This is now set up as a sewing storage room - I won't actually sew in it until my younger son has moved out his computer etc next Spring.  

However it is a huge step forward to have almost all my fabric stored in one easily accessible place.  It will hopefully discourage me from buying too much more while I use what I've already got!  The storage units are Kallax from IKEA in Oak effect which tones well with the existing wardrobe.

Here's the old Singer treadle machine which has been in my mum's family for over eighty years.  I learned to sew on this machine (then powered by an added on electric motor).  A little while ago we had it converted back to treadle powered and re-polished.  So I will still be able to sew if the electricity is cut off!

The final thing I want to include in this post is a mention of the lovely handpiecing and applique workshop I did with Emma Newman's mother Judy Newman on the Friday before I met Emma.  Again the workshop was at Pincushion Pantiles in Tunbridge Wells.  As you probably know, I am not as confident with applique as I am with piecing, so I was a little apprehensive, especially having seen the wonderful quilts featured in the beautiful book Judy has recently had published by Quiltmania: Quilts for Life made with Love.

However Judy was absolutely lovely, very kind and encouraging and she started off with good advice about choosing fabric: to paraphrase her words, if you buy what you love it will always work with other fabrics you have bought, because you love them and you are drawn to the fabrics you feel comfortable with.

So here are the fabrics I am hoping to use for the quilt I will one day make from Judy's pattern, Sugar Plum.  Some recent Tilda fabric and some old Robyn Pandolph spots plus assorted fabrics collected along the way for no specific project.  I guess that fits Judy's prescription.

So far I have only managed to hand piece the centre of one block, but I learned such a lot from Judy about hand piecing curved seams, and the templates available made the cutting out and marking for piecing very easy and accurate.

Lots to do but all very inspiring so I only hope I can keep the momentum going and actually use these fabrics to make something lovely.  I will keep you posted...