It has been hard to think of working on another UFO since I finished the Scrap Vortex. It's like when you've just finished reading an epic book and you don't have any interesting in starting to read another book and getting to know a whole new cast of characters when you still miss the ones from the book you just finished.
However, I am setting the goal of finishing my 2016 Aurifil sampler quilt.
The first step is to piece a backing. There is still some of this Sweetwater border fabric left, so it will feature prominently in the backing.
Hop over to One Monthly Goal to see the UFO goals for May.
You never know how a project is going to turn out, especially when it's a mystery BOM. I would love to know the statistics on the number of quilters who start a BOM and actually end up with a finished quilt. Some interesting quilty statistics can be read here from the 2014 survey of American quilters, but there are no statistics gathered on the number of blocks sewn/started/sitting in UFO cupboards.
I have my fair share of those that may or may not become a finished quilt one day, but I have learned something and increased my skills with every block I have sewn. And every once in a while, blocks actually do become part of a quilt top.
Here's my most recent accomplishment...
the Aurifil BOM from 2016 (free patterns are still here). The size of the quilt top is 62.5" x 82".
Although it is a 2 colour quilt, it really is a true scrappy quilt with it's huge variety of red and white fabrics. I was determined to not buy more fabric to finish it, so I had to substitute another red for some of the block sashings. Many of the sashings are pieced from scraps. And the inside light sashing is a different size from the border sashing because I was running out of that yardage too. It was a huge logic/math puzzle (not my strength) which makes this seem like a bigger accomplishment to me than usual!
This will be the perfect project to be quilting during Canada's 150th birthday year!
You can get the instructions for Pat Sloan's layout here, and see a few finished quilt tops at the link up.
To see more design wall postings, hop over to Patchwork Times.
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| Aurifil BOM blocks |
The 2016 BOM quilt layout was posted over at Pat Sloan's blog and I really like it. I finally got myself organized with the blocks pressed, a light and a red sashing fabric chosen, and got to work putting this quilt top together.
I didn't organize the blocks in the order of pattern release by month, since I thought some of the blocks were a bit similar and needed to be more separated from each other.
After deciding on the layout, the next task is to double border each block. I've almost finished bordering half of the blocks.
To see more design wall postings, hop over to Patchwork Times.
I was a little tardy in finishing the Aurifil BOM blocks for 2016. By the end of the year only the December block remained unsewn. The last block is a paper pieced flower block designed by Amanda Herring.
My 5 fabrics were organized back in December, but it took me a while to get the pattern printed, and to gather the concentration required to sew it.
Because I am used to sewing smaller blocks, the pieces seemed very large to handle. And no matter how I worked with each section, there was a lot of fabric wastage (which I will use in my 150 Canadian Women blocks, so it's not really "wasted" at all, I guess).
This is the pattern with 6 sections having 5 pieces each.
It doesn't look like it should have been that hard.
But it was!
Why did it take me over 4 hours to put it together??
I can't explain it!!
Here is the 12th block for my 2016 Aurifil BOM project. Although the striped fabric doesn't match up perfectly around the centre, it's close enough for me, and I'm very happy with how it turned out, all things considered!
When I'm back in the quilt studio I will get all 12 blocks up on the design wall. I can't wait to see the suggested layout for these blocks and get them sewn together.
You can see many variations of this block pattern over at Pat Sloan's blog here. To see more design wall postings, hop over to Patchwork Times.
Did you see the September Aurifil blocks posted over at Pat Sloan's? Take a look here at about 30 variations of the same pattern. It's amazing how each quilter's version of the block is unique. I thought maybe some of the quilters changed their layout design because they looked quite different. But when I studied the blocks, it was simply due to the value placement and your eye notices different parts of the block design.
Anyway, on to October's block which was the quickest and easiest block so far. It's called "Chip off the old block". You can read the designer interview here, see the block pattern here and see the finished blocks here.
This block is a bit odd on it's own, but a whole quilt of these scrappy blocks would be a fun stashbuster.
Only 2 more months to go and these blocks will become a quilt!
Last night I had a fun visit with the Paris Quilting Bees. What a great group of enthusiastic quilters! I was so wrapped up in the moment that I forgot to take a picture of them to show you. But I did get a photo of their guild banner before I started talking ... I just love a block sampler!
I have some exciting news to share...
I have been sewing the Aurifil blocks of the month this year and have really enjoyed each one. Well, guess what happened?!? This month I won the draw for a box of Aurifil thread! Yes I did! I am so excited and can hardly wait for it to arrive in the mail. I have always looked at the Aurifil thread collections and coveted them... and now I'm actually going to have one of my very own!
My block from last month is even posted on the Aurifil blog... OMG... check it out here. And I got an email from Pat Sloan to tell me that I won... that was exciting enough! But did I mention that I'm also getting new thread too! I'll show you as soon as it gets here.
And in the meantime I sewed my 9th block, which is called "Into the Blue". I think my version will be called "Into the Red". You can download the pattern here. There are 72 pieces in this 12" block. I'm not totally thrilled with how the stripes lined up in the centre, but I'm leaving it anyway. You can see more variations on this block at the link up here.
Here are all my blocks together on the design wall. We've finished 9 blocks so far and have 3 more to go to the end of the year. It will be a great sampler quilt! But wow that is a lot of red!
Apparently I love red!
Here is how many spools of red thread I already have to machine quilt this project when it's done! I ordered a box of it from Tristan a long time ago. I have no idea why I thought I needed that much red thread!!
On the 15th of each month the new Aurifil block pattern is posted. This month is an unusual design called "Sparkler" by designer Wendy Sheppard. You can get the pattern at the Aurifil blog here. Here is my version in my favourite red and white fabrics. It was fun to sew and I can totally see this as a great Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt block... can't you?!?
This pattern has lots of small pieces, so you can use up some smaller scraps making this block. I cut the whole block, pinned the pieces together and very carefully sewed each quadrant. It would be very easy to get the design mixed up which would result in overuse of the seam ripper!
To see more fun variations on this block pattern, hop over to Pat Sloan's link up.
The Aurifil BOM is a monthly project that has captured my attention this year and each block has been fun to sew. There is so much happening on the Aurifil blog that the BOM post is sometimes difficult to find, but you will enjoy reading all the other interesting things they have posted, including a fabric giveaway and a new quilt along.
The June block is called Modern Delft and included options for embroidery. While I really enjoy embroidery, I don't think having one block will fit in with all the other pieced blocks. I decided to fussy cut some printed fabric to fit in the corner blocks and a pinwheel in the middle.
You can see more versions of this block over at Pat Sloan's blog, and it looks like everyone else has done the same thing as I have done in terms of not including the embroidery.
The 2016 BOM is half over now, and here are my 6 blocks together on the design wall. It's going to be a very interesting quilt and I look forward to the other 6 blocks we will be sewing as the year progresses.
Are you sewing along with the Aurifil BOM this year?
I am finally caught up with making all the Aurifil BOM blocks. The patterns are posted in blues, but I am using reds for my project. This is block #3 called Improv Star. I really like the piece of fabric in the block centre, which is from the Sweetwater line called "Mama Said Sew Revisited". I love that whole line of fabric and bought a big hunk of the "Vanilla Apple Red" to use for the backing on this quilt.
I string pieced squares and cut them in half for the star points.
This block joins the pile of the other 4 blocks, and I am ready now for June 15th when the next block pattern will be released.
I'm linking up to Lorna's "Let's Bee Social"...hop over to see her adorable chipmunks!
Are you sewing along with the Aurifil BOM this year? Each month they post a free block pattern from a different pattern designer.
This month's designer is Amy Friend and this is my red and white version of her "cups and saucers" block pattern. It was very easy to sew and I really how my fussy cut centre square looks!
Here are my first 4 blocks on the design wall. I am still missing block #3 and hope to get that one done soon. But the collection so far looks like it will become a very interesting sampler quilt.
To see more sampler block variations, hop over to Pat Sloan's blog. I'm also linking up to Sew Fresh Quilts... go check out Lorna's adorable raccoons!
I just finished sewing the Aurifil 2016 block of the month.
The April block is called High Tide and was designed by Kate Spain. It was a very interesting block to piece, and I'll admit that my seam ripper had a bit of a workout. I will spare you the torture of looking at photos of all the incorrect versions of the block that I created! This is the right one (I hope!)
It looks a little frenetic.
When I cut all the pieces I thought it would be a good combo, but perhaps there is not enough contrast between the reds? Or maybe the prints are too busy? Actually it looks better on the computer screen than in real life :)
I still have to go back and sew block #3 from March since somehow I missed that one.
You can see lots of interesting variations of this block at the link up over at Pat Sloan's blog here.
The February block for Aurifil's BOM is called "Lake Life". Here is my version made in red fabrics.
You can read all about the designer Kari Carr here, and you can get the free block pattern here. It was a challenging block to sew but not nearly as difficult (for me) as last month's block.
This block was a challenge simply because of the number of small pieces (the HST blocks finish at 1") that needed to be sewn together with so many seams to match.
You can see lots of gorgeous Lake Life blocks posted at Pat Sloan's blog here.
Aurifil is my favourite thread - I buy it in every size available and use it every day. So of course I had to check out their new BOM. The January block looked like an interesting challenge with 40 components, and I was curious about it would be constructed.
Because I had been sewing with a lot of blue in January, I needed a break from blue, so went with red and white. I can say that it is the most difficult block I have ever sewn, although I'm still not sure why it took me hours to make!
The cutting directions are complex and I made several errors. A lot of time was spent staring at the computer screen, checking and double checking measurements and pieces. And still, a couple of times I had to add on pieces from strips that I had cut too short.
Then my centre pinwheel block ended up the wrong size according to the directions. I had to unsew, trim each HST by 1/4" and resew the pinwheel.
But perseverance pays off, and here is the finished block. You can see some creative versions of the block at the Flickr group here and at Pat Sloan's link up here.
The first step is to piece a backing. There is still some of this Sweetwater border fabric left, so it will feature prominently in the backing. 
