Tag Archives: Building Blocks

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Block 2.3 Wiggly Pasta

This is my last 9-patch block to finish Block 2 in Leah Day's Building Blocks Quilt Along. Circles were HARD so I was glad to have a pattern to work on that was a bit more forgiving. I LOVE Wiggly Pasta! I can totally see using this on another quilt.

I realized that despite checking when I printed all my patterns that my printouts were a little larger than they should have been. (Can I blame my wonky circles on that!?) So I had already marked the wiggles on one edge of this block in the slightly larger size. I let it go cause time is precious and I didn't want to erase my marks for the whole section. I erased the edge to make sure it hit the corner of the nine-patch and figured it would be fine. (I think that's unrelated to my last wiggle being wonky on three of the four sides of the border.) Here's my finished block.

BBQA block 2.3 frontBBQA block 2.3 backI tend to forget to watch the video before I mark my block. This time Leah suggested that we not even mark the inner filler quilting lines, but I already had, so I just didn't stress at all about staying on the lines. You can say that the lines were just a suggestion. See:

wiggly pasta detail

To recap, here are the six blocks I have done so far. I'm looking forward to getting the next two sets of blocks pieced and catching up to the rest of the BBQA quilters.

first six BBQA blocks frontfirst six BBQA blocks back

I'm linking up with Leah Day's April 18 FMQ Link Up.

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alternate title: Circles are Hard!

So, I sat down on Saturday night, setup the machine to free motion quilt, and started sewing (on my practice quilt sandwich, thankfully). This is what I got on the bobbin side:

bad thread newsI think it was just too late for heavy machinery. After some sleep and a few minor adjustments I was up and running on Sunday morning. Thanks to the BBQA community for some tips when I was frustrated in front of my machine.

 

Block 2.2 - Circles

Circles are hard. Block 2.2 in the Building Blocks Quilt Along is Circles. Lots and lots of circles. And oh, did I mention that circles are hard?

The Good

I quilted the whole block continuously, with NO thread breaks.

I managed to only have to travel stitch on straight lines.

I liked doing a figure 8 to make two "circles" next to each other.

Half circles were easier and more forgiving.

Some of my stitching in the ditch literally disappeared. That was pretty cool.

My husband didn't laugh when I asked him "Do any of these look like circles?"

I wouldn't have done a block with ALL CIRCLES without the direction of Leah Day, so I'm thankful to have been pushed outside my comfort zone.

It's done.

 

The Bad

These aren't really circles.

I colored outside the lines (oops, my circle escaped it's square again!?).

I had some puckering in the fabric... I think my initial line of stitching on the border edge was a bad choice, but it happened elsewhere also.

I don't really feel like I got better in the course of this block. It had also been two weeks since I'd done any free motion quilting, so that could be part of that problem. (see detail shot below)

I realized that my printout was somehow bigger than it was supposed to be... how is that even possible and how many of my printouts are wrong? ;-)

 

The Ugly (okay, I kid, but yeah...)

the front
the front
the back
the back - pardon the stray thread there at the bottom... oops
close-up
all up close and personal

I guess all in all I'm in decent shape. And most importantly, I'm doing it, practicing and improving my skills. I'm so glad that the next block is wiggles, but no circles.

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block 2 piecedNever mind that I haven't quilted the three versions of block one yet (I do have them pieced)... I got block 2 pieced this week.  My goal is to quilt the first three before doing this one and then stay caught up.  I'm enjoying Leah Day's tips and reminders about things I may have forgotten.  The biggest difference to my normal system is that I've shortened my stitch length and I'm pressing my seams open.  I can see how this will benefit me in the quilting stage (though as I've said, I haven't actually quilted any of my blocks yet).

backside of Block 2
backside of Block 2