Christmas Chaos ... All Twelve Blocks!!

Christmas Potpourri Block 12

  Christmas Potpourri - All Twelve Blocks

Wow!  Words escape me ... busy, crazy, scary....

The Christmas Potpourri quilt top blocks are about done.  The are two borders -- first a scrappy sawtooth border, then a scrappy block border.  The sawtooth border was designed to be part of the block construction but I wanted to wait until all the blocks were stitched so that there would be more variety in the placement of the half-square triangles.

Chaos Continues with Block 11

Christmas Chaos - Block 11

This is block 11 from the Christmas Potpourri BOM.  It is the only block in this project that I have had serious problems putting together -- in fact, in 15 years of quilt making this block was the most trouble.  There is a minor error in the directions but other than that, I'm not sure what went wrong.  The little log cabin should be the center of a star but after three attempts I gave in to the scrap bag.  Even then, it didn't go as I had envisioned.  

This is perfect example of my favorite quilting/crafting blurb -- finished is better than perfect.... block 11 is finished!!

Block 6 of Christmas Potpourri

Another block for the Christmas Potpourri quilt!  This is block 6 and it went together beautifully.  I'm a happy camper and am off to get the fabrics ready for block 7.

Since the fabrics are mostly cut into rectangles that are 6" by 10", I don't pre-wash.  I pre-rinse in the sink, roll in a towel, dry and then use magic sizing when I press.  The debate about pre-washing continues and I will put in my opinion ---

This project is a perfect example of why I pre-treat my quilt fabric.  There are at least 12 fabrics that have been stacked and cut the same size for each block.  After a nice rinse, they are each a different size and / or shape.  Some shrink in wierd ways, some turn into parallelograms.  I prefer to have this happen before the quilt is constructed.  If you like to steam while piecing that can also cause a shift in the fabric if it has not been pre-treated.

I was once told by someone who had worked in the garment district in NYC that when you see how the fabrics are wound on the bolts it is no wonder that they become stretched and misshaped.  A prewash -- or even a quick spray with water -- helps them bounce back to their original shape.

Christmas Potpourri BOM Quilt Block 4

Today I finished block 4 of the Christmas Block of the Month Quilt.  I'm a little distracted this time of the year and managed to make one sewing mistake that I was not willing to change.  The star in the bottom right should be dark with a light background -- oops!  Not changing it.

Christmas Potpourri Quilt - Block 3

Block Three of Christmas Potpourri

Finding time to sew or stitch during November and December is a challenge.  This is block 3 of the Christmas Potpourri Quilt -- the purple is a little funky but -- what the heck!  I have made some of the half-square triangles for the border with the same fabric so I might be able to get a little balance.

 

Christmas Potpourri BOM - Block 2

This is block two of the current Christmas BOM -- in progress.  I'm still auditioning fabrics and blocks for placement positions but this should be pretty close to the finished block.

I added a new gadget to my crafting room.  This past week I bought a Pressing Betty.  I've only used it for a couple of days and I'm not sure if I like it or not -- change is hard!  A couple more weeks and I hope that I will have used it enough for a real opinion.

Christmas Potpourri BOM - Block One

This is the first block for the Christmas BOM Quilt -- the finished size for each block is 18" - the block is currently at 16".  The block construction is rather interesting, the inner border of half-square triangles is actually designed as part of each of the 10 outer blocks.   I made the first set of  hs triangles but have decided to wait until all the blocks are complete to decide how the position the colors.