Curtain down: Foot²Freestyle draws to a close

For the past 21 months, an unusual swap bee has been quietly unfolding.

It hasn’t been well known or publicised at all, but it has produced some extraordinary creativity, exciting use of colour, and inspiration to try our hands at something a bit different. Foot²Freestyle, or F²F as it has been familiarly known, required its members to produce three foot² (12×12 inch) blocks each month, in the recipient’s designated colours, but in any design, hence the Freestyle. Each member took it in turn to receive the month’s blocks, and while the rest of us could see and enjoy the blocks we were making in the F²F and then the F²F² galleries, the recipient stayed away, to enjoy the surprise when opening her envelopes. After the first 12 months, there was sufficient interest in the process to go again, with some new and some existing members from the first round.

The result is a pair of block galleries of great beauty and variety, a source of inspiration and ideas for future quilts for all of us. If you haven’t been following F²F up to this point, I encourage you to go and take a look, using the links in the previous paragraph and scrolling down month by month to see what everyone made. The galleries also show some finished quilts, demonstrating the amazing results a collaboration of creativity can produce. I also hope that members who complete their quilts at some future stage will let me have photos so that they can be added to the roll of honour.

To all those who have participated in either or both sessions, Sue and I as the originators of this block swap would like to extend our thanks and very best wishes for the future. We have greatly enjoyed working with you all, and hope that we will have an opportunity to renew that pleasure at some future stage.

Until we meet again around the F²F campfire, happy sewing, may your creative juices never run low, and see you on the other side of several fun new projects!

 

Please note that I am on the road most of 2 and 3 March, and may not be able to respond promptly to your comments or messages. I will do my best to catch up quickly!

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F²F² January round up

Slowly we are coming to the end of F²F².

There’s a really beautiful array of blocks for Esther’s magenta/ green/cream colour choice in the gallery. It’s an unusual and sophisticated combination of shades and works brilliantly, so I think the finished quilt is going to be outstanding. Esther has not made her own blocks for this yet, I suspect she’s waiting to see all the others before she decides, and I believe they’re all in now.

February is Claire’s month. She’s been the first to mail her blocks almost every month, they’ve all been beautiful, and she’s waited patiently for her turn. Finally, it’s time! She’s chosen a bright and happy combination of blue, green and orange, based on what is for me a very familiar image – Australian rainbow lorikeets 🙂

As you’ll remember, this month is the last of the second F²F series – Sue and I are taking a break to concentrate on other things. If there’s anyone who’d like to carry on and take up the reins of organising and maintaining this block swap, just leave a comment or contact me by email. We may bring it back at some future stage, as it has been both fun and helpful in encouraging inexperienced quilters to try new ideas, blocks and processes. I’ve learned a lot, and have made new friends I’d never have met without it.

To any F²F-ers out there who are looking at their blocks and thinking about what to make, do make a start! I’m still hoping to put a finished quilt for all our members in the gallery one day… 

F²F² January progress report

I know, I know, I’m very late with the report this month!

Esther’s unusual and beautiful colour combination of hot pink/magenta, muted dark green and grey on a cream or white background is producing some really beautiful blocks, some of which are already up in the Gallery.  To see her original colour inspiration, head over to the Members & Colours page, where we’ve all shown images that have inspired our colour choices. It’s been a busy month for all of us, catching up on the backlog after Christmas, but we’re currently up to date, and looking good!

I will be travelling at the end of next month, when the final F²F² round up is due, so I’m giving you advance notice that the final report will be a few days late. It’ll give us all time to get our final blocks completed in good order as we bid a fond farewell to Foot²Freestyle.

I hope those of you in the Northern Hemisphere are staying safe and warm this winter, while those of us Down Under are sweltering in a long and tiring heatwave of 30°- 45°C (85° – 113°F).  I wonder if there’s any normal weather anywhere in the world right now!

See you at the end of the month with the January round up.

 

F²F² December round up

Already the end of the year!  Where does the time go?

Well, everyone has had a lot of fun with Gun’s pink, blue and yellow colour scheme. There are some really gorgeous blocks over in the gallery. Due to the extra busyness of the season, we are still awaiting two sets of blocks, but I hope they will be added to the line up soon.

January is Esther’s turn, and she’s chosen hot pink/magenta, muted dark green and grey on a white or cream background. She also prefers fabrics that read as solids or have small scale patterns. She’s provided a lovely photo as colour reference, so take a look at the Members’ colour page to see what she’s thinking. And then after Esther, it’ll be time for Claire’s turn, and something completely different! 

At this turn of the year, it seems an appropriate time to tell you that this is the final F²F Sue and I will be running. We have other interests and goals to pursue, and the admin can be a little time-consuming. I have enjoyed it enormously, but now I want to turn my attention elsewhere. If any of the existing members wishes to continue, or indeed, administer the project, I will be delighted to turn it over to them, including administration of the Footsquare Freestyle blog, so let me know if you fancy a turn at the helm!

A happy New Year to you all 🙂

 

 

F²F² December progress report

A bit late this month, I’m sorry about that!

So far, we have six of the 9 sets of blocks done, and they’re looking gorgeous! Gun’s colour choice of bright pink, blue and yellow is producing some really lovely combinations of shapes and colours, and I think her final quilt should be beautifully fresh and happy.

I’m delighted this morning myself, because my last set of blocks, which came from Esther in the Netherlands, arrived this morning to complete the set.  Making up my F²F² quilt is going to be high on the priority list for next year.

Do hop over to the gallery page and see what has been done so far 🙂

F²F² November round up

Sorry I’m late with this, but I had something urgent and unplanned to do for the last two days, and there was no opportunity to get this post written, let alone published!

So, November is all but done. All the blocks barring one set are made, and if not yet received, then at least in transit. Esther is having a struggle to find sewing time and space; she has sold her apartment and is camping with her family till her new home is ready. I imagine her sewing things are mostly packed away and she has not much space to work in, hence the understandable delay with her blocks. The blocks that have already been completed are there in the gallery; they’re lovely, and worth a visit.

December is Gun’s month. She has chosen pink, yellow and blue, in vivid, bright shades – hop over and take a look at her inspiration photo on the Members page, and you’ll see how harmoniously they work together. I definitely need to go and buy more yellow!

Just to remind everyone that the Christmas season will mean mail takes longer than usual.

F²F² November progress report

So far so good!  F²F² for November is coming along well.

Susan’s lovely colour choice of aqua and lilac on cream has proved to be very popular, and the fabrics selected and blocks up in the gallery so far this month are just gorgeous – I especially like Lynn’s contribution, but you’ll have to go over there to see what I mean. Just click on the link above and scroll down right to the end for the most recent additions.

I’m not sure where most of November got to, myself. I haven’t started sewing Susan’s blocks, although I have the fabrics picked out. Of course, we did go away a couple of times, which will probably explain the layer of dust on my work table… Anyway, I’d better get cracking, or it’ll be December before I send my blocks out. Too embarrassing!

Can’t wait to see what the others are going to make 🙂