F2F5: June round-up

It’s the end of the month again.

We’re halfway through this latest session of F²F, and as ever, the blocks are beautiful, colourful, and for the month’s member, a surprise (if they haven’t sneaked a peek).

It was Monike’s month, and we all made her blocks in indigo with golden yellow and accents of magenta (hot pink), with an optional white background. You can see her reference image if you go to the Members & Their Colours page on the F²F blog. The block photos are in the gallery, and they’re gorgeous!

July is Robin’s turn, with a fresh and summery palette of blues and yellows as an antidote to the chilly southern hemisphere winter where she lives. This is what she had to say:

“My colours for this year are blues and yellows with a white background if needed. All shades of blue from light to darkest navy. The yellow can be pale through to mustard and gold like sunflowers. Fabrics can have blue and yellow in the same fabric or be just blue, yellow or white.”

If you’re new to this blog and don’t know anything about F²F, do head over to the dedicated F2F blog and read all about it. The first ever session can be found on this blog, but for subsequent years I set F²F up with its own blog due to the image-heavy nature of the work. You’ll find a rich, varied and vibrant source of inspiration in all the blocks shown in the galleries for the various years. Enjoy!

July’s going to be a month of summer skies and sunflowers 🙂 …

 

Back from outer space

I know, I know, it’s been too quiet around here.

In my defence, I’ve had a pretty foul week. I’ve had to wait for blood test results to see if I had a familial auto-immune disease. Despite having most of the symptoms, it appears from the blood tests – finally – that I don’t. Which is great, but still doesn’t explain the symptoms. Never mind. Life goes on and my sewing mojo is back now that the doom hanging over my head has been removed. I have recovered my equilibrium and my optimism, and I’m back at it.

In token of which, the second Sugar Sprinkles pillowcase front is finished. Completely different, a bit more colour, and patterned fabrics, but still wonky-ish. I just couldn’t go past all those lovely bright colours and splashy prints. The greys are mostly a bit darker, too. The Husband and I can fight over which one we want when the time comes. He thinks they both look like TV test patterns. That’s a brilliant name for a quilt, and I may still need to change Sugar Sprinkles to Test Pattern…  Full credit to the Husband of Chiconia if it happens!

Now to sandwich and quilt these panels, make backs and assemble them. But there’s no rush; my F²F turn doesn’t come till August, and I still have my own blocks to make for that.

Now, what shall I make next…?

F2F5: May round-up

Where is the time going? Time for our monthly round-up again.

And again, all the ladies have come in on time with their blocks. I wonder if that’ll all change once we’re allowed to venture out to eat, shop, work, visit and holiday? I won’t mind too much, as it’ll mean we’re slowly returning to the world we all know. This time out has been an interesting period of self-discovery and creativity for many of us. For others, it has been hard and stressful, and for them, I am glad we are moving towards a degree of normality.

It was Susan’s month, and as in previous F²F sessions, she is making use of her blocks to construct American Hero Quilts. It’s safe now for her to go and look in the gallery to see what she has to work with, and I think she’s going to be pleasantly surprised!

Not surprisingly, her colours were red, white and blue, in any combination except red/blue only. Three colours I suspect most of us have in our stashes most of the time!

June is Monike’s month. This is the first year she has joined us, and I hope it’s being an enjoyable experience! I’ve loved seeing the photos of her original and creative blocks coming in. She has asked for blocks in indigo prints with golden yellow and accents of magenta (hot pink), with an optional white background. You can see her reference image if you go to the Members & Their Colours page on the F2F blog.

If you’re new to this blog and don’t know anything about F²F, do head over to the dedicated F2F blog and read all about it. The first ever session can be found on this blog, but for subsequent years I set F²F up with its own blog due to the image-heavy nature of the work. You’ll find a rich, varied and vibrant source of inspiration in all the blocks shown in the galleries for the various years. Enjoy!

I like the summery colours we’ll be using this June…

 

F2F5: April round-up

Done with the third month already…

Well, all this staying safely at home business has certainly made getting our April blocks done a bit easier, if the photos are anything to go by. I had the last ones in days before the end of the month! It’s good to have a positive outcome from the coronavirus restrictions, don’t you think?

And what a lovely lot we have again. Lynn, you’re safe to go and look in the gallery if you want to, as your ‘peacock parade’ of gorgeous blocks is all there.

Lynn’s colours were jewel-toned peacock shades, and once again, there are some very interesting block choices. It’s going to make a spectacular quilt – or quilts!

May is Susan’s month. We are asked for blocks in red, white and blue, or blue and white, or red and white. Plenty of choice there, and for most of us, it will be easy for us to find what we need in our stashes.

If you’re new to this blog and don’t know anything about F²F, do head over to the dedicated F2F blog and read all about it. The first ever session can be found on this blog, but for subsequent years I set F²F up with its own blog due to the image-heavy nature of the work. You’ll find a rich, varied and vibrant source of inspiration in all the blocks shown in the galleries for the various years. Enjoy!

So, let’s show some patriotic colours in May.

 

F²F: different times, different ways

Sometimes, you have to be adaptable.

One of the fundamental ideas behind F²F is that there should be an element of surprise. Each member is assigned a month, and for the duration of that month they don’t visit the F²F gallery to see the blocks accumulating there, and the other members don’t post about their blocks until they know they’ve arrived safely at their destination. When the blocks arrive, they’re a surprise. It’s all part of the fun.

That isn’t going to work now. For safety’s sake, we’ve suspended the mailing of blocks for the time being. That being so, it’s unfair on everyone to prevent the makers from posting, and making the receivers wait for months to see what they’re going to get, whilst somehow, magically, avoiding their own blocks in the gallery. So for now, If you’ve made blocks for a member, you can post about them at the end of that month, on the last day or the first few days of the next.

And so, without further ado, here are some F²F blocks for you to enjoy.

Firstly, February’s blocks for Tracy:

And then March’s blocks for Sue:

We’re currently in the process of making April’s blocks for Lynn, so you can look forward to those at the end of this month.

Not all the F²F members are bloggers, and not everyone will want to post about their blocks. For a view of the full range, go to the gallery. You’ll see everything produced so far in this session, plus the galleries for the past two sessions. That’s a lot of colour and inspiration.

I’ll be doing the usual end of month round up on the last day of April, but this time I might post some images too!

F2F5: March round-up

And that’s our second month done and dusted..

By now, the whole world is watching the spread of coronavirus, so it won’t have come as much surprise to hear that mailing our F²F blocks has been suspended indefinitely to protect those of us for whom a trip to the post office is not a good idea. Sadly, this means that for most of us, receiving our squishies will just have to wait until it’s safe to venture out again. However, all the photos will go up in the gallery for each month; those for March are all up in the gallery, and they’re a lovely lot

Sue went with shades of brown from ecru to milk chocolate and true blue from palest to indigo, and there are some very interesting block choices there. It seems that a lot of us have picked up on her current interest in flying geese!

April is Lynn’s month. She is going for colours out of her normal comfort zone, rich peacock shades: royal blue or purple, plus emerald green and gold. Personally, I think this is going to be fun! Get over to the F²F blog to look at her colour references – I’ll be amazed if you don’t find inspiration in those images.

If you’re new to this blog and don’t know anything about F²F, do head over to the dedicated F2F blog and read all about it. The first ever session can be found on this blog, but for subsequent years I set F²F up with its own blog due to the image-heavy nature of the work. You’ll find a rich, varied and vibrant source of inspiration in all the blocks shown in the galleries for the various years. Enjoy!

And now, let the peacocks of April commence.

 

F2F5: February round-up

We’ve successfully completed our first month.

All of February’s blocks are on their way to Tracy, and all the photos are up in the gallery barring one set, which is delayed by a sad life-event and will follow in due course.

Tracy went with the Christmas colours of red and green with a cream background, and judging from the results, she’s going to have a memorable Christmas quilt from the results.

March is Sue’s month. She’s chosen shades of true blue from palest to indigo, paired with browns from ecru to milk chocolate. A really pretty combination, and as of today, there are already two sets of blocks in the gallery, so Sue, time to start avoiding it!

If you’re new to this block and don’t know anything about F2F, do head over to the F2F blog and read all about it. The first session can be found on this block, but for subsequent years I set up F2F with its own blog due to the image-heavy nature of the work. You’ll find a rich, varied and vibrant source of inspiration in all the blocks shown in the galleries for the various years. Enjoy!

Now, on with March!

 

Heaven for Beginners #4: All done – and Finish #4!

I’ve been plugging away at the assembly, to some effect.

The Husband’s fingers just visible. Too much rain for outdoor photography…

It’s all together. Actually, doing it in small amounts, in many sessions is quite effective. It’s repetitive work, not terribly interesting, but requiring you to be meticulous and careful. You get bored quickly, so doing it a bit at a time means you don’t burn out and start getting careless. Work for an hour, go and do something else. Work for another hour, read your book… that sort of thing.

So, here is the completed ‘Heaven for Beginners‘ quilt*, ready for the lovely Caitlyn to take to uni. I hope it keeps her cosy and comfortable, provides napping and sleepover opportunities for friends and family, and gives years of cuddly service.

As I did on the Hatbox Quilt, I’ve made a ‘hidden’ label you can flip over to read. Not very hidden, given the fabric’s different from the rest of the backing, but still… I did a wash-test sample first, to make sure the archival-ink pen and tear-away stabiliser I wrote on will survive the washing process. All good.

Thank you again to all the F2F members who contributed blocks to last year’s session. As you can see, your hard work was not wasted!

Now, on with the next thing 🙂

 

*For the background to this name, see my earlier post.

FootSquareFreestyle: F2F5 is go!

And we have liftoff.

Entries to the 2020 FootSquare Freestyle block swap are now closed. We have a group of 10 ready to start work on 1st February, creating the latest round of beautiful blocks. For an idea of what you might be seeing, head over to the F²F blog and check out the 2020 Members and their Colours page and then have a browse around the galleries for the previous sessions to see the variety of blocks made and some of the finished quilts that emerged from them. From this session, each member will end up with 30 x foot-square (12 inch) blocks, enough to make a quilt 60 x 72 inches.

As usual, I’ll be doing an end-of-monthly ’roundup’ post for F²F on this blog, featuring a link to the currently-empty 2020 Gallery page on the F²F blog to make it easy for you to see what’s been made. Some of the members have been with F²F since its inception 5 years ago. Some are new to it this year. I hope everyone carries away great memories and beautiful quilts from the 2020 session.

In the meantime, here’s a list of members and their months:

February: Tracy Pursley, https://itsatsweetsday.blog

March: Sue Brown, http://sewingmagpie.blogspot.com

April: Lynn Hutton, https://thetialys.wordpress.com/

May: Susan Nixon, https://desertskyquilts.com/

June: Monike Hawkes-Frost

July: Robin Murphy

August: Kate Chiconi, https://talltalesfromchiconia.wordpress.com/

September: Edith Csokmay, http://ediscraftinglife.blogspot.com/

October: Margaret Creek, https://thecraftycreek.com/

November: Moira McSpadden, https://quiltedsnail.blogspot.com/

If you’re in the group and still have to get me some information, please try to do so before 1st February, to give the other members time to assemble the right fabrics.

And if you had to miss out on it this year for whatever reason, don’t worry. I’m willing to bet we’ll be doing it again!

Heaven for Beginners #1: Quilting begun

I’ve made a start.

Line 1 of 6 is sandwiched and quilted, and I’m happy with the effect. Just the usual wiggly line, but I was extra vigilant with the spray basting, the blocks are nice and flat and pucker-free, and I like the fabric I have for the backing.

I’m happy with the block layout now – a few changes since the last time I showed it, but I prefer the balance and colour progression I have now. I’m still debating the border around the outside. I think it might need one to bring the size up a bit, but adding a border in QAYG has its own technical difficulties. I’ll see how it goes.

We went out for a drive with Mouse yesterday, and had tea and scones at the Old Station Teahouse near Cape Hillsborough. I think I’ve mentioned this place before; it’s an old wooden station building, set in the middle of gorgeous tropical gardens, and among other tasty delights, their home-made scones and raspberry preserves are magnificent.

Is that my puppacino coming…?

They welcome dogs in the garden seating area, and no sooner did Mouse arrive than he was being fussed and admired and petted. Eventually, we humans were able to place our order. Mouse was not, of course, allowed any scones, but he did get his car quilt to lie on, a puppacino was ordered for him (frothed lactose-free milk), and one of the ladies brought him some doggie treats they keep for their canine guests. No, not spoiled at all….

A reminder that we are about to begin F2F once again, for the 5th year running (see my previous post). If you’re thinking about joining in, do get in touch with a comment or email me directly if you received the email I sent out about it.

Time for some more cutting. I need purple backing squares…