F2F3 Revisited

You may remember that I used a handful of my blue and white F2F3 (Footsquare Freestyle round 3) blocks in this child's quilt:

I've recently finished sewing the binding down on that one but haven't taken it's picture yet. However, as I was stitching the binding I thought about the remaining F2F3 blocks. When it was finished I dug them out and put them on the design wall just to see what was left to work with.

I played around with all 20 blocks for a while, then removed four that didn't seem to carry the story I saw developing. That left me with these:

I don't normally like to do sashing but when I accidentally laid a yellow tone on tone print over these blocks I really like the way it looked. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough of that yellow to both sash and border the planned quilt top. Nor could I find a potential border print with that yellow in it. I even went to my local quilt shop to look! Instead I came home with a light, fresh pink (with touches of orange and purple in it) for the sashing and a blue digital print for the border.

The blue border has that pink in it as well as touches of purple. Now, I'm not one for pink and blue typically but this really makes me happy. I just wish I had a better picture of it for you.

Now I'm thinking I'll make the back for this, which will finish at about 60" square, by starting with the four leftover blocks. Or maybe I'll build a whole other quilt with them, who knows? 😉

I'm so happy with this I'm Whooping it up and linking with others over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict. :-)

Setting Sail

I haven't talked much about the Footsquare Freestyle block swap this time around. Suffice to say that I asked for blocks in blues and white. You can see the blocks that were made for me and who made them over on the Footsquare blog. (My month was July, you'll need to scroll down just a little way to see them.) As per usual it's a lovely assortment of styles and techniques, and all well done. 😊

What with the hurricanes and wildfires here in the States recently I fully expect there to be a variety of quilt drives to benefit the victims on both coasts. One quilt drive I know of already is asking for bed size quilts, queen and king size. I can't help with that in spite of having a long arm quilter in house. But I can make individual blocks and I can make quilts for kids or for use on a couch! To that end I've pulled out my Footsquare Freestyle blocks to play with.

A little while after my blocks came rolling in I found yardage of beach-themed panels in blue and white. Of course I didn't think to take a picture of the fabric before I cut it up. However, one of the panels has been the catalyst for this new project.

I'm thinking of a kid's quilt. This was also an excuse to use at least a few of the many Ship blocks I've made out of scraps. Plus that Tall Ship I made for myself as part of F2F3!

I'll be shooting for a quilt in the range of 48" x 60." Those little ships will likely become alternate blocks between the 12" blocks to stretch 36" into 48." I haven't sorted out the length yet. Four rows of 12" each plus some sashing no doubt.

Today I made some additional boats to reinforce the sailing theme.

Of course I couldn't resist including a pirate ship!

Whether it ends up in the quilt remains to be seen. 😉

Squirrel Update

I've been industriously working away on blocks for this month's recipient in the Footsquare Freestyle block swap. I can't show you those blocks yet - come to think of it, have I shown any of the blocks I've made this time around? We're not supposed to show what we've made until we know the recipient has received her blocks in order to maintain the surprise value. I suspect between one thing and another I've just clean forgotten to share. In any event, you can see all the blocks everyone has made so far by checking out the 2018/2019 F2F gallery page here. 😊

Now about those squirrels: I thought I would use the Hourglass blocks and the families of flying geese I introduced in this post as leaders and enders. The flying geese work well in that capacity as long as I don't get carried away and sew them all up at once. The Hourglasses have turned out to be a little problematic however. I'm using the old fashioned method for making the blocks wherein you cut big squares and quarter them on the diagonals. It's the method I learned first and am most comfortable with. It allows me the freedom I want for mixing prints. However, I've had to take a couple of sub-units apart and resew them because I sewed down the wrong side of the triangles when I lost track of what I was doing. These are the Hourglasses I've made most recently:

I haven't a clue how many I have so far. Suffice to say there aren't nearly enough for a whole quilt yet.

There are only a handful of geese to share too.

One of these days when my head is working properly I'll try to figure out how many sets of four geese and how many mere pairs I need to make my version of the Remixed Geese quilt.

I've also sewn up a couple more of the Turkey Track blocks I was making last year (also known as Cross and Crown).

Now I have 42 blocks, which is enough for a decent size quilt. Unfortunately, it practically requires sashing and I haven't quite wrapped my mind around that step yet. The biggest stumbling block is what to do about cornerstones, if any. Now that I think about it, I may just leave them out! That would at least speed up the piecing process. Hmm...

Two From Australia

The last of the Footsquare Freestyle blocks that have been made for me have arrived! As it happens, both sets hail from southern Australia.

These are from Robin. She got a little excited and made four blocks instead of just three!

Nanette made these:

I was delighted to see the House block. I almost made one for myself. Now I have a hedgehog and a vase of flowers, a tall ship and a house among all the other blocks. I have one more block to make for myself (although since Robin made four I guess I don't really have to!). I haven't a clue yet as to how I might set these. They could all go into one quilt or I might be able to get two smaller quilts out of them. And, of course, if I make one or more blocks on my own I'll have that much more to work with!

In the meantime, Claire has asked for blocks in turquoise, gray, and white with black prints.

Turquoise is a little tricky since it's a blend of green and blue. It could look more green or more blue depending on what's next to it. I've already made (and just mailed today) three blocks for Claire. I hope they fit in with her idea of turquoise. You'll have to wait to see what they are though!

F2F3 Update

July has been my month to receive blocks in my chosen color palette made by the other participants in the Footsquare Freestyle block swap. I've had blocks from South Dakota and two sets from France so far. The most recent blocks to arrive have come from Esther in The Netherlands Kate in Australia. Every single block is a delight. 😊

These are the blocks Esther made:

And these are the ones from Kate:

Those are "pied geese" according to Kate. 😉 I applaud her courage in attempting that pickle dish. 

I made one more block for myself yesterday. I think I was influenced by the sailboat print Lynn used in the blocks she made for me.

I found this pattern for a tall ship in a magazine I've held onto from the early 1990's. I've been wanting to try it for all these years. Now I only have one more block to make for myself. Meanwhile, here's a shot of all the blocks that have been delivered to me so far:

There are only three more sets of three to come and then I can start playing around with how to arrange them!

Jackpot in the Mailbox!

It's been a tough week. So all the goodies I found in our mailbox yesterday was a definite pick-me-up. 💖

First there were the blocks from Claire for the current Footsquare Freestyle block swap.

On the top left is Checkmate, the one below is is called Jayhawks, and the one on the right is Folded Corners. They are all wonderful. As much as I enjoy the blocks I also enjoy the cards that are sent along with them. This is the one from Claire who keeps chickens:

Claire lives in France. So does Lynn, who sent me these blocks for F2F3.

I'm delighted to have one of the hedgehogs she's been making from Elizabeth Hartman's Fancy Forest. I'm pretty impressed with the banded star too. Lynn included scraps from the prints she used and some buttons that will be fun to incorporate in something someday. Fabulous card and envelope!

In addition to the two packages from France there was my monthly shipment of hand dyed floss from Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe. Another half dozen gorgeous colors!

There's still time for you to get in on Nancy's Christmas in July give aways. You could win a luscious bundle of floss to stitch with - or simply fondle, as I often do. 😉

Blue and White and a Tiny Bit of Yellow

I hope my readers in the US had a safe and happy Independence Day. For that matter, I hope our Canadian friends had a good Canada Day on the first of July! We have folks in the neighborhood now who are, apparently, very into setting off fireworks. Not only have I had a nervous dog in my lap for two days straight, when I tried to coax her to go outside to do her business I was almost knocked over by the smoke in the air. Needless to say, I'm suffering the usual effects. 😒 We're not out of the woods yet either. The law may say fireworks only on the Fourth but inevitably there will be those who feel the need to use up any leftovers in the days afterward. {sigh}

On a much happier note, I've received the first set of blocks for my turn in the F2F3 (Footsquare Freestyle round 3) block swap. These are from Kathy in South Dakota:

They are crisp and gorgeous! I asked for blocks in blues on white. This is my inspiration photo:

Kathy hit the nail on the head!

I've only made one block for myself so far.

This is a variation of a block our local guild did for a lottery draw a few months back. I took the 12" pattern and reduced it to four 6" units. Now I just have to choose two more blocks to make. 😊

While I have your attention let me show you - as best I can through a dirty kitchen window - the bouquet of roses that are blooming at the top of one of my rose bushes.

You might be able to see the lavender blooming underneath and behind the roses. Makes me smile every time I look out the window. At least, until they fade and the petals fall off!

Let the Games Begin!

I mentioned in my last post that I find the motivation of a deadline and/or making something for someone else most effective to get me cutting and sewing. So I'm delighted that Kate has taken it upon herself to host the Footsquare Freestyle block swap once again.

We started this together back in 2015 with 12 participants from across the globe. The plan was for each player to choose a color palette for her own eventual quilt, make three blocks for herself when her turn came up, and then sit back and see what everyone else creates for her. The blocks were to finish at 12" square (a square foot, get it?) but could feature any block pattern or technique of the maker's choice (that's the freestyle part). This is the quilt I built out of the blocks I received in that first swap:

My request was for blocks featuring a black and white print and any one bright color. I  made three of the rainbow blocks in the center of the quilt (and the sashing that separates the groups of blocks). It was serendipity that allowed me to arrange the other blocks in groups according to color. 😀

The second round of F2Freestyle only had nine participants. Kate set up a dedicated blog for us where we could post visual references for our color choices and keep track of whose turn it was each month. As quilts are assembled pictures of the fruits of our labors are also posted. This is what I made out of the blocks I received in round two:

And now we're ready to kick off round three. We have nine participants again so we'll be making blocks for each other for the next nine months. It took me a good while to firm up a decision about my color palette this time. There are so many wonderful possibilities!

This was a strong contender.

But in the end I've decided to simply ask for blocks that reflect a timeless blue and white color scheme.

My name was pulled for the month of July. First up, for June, is Lynn. She has asked for a muted palette of beige or cream, grays, and faded pink.

That will be a fun challenge! 😊