Practising Proper Patchwork

Back so soon I hear you say, and it's not even March! Goodness me.

Thank you for the lovely comments on my last post - unfortunately several commentators (?) is that the right word, are no-reply bloggers which means I can't reply and that makes me a bit sad. I like to reply when someone takes the trouble to leave a comment. Especially these days as comments are as rare as hen's teeth.

So if you have commented here and haven't had a reply from me, why don't you have a look at this blog post and check out your settings.

Meanwhile, I have been in a bit of a patchwork mood this last couple of weeks. I spotted a post on Leanne's blog recently telling us about the Bella Skill Builder BOM. I was drawn immediately to the calm, uncluttered appearance of the quilt and it peaked my interest. The patterns will be published monthly on the Fat Quarter Shop's blog, free. The idea is to make the quilt from a palette of Bella solids.
Despite teaching P&Q for 12 years, I have never deluded myself that I am an expert and believe we all have skills to be learned.
So I have dived in but of course have  deviated slightly by deciding to finally start using my horde of shirt fabrics, mainly plain blues and whites. Along the way I will be happy to add from my regular stash of solids and I might even buy some if I have to. The first block was a kaleidoscope, made from a template, or a purchased ruler, but I opted to make a card template which worked fine. (I have always avoided template blocks so this was my first wee challenge). And I have to say I was pleased with the results of my blocks. I took a few progress shots along the way. I did go against the instructions in a couple of places when I decided to press two seams open, deciding that this would make the final seam less bulky.

More proper patchwork in my next post - I'm on a bit of a roll!