Another week with a fair amount of creative playtime, but very little blogging. I feel a little guilty about not blogging more during the week, but in my defense I work via computer all day. By evening I often have computer overload and don't even want to read blogs and personal email! I must do more to get blogs pre-written over the weekend, but in the meantime, I always enjoy Saturday because there's time for quilts AND blogging!
My project this week was to create another Carpenter's Wheel block using HSTs. I wanted the block to be scrappy, so it took a little planning to get the right combination of fabrics in the half-square triangles. I wrote down my steps as I went, but what I really need is a schematic to keep all the different HST combos straight. I'm very pleased with the result and will be using this process to make additional Carpenter's Wheel blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I used 2 1/2" strips and the Easy Angle ruler; the block finishes at 16".
Just for comparison, here are the two Carpenter's Wheel blocks together. The top version uses diamonds and requires lots of separate seams for all the set-in squares (aka Y seams). The bottom version uses half-square triangles (HSTs) to create the illusion of diamonds. Both techniques require careful cutting and precise piecing. I found the HST version to be more streamlined, i.e. rotary cutter and sewing machine friendly!
I also took advantage of the last days of the month to create a few more blue RSC blocks. On top, another 16 patch, as I had the cut squares on hand and 16 patches are such great pattern builders. Center - another liberated star block; not quite as wonky as I'd like, but still a great scrap-buster. Bottom: the last Rainbow Sampler block for January, a 36 patch.
Getting a head start on February, I couldn't resist trying the first Rainbow Sampler block for February: Baby Nines. Baby Nines is right, those 9 patch blocks are made with 1" strips! It was a fun challenge, but I don't think I want to make any more. The aggravation is not so much in using small pieces, but in having to be accurate. Crumb piecing and wonky log cabins with small pieces are a little easier, because accuracy is not part of the equation!
I've pulled out the pink crumbs and some small, folded scraps, but I don't have a lot of pink scraps to draw on this month. That's OK, there's lots of pink fabric in the stash, so I guess I'll be making scraps this month!
There will be lots more pink inspiration from the other Rainbow Scrappers, so please join me in stopping by Angela's blog to see what everyone is up to!
