Cindy Grisdela ~ art quilter

After several false starts, this is my quilt in progress for the QAWM – Quilt Along with Melody challenge.  I used scraps of the bright novelty fabrics I’ve been collecting for some time–bits and pieces left over from other projects. I made wonky log cabin blocks with black and white centers, then cut them in half and shuffled them. When I laid the quilt out with just these blocks, it was too busy, so I used some of my black and white scraps to make half-square triangles for sashing and borders. It seems counterintuitive, but the busy triangles actually seem to give the eye a place to rest.  I think I’m going to use up some more of the bright scraps and make a piano key border out of irregular strips, but I couldn’t wait to share my progress! Hopefully I’ll be able to post the finished top by the end of the month.

Visit Melody’s blog to learn more about the challenge and see the progress of others taking the challenge.

I found that the blocks I was working on for the Quilt-Along-With-Melody challenge were too regular and predictable for me, so I’ve decided to take another route.

I cut 4.5″ squares of black and white fabrics and dumped out all the scraps I’ve been saving from the bright novelty prints I initially said I wanted to put a dent in for this project. I’m using the scraps to make log cabin blocks with irregular strips. I have 12 blocks going and I’m chain-piecing the blocks, picking up random strips and adding them as I go along. When the blocks are finished, I plan to cut them either in half or in quarters and mix them up. Then I’ll sew the blocks back together.

This is much more “me” and I’m happy with it. I was inspired by a new book, Freddy & Gwen Collaborate Again, by Gwen Marston and Freddie Moran. So I’ve been furiously sewing log cabins in between bouts of shoveling snow, which I hope is over now. Working with these bright blocks is good medicine when it’s so wintry outside.

Visit www.fibermania.blogspot.com to see Melody’s progress and check out how others are interpreting the challenge.

These are my first attempts at the QAWM project – better known as Quilt Along With Melody. At the beginning of the week, Melody issued a challenge on her blog to make simple blocks during February to use up fabric you had laying around. These are novelty prints that I’ve had for a while, but I’m using more batiks and hand-dyed fabrics now, so it seemed like a good idea to use them for something.

I’ve learned something about myself with this project. It’s hard for me to cut up fabric and make blocks without knowing what they’re going to be!

The first two blocks I made were two variations on the pink, green and multi-polka dot blocks. I liked them so much I cut them up and put them into a setting that I think will end up being a pillow. I used up a little bit of fabric on those, but making them into something right away wasn’t the point. So I went back and just started making blocks willy-nilly. And it was hard! I kept thinking about what they wanted to BE. I think this is a good exercise for me to help me loosen up my need to control my designs.

I’m not really happy with the 9 large blocks-they seem too disjointed and well–large. So I’m going to make some more blocks and maybe cut them into smaller blocks like I did with the first set to see if smaller blocks are more appealing to me. Maybe there’s a reason I don’t use these fabrics much any more! I view this project as something to have fun with, not necessarily to come up with a finished product.

Anyway–thanks Melody for the challenge! Click on the link above to read more about the project and see Melody’s progress.

Melody Johnson has challenged readers of her blog to a great stash busting project. Use a simple block she designed to make as many blocks as you can during the month of February with only fabrics on hand in your baskets, in my case.  I chose to use these bright novelty fabrics that I’ve been collecting for years. I used them to make quilts for the babies and children in my life–but time marches on and those babies and children are just about grown up now. So this sounds like a fun way to make something out of these fabrics and free up some basket space in the process for new fabrics. Thanks Melody! Click on the link above to visit her blog and read more about the project.