Even though I haven't been showing any sewing, I have been productively engaged in quilt making.

Some time ago, I began piecing quilt blocks from the Craftsy 2012 Block of the Month.  It's a free course taught by Amy Gibson of Stitchery, Dickery, Dock, and I learned a number of new-to-me techniques.  I have decided I much prefer watching videos showing how to construct something and then referring to directions for specifics.  I guess that means I'm primarily a visual learner.  Anyone else like me out there?

My daughter held up the quilt top but my phone was slow to take the pictures.  After several tries, I actually got one of the whole quilt held up straight, but I much preferred this one.

Missouri Star Quilt Company had directions for an inside out block and I had the plastic template so I tried this too.  It isn't quilted yet but I found the dark purple outside fabric at JoAnn Fabrics so that will be the back and binding. 

Originally I planned to donate this quilt to Camp Acheaway for youthful arthritis sufferers, but I kept thinking of someone as I made it so I suspect it will eventually make its way to her.  Instead, I bought fleece on a 60% off sale at JoAnn's for fleece blankets to donate:

I didn't take a finished picture but here is the raw product.  The top two fabrics were coupled together and the bottom two made the second blanket.  I love the abstract design and colors!

Learning foundation piecing

I've been a slow comer to the world of modern quilting, but Amy Gibson's Craftsy 2012 Block of the Month (BOM) quilt has roped me into the fun of it!  The class is labeled as a beginning class, and that's because Amy carefully explains how to do each step.  She shines at encouraging the viewer!  I made my first Christmas quilt from a tutorial on her blog because she made it seem so simple.  Otherwise, she teaches fairly complex skills.  I just completed the foundation piecing lesson and am getting ready to learn to make paper-piecing blocks.

The first foundation-pieced block made a square:

I love the looks of this block.  I followed her directions on this one for experience even though I had watched the next block where she showed a different technique of cutting away the foundation piece.  This block has the strings (strips) sewn directly to the foundation piece, making it a little thick.

First, I had to cut strings between 1 1/4" to 2 1/2" thick:

Yes, I had to cut some.  I think I'll try to cut strings from everything I make for now on.

This block is actually made from 4 blocks, each making one corner of the final block.  I'm sticking with the green background for now although I will also use the orange from my second block on some.  Looking ahead, I'll probably introduce one block with a blue background.  It will need to be placed at the center point on the quilt.  But that's not yet.

You can see 4 blocks laid out here for sewing: 

The next foundation-pieced string block was the Broken Spider Web.  Sounds freaky, huh?!

I think it looks like a jewel sparkling in the light!

When I sewed all 4 corners together on this one, I made sure to pin each star intersection and then eased the rest of it to fit.  The pieces are sewn on the bias so stretching is easy to do when needed (and when not!)

Back to the future!

Have I ever mentioned that I love Amy Gibson from Stitchery, Dickery, Dock?  She is so encouraging!  She's doing a Sugar Block of the Month this year, but I picked up Crafty's 2012 BOM by Amy to do earlier this year.  Can I just tell you how much fun it is?  I'm really excited because she leads the viewer through all kinds of blocks, including a few I've not had the courage to try on my own.

Amy has also published a book, The Quilt Block Cookbook, that I'd love to have! Go to her site and follow her Quilt Block Cookbook Blog Hop to see why.

That was a long preamble to say that I've finally made the third block in the Craftsy 2012 BOM.  I've been concerned because my first block was made from cool colors and my second from warm (hot) colors.  My third block, the Balkan Puzzle block, married both color schemes together.

The first one, the Asterisk block, is in cool tones; the second, the Wonky Pound Sign, is rather hot; and the bottom one is the Balkan Puzzle.  I'm very happy with it!  The bright orange is a print although that doesn't show up as well.