Block 17 Nearly Insane

This block took me a while. Notice the Rooster and hen in the centre block.
Cyndi I just had to have a play with those gorgeous Trade Winds fabrics. Added to my challenge getting all the colours in the right place :-)
Have a great Week all  Cheers Lynne

Block #18 - Ann

The blog has been quiet for a while, but I've been working on this single block for the last two months, so had nothing to show until now. It wasn't until today when I was finishing this up that I checked the intro in the book to see if this was THE block, and it is: 229 pieces, the most of any of the blocks. It is paper pieced, and far from perfect. I was thankful that I had taken a paper-pieced miniature class a couple of years ago, as I needed all of those techniques on this one. Still needs to be trimmed and squared up, but I am so happy to be done with it!

Block 6 – Sue

Have managed to finish  Block # 6

 

DONE! Here is BLOCK 17

What a mission this one was. It has taken me on and off a couple of days to get it right. ( or as near as)

I think I went about the piecing in the wrong order, then ended up with a bit of a mess. Thank goodness its done.

Block 8 Revisited! - Sue

I decided the whole block was too light in colour, so I undid the outer border and remade it. I think it looks alot better.

                                                      Block 15
I enjoyed this one, as it was easy. The main thing for me is to get the colours right. I have so many Civil War style fabrics, but have to make sure the blocks are going to go together. I may have to remake block 1 and 2??
 



                                                              Block 9

I looks a little crooked on the outer corners but it will be fine when its sewn in the quilt. I should have starched the block before scanning!

I nearly Forgot To Add These Blocks

After looking at all the lovely blocks from every-one I noticed although I had added some to my blog susannasquilts I had forgotten to add them to the Nearly Insane Blog, so here goes.

Block # 3   Block # 5             Block # 10

 

and Block # 11

  They certainly are addictive and once my Christmas gifty stuff is made I will get back to them in the holidays.

The lovely thing about after Christmas is that DH closes the office for 4 whole weeks. Wippee!! 4 weeks of no office work /phones.

Cheers for now

Sue

Block 19 - Tazzie

Here is my block 19. I made it a little differently to the one in the book, instead of cutting out individual squares, I made the ones that were adjacent and the same colour into rectangles. Hmmm ... did that make any sense? Well, I'm sure the picture tells the story :-)

Sixty four blocks checked off the list, it really feels like I'm getting somewhere now!

Blocks 20 & 30 - Tazzie

My goodness I was glad over the past 24 hours to have a little time to work on my Nearly Insane blocks - my own stitching time has been scarce lately.

This is my block 20 - I have skipped over 19 (I'm not sure why) and gone directly to this one. The little green triangles in the centre were cut-offs from the braids I pieced the other day. Feels so virtuous to use such tiny scraps.

And here is block 30. I really enjoyed this one. The pink is a Dear Jane print, and this is it's first appearance in my quilt. I will definitely use it again, it's very cute. I think my block count is 62 now. Slowly, slowly I'm getting there.

Has anyone else been working on their blocks? Don't be shy, we'd love to see them!

Block 18 - Tazzie

Can you imagine how thrilled I am to finally finish this block? It was tackled in spurts over four days. Honestly, it was too fiddly just to crank it out all at once - all 229 pieces.

You can see the little pins all around the place - I had to pin it to my ironing board once again to get it to stay flat enough to photograph.

I'm not sure which block I'll work on next, but which ever it is, it'll feel like a breeze after this one!

(Almost There) Block 18 - Tazzie

Here's where I'm up to with my block 18 - it's currently sized 5 1/2" square. I just have the final round of half square triangles etc. to add all around the edge. It'll add another inch to the finished size of the block - and add 84 to the count of pieces in the block.

I had to pin the block to my ironing board to get it to sit flat as there are so many seams in the back. I can't even imagine what it will be like to quilt!

Really though, this block isn't hard as such - it's just really tedious, and I seem to remember Barbara having the same sentiment. Each row has so many pieces making up such a small section that they seem to take forever. And something I did notice is that in the line drawing, some of the triangles are facing the wrong way, even compared to the block the author made up. I've attempted to remedy this in my block.

Hopefully I'll have this block finished by the end of today - red and green half square triangles and yellow squares await!

(Start of) Block 18 - Tazzie

I've just started block 18 - and here's where I'm up to. I'll need some real fortitude to tackle the rest of it - this is where the fun will begin. I'll keep you posted.

And in other news - a big welcome to our newest member - Kathryn (kcaie). I hope you have fun on your NI journey, and look forward to you sharing your blocks with us.

Block 16 - Tazzie

As promised, here is my block 16. I've used up some of my scraps and little pieces for this block - and I have so many to use!

I've made block 1 through to 17 now, and a lot of blocks scattered through the rest of the quilt from challenges etc. The next one I should tackle is block 18, but I honestly don't think I'm ready to take that one on just yet. It's very scary looking!

Also, I have some magazine work I need to get busy on, so my NI block production may slow down for a little while. I don't think I'll be able to go cold turkey though - these blocks are entirely addictive! I'll check back in soon :-)

**Late edit: I have since changed out the blue fabric for a different one, as I found while putting a row together, that the block diagonally next to it had the very same fabric in it.**

Block 17 - Tazzie

Here is a busy one - block 17 - it has 109 pieces! Once again I decided to just wing it and rotary cut and piece it, rather than foundation piece it for accuracy like I'm normally tempted to do. I'm really pleased with how it went together - I'm developing a very intimate relationship with the 1/4" seam on my sewing machine :-)

Although the corners look like they're wonky, they're not really - the sides of the block are kind of sitting up due to the large number of seams on the back (ohh, and my lack of photography skills also). This one will look just wonderful when it's in the quilt.

I think I'll tackle block 16 next, it's delightfully haphazard looking ... yes, that's it ... haphazard! :-)

Block 15 - Tazzie

Here is my block 15. Marginally easier than the last block I made, but not nearly as difficult as the block I'm making right now (block 49).

Block 15 has been a fun one to make, as most of the fabrics were stealthily given to me by my friend from the USA - Donna. She stashed a paper bag of fabric with my luggage while Linda and I were staying with her. I saw the bag, and knowing it wasn't mine, put it with Linda's luggage. She then returned it. I found it again and put it with Linda's bags. This happened a few times before they finally revealed that the bag was for me. It was so funny at the time :-)

Heading back to the sewing room now - time to battle on with the next block.

Block #20

I enjoyed this one but am cross about the middle fourpatch. I should have selected a randomly spotted fabric so that it didn't matter about the direction. Instead I chose one with lines of spots and then was not careful enough about the direction. The fourpatch is actually accurate but the 'leaning' of the spots makes it look wobbly. Oh well, another one that nobody will notice in the final quilt without a magnifying glass...

Block 12 - Tazzie

This is my block 12 - I made it up on the Wednesday before I left. It's another of the blocks that has a symmetry issue, but I like it regardless. Especially the sixteen patch in the middle - I'm quite happy with my points :-)

Today is the day a bunch of us are flying over to Paducah for the quilt show. This will be one of the quilting highlights for me.

I have grand plans to find more yellow, green and red fabric while I'm here - they're colours I lack in my stash. Of course, I'm open to bringing many other fabrics and quilt related items home with me too.

This is the last block I prepared in advance, so I'll now have to wait until I get home before I can post any more. Can't wait to see my hubby and babies - see you all after the 28th.

Block #19

Block 11 - Tazzie

Another very cute one - block 11. I made this one just before Easter, watching a cute movie with Miss Amy.

I really wanted to foundation piece it all, but puzzled over it for a little while. Then I realised that if I made up the four patch in the centre first, positioned it carefully, then I could foundation piece the balance of the block. Mind bending!

While you're reading this, according to my schedule, Linda and I are visiting with our wonderful friend Donna in Fulsom CA. I know we'll be having a blast together!

Block #18 (229 pieces)

At last, it's done. I have a few things to say about this one!

Firstly, if you start it, finish it - don't leave it for five months half done because you won't want to come back to it - ask me how I know. It is not the most difficult block in the quilt technically but the huge number of pieces just makes it so incredibly repetitive and slow to progress.

Secondly, because of the number of little triangles, it doesn't seem possible to get the colours to go symmetrically so you end up with 'odd' bits in the pattern. I did not copy hers exactly because I didn't like two consecutive sides of flying geese and then different patterns on the other two sides so I tried to make all the triangles go the way I wanted - foolish wilfulness! I've still ended up with a pattern that doesn't quite work. There are also a couple of mistakes which I will correct before I put the quilt together. If it were another block, I would just leave the errors but not this one - after all this trouble it has got to be right in the end.

Thirdly, it struck me that if I had put together 229 larger pieces I would have a complete quilt top and not a 6 inch square, which is a strange feeling.

And lastly, I just want to say that I've been seriously wondering about Salinda Rupp and her motivation for doing this. What was she thinking of? We are doing this because we see the construction of her quilt as a challenge and that's where I'm getting my satisfaction (and it looks good). But she did this for herself. When you are on the umpteenth tiny triangle and matching all those points and seams, you can't help asking yourself if this woman was seriously bored and deliberately setting herself challenges or did she have so much time on her hands that she had to make everything complicated? It wasn't just the look of it because there are already other blocks that look similar. Maybe she had a competitive friend who was making a similar one and they egged each other on to greater complexity but the other quilt is lost. Who knows, but I certainly couldn't help myself reaching back through the years to try and understand her.

Have fun in the US, Tazzie!

Block 14 - Tazzie

I was sorting my blocks into their folder recently and found this block. I sort of remember making it, but discovered that I hadn't marked it off in the book. Nor had I posted a picture here on the blog. Hmmm ...

It's Block 14, and a little wonky (crooked in the centre there), but still - it's done, and I'm going to be happy with it!

#16 & 17 - Barbara

A nice easy one.

Hated doing this one! I don't know how I ended up with that tiny corner piece but I will need to inset a new one before I put the sashing on (in ten years' time?)