B21 Lynne Patchworkrose

My First Nearly Insane block for the year. It misbehaved! Don’t know why I decided I needed 4 strips of red-should have all been green. Not concerned about that but one of the Triangles I discovered on the last seam was not where it should be. Because of the piecing units it was not a matter of a quick flip either. Oh well it is all fixed and it has personality.
I used Carol Doakes Paper-piecing papers bought from Hancocks. Printer likes them and so do I.Hope to get next weeks block 53 done on time too. So fingers crossed.
Cheers Lynne

Block #2 - Ann

Block #2 for my second block. It took three tries to get this one right - it should have been simple but I made some rookie mistakes. Oh well - I'm satisfied now, and hopefully learned some lessons.

Block 6 - Tazzie

Here is my latest block - Block 6. I really enjoyed putting this one together - it was super simple, once again with freezer paper.

One thing I am struggling with in this quilt is the colours. I don't generally use much yellow - I'm trying to follow the colour of the blocks from the quilt in the front cover of the book, and to me the blocks seem to be wildly coloured when they're made up. I'm sure that the sashing will calm it all down. I'll have a look at my stash in the next few days and see if I have something that will be suitable.

Block 13 - Ann

I have just started Nearly Insane, and this is my first block. I have no specific color or fabric theme in mind for these blocks, I'm just pulling fabrics from my stash, and having fun. I paper-pieced this for accuracy, which is how I plan to assemble most of the blocks.

#13 - Barbara

A nice quick one!

Here are some of my Blocks :-)

Just to prove I have been busy . Just not made any lately some of the blocks that have been completed so far.

B9

B14

B15

B15 CloseUp

B16

B19

B20
There is a bit of a theme.of Birds, 1800’s Conversationals and Australiana Fabrics in amongst the reproduction Fabrics. Last Year with the Nearly Insane group I began making their Block of the week. Life has been in the fast lane and I have not managed any for a while but will soon. Will post in order the blocks I have made for everyone to see on this blog though.
Cheers Lynne

Block 8 - Tazzie

Oh my goodness!! This was one of the toughest blocks I've ever made in my whole life. So fiddly with all those tiny pieces. With that and all the many seams, the block appears to weigh ten pounds. It's not perfect, but I'm still proud of myself for getting it put together.

There are elements of the blocks that I'd really like to fix, but piecing this little baby took every ounce of skill that I currently possess. I should have tried harder to get all the stripes in the yellow facing the same direction. A number of the centre pieces are looking crooked (due to either seams or pressing), and the block has ended up one eighth inch bigger all around. I've no energy left to give to it right now, so this block will stay as is. I can't even imagine how Salinda Rupp made this block so many years ago without all the tools and technology we have available to us these days. You can be sure I'll be having a little break before undertaking those two blocks that have even more pieces ... I'm shuddering just thinking about them!

Ohh, and Hi to Greg who commented on my last post. Your profile is set to no-reply for an email address, so I couldn't respond to your comment via email. To answer your question, the book has line drawings of the blocks, and it's really up to you how you put them together - ie, make up templates, foundation piece, hand piece etc. I think there is also an EQ program that will print up the blocks and templates for you. A great way to get help with the blocks is to join the Nearly Insane Yahoo group. I hope this helps :-)

Block #12 - Barbara

I enjoyed doing this one. I only have four more photos of blocks done before I need to make some more. I'm not happy with my level of accuracy so far, though, and I've been doing them completely by foundation piecing. I think I'll try a combination of that and freezer paper piecing in future and see how that goes. I'm usually so fussy but these blocks take it out of you; sometimes you are just so glad to get it done! This blog will provoke me into getting back to my NI blocks because Tazzie is making such good progress. Wish I had two sets of hands sometimes, one to go to work and the other to stay and sew...

Start of Block 8 - Tazzie

Wish me luck friends - I'm starting out on Block 8. Barbara has inspired me with her lovely block to give it a go.

As you can see, I've foundation pieced the outside triangle sections. I'll admit I've got them done first because they're among the larger (and somewhat easier) sections. I'm still deciding how I'll tackle the inner parts of the block. Probably with foundation piecing also.

If you haven't heard from me within two weeks - you can assume I've run away screaming! :-)

#10 and #11 - Barbara

A couple more blocks; couldn't put up #9 because it has a mistake in it that I need to fix. Hope the Qullt Police aren't around - the top one is really wonky!