Modern Plus Sampler ➕ Paper Pieced Blocks

I did it!  I actually completed the pieced blocks from the Modern Plus Sampler myself.  I was tempted to ask Cheryl to do them for me but in the end I'm glad I did them.

With larger and fewer pieces, I tackled the kaleidoscope block from Kaleidoscope Plus first.  I did add one element of complexity when piecing the block.  Since I was using a directional background fabric, Beaded Curtain from Fandangle by Christa Watson, I wanted to keep the beads all vertical.

Faceted Rings made me a little nervous with the odd angles and smaller pieces but I managed to complete it as well.

You will find January's instructions for the paper pieced areas in this post and all the details about the quilt-a-long on the Modern Plus Sampler page.  You can take a look at Cheryl's perfect paper pieced areas here.

Would you be interested in a tutorial on how I cut the directional fabric pieces for paper piecing?  Let me know in the comments.

Join us back on Thursday, February 7th, when we will share the final assembly instructions for the Modern Plus Sampler.  How exciting!

All-A-Flutter ~ Butterfly Mini Swap Quilt

Back in May the idea was tossed around about a mini quilt swap between the members of the three Modern Quilt Guilds in South Carolina, Greenville MQG (my guild), Palmetto MQG (Columbia) and Charleston MQG.

We will not be officially swapping our mini quilts until Saturday, so I will not reveal the details of my swap partner's likes and dislikes just yet.  But, I just finished All-A-Flutter since it was my One Monthly Goal for October.

The intersections were a little bulky and a doozie to match up so I resewed several.

I alternated the butterflies just like Rita at Red Pepper Quilts did in her quilt, but added in some negative space.  To be honest, I didn't want to make any more butterflies than I did.

For the quilting, I added some ruler work quilting to the wings using Patsy Thompson's 6.5 inch arc ruler and Aurifil 30wt in grey.

I drifted off the ruler a few times, so every curve is not perfect, but I remembered Angela Walter's mantra, 'A finished quilt is better than perfect quilt top'!

I used the 12 inch arc ruler for the background quilting.  The design reminds me of crossed canoes.

Knowing I needed to add a label, I decided frame an extra butterfly and piece it into the backing.  And, to be quite honest, I miscut the backing (Elizabeth Hartman's Firefly in Pickle) and matching fireflies was not going to be fun so I changed the direction of the fireflies.

I'm looking forward to meeting other SC MQG guild members when we swap quilt.  You can check out swap progress at #SCMQGswap.

Quilt Stats

• Finished size: 20" x 20" 
• Pattern: a modified version of Rita's (Red Pepper Quilts) Butterfly Blocks
• Fabrics: Sun Prints by Alison Glass for Andover Fabrics
• Thread: Aurifil 50wt in Natural White 2021 for quilting background and Aurifil 30wt in Grey 2605 for quilting the butterflies   
• Quilting design: ruler work
• Batting: 100% Cotton Warm & White by the Warm Company
• Completed: October 29, 2018

Linking to the October Finish Link-up at Elm Street Quilts and Finish up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts. 

Bee Inspired Block for January

I joined an international quilt bee, Bee Inspired, with bloggers I met through the New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop this past summer.

For January, Sharon from Yellow Cat Quilt Designs is the Queen Bee.  You can read about the colors and paper pieced block, Split Hatchet, she chose here.

I can't remember the last time I did paper piecing, but I think it turned out OK considering.

Split Hatchet paper pieced quilt block

Not wanting to come up short on any of the fabric piece sizes, I roughly measured the fabric piece required and decided I needed a square at least 5 1/2" to 6" inches.  I was a little too generous and cut them around 7", but better be safe than sorry.

Measuring to determine the fabric piece size needed

Sharon wanted bright colors with creme backgrounds.  Here is the grouping of colored fabrics and I chose some charm squares of Modern Background Paper for the background fabrics.

Fabrics chosen for Sharon's block

When paper piecing, I usually try to keep the grain relatively straight (especially on the outside edges) and cut the colored fabrics using the segment as a guide with a generous seam allowance added.

Colored fabrics cut on grain using the segment as a guide

Once I started paper piecing, it became easier as I went along. And once I trimmed the quadrants, removed the paper, sewed the sections together, the block actually measured 12 1/2".

Paper pieced Split Hatchet 12 1/2" block

If you'd like to make your own Split Hatchet, you can find the pattern here on 627Handworks.  We used the 6" Split Hatchet version to make Sharon's blocks.

Since I included a couple of tips for cutting your fabric segments the correct size and on the grain, I'm linking to Tips and Tutorials with Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl.

Also linking to Let's Bee Social with Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts.