Saturday, September 12, 2020

Making spool blocks

  After such a nice holiday weekend here, at least weather wise, I went back to the sewing room today for a while.  The humidity returned and the temps went up again.  We did enjoy about 4 days of cooler temps and Sir Old Man was motivated to begin painting the garden shed....under my supervision of course.  That part he wasn't crazy about, but he is such a good sport that he did not complain. 


   I had a nice stack of spool blocks to press and trim.  Once I worked thru the pile I ended up with 67 finished blocks!
  To review the summer project:   Now, they are only 5'' at this point.  I have a mix of light spools and dark background, and dark spools on a light background.  Very scrappy and pulled from my 2'' strip collections.  Florals, tonals,  batiks, and  mixed patterns..... I am using a big span of styles.






 
   So today, I am wondering if I need to begin working them into 4-unit blocks.  LOL....already I see ones I need to flip.  So I know I need to work the small blocks into larger ones.
  This layout is 4 dark background blocks together on the upper left.  Next and to the right  would be a large block of 4 with light backgrounds.
  The bottom group on the right got turned around wrong....very wrong.  That's okay, nothing is joined yet. 
 

   I have looked at lots of layouts with spool blocks.  And I like this spinning spools version the best.  My second question is whether I just mix them up and let things fall where they may.  I am fearful of doing that for the whole top as it will be confusing and not have any focus at all.  I may toss a few hodge-podge blocks into a little more planned version. 



 
 Between the spools, I am using the Easy-breezy leader and ender from Bonnie Hunter.  I have about 20 of these done....these 8 blocks were pressed.  This layout has all the dark going to the upper left for a diagonal layout. 



   But what if.....I switch a few directions and form a chain.  I think it will be oblivious which I will pick.  I love chain effects.    But this is a long term project and lots more patches to sew.

   And that is it  from the sewing room. 
Sending prayers to those facing fires on the west coast, and holding our breathe that the 5 storms forming stay far away from land.  2020 is still making people notice it!
Happy stitching. 

 



11 comments:

Gene Black said...

Have you considered making some ten inch spool blocks to mix in with the 5 inch blocks?
I don't do that often but I do like the effect it has.

MissPat said...

Nice progress on your two projects. In all the chaotic news I missed that there are 5 potential storms on the horizon. Not that we need any more chaos, for sure. It's cooled off enough (40 degrees this AM) that I've finally been able to get back in the studio and start quilting a long overdue baby quilt.
Pat

Ray and Jeanne said...

Love hearing that you are I your sewing room. Your spool quilt is going to be very colorful. And I love your Easy-breezy blocks. I'm going to add sashing to mine as Gretchen did (https://gretchenslittlecorner.blogspot.com/2020/09/blue-easy-breezy-courthouse-steps.html). ~Jeanne

Linda Swanekamp said...

So good to see you and your blocks! Love the scrappy spools. Chain effects are always striking.

Julierose said...

Oh those spool blocks are just lovely--nice work Hugs, Julierose

Louise said...

Your little spools have so much character! This will be a fun one. I saw a design recently that used spools offset in columns that made almost a curving ribbon design. It didn't look like spools at all! I'm not describing it very well, but the idea really intrigued me. Stay cool and safe, Debbie :)

Quilting Babcia said...

I love the variety of your spool blocks. Fall approaching is making me want to get into the sewing room again. So good to see that you're getting to sew more again too.

Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson said...

I'm glad to hear you got 4 cooler days. They are so wonderful after all of the summer heat. Fall is coming fast. I saw my first goldfinches eating at the coneflower heads this morning. That is a sure sign the weather will become more tolerable.

---"Love" said...

It will be fun to see just what you decide to do with all those pretty blocks. I'm glad to know that someone (you!) is accomplishing some quilting and having fun with it. You've given me some encouragement to try it more. ---"Love"

Mystic Quilter said...

Liking your spool blocks and even more so to read that you used 2" strips - a win/win situation to use up all our strips. Your leader/ender project, I'm picking the bottom setting on the RH side.

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

67 blocks, good for you! I like the chain effect.

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