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Unloved [essential sampler quilt]

I have a number of "long-term" sampler quilts. By "long-term" I mean either slowly in progress or totally ignored. Over the next few weeks I want to blog about these projects - I'll start the week with a review of the project, so I can see where I'm up to and what is left to do. Then hopefully I can spend some time during the week working on that project. At the end of the week I'll then look at where I've got to and what my future plans for the project are.

I'm going to start off today with my oldest such project. Back in January 2011 I started a series of patchwork classes to make the Nikki Tinkler Sampler quilt. I first blogged about it here - you can see my first four blocks. As I continued the project I focussed my fabric choices considerably and all of the four blocks in the original post have been remade since then!

The quilt is 25 patchwork blocks, each different, introducing lots of different techniques. This was perfect for me as I was totally new to patchwork at the time. Although the book is template heavy, our local quilt shop offered alternative techniques, including rotary cutting and foundation piecing, including my favourite block, the mariners compass.

One of my favourite techniques from the quilt was bias applique. I enjoyed it so much I bought the mini iron and bias makers and I definitely have a bias applique celtic knot quilt on my bucket list.

The book suggested QAYG for these blocks and I decided to do this - I was the only one. I also chose to hand quilt the blocks. And inevitably I fell behind.

In October 2011 I pieced the centre 9 blocks together. And I've barely touched it since. All of the 25 blocks are pieced. I know if I was doing it now, they would be pieced far better - and without using templates, but this is part of my quilting journey!

I have 8 more blocks which require quilting, or more quilting, and then I need to piece the QAYG blocks. It's not pieced the way I would piece it if I was doing it now, but there we go... The blocks are all different sizes, so the borders are all different sizes. I think once I've pieced it, if it looks awful, I'll do some free motion quilting or perle embroidery to distract from the joins... it depends on how enthusiastic I feel.

Pop back next week to see if I've made any progress!

Comments

Lin said…
You chose some great colours - looking forward to seeing this one finished as I love sampler quilts. xx
Love the colours! It will look great, just because of that. Never mind if the sewing isn't perfect. It will have the charm of an antique quilt. They are lots of times also not sewn together very "professional" !!!

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