I wasn't going to join in... but you know me and a quilt along. The first blocks started being posted on Instagram, and I'd had a rough day, after a terrible night (thanks, Jess), and making the first block, immediately, without planning, was just the pick-me-up I needed. I confess I didn't have the book at the time - I'd ordered it, but was still waiting on the post, so I was working a little bit blind. But here it is.
Of course the lack of planning, and working without the full picture in front of me (i.e. the book and how things would develop), whilst enjoyable at the time, has downsides. I just grabbed a few pieces of fabric that had been lying around from other projects. It wasn't until I had the pieces cut that I suddenly thought of the perfect fabric. Which was of course upstairs. And after the previous night, there was no way I was risking waking the girls by going on a fabric rummage.
The book arrived a few days later, and I unburied the bundle of fabric I had in mind. It's all about pineapples and flamingos! I've since unpicked that first block, and remade it using some of the new fabrics. I've also had time to peruse the book, which is absolutely beautiful. There are some blocks that feel very traditional, whilst there are others that feel very modern. There is lots of help to make fussy cutting work for you and lots of examples.
The problem I have, is a stash that is nearly 100% un-fussy-cutable. Or so I thought. This makes you look at fabrics differently - it's not all about the novelty fabrics. It turns out that more of my stash is fussy-cutable than I thought. I've added in quite a few stash fabrics to the original bundle of pineapples and flamingos so I can have a bit more of a go with the fussy cutting, but the fabrics aren'tideal. On the other hand, the patterns are ideal for the fabrics - bigger pieces (the blocks are 9" rather than my usual 6") means I can showcase the fabrics better.
I think there will be another quilt made from this book where I really commit to fussy cutting. Meanwhile, I'm already adding some more fussy-cutable fabrics to my stash!
Of course the lack of planning, and working without the full picture in front of me (i.e. the book and how things would develop), whilst enjoyable at the time, has downsides. I just grabbed a few pieces of fabric that had been lying around from other projects. It wasn't until I had the pieces cut that I suddenly thought of the perfect fabric. Which was of course upstairs. And after the previous night, there was no way I was risking waking the girls by going on a fabric rummage.
The book arrived a few days later, and I unburied the bundle of fabric I had in mind. It's all about pineapples and flamingos! I've since unpicked that first block, and remade it using some of the new fabrics. I've also had time to peruse the book, which is absolutely beautiful. There are some blocks that feel very traditional, whilst there are others that feel very modern. There is lots of help to make fussy cutting work for you and lots of examples.
The problem I have, is a stash that is nearly 100% un-fussy-cutable. Or so I thought. This makes you look at fabrics differently - it's not all about the novelty fabrics. It turns out that more of my stash is fussy-cutable than I thought. I've added in quite a few stash fabrics to the original bundle of pineapples and flamingos so I can have a bit more of a go with the fussy cutting, but the fabrics aren'tideal. On the other hand, the patterns are ideal for the fabrics - bigger pieces (the blocks are 9" rather than my usual 6") means I can showcase the fabrics better.
I think there will be another quilt made from this book where I really commit to fussy cutting. Meanwhile, I'm already adding some more fussy-cutable fabrics to my stash!
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