Wednesday, September 6, 2017

My Personal Thread Challenge


I decided to take a small break from quilting on Saturday to catch up on a few QAL blocks I'm behind on.  I started with Cindy at Stitchin At Home's Churn Dash block for the Medallion Quilt.  I have to admit Churn Dash is on my list of favorite blocks.  Simple to make and a fun block to quilt all on its own. 

So far all the blocks I've made have had a green and purple color scheme.  I went out on a limb and decided to add black to the mix.  It may seem like a strange choice at the moment, but I think it will make more sense once the quilt completely comes together.  The main fabric I'm using for a border, does have black in it.  Fingers crossed it will all work out.



Next up was catching up on the latest two blocks for the Aurifil Designer BOM quilt.  This year each designer has been assigned a color as we work our way around the color wheel.  I think it isn't much of a secret how much I love Aurifil thread.  I don't even come close to having all the 270 colors in their collection, but what is my color range as far as the color wheel goes?

So, for fun, I snapped a few pictures of the blocks to date and spools from my personal stash.


Our journey around the color wheel started in January with the color blue and Janet Clare's Cat Block.  I think these spools of Aurifil 1126 Blue Grey and 2775 Steel blue will look wonderful when I'm quilting up this block.


February brought us designer Maureen Cracknell and her Dutch Treat block in blue-purple and for me a lovely spool of  2510 Light Lilac.


Let's skip to April, the color purple and Sue Marsh's New Direction Block.  I accidently made the March block using April's colors, red purple.  This was my first time working with triangles, but not that spool of 1240 Very Dark Eggplant.  That spool and I are very well acquainted. 


March gave us Melissa Corry, Scraptastic Stars, and the start of my color confusion.  A happy accident I'm glad I made.   I love it in these shades of red purple better, especially paired with this spool of 2460 Dark Carmine Red.  Hmm...I may need a larger spool.


Mister Domestic, Matthew Boudreaux, shared his Faux Weave block in shades of brilliant red with us.  When I think red, I immediately think 2250 Christmas Red.  Don't let the fullness of this spool fool you, it's a replacement for an almost empty one.


June kept things rolling with Sarah Maxwell and her block Star Shine in shades of red orange and my spool of 5002 Medium Red.


July is where I fell behind...applique.  Shruti Dandekar shared with us the instructions to make her beautiful Reverse Applique block in orange.  I still struggle with applique.  I decided to do reverse reverse applique, meaning regular applique.  However, after purchasing new sharp scissors (just to be used for applique), I wish I had used Shruti's method of making the block.  Live and learn.  I used this spool of 2235 Orange to satin stitch around the applique.


And completely catching me up (until the 15th that is) is Brenda Ratliff's Bright Sun block in orange yellow and spools of 2214 Golden Honey and 2330 Light Chestnut.  It's such a bright happy block. 

Sadly there are only four more designers and blocks to complete our journey around the color wheel.  Wonder if I will have enough spools of thread to complete this journey as well?  Guess we will just have to wait and see.

Also, if you haven't heard the buzz...Aurifil Buzz that is, Aurifil is hosting a mini series on their blog right now about the different types of threads they have available.  Did you know that they actually make four different types of thread and have six different weights of cotton?  Me either.  You can tell from my pictures and the orange spools that I'm in love with their 50wt Egyptian Cotton threads (I like my thread like I like my sheets...Egyptian Cotton).  Part one of the series was released yesterday and you can learn more about their 12wt and 28wt cotton threads.  Check out their post and eye candy here.  I'm thinking next year might be a year of experimentation for me...well with threads anyway.



Other than quilting my little heart out, that's about all that's been going on here.  Since I won't have a quilt finish by Friday, I thought maybe I would write up a quick tutorial for the green and purple baby quilt I finished two weeks ago.  It's a great one for when you need a baby quilt by say...tomorrow.  I think we've all been there before.


Today I'm linking up with Let's Bee Social and Midweek Makers.

9 comments:

Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl said...

Yeah, I think we've all totally been there on a "need that tomorrow" quilt. Whether or not we've pulled it off is another question entirely, haha!

You have had just the right color threads for your block photos so far! I have really enjoyed experimenting with thread weight myself this year and look forward to seeing how branching out from 50wt works for you.

Stitchin At Home said...

Nothing beats having that perfect colour thread for a whatever project you're working on. The black looks good in the Churn Dash.

piecefulwendy said...

So many pretty blocks and yummy thread colors! I think the black in the churn dash looks nice. That reverse applique block is stunning! Definitely been there on the "need it yesterday" baby quilt. Not sure I could get it done that quickly though!

Lisa J. said...

I've really enjoyed reading this post Tish. The blocks are all so beautiful and I like the way you paired them with the Auriful thread. It makes me want to buy a few more colours.

Bonnie said...

Nice eye candy today. Do you use your 50 wt Aurifil on your long arm also? Or piecing? appliquéing? (obviously!) Or? ??

Home Sewn By Us said...

Hi Tish,
I love that cat block! It is really striking - I love everything about it. The colors, the fabric, even the cat and I'm not a cat person. I'm going to check out the link you shared. ~smile~ Roseanne

helenjean@midgetgemquilts said...

Well that was a productive weekend ! That's how you keep all those BOM plates in the air ? Have a mammoth go once every couple of months ?

helenjean@midgetgemquilts said...

Ps I like Egyptian cotton sheets too

Cheryl said...

That is great you have the perfect colors for your blocks already, I love it when that happens.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...