Thursday

And one more UFO completion!

 A sew-along from a couple of years ago: I've named this one PolkaPolka because all the fabrics are polka dots.

This might well be my last quilt -- things have changed.  My mind is not on creativity, and I'm doubtful that I'll get back to it.

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Cheddarback

Taa-daa!

Big Deal today -- I finished my Cheddarback top!

This sew-along has been going on for over a year, and we're finally at the finish line.  I used all dot print fabrics in my Polkapolkapolka version, and added some extra blocks to make it a bit larger than the circa 1900 original.  Next I need to find something for the back -- I hope to get this one quilted and done in the near future.  Thanks Gay Bomers for another excellent sew-along!

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Cheddarback

Here are my blocks for Month 10 of Gay Bomer's CHEDDARBACK sew-along at Sentimental Stitches.  I've changed things up a bit from this month's 'official' patterns -- similar but not exactly the same.  My polka dot fabric options are dwindling, so I'm going to need to start repeating some of them.

I didn't attach this new section to my existing top yet because I'm going to add an extra row of blocks to enlarge my project.  This should get me to approximately 88" square.  We have four more months remaining  on this sew-along, so I'll have plenty of time to select and sew the extra blocks.

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Cheddarback

Progress continues with the CHEDDARBACK sew-along at Sentimental Stitches.

This month's instructions involved more small 'alphabet' blocks and a couple of substitute block suggestions in addition to the large pink and brown block.  I wasn't interested in doing more letters, so I came up with an entirely different substitution: a large Turkey Tracks block to complete the end of the column. 

(Haha, cause it's November!)

This section of the quilt top is 86" long already.  We are 60% of the way through, with two more block columns to go. Since it's already this large, I may think about enlarging it a bit more and ending up with a queen-size quilt -- it wouldn't take much! 

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Cheddarback

I spent the day yesterday working on Cheddarback.  Only two large blocks to make this month, but one of them was applique, which is always a bit daunting for me. These blocks will be assigned to the
 done-is-better-than-perfect category :)

I'm still feeling good about my polka dot fabrics.  This is month 8 of 14, so I'm comfortable about having enough polka dots to see me through to the end of the sew-along.  

This is getting large! 

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Cheddarback

A very productive day!  I focused on catching up with Cheddarback today, and I'm good!  I'm using polka-dot fabrics for this sew-along, and I'm still happy with my results.

This month's pattern set included instructions about adding letters/initials to our block sets.  I opted to just do one -- a J for me -- and to include an earlier extra star block as my fourth small block.

This is where I currently stand, with Month 7 complete, bringing us to half way through the series.  I'm ready for October and the new releases.

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Cheddarback

Just a partial completion to report for this month's CHEDDARBACK blocks.  I'm still enjoying working with my polka dot fabrics, and I've even purchased a couple more FQs while on the road.

  There were some options/decisions to be made regarding the fifth block, and I wasn't able to come to a final plan before we left home at the beginning of the month.  So here are the four I've done, and I'll think about what to do with the fifth next month when the September blocks are posted.

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Cheddarback

Yesterday I made good progress on this month's set of Cheddarback blocks.

CHEDDARBACK

The little red schoolhouse was challenging, but mine is acceptable despite its quirkiness.  The instructions for all these blocks have been consistently well-written.  I'm going strong with my PolkaPolkaPolka version -- I still have quite a few polka-dot fabrics available to use before I'll need to start repeating.   

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Cheddarback

CHEDDARBACK

Mission accomplished!  I'm all caught up, and looking forward to the July blocks which will be coming out 

next week.

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Cheddarback again

I pieced the remaining two Cheddarback blocks from May, and added the sashing and cornerstones to this new section.

I added the new section to the earlier part -- now it's beginning to look like something!  

And with this I'm caught up to June, the current month.  I'll work on Cheddarback again next week, so I get everything completed before the July blocks are released.

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Cheddarback

So far, so good on Rainbow Scrap Challenge this month, and here's another sew-along that I'll be trying to catch up with.

CHEDDARBACK 

offered by Gay Bomers at Sentimental Stitches, includes five pieced blocks per month.  That puts me ten blocks behind :(  I pulled out the tote tub today, to refresh my memory about this project and see where I need to jump back in -- this is the one where I'm trying to use all polka-dot prints.

Three blocks done today, and seven to go. 

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Cheddarback

The new Cheddarback sew-along blocks were released Monday.  My PolkaPolkaPolka versions went together smoothly again this month -- Gay's directions are detailed and well-written!

My newest blocks

The original antique quilt is my reference for color, but I'm using dots and spots fabrics.  So far I think my 'translation' has been qute effective!

Corresponding section of the antique quilt

 And my PolkaPolkaPolka version

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Cheddarback

Having concluded both Hope's Journey and Stars in Her Crown this past week, I've decided to begin a new BOM sew-along.  Gay Bomers at Sentimental Stitches has just introduced CHEDDARBACK, and it looks like fun!

Gay will be offering five free patterns per month for the various pieced blocks which appear in this circa 1890 quilt.  I've settled on an assortment of vintage-style dots and spots pulled from my stash -- I'll be doing the PolkaPolkaPolka version :) 

 Each month we'll be working on one large and four small blocks.  The instructions are well-written, and this first group all came together beautifully, including the little twist block with the set-in seams. 

So this is off to a good start!  I have some tidying up to do in the workroom from my recent projects, and who knows what else I'll discover to work on :)

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